got two quick questions that probably seem really obvious to most people but im not clear on...

1. If I am shifting into neutral (and not into a new gear, say at a stop sign) do I need to disengage the clutch? This is what I have been doing since I've had the car but I'm beginning to think that I can just pop it out of gear without clutch disengagement.

2. Does the tachometer read the engine RPMs or the RPMs in the gear box? The reason I ask is because I was reading SouthernBoys downshifting technique and he mentioned "re-engaging the clutch slightly and bliping the throttle to bring up the gearbox rpms" (paraphrased). I was wondering if there was any way of knowing what the speed of your gearbox is when you do this. Would'nt it just be the same as the engine?

 

Answer to #1:

WTF? No. Please don't drive your car if you're just going to pop it out of gear. You're just going to be ruining your car that way. If you're going to be shifting out of a gear to neutral, engage the clutch, put it to neutral, and then disengage. As SouthernBoy posted, while at a stop, you don't want your clutch engaged either.

I have no idea bout #2 though. Hopefully SB can jump in and let us know.

 

Haha ok thanks.. the reason I was wondering (for question 1) was because if you are decelerating there wouldnt be much force on the dogteeth (they are not being accelerated).

 

the tach shows engine rpm. Southernboys explanation of the blip throttle to bring up gearbox rpms is corrent.
the way you know how much to blip the rpms to is by knowing where the rpms usually are at a certain speed in a certain gear.

ex: 2nd gear going 40mph is around 3500 rpms and it will always be that case.(not actually numbers, just making numbers up).

if you were in 3rd and going 40mphs and want to downshift to 2nd then you would do your thing and blip a bit past 3500rpms to you have time to catch it before the revs drop to much in your process of changing gears.

after driving a bit more you will get use to it and know how much to give without looking at the tach at all.

reference point: in 1st going 10 mph the rpms are about 2k
2nd going 20 mph the rpms is 2k
3rd going 30 mph rpms 2k
and so forth. 4th 40 2k.

 

EDIT
Meant to say here that I have been DISENGAGING first, but recently began to question whether this was necessary.

 

although that may be true, you're still going to be forcing it out.

I don't know about you, but i baby my car hahaha. I let my friend drive my car once (and that was the last time he was allowed to drive it.) Despite being a pretty good MT driver, he stalled about 3 times in my car, and then proceeded to over rev it. I guess he was too used to that german clutch. But yup...he was done after that. hahah

 

1 - Not a problem as long as you aren't yanking too hard. If you are are in gear (like 3rd)and gently engine breaking (coasting in gear to a stop) then the shifter will practically "fall out of gear" with the slightest pull while you do a very small tap of the throttle. It's very subtle for sure and you should never feel resistance or notches. If you are in doubt at all then use the clutch.

BTW there are lots of people that can shift without using the clutch at all. It's not like they drag race but do it more as a novelty to show off. When done right it's pretty funny to watch. It's rev matching to the extreme. I'm not recommending you try, I'm jus sayin'.....

2 - It's reading the engine RPM for sure.

 

one of my auto mechanic friend told me before that if u get the gear to match speed, then u can shift into gear without using the clutch.

 

When I drove a MT, I was able to do it a few times, BUT after many failed attempts with a nice CRUNCH noise.

 

when downshifting......I learned this the hardway by breaking the tranny.... always match engine speeds n gearbox speeds....ull save a lot of life on ur mechanics n clutch

 

I never used the term "gearbox rpms". What you might be referring to here is when I used the term "drive and driven gears". Incidently, the term "drive and driven gears" does not come from anything technical. I chose this term only because it would be more descriptive to those who have little or no understanding of the internals of a manual transmission. I deliberately avoided terms like input and lay shafts since using them would probably raise more questions.

Anyway, use your clutch whenever shifting gears.. that's what it's there for.

 

 

Yep. Your tranny and clutch assembly will love you for it, eh?

 

Agreed .. what you might think your saving in wear and tear in one area your creating in another.

Most of the wear on a clutch is when engaging from a stop ... or slippage if your a poor M/T driver. On down shifts if your being agressive a little throttle blip reduces the slip.

 

agreed