Hey, I have only been driving my Z for 2 weeks now and its my first manual car.

I was wondering if it's that big of a deal to double clutch compared to straight shifting from gear to gear.

 

Waste of time mostly. The only gears I double clutch are 1st and reverse.

 

You don't need to double clutch on any gear. Just clutch in, shift from gear to gear straight, then clutch out. All new cars and even going back over 20 years ago have synchros in their transmissions that eliminate the need for double clutching. You only need to double clutch on old synchro-less cars from like the 1930's and 1940's

 

^what they said

 

Ok good, I was hoping that was the case. I would be so slow if I had to double clutch

 

HAHA of course it would be! I've been driving stick since I got my license and that was way over 10 years ago and you wouldn't believe how many times I hear people asking about double clutching. It's a thing of the past that somehow keeps coming up. With improvements in technology, this technique has long been eliminated so just shift straight from gear to gear. Avoid lightning quick shifts mainly from 1-2 before your engine/tranny is warmed up otherwise you may grind a gear.

Just get a feel for how the car drives and shifts and then when you get super comfortable, you can ask around about "heel-toe" shifting but I won't spill the beans right now. have fun!

 

That's why I said it was a waste of time mostly.

Some people think it saves the synchros, but the synchros are there for a reason. Use them.

It's a good idea to double clutch 1st and reverse regardless. 1st is short gear and reverse does not have a synchro, both of which can be hard to get into gear, and even grind without a double clutch.

Read your owners manual if in doubt.

 

Yeah one exception is reverse gear...I always double clutch reverse because it doesn't have a synchro but sometimes you can get away without it if you shift slowly and extra carefully. 1-2 shifts for me don't require double clutching but I don't really shift aggressively anyway.

 

ahhhh I see your point now...you weren't refering about double clutching for 1-2 shifting but just to get the car into either reverse or 1st gear like say when you're backing out of your garage or something, in which case I say yes it would be better to double clutch.

 

Double clutch or rev match on every downshift. Synchros are there to help you, but don't beat on them by downshifting and dropping the clutch every day.

 

A double clutch on a downshift would include a revmatch, although a simple revmatch is all that is necessary. As far as dropping the clutch, that has no impact on synchros.

 

you don't really need to double clutch on a rev match down shift...all you need to do is clutch in, blip the throttle, then shift down. If you get the revs right on, it should slide right into gear like butter!

 

"granny shifting, not double clutching like you should"

Don't take the advice of Vin Diesel

 

Double clutching and rev matching are two very different things. When you rev match you don't increase the speed of the pilot shaft in the tranny. Rev matching increases engine speed to allow you to eliminate the impact of re-engaging the motor at a lesser rev (causing you and the passenger to lurch forward). Double clutching (ie clutch pedal down, out of gear, clutch up, press gas, clutch in, select gear) matches the pilot shaft to the engine and reduces wear on the synchro's. When driving at a medium pace i will only rev match, when really pushing I double clutch. Consistent downshifting to a lower gear at 5k RPM or above is hard on your transmission.

 

Is it hard on your trans if you revmatch when downshifting to 4+K? I downshift to 2nd from 40mph to slow myself down at times lol

 

Kinda like this?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9TBq5v_vvNM

When driving hard and heel-toe downshifting, I'll take the RPM very close to redline without thinking twice. The Z sounds like sex while rowing down through a couple of gears at full tilt. Nothing wrong with it as far as I'm concerned.

 

Are you driving 350Z or International Harvester?

 

 

I didnt even bother to read through this---Forget it!!!!! Fine for the old non synchroed trannys---Farm Tractors---Old Semis---

 

Lol !

No "Double Clutching" topic would be complete without ROAST's tach video and DavidV's farm equipment picture...

I double clutch when downshifting into second from say, fifth gear, while under hard braking. That gear better get in now or else I'll be collecting flora and gravel with the underbody...