Jennifer 2

N80, I didn’t mean to insult you, but you are completely misunderstanding what the owner’s manual is saying. It is not instructing about double clutching when downshifting into first. It is instructing about a car that is completely stopped and how to then select reverse or first gear. Here is a cut and paste from the 2007 owners manual.

>>>>”To back up, depress the shift lever and then
move it to the R (Reverse) position after stopping the vehicle completely.
If it is difficult to move the shift lever into R
(Reverse) or 1 (Low gear), shift to N (Neutral),
then release the clutch pedal. Fully depress the
clutch pedal again and shift into R or 1”<<<<<

You will find pretty much the same thing in lots of car manuals. I was only trying to explain the logistics of what was going on inside the gearbox causing this very seldom seen occurrence.

I’m sure you’re a great driver, but your two posts in this thread, although full of really good anecdotal information, seemed to show a slight lack of how the ankle bone is connected to the leg bone so to speak. It’s just nit picking though, so I do apologize. I have only looked inside one transmission so I’m certainly no expert.

When I was 16 my dad bought me a well used MGB. Surely the designers worked tirelessly to seek out every automotive shortcoming known to man and incorporate them into this car. But the owners didn’t care; they (they including me) loved it and accepted any faults in good humor. My dad who was a perfectionist, couldn’t abide the little leakage of trans oil. I’m sure MG didn’t consider this a warranty item, but rather a feature, helping to keep the driveway lubricated or some-such. I preferred to go out driving, but my dad ripped the trans out and made it oil tight. Dad was a mechanic and machinist and in his fabrication shop he repaired and machined parts for all kinds of obsolete antique transmissions as well as setting up old racing Hewland transaxles. I shared the kitchen table doing my homework with piles of gears and such. Dad tore every part of the MG trans apart fussing over it and made me help bed in new syncro elements and blocker rings etc. Ever since then I’ve always been kind to transmissions thinking back to what a wonderful thing the little MG trans was. Again, please accept my contrition, as I’m sure there is a ton of stuff you could teach me about sports car driving.

t0rqu3

350z_Lam

I will be attempting heel-toe downshifting in my z soon and just curious to know what happens if I accidentally blip the throttle too early like lets say before I clutch in all the way? For example if I were to press the clutch 10% of the way in and blip the throttle on accident will it overcome my braking and cause me to lunge forward from the surge of gas/rev and hitting the car in front of me? Do you know if there is an accelerator cut off system if I hit the brakes first already?

And also one more thing during the clutching out of the heel-toe process do I have to release the clutch all the way before I clutch in again to shift down to the next gear? Like can I clutch in/blip/shift down to 3rd/clutch out to 75% of the way/clutch in again/blip/shift down to second/clutch out all the way and gas for it the exit?

MicVelo

To your first question, the car will jerk and the rev/downshift will be slightly mismatched. Not a big deal as your clutch leg is still moving towards full disengagement and, if your clutch/pedal is set properly, not an issue. Part of learning either way.

Also, theoretically, you'll be on your brakes sufficient enough to not lunge and hit anyone..... and you should not be heel/toe downshift practicing with other cars around anyways simply because of the possibility of missing your pedal cues.

Something I should point out is that H/T downshifting isn't appropriate at all speeds. High speeds yes. Low speeds, not so much. I say this because at high speeds, the entire motion of H/T is one swift motion once learned. Too fast for low speeds. And not really necessary on the street. (If it is.... you're driving too fast for the street.)

To your second question - a good one - you actually have two options here depending on the situation; that is, speed, turn severity, etc. but YES, you can sequentially down shift and go down gear by gear while braking/trail braking in prep.

But you can also: brake heavy, trail brake then heel/toe downshift two gears if the turn requires that much gear down - like a 180 or somesuch. I rarely use this method because it uses more braking - both wheel and engine braking than I care to use but there ARE turns where this is entirely appropriate, especially where you're going to use a little bit of tail out to set the car up for exit.

And before anyone cues me that I forgot.... #drivingschool

350z_Lam

Wow thanks for the very detailed answer! This was the answer I was looking for. And yes I promise I will only attempt it when there is no cars around or in an empty parking lot. Its so scary!! Imagine race cars drivers if they were to accidentally slip off the clutch cuz their foot was itchy or a bug was tickling their toes while they're still blipping braking down from 140mph to 60mph for a corner I wonder if their rear tires will lock up and cause a spin from over blipping and the jerkiness.

MicVelo

You are unnecessarily worrying. No, you will not master it in a day. But, slowly but surely, it will get to feeling normal and like they should have been teaching this driver's ed.... My son told me that after completing driver's school. My daughter.... well, she doesn't ever turn a wheel in anger (race) but I know that she's safe and.... I can trust my Z34N with her. Laff...

So take your time, practice, practice, practice. It will get become second nature and when it does, you'll realize how you're worrying about nothing.

350z_Lam

Thanks for the encouragement! I see u are in Northern Cali too. Hopefully we can meet one day in person and you can give me some pointers and advice

MicVelo

What general area are you in? I can recommend some roads... I'll do it in the Nor Cal section so all of us can take advantage... Me and a number of others I've met are down in the South Bay/San Jose-Silicon Valley.

350z_Lam

That's awesome! I'm from the same area too around Milpitas. When do you plan on doing it? Do you guys have weekly car meet ups/drives too?

Yah it can be a pain sometimes to find an empty road or spot here in the bay. It's so populated here in the Silicon Valley everywhere I go there are so many people and cars I have to do everything late at night in the wee morning. Some recommendations on good roads would be nice.