Though this might sound like elementary advice, look at the clutch this way. It should either be all the way in or all the way out. Anything in between is "slipping" your clutch and reducing it's life. This is most important going from N->1st. I see most n00bs revving the car really hard off the line and then slowly letting the clutch out to avoid stalling.

It will take some playing, but you should be able to get the car rolling a little bit before you even start adding gas. Don't add gas then start releasing the clutch. It'll turn into a bad habit.

absoultely useless in a car with synchros.

heel-toe is where it at when donshifting.

True, but you still heal-toe when double clutching. Have you ever tried to downshift into first going 25 mph without double clutching?

My fear with double clutching these cars (while I still do), is it must hammer on the slave, since the action is two quick pushes of the clutch as opposed to one. Time will tell I guess.

why in the world would i want to try downshifting into 1st gear at 25mph ??????

Tight AX courses or pulling into a parking lot like you own the place!

good advice.

1)clutch is for getting started and shifting gears only
2)dont have your foot resting on the pedal
3)dont have the pedal pressed down when you are making turns to keep car in neutral revs without actually shifting out of gear.
4)when u down shift, rev match with the gas pedal not the clutch pedal
5)never clutch lurch ( slowly let out clutch to bring up revs)
6)if you are uncomfortable downshifting at this point, dont downshift at all for now. you really don't need to.

So I think we should back up a bit for you. A lot of people are talking about advanced stuff. Don't worry about most of this to get started. Work on stuff in this order (others feel free to add in)

1) Getting started from neutral without overrevving (see my original post). Practice in a parking lot to get comfortable. You should be able to get the car fully rolling with the clutch out without hitting the gas in a car with enough torque. This is probably the #1 thing that will require a 3k clutch job. Over-gassing it from a stop.
2) Learn to rev match down shifts. Again, figure this out quickly. You can practice by driving around at like 50 mph and shift from 5th to 3rd (maybe 2nd) without it being jerky by applying the correct amount of gas.
3) Heel Toe shifting (see vid below).
4) Double clutch for fun (google this)

5) Don't ever practice shifting without the clutch on this car. I learned this on my
wife's civic because I didn't care...it's not worth your tranny.
6) Don't "launch" the car Fast the Furious style by revving up to like 5k and just releasing the clutch. Terrible plan. It's unlikely most cars on the road will be faster than you when you just get started normally and then floor it

This is a quick vid I found that describes heel toe nicely:

Once you practice all that has been said above, you may be able to drive like this:

I still double clutch like a mad man on every manual car I drive due to old habits from my old STi that had a bad 2nd gear syncro. At this point heel/toe and double clutching doesn't require any active thinking, you just do it.

Learn to rev match on downshifts first, then heel/toe. Double clutch is optional if you like the extra leg workout :P

Shifting without the clutch is just a bonus

I had the joy of driving my car this weekend without the clutch after my slave went out. Once you are rolling, you can shift perfectly fine without any grinding or damage so long as you are able to rev match for the gear you are going into. I wouldn't recommend it but it's most definitely doable if you are in a bind!

[quote=tphss;3521242]I did survive the Pinto loaner car for a week. Learning to heal and toe on a loaner or rental is the way to go.

Exactly! The only problem is from a stop!!!

Those people are crazy...and I'm talking about the spectators!!!

Heres a few tidbits-

1) when stopped at a light dont keep your foot on the clutch, put the car in neutral and take your foot of the clutch pedal (reduces lateral load on the crank shaft bearings & inadvertent wear of the clutch material)

2) If you arent driving in a performance oriented manner, you can skip gears to reduce the number of shifts/be more economical. As an example sometimes I go 1st, 2nd, 3rd to 6th when farting around in traffic.

3) Dont pull the car out of gear without using the clutch- while it will work, it damages the engaged gear and bends the shift forks over time. More importantly, dont put the car into gear without the clutch...

4) listen to what everyone else just wrote!

[quote=Colt45ccg;3529372]Heres a few tidbits-

3) Dont pull the car out of gear without using the clutch- while it will work, it damages the engaged gear and bends the shift forks over time. More importantly, dont put the car into gear without the clutch...


How does pulling the car into neutral while coasting to a stop, when the revs match the idle, damage anything? I do this regularly from 2nd gear as RPM's are falling (right at or just below 1K).