On Shifting: Exactly when do you lift of the gas?

FC · 08-13-2007, 08:14 AM

This may sound like a totally goofy question, but since I basically tought myself to drive stick, my technique is always under review.

Let's say you are driving and need to upshift from 2nd to 3rd. Your right foot (RF) is on the gas while on second. The left foot (LF) moves over to the clutch. Now, exactly how far into the clutch if at all is the LF when you lift of the RF from the gas?

I've started to cut the gas sooner and find the rpms now drop exactly when I need them too to make an absolutely perfect 2-3 shift. Of course, on higher gears, I now need to give it a bit of gas as I let go of the clutch pedal to make the shift smooth. The penalty from all this is that my shifts are slower.

It seems to me that if the RF is not completely off the gas before the clutch pedal is fully actuated, there should be an element of clutch wear.

My larger point then is that to be perfectly efficient, it seems one must start using up dead clutch pedal travel while letting go off the gas pedal and time it just so as soon as soon as the clutch engages one just got off the gas completely. Anything more hurried that this and you would in essence be riding the clutch to some small extent. The flipside is that anything slower than this and you are just wasting time.

Thoughts?

08-13-2007, 08:14 AM	#1
FC Solving problems Join Date: Oct 2003 Carmudgeonly Ride: M5 / 718 GTS / Cooper S / GTI / LR4 Location: Metro Boston Posts: 25,280	On Shifting: Exactly when do you lift of the gas? This may sound like a totally goofy question, but since I basically tought myself to drive stick, my technique is always under review. Let's say you are driving and need to upshift from 2nd to 3rd. Your right foot (RF) is on the gas while on second. The left foot (LF) moves over to the clutch. Now, exactly how far into the clutch if at all is the LF when you lift of the RF from the gas? I've started to cut the gas sooner and find the rpms now drop exactly when I need them too to make an absolutely perfect 2-3 shift. Of course, on higher gears, I now need to give it a bit of gas as I let go of the clutch pedal to make the shift smooth. The penalty from all this is that my shifts are slower. It seems to me that if the RF is not completely off the gas before the clutch pedal is fully actuated, there should be an element of clutch wear. My larger point then is that to be perfectly efficient, it seems one must start using up dead clutch pedal travel while letting go off the gas pedal and time it just so as soon as soon as the clutch engages one just got off the gas completely. Anything more hurried that this and you would in essence be riding the clutch to some small extent. The flipside is that anything slower than this and you are just wasting time. Thoughts?