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

[FC]

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?

[ff]

I lift off the gas at the precise moment that I start to depress the clutch.

[operknockity]

Originally Posted by ff

I lift off the gas at the precise moment that I start to depress the clutch.

[FC]

You start to lift off at that moment, but how quickly do you lift off the gas versus how quicky do you press the clutch?

[Plaz]

Originally Posted by ff

I lift off the gas at the precise moment that I start to depress the clutch.

Originally Posted by FC

You start to lift off at that moment, but how quickly do you lift off the gas versus how quicky do you press the clutch?

I try to time it just right, so the revs drop just as the clutch disengages. It's a balancing act between avoiding an increase in revs as a result of too much gas on the unloaded drivetrain, and enough gas so there's no engine braking before the clutch disengages. I think I get it just right about 98% of the time, without thinking about it at all.

[ff]

Originally Posted by Plaz

I try to time it just right, so the revs drop just as the clutch disengages. It's a balancing act between avoiding an increase in revs as a result of too much gas on the unloaded drivetrain, and enough gas so there's no engine braking before the clutch disengages.

That sounds about right. It happens so quickly and so second-nature, that I'd have to really pay attention the next time I'm in the car to really figure out where the gas and clutch pedals are at any given moment.

[FC]

I think my left foot has been slightly quiker than my right foot in the past. So I am trying to teach myself to be just a fraction of a second quiker with my right foot and shifting seems a lot better now. But there is still no engine braking at all. The benefit is that I now don't feel as though the rev hang for so long.

We're talking about tiny amounts of time here. Well, you know what I mean.

[rumatt]

Lifting is for pussies.

[ff]

Originally Posted by rumatt

Lifting is for pussies.

...and people that don't want to go through clutches every 10,000 miles.

[Plaz]

Originally Posted by rumatt

Lifting is for pussies.

Using the clutch at all is for pussies!