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Clutchless shifting?

AgaBoogaBoo

AgaBoogaBoo

Lifer
I heard about this on another forum and it got me really interested. They said it's possible with very careful rev matching and perfection, but didn't say how.

How is this possible and if it is, how do you do it?
 
I've done it before but it's pretty difficult to do it smoothly. When you rev up high enough you can just slide the shifter out of a gear without the applying too much pressure. Once that's done that, there's a certain RPM that you can just drop the shifter into the next or previous gear without ever pressing the clutch. I'm not too sure of the mechanics of how it works though, I'm sure someone will explain it though.
 
On a bike, you preload the shifter with your foot, then blip the throttle. Never tried it in a car. I don't do it riding on the street for that matter. I'm not in that much of a hurry.
 
I had to powershift for about a week when my clutch went out in my truck, never tried before till then and thank god for that idiot light that I never followed when my clutch was working.
 
Definitely possible... You just have to match the rpm of your engine to the speed you are travelling...

Say for example, your engine normally runs at 3000rpm at 60mph in 3rd gear... When you are travelling at 60mph, rev your engine to 3000rpm, and you will be able to slip into 3rd gear without depressing the clutch...

Do this at your own risk though!
 
Originally posted by: sward666
On a bike, you preload the shifter with your foot, then blip the throttle. Never tried it in a car. I don't do it riding on the street for that matter. I'm not in that much of a hurry.
Click to expand...

You don't have to be driving fast to do it (in a car anyways), although when downshifting you have to give it some gas. I mostly practiced it between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd; I never tried it going too fast for fear of screwing up the tranny. Of course, some douche ran a stop sign 3 months later and ran into me, totaling the car so it didn't make much difference in the end 🙁

<-- rides the bus now
 
You don't have to be riding fast to do it either, but the main reason for doing is to reduce shift time. Makes a difference on the track; on the way to work, not so much.
 
i've done it before, it is quite tough. don't do it from 1-2, or 2-3.

3-4 or 4-5 works. just rev down a little bit and when there is no strain on teh actual gear system (i.e. engine is really idling) switch the gear, have ot put a little bit of force into it
 
my mom used to do it all the time (can't remember when she didn't do it really) in her prelude. too bad she drives an automatic now. most truck (read: semis/18 wheelers) drivers don't use the clutch whenever possible so that it will last longer.
 
I've done it on a motorcycle before, pretty much just let off the throttle, clicked up with my toe and shifted, and twisted the throttle. Just like regular shifting, minus th clutch. It seemed a little quicker than regular shifting, but I dont do it on a regular basis, I imagine its not great for the transmission.

I heard that tractor trailer drivers shift most of the time w/o the clutch to save clutch wear. Anyone know about it?
 
Originally posted by: BCYL
Definitely possible... You just have to match the rpm of your engine to the speed you are travelling...

Say for example, your engine normally runs at 3000rpm at 60mph in 3rd gear... When you are travelling at 60mph, rev your engine to 3000rpm, and you will be able to slip into 3rd gear without depressing the clutch...

Do this at your own risk though!
Click to expand...

How do you rev it up there without using clutch? As in, let's say I want to do it from 2nd to 3rd gear, give me an example or something for it.
 
Originally posted by: AgaBooga
Originally posted by: BCYL
Definitely possible... You just have to match the rpm of your engine to the speed you are travelling...

Say for example, your engine normally runs at 3000rpm at 60mph in 3rd gear... When you are travelling at 60mph, rev your engine to 3000rpm, and you will be able to slip into 3rd gear without depressing the clutch...

Do this at your own risk though!
Click to expand...

How do you rev it up there without using clutch? As in, let's say I want to do it from 2nd to 3rd gear, give me an example or something for it.
Click to expand...

Lets say you are in second so the shifter is down. when you pull the shifter into the middle it is in neutral, rev to the appropriate rpm then shove it up into third. Neutral is the window of adjusting your rpm's
 
It's ok in motorcycles because of the much smaller inertial mass, but in cars it's murder on your synchros and can seriously damage your transmission if done improperly.
The clutch is there for a reason.
 
Originally posted by: Xionide
Originally posted by: AgaBooga
Originally posted by: BCYL
Definitely possible... You just have to match the rpm of your engine to the speed you are travelling...

Say for example, your engine normally runs at 3000rpm at 60mph in 3rd gear... When you are travelling at 60mph, rev your engine to 3000rpm, and you will be able to slip into 3rd gear without depressing the clutch...

Do this at your own risk though!
Click to expand...

How do you rev it up there without using clutch? As in, let's say I want to do it from 2nd to 3rd gear, give me an example or something for it.
Click to expand...

Lets say you are in second so the shifter is down. when you pull the shifter into the middle it is in neutral, rev to the appropriate rpm then shove it up into third. Neutral is the window of adjusting your rpm's
Click to expand...

do I need to use the clutch to bring it out of second?
 
Originally posted by: AgaBooga
Originally posted by: Xionide
Originally posted by: AgaBooga
Originally posted by: BCYL
Definitely possible... You just have to match the rpm of your engine to the speed you are travelling...

Say for example, your engine normally runs at 3000rpm at 60mph in 3rd gear... When you are travelling at 60mph, rev your engine to 3000rpm, and you will be able to slip into 3rd gear without depressing the clutch...

Do this at your own risk though!
Click to expand...

How do you rev it up there without using clutch? As in, let's say I want to do it from 2nd to 3rd gear, give me an example or something for it.
Click to expand...

Lets say you are in second so the shifter is down. when you pull the shifter into the middle it is in neutral, rev to the appropriate rpm then shove it up into third. Neutral is the window of adjusting your rpm's
Click to expand...

do I need to use the clutch to bring it out of second?
Click to expand...

No. throttle...off throttle while moving to neutral...some foot pressure on throttle to adjust RPMs to correct speed...slide into third...full on throttle now.

Not recommended. Yes you can do it. Should you? Hell no. Bikes is one thing...cars have a lot more mass.
 
Originally posted by: hdeck
my mom used to do it all the time (can't remember when she didn't do it really) in her prelude. too bad she drives an automatic now. most truck (read: semis/18 wheelers) drivers don't use the clutch whenever possible so that it will last longer.
Click to expand...

Your mom drives semis?! That's awesome. 😀 My mom can barely drive a SUV. 😛
 
Heh.. I did that in my old Mustang when the clutch cable snapped once. The only hard part was what to do when you reached a stoplight. The answer was to kill the engine, put it into first gear, and use the starter motor to get the car rolling. Once rolling, you match rpm and transmission speed, and away you go. You could downshift by blipping the throttle to match rpms in the opposite direction.
 
been doing it for years. You must know your car well to pull this off. My 69 Chevelle SS 396 was really easy to do this with.
 
With my CRX, it is VERY VERY EASY to power shift up.

I went all the way to 5th gear with no problems the first try. It just slides right in.

Shifting down is another matter entirely... I still don't know how to do it 😕
 
Originally posted by: AgaBooga
Originally posted by: BCYL
Definitely possible... You just have to match the rpm of your engine to the speed you are travelling...

Say for example, your engine normally runs at 3000rpm at 60mph in 3rd gear... When you are travelling at 60mph, rev your engine to 3000rpm, and you will be able to slip into 3rd gear without depressing the clutch...

Do this at your own risk though!
Click to expand...

How do you rev it up there without using clutch? As in, let's say I want to do it from 2nd to 3rd gear, give me an example or something for it.
Click to expand...

Push the stick into neutral, rev it up, push it into 3rd.
 
Originally posted by: Astaroth33
Heh.. I did that in my old Mustang when the clutch cable snapped once. The only hard part was what to do when you reached a stoplight. The answer was to kill the engine, put it into first gear, and use the starter motor to get the car rolling. Once rolling, you match rpm and transmission speed, and away you go. You could downshift by blipping the throttle to match rpms in the opposite direction.
Click to expand...
That's hardcore!
 
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