Eeek! We must rectify this immediately!
Yeah, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Yup! Don’t pop it into neutral too early though – you’ll waste gas (since the engine will have to use gas to keep from stalling). Again, learn how far you can go without making the engine angry – don’t downshift into first though when approaching a stop. As Duke has mentioned (maybe in another thread), usually any gear other than overdrive will be fine. For example, let’s say I’m coming off a highway onto a stoplight: I would downshift to fourth, then ride out fourth as long as possible before popping it into neutral.
Generally speaking, you don’t want to shift gears mid-corner (I think that’s what you’re doing, if I’m following correctly), especially if you’re not heel-and-toeing – upsetting the chassis mid-corner can be bad news if you’re going fast or there’s ice or something. I mean, you’re probably never going to have any troubles because of it, but it’s a habit that’s good to break.
It makes everyday driving so much smoother. When I'm just cruising around and I brake for a turn and downshift a small blip of the throttle and theres no sudden lunge forward, which is more comfortable for passengers (especially girls who don't understand why the car has 3 pedals to begin with) and braking more stable. Not to mention the wear your saving on drivetrain components when done correctly. When I start autocrossing in the spring i'll give heel toeing a try on the course, and see if it keeps my car more stable during braking or even lowers my time.
Double-clutch, upshifting:
Yes, but don’t get hung up on the neutral part too much (as in, you don’t have to wait until you’re solidly into neutral before you blip the throttle – you can do it anytime the clutch is disengaged).
Well, that’s not exactly good for your clutch in the first place.
Yes. Though I’m not sure why that’s so amazing.
It’s very intuitive – if it’s in gear, the momentum of the car is turning the axle, thus turning the engine, so no gas needs to be supplied to the engine. When it’s rolling in neutral, the axle isn’t connect at all to the engine, so the engine needs to use a little bit of gas to keep itself moving (“idling” if you want to think of it that way) so that it doesn’t stall.
Double-clutch, upshifting:
1. Put clutch in.
2. Shift into neutral.
3. Release clutch.
4. Let revs fall until theyll match the next gear.
5. Put clutch in.
6. Shift into appropriate gear.
7. Release clutch.
Double-clutching for downshifting is the same, except on step #4, you would blip the throttle to bring the revs up to match the next gear.
Yes, but dont get hung up on the neutral part too much (as in, you dont have to wait until youre solidly into neutral before you blip the throttle you can do it anytime the clutch is disengaged).
Well, thats not exactly good for your clutch in the first place.
Your car mightve felt like it was going up and down because there was probably a backwards load transfer, which would then cause your front springs to expand and push you up slightly. I dont really know too much about that stuff though, so someone better-qualified should probably answer that.
Yes. Though Im not sure why thats so amazing.
This one I can't agree with at all, but I do know its commonly taught (and then often un-taught during advanced driving courses). A car only goes into neutral when changing gear, immediately before you stop or when you are stationary (if the situation warrants it). Any time a car is in neutral the driver is not in full control of all the cars functions, principally the ability to accelerate if required.
Heel and Toe has nothing to do with power, its just as suitable for lower powered vehicles, as its about maintaining control and balance over both the drive-train and the car itself. Done well it results in a much smoother ride in which downshifts are hardly felt by the passengers in normal road driving, and that the car is not unbalanced when driving on the track.
Its seems ok, but assuming that you are trying to slow down here, the braking phase seems to be missing.
That pretty much sums it up (and yes I always rev match/heel & toe downshifts), its normally in the last few feet that I would engage the clutch, leaving it that late does depend on the car and driver, it does take a bit of practice.
Not partway, that would result in quite massive clutch wear and after a while a rather strong smell (mmmmmm burning clutch). What I meant was I will hold the clutch in all the way and (if required) use the foot brake to hold the car in place. If the duration I am going to be stopped for is more than 5 seconds or so I would put the car in neutral.
To a degree we are, in that I will stop with the car in gear for short periods of time, but I don't pay for work done on my car (the company do). That said I have done this for over 84,000 miles in my Celica and never had a single problem with the clutch or any other part of the drivetrain.
I can pretty much tell you that unless you have an extremely tight gear ratio, heel-toe downshifts, or downshifts in general are not needed on autocrosses.
But everything else you mentioned is quite right.
That and the fact that you don't usually get to much fast then 40mph in AutoX and most cars can do that in second gear.
Off topic: If there isn't room to get an SS, AS, BS or FS car up to ~60, then the course or venue is too tight
My 330i was bouncing off the rev limiter in 2nd at the last one I went to in E-town. That's 68 mph.
On topic: Heel-toe can be useful at an autocross in certain situations like when negotiating a 'turnaround' cone: One cone on in the middle of nowhere you must go out, drive around it and come back to the rest of the course. Most cars need 1st for that.
M
