Hi and thanks for tuning in! Our RUclips channel was recently switched to a brand account from a personal one and some past comments were lost as a result. Please ask any questions you have and we’ll get to them as quickly as possible, thanks again for watching and please don’t forget to hit like, subscribe, and enjoy!
I see a lot of people teaching to blip once in gear, rather than in neutral before you put in gear, as you do here. Can you explain the correct technique, or if there is any difference to the timing of clutch release and whether or not being in gear or in neutral makes any difference during the blip. I'm used to double de-clutching and realise most new cars have synchro box's to negate this, but I'm still unclear what is technically correct for heel/toe and which I should practice? Thanks!
I raced two weeks ago at Tour De Forest. On the second day of the rally I started to feel more comfortable and decided to try incorporating left foot braking into my driving style and it seemed to help a lot. Its not as bad clutchless shifting as I thought it was going to be. I had never thought of using it in a racing situation until I saw this video and the Rally Driving Explained video. Thank you so much for putting out great content time after time again!
"You don't need to go through every gear..." Thank you. For as long as I've driven standards, I've been going up first, up second, skipping third and going straight into fourth on my way to work. I wasn't sure if that was bad for any reason.
@@pavelkryl457 First, I can comment whenever I want. Proof: I did it. Second, three people in a day think it like I do (on a reply) versus 17 in a year on a main comment... If I were You, I would start "asking myself some questions"... 🤔
You can easily skip even from first to fifth and vice versa, it does not make a difference in a manual transmission. Manual transmission just swaps cogs around so as long as you rev match you can select whatever gear you want (except reverse from any other gear, obviously). Only thing you have to be aware of is that you can overrev your engine if you are downshifting "too much" or lug your engine (even stop it really) if you upshift too much without sufficient engine revs.
I don't know how you can drive in those boots, much less precisely heel-toe. I get in a car without my driving shoes and I can't tell what my feet are doing.
I wore different shoes to work today (more rugged hiking shoes instead of my usual boat shoes), and it felt like I was wearing snow shoes. I took my shoes off for the drive home and it was fantastic. I'm going to start driving in just socks more often.
You show an important difference from the dumb-guy rev matching with the clutch in which smoothes the downshift but neglects the input shaft speedup needed to care for the synchros which your clutchless technique accomplishes. This old-time heel-and-toe guy will be practicing this along with your left-foot braking techniques. Thanks.
Matheus Wohl Heel-and-toe implies double clutching on a down shift...to me, anyway. The common ground with clutchless down shifting and double clutching down shifting (while braking or not) is that the clutch is engaged so the blip speeds the input shaft during rev matching. I learned to drive double clutching on all gear changes, up and down.
Heel-and-toe per se should be pretty much just a fancy name for rev matching while braking, but well, when it comes to shifting if you already know how to double clutch while downshifting there shouldn't be much left to learn because all the other techniques are simplifications of that(as far as my knowledge goes, at least). Anyway, just trying to help.
@@timwintersoncntr in my bmw i don’t really need to match the input shaft especially when i’m driving hard because things are so light and there’s hardly any inertia. however, i have noticed that technique is rather hard in my f250 so i should definitely just start double clutching and see if i can smooth things out.
I never even tried to do it heel-toe. To me it just seems impossible to keep a constant brake pressure while moving the heel around the pedals. The ankle twist is just so much practical, and i would feel like it's also faster
Yess me 2.. I always just step inbetween the pedals and use the shoes edge for gas or brake.. But ive mooved on to clutchless. Its faster because i can rotate the car better and get on the gas faster with leftfootbraking
If you don't wait for the gate to open up with clutchless shifting, and just hold the stick against it, it puts a lot more wear on the synchros. You won't notice it right away, but a part that should last years might only last a season or two.
My typical downshift is: press the clutch, shift neutral, release the clutch while touching the accelerator, press the clutch, shift in and release the clutch. In other words rev matching and double clutching. I drive a 2.5 L Turbo Diesel Hyundai Galloper 2 door. Some synchronizers (noticeable on 3rd gear) are damaged. Double clutching was a great solution for me. Keep in mind I only double clutch when shifting rapidly, when I do it slowly the sycromesh unit is able to catch up and match the gearbox speed.
Great video, entertaining and informative. idea for another video could be about explaining how to weight transfer properly on loose surfaces for different types of corners
just came back to comment on this ,Yes same thing I can't/not comfortable lifting my foot and doing the rev matching ,I find the ankle roll is much better and comfortable as you said ,keep them videos coming seriously helps me a LOT!
as he said, use the clutch on upshifts because its faster than waiting for the revs to fall for matched clutchless shift. you always want to use the clutch shifting up in performance driving
That's a race car though and the gearbox in that is nothing like a road car look up "dog box transmission" on google and you'll find multiple pages explaining the differences.
Mika_012397 I know it's a racing box but the technique is still the same using the left foot to brake and match the revs with the transmission in neutral.
And NASCAR drivers don't give shit about how much damage they're doing to the car (as long as it lasts the whole race) because they know it's getting completely rebuilt for the next race.
jfbeam that's how the transmission's are designed you don't have to use the clutch once you're moving a lot of taking series that still use manuals are like that.
One of the first things I had learned when I started driving was clutchless shifting. "One day, you'll need to know this." I disregarded that, but when you burn your clutch out on a gravel road and need to get home to put a new one in? Yeah, you'll need it.
Mostly you use clutch kick when you have made mistake in corner. As example went too wide in corner & you are off the road, you are in 2nd gear and rpm is falling down. Kick it & revs go up
Here's my Cluch-kick tutorial. 1) Start to enter the corner 2) Kick the clutch 3) Hold on for dear life I kid a bit, but honestly there's nothing to it. Go out to an empty parking lot, drive around in a circle in, say, second gear at, say, 4000 RPM, then clutch-in-clutch-out as fast as you can. The ass will break loose...and that's it. (obv only works with MT and RWD...wait, can you clutch kick an AWD? Lol, I have no idea)
Cool video! Two questions: 1) Prevailing knowledge (for whatever it's worth) seems to claim that clutchless shifting will kill your synchros. Is this a wives' tale (or perhaps attributed to older technology), or is it really something you guys would consider relatively safe over many miles and many shifts? 2) Rev-matching is great for maintaining the stability of the car, no doubt, and if you rev-match, you can shift without the clutch...is there ever a scenario where it makes sense to clutch-shift without matching the revs?
Kungfujoe1110 maybe it's ok for them to do clutchless shifting in rally because those cars are being fixed and serviced after every event, I don't know, someone more knowledgeable will answer 😃
I get that...like, yeah, you service cars in any racing discipline, but the level of service usually depends on the level of the discipline. Pro guys toss engines/trannys/etc, grassroots guys typically do a lot less than that. Seeing as how these videos often take the tone of more of a grassroots focus...If they said "Yeah, you're gonna have to swap brake pads", sure, that makes sense - swapping synchros is a helluva lot more involved than that. Servicing a transmission is what I would typically consider pretty heavy-duty service.
Daily driving I wouldn't clutchless shift, and I always try to rev match early and engine break more. This causes less wear on breaks, synchros and breaks.
😆 @ no clutch... I had a 99 sentra with a bad clutch i drove for a week... Just push on 1st and car would slowly accelerate and eventually drop into 1st.. So glad that is over 😆 great show!
i used to suck at heel & toe and couldn't understand how people were able to do it so smoothly but after lots of practice it is not buttery smooth... now im practicing left foot braking, trail braking & just overall braking for faster lines
Just make sure you dont force it in the gear then you should be ok. The stick should drop into the gear with very little guidance, if you're pushing it in. STOP immediately.
thats how you drive a semi truck. you use clutch just for start and then everything is clutchless. on cdl exam tho, they require you to double clutch - 2nd gear, clutch, neutral, clutch with 3rd gear
Think the only difference between those gearboxes are how the tooth are shaped of the gears. The clutchless shifting I think has to do with the synchromesh rings have to be the same speed and will be able to change gear.
Depends on whether you have spur or helical gears. Helical gears will incur significant damage over a sustained period of clutchless shifting. They synchros we’re not designed to deal with that.
I learned clutchless shifting in a 1992 s10 ive learned its easier for me to left foot brake and right foot on the throttle. I can go up and down all 5 gears no problems. I learned cause I told my boss (ex truck driver) that I had bad synchros he told me to not use the clutch and ever since that day it hasn't grinded gears but it does take longer to shift
I never knew you could shift without the clutch.. I don't really want to practice it though because I'll probably end up destroying my gears by grinding them.
Question from a novice driver here: When you shift without the clutch are you using the rev counter or listening to the engine or both to find the window to slot into gear? Also how would you recommend someone practice finding the window in their own car?
I personally listen to the engine mainly but just do whatever is most natural I guess. And as long as you don’t try to just jam it into gear in you won’t cause any damage to the transmission.
thanks wyatt great video keep um comin haha thats weird cause i was just driving around practicing this the other day and i was very curious about it and you answered my food for thought when you said you wouldnt shift up that way because the clutch is quicker but down shifting that way can definetly have its advantages before i knew how to heel and toe shift the whole concept of shifting down without the clutch was bad i really almost couldnt do it but it would actually be better then when i would down shift without the blip because you have to be patient for the gear to fall in place but still better and easier with the little blip of the throttle
Cool video! On shifting without the clutch - you said this vehicle has a fragile transmission - is it still stock to the vehicle? Or do you only recommend this with vehicles with better than stock clutches?
With the way the gears are cut in most production style transmissions this will tear them up over time. The gears are cut at an angle. However, there are transmissions where this is perfectly fine and the gears are cut straight ie semi truck transmissions and racing transmissions.
Hey, do your syncros wear with the clutchless shifting? I love the ease and smoothness of shifting with this technique, and I have always done it in my cars (no rally car yet, unfortunately)...but not long ago I got scolded by a different youtube "racing driver"...he said I lacked mechanical empathy for doing this...but admitted this technique is possible with a dogbox trans. I always thought I was working in sync with the car, and the only reason I got the stage 1 tune (w/ left foot braking) was so I could use this technique reliably! But this other guy got me worried about possibly doing damage to my shiny mk7 GTI, so I have been avoiding this technique for awhile now.
You can "feel" the wear on the synchros through your hand, by how hard you push the lever / stick to engage the next gear. If you can achieve it smoothly with the lightest possible force and shortest possible contact duration (which implies patience, and an overall slower shift), then the chances are you're wearing the synchros less than with "normal" (or especially rushed) clutched changes. In any case, you still have the inertia of the gearbox itself to overcome in order to change its rotational speeds (change gear), which is what the synchros are actually for. The bonus of clutchless changes is less clutch wear, on both friction material / flywheel and the actuation mechanism.
If your rev-matching (engine speed) is very close to the mpg (road speed) WITH the intended gear you want to use--little to no wear. Practice this: - Note mph and rpm before you shift from 3-to-4. Pick an rpm like 3000. - Shift 3-to-4. - Maintain same mph (helps to use a flat road at first.) - Push 4-to-neutral. * Rev match to 3000rpm. - Push neutral-to-3. If you matched your road speed (mpg) from 4-neutral-3, to that first rpm...the shift will go in with no grinding and with barely any effort. Use the pause in neutral until you get more precise with the throttle
@@deancoronado4898 I actually do this a lot, which is why I asked. I haven't had any problems so far. I tuned my brand new GTI about a month after I bought it, because the tune allows left foot braking! I didn't need more HPs, but now that I have them, I'm not giving them up!
I've got 6 years behind the wheel of a manual semi-truck, unsynchronized Eaton Fuller transmissions, and I was always told that synchro manuals couldn't be floated without damaging them. Curious to know how true this is.
first of all... you do great videos with very useful info;that can be by a every day driver. on that clutchless technique, I already and it works, but on other hand on those transmissions that have hydraulic operated clutch, it isn't easy to apply that clutchless technique. só what I'm doing wrong?
Why does this have to be a VS? I use both for different situations and they are both useful. Heck when i get lazy and can't be bothered to move my foot to the clutch i use them both together.
The world needs more people like you Andrew! The internet thrives on conflict, so the VS videos get a lot more traffic than if we did "Use common sense and a handful of different techniques as appropriate for the situation" but that's exactly the right answer.
Mate... can I do clutchless shifting in an old non-racer Vauxhall Astra Mk4 without break it? I believe that it could help me driving though slipping days, cause I could focus on left-footing brake all the time, for my own safety. Cheers!
We don't have any Vauxhalls over here on the other side of the pond, but yes if you're nice and easy doing it you should be just fine. We usually recommend learning clutchess shifting in a beater car, a rental, your neighbor's car... Once you get good at it it's easy but there's usually some grinding gears in the early days.
I use heel and toe technique in everyday use, and I also use the clutch, It all started with an worn transmission with bad syncros... Made my life a lot easier! Now that's how I downshift I every car, to save the syncros in a good transmission.. And it also engages the gears smoother. I find that in some cars, the gas pedal is much lower than the break pedal making this very difficult and almost impossible! Damm manufacturers! It is also possible, by pressing the brake, and then let go and press the gas reving it to match the gear speed. but it's not that practical! Toyota what are you thinking?
t04844 exactly my problem!! My car has the gas pedal a good 4cm further than the brake pedal, and there's also just no room to turn the right foot sideways for heel and toe. When braking and downshifting I either let go of the brake, blip the throttle and very quickly get on the brake again (if I'm not braking too hard or that would upset the balance of the car) or I have to push the clutch in (I can't change gears and I can't leave it in gear or the car stalls) and wait until I'm done braking to blip the throttle and downshift. I can have really smooth and fast downshifts that way, but I'm aching for an opportunity to drive cars that allow for proper heel and toe cause I want to practice that correctly
Trauma Bear no, you don’t need to have it in neutral. You CAN rev match with the clutch in. The problem is that the clutch is gripping the engine gear, so when you rev, not only is the engine fighting the clutch, you’re also burning your clutch to death by making it hold onto an engine gear that’s spinning faster than necessary. That’s why it’s better to put it into neutral, release the clutch, blip the throttle then put it back into gear Hope my answer wasn’t 2 years too late 😂
So Team O Neil, on an older car like BMW E30, I want to preserve the longevity of the transmission and synchro. Should I shift with or without the clutch?
Not Team O Neil, but as long as you don't grind gears when you do clutchless shifts, then there should be no problem to do so. Just keep in mind that you will probably grind a few gears until you get the hang of it. :)
Use the clutch always. Could even double-clutch it on downshifts if you're anal about it, many people do in vintage racing to preserve the transmission on old cars.
longevity aside - you lose so much time and shift your focus off the road for waaaay too long doing those rev matching shifts and even then you're not guaranteed to be in the gear when you actually need it, it is only useful when there is a clutch problem on the car, otherwise - do not ever use that technique, it's a waste - every time you wait for rev matching - you cannot break hard enough, having a gear engaged and motor spinning helps controlling traction, especially when it is needed the most - on very loose surfaces with little grip, and upshifting you have to lift waaay too long for the technique to be useful, you could clutch shift in half the time, never miss a gear and be on the throttle sooner but all this is in a context of synchro gearbox, if you use a dogbox, then rev matching and bump on a clutch will prolong the life of the dogs a great deal - but rev matching there is not essential to the shift, it simply helps, with a dogbox in good condition you can shift up and down with no clutch or throttle-bump or lift at all - if you're battling for highest step on the podium or a step at all - but it comes at a price of few thousand units of your currency - dog gear sets are not exactly cheap electronically assisted (sequential or not) single clutch dog geared boxes are probably out of the scope of this conversation, so I'll stop here
Hey what about downshifting without heel and toe? Before someone tries to trash me for the question please see gilles panizi driving the lan evo on touge or rally driver vs racing driver. Guy never did heel and toe
@UK Racer yes but I believe this guy I mentioned before, gilles panizi, he uses the momentum and slipping from the downshifting itself for the turn-in.
What constitutes a throttle blip? When you downshift do you blip it when you are in neutral or before or after? It happens so fast I kinda need it written out.
the clutch pedal will be depressed, so it doesn't matter where the gearstick is when you blip. If the clutch is not depressed, then you would need to blip while the stick is in neutral.
It depends. Your blip does two things: (1) it raises the rpms so the synchros have less work to do [neutral], and (2) it raises the engine rpms to roughly where it needs to be once the clutch is engaged [after]. (otherwise the wheels can skid as they have to drag the engine up to speed.) Timed correctly, your blip covers both cases. (Disclaimer: I don't heel-toe - on pavement - but many instructors have complemented my "HT" without knowing I'm not doing it at all. After a "get back in, watch my feet" session, it becomes "damn! you're really smooth on the clutch-brake transition". When I start screwing that up, I know I'm too tired to be driving. I also sequential down-shift if I've gone to 5th; it reinforces the fact of having gone to 5th, which we rarely do.)
With clutch: Clutch down (disengage) -> downshift / blip throttle -> clutch up (engage) Clutchless: Let go throttle -> shift to neutral -> blip throttle -> downshift to desired gear
scruffy Clutch in -> blip while downshifting -> disengage clutch. takes some practice, but it becomes second nature when getting off highways rather quickly
I discovered clutchless shifting while leftfoot braking i to a turn so hard that i couldbt moove over to the clutch anymore 😂 result was a stunned myself and an intakt transmisson. Now i only use the cluch for starting a stage.. Then its all 2 foot work
Ok, so whenever I "heel toe" (I actually roll my foot too, like in the video), I also pop the clutch out for a split second when I blip the throttle. It's been so long (I'm old) that I don't remember why I started doing it that way, but maybe it's not necessary?
Paul Lindenfelser I would think you're slightly burning out your clutch while you blip the throttle... you blip to get the gears to get to around the same speed, I keep my foot on the clutch till I want to get into the lower gear, after the rev match
If it's burning up the clutch it's taking a long time to do it. 140k miles on my last one. Anyway, I did some research and it's a thing. Google "double clutching". The Wikipedia entry has a short blurb about double clutching during heel-toe. Still not sure if it's necessary, but after all these years, muscle memory has taken over, so I'd probably screw up all my shifts if I tried to change now.
When you're clutch-out and blipping the throttle, you're raising the speed of the countershaft in the transmission which is normally left out of the process when you do not double clutch. Without double clutching, your synchro rings help match the shaft speeds to get the gears to mesh. With double clutching, you're doing that yourself and you'll notice that the gear selector slots more effortlessly when you match it just right. In a car without synchros at all, your method is how it MUST be done or your gear selector won't slot into place. In a car with synchros, this step isn't necessary but you could save wear on the synchros by doing it properly.
+martin Yes, but its rather pointless unless its a modern gearbox. Nevertheless its always better to blip in neutral as it doesn't strain the synchromesh rings.
Oh man I would love trying the clutchless shifting technique on my car because its accelerator pedal is further away from me compared to the brake pedal, so its nearly imposible for me to do heel and toe, but Im too scared to fuck the transmission up. Ive only managed to heel and toe once while braking hard enough to the point of amost leveling both pedals, being able to reach them at the same time, which renders it unusable while driving with a civilized manner, so Im limited to do simple rev matching on my commutes :'(
Team O'Neil Rally School Well I armed myself with courage and tryed the clutchless shifting aaaand... its surprisingly satisfying. The gear stick wont go in unless the revs are the right ones and, when done correctly, its super smooth 😌
Hi and thanks for tuning in! Our RUclips channel was recently switched to a brand account from a personal one and some past comments were lost as a result. Please ask any questions you have and we’ll get to them as quickly as possible, thanks again for watching and please don’t forget to hit like, subscribe, and enjoy!
Can you guys do a video on setting up a budget friendly car like this Impreza? Covering all the basics i.e suspension and alignment, wheel/tire, etc.
I see a lot of people teaching to blip once in gear, rather than in neutral before you put in gear, as you do here. Can you explain the correct technique, or if there is any difference to the timing of clutch release and whether or not being in gear or in neutral makes any difference during the blip. I'm used to double de-clutching and realise most new cars have synchro box's to negate this, but I'm still unclear what is technically correct for heel/toe and which I should practice? Thanks!
dude casually teaching heel toe on a icy snow course is legendary
They have special tyres that allow allot of traction in snow
In thick hiking boots, no less.
I guarantee he's driven real rally courses in worse weather than this
38 people with broken transmissions disliked
Good ol 5sp
50 now ^^
Hahahahaha
I had no idea about no clutch shifting. Thats insane! I wanna try it but dont want to mess my transmission up
1:54 "We are only doing 55" yeah on a snowy hill sounds easy eh?
HAHAAHAH
I learned the no clutch shift with my VW thing that liked to break clutch cables. A useful skill if you like older cars with mechanical quirks.
I raced two weeks ago at Tour De Forest. On the second day of the rally I started to feel more comfortable and decided to try incorporating left foot braking into my driving style and it seemed to help a lot. Its not as bad clutchless shifting as I thought it was going to be. I had never thought of using it in a racing situation until I saw this video and the Rally Driving Explained video. Thank you so much for putting out great content time after time again!
"You don't need to go through every gear..."
Thank you. For as long as I've driven standards, I've been going up first, up second, skipping third and going straight into fourth on my way to work. I wasn't sure if that was bad for any reason.
Well, I think that was only for fourth to second and not vice versa...
Dude, that is a comment from a year ago. Also there is nothing wrong with gear skipping either way.
@@pavelkryl457 First, I can comment whenever I want.
Proof: I did it.
Second, three people in a day think it like I do (on a reply) versus 17 in a year on a main comment...
If I were You, I would start "asking myself some questions"... 🤔
You can easily skip even from first to fifth and vice versa, it does not make a difference in a manual transmission. Manual transmission just swaps cogs around so as long as you rev match you can select whatever gear you want (except reverse from any other gear, obviously). Only thing you have to be aware of is that you can overrev your engine if you are downshifting "too much" or lug your engine (even stop it really) if you upshift too much without sufficient engine revs.
you can also ruin your transmition and clutch but those aren't important
witch craft...
that wicked witchcraft...
Matthew Clarke Love chants
Whisper in my ear
put me in a trance
RIP Lil Peep
More like Witch Clutch!
When I mentioned downshifting with no clutch before in a comment under an other video, I got killed by others, because I don't know anything. :D
I feel for you bud
I had the near-same experience :D
@@MegaJani me tooo lmaop
I don't know how you can drive in those boots, much less precisely heel-toe. I get in a car without my driving shoes and I can't tell what my feet are doing.
jfbeam well, start with wearing normal shoes, then some thicker ones (maybe add an insole), then wear boots.
Lol, try walking around in flat sole shoes in Quebec ! Had to when I used my Miata in winter, impossible to drive that with boots on lol.
try driving french cars with steel toe welding boots, have to angle my feet to only hit one pedal
"driving shoes"
lol
I wore different shoes to work today (more rugged hiking shoes instead of my usual boat shoes), and it felt like I was wearing snow shoes. I took my shoes off for the drive home and it was fantastic. I'm going to start driving in just socks more often.
You show an important difference from the dumb-guy rev matching with the clutch in which smoothes the downshift but neglects the input shaft speedup needed to care for the synchros which your clutchless technique accomplishes. This old-time heel-and-toe guy will be practicing this along with your left-foot braking techniques. Thanks.
well, you can also double clutch while rev matching to get all the shafts' speeds correct, but it's quite a lot of footwork
Matheus Wohl Heel-and-toe implies double clutching on a down shift...to me, anyway. The common ground with clutchless down shifting and double clutching down shifting (while braking or not) is that the clutch is engaged so the blip speeds the input shaft during rev matching. I learned to drive double clutching on all gear changes, up and down.
Heel-and-toe per se should be pretty much just a fancy name for rev matching while braking, but well, when it comes to shifting if you already know how to double clutch while downshifting there shouldn't be much left to learn because all the other techniques are simplifications of that(as far as my knowledge goes, at least).
Anyway, just trying to help.
@@timwintersoncntr in my bmw i don’t really need to match the input shaft especially when i’m driving hard because things are so light and there’s hardly any inertia. however, i have noticed that technique is rather hard in my f250 so i should definitely just start double clutching and see if i can smooth things out.
YOU DON'T USE YOUR HEEL EITHER. I knew I couldn't be the only one that finds this to be really uncomfortable.
I imagine anyone with more than a size 10 shoe does heel and toe this way.
Most professional racer car drivers are like tiny horse jockey and have tiny feet. midgets weigh less.
I never even tried to do it heel-toe. To me it just seems impossible to keep a constant brake pressure while moving the heel around the pedals. The ankle twist is just so much practical, and i would feel like it's also faster
Yess me 2.. I always just step inbetween the pedals and use the shoes edge for gas or brake.. But ive mooved on to clutchless. Its faster because i can rotate the car better and get on the gas faster with leftfootbraking
If you don't wait for the gate to open up with clutchless shifting, and just hold the stick against it, it puts a lot more wear on the synchros. You won't notice it right away, but a part that should last years might only last a season or two.
You make both look very easy! Nice driving.
My typical downshift is: press the clutch, shift neutral, release the clutch while touching the accelerator, press the clutch, shift in and release the clutch.
In other words rev matching and double clutching.
I drive a 2.5 L Turbo Diesel Hyundai Galloper 2 door. Some synchronizers (noticeable on 3rd gear) are damaged. Double clutching was a great solution for me.
Keep in mind I only double clutch when shifting rapidly, when I do it slowly the sycromesh unit is able to catch up and match the gearbox speed.
It's crazy how you can hear the grip as it comes to a halt at the end.
Great video, entertaining and informative. idea for another video could be about explaining how to weight transfer properly on loose surfaces for different types of corners
that heavily depends on where the engine is located and the weight distribution to begin with
just came back to comment on this ,Yes same thing I can't/not comfortable lifting my foot and doing the rev matching ,I find the ankle roll is much better and comfortable as you said ,keep them videos coming seriously helps me a LOT!
I've always liked using clutchless shifting; just be prepared for your synchros to wear out earlier than they would otherwise.
no synchros = no problem
No doubts, the best heel toe video I ever saw
Absolutely awesome, example of perfect rev matching and clutchless shifting. This would truly make for zero clutch! Impressive work.
as he said, use the clutch on upshifts because its faster than waiting for the revs to fall for matched clutchless shift. you always want to use the clutch shifting up in performance driving
I am impressed, that stock Impreza transmission can gear shift without using clutch and breaking at the same moment :D
This is how NASCAR drivers downshift when they run their two road courses on the schedule. They showed a foot cam last year at Watkins Glen.
That's a race car though and the gearbox in that is nothing like a road car look up "dog box transmission" on google and you'll find multiple pages explaining the differences.
Mika_012397 I know it's a racing box but the technique is still the same using the left foot to brake and match the revs with the transmission in neutral.
I googled dog box and couldn't find much only speculations on forums. A link to a reputable source would be appreciated.
And NASCAR drivers don't give shit about how much damage they're doing to the car (as long as it lasts the whole race) because they know it's getting completely rebuilt for the next race.
jfbeam that's how the transmission's are designed you don't have to use the clutch once you're moving a lot of taking series that still use manuals are like that.
One of the first things I had learned when I started driving was clutchless shifting. "One day, you'll need to know this." I disregarded that, but when you burn your clutch out on a gravel road and need to get home to put a new one in? Yeah, you'll need it.
Do a video on Clutch kicking tutorial on a corner
Mostly you use clutch kick when you have made mistake in corner. As example went too wide in corner & you are off the road, you are in 2nd gear and rpm is falling down. Kick it & revs go up
Here's my Cluch-kick tutorial.
1) Start to enter the corner
2) Kick the clutch
3) Hold on for dear life
I kid a bit, but honestly there's nothing to it. Go out to an empty parking lot, drive around in a circle in, say, second gear at, say, 4000 RPM, then clutch-in-clutch-out as fast as you can. The ass will break loose...and that's it. (obv only works with MT and RWD...wait, can you clutch kick an AWD? Lol, I have no idea)
WREX you can clutch kick an awd, but if said awd is an older Subaru 5mt like used in the video, you'll likely grenade your transmission.
you dont clutch kick fast, you clutch in and hold it in until your revs are more suitable for the situation.
clutch kicking doesnt need a tutorial all you do is kick the clutch pedal
Cool video! Two questions:
1) Prevailing knowledge (for whatever it's worth) seems to claim that clutchless shifting will kill your synchros. Is this a wives' tale (or perhaps attributed to older technology), or is it really something you guys would consider relatively safe over many miles and many shifts?
2) Rev-matching is great for maintaining the stability of the car, no doubt, and if you rev-match, you can shift without the clutch...is there ever a scenario where it makes sense to clutch-shift without matching the revs?
Kungfujoe1110 maybe it's ok for them to do clutchless shifting in rally because those cars are being fixed and serviced after every event, I don't know, someone more knowledgeable will answer 😃
I get that...like, yeah, you service cars in any racing discipline, but the level of service usually depends on the level of the discipline. Pro guys toss engines/trannys/etc, grassroots guys typically do a lot less than that. Seeing as how these videos often take the tone of more of a grassroots focus...If they said "Yeah, you're gonna have to swap brake pads", sure, that makes sense - swapping synchros is a helluva lot more involved than that. Servicing a transmission is what I would typically consider pretty heavy-duty service.
OH! It does. I don't build our transmissions, so I've been ordered to never do that.
Daily driving I wouldn't clutchless shift, and I always try to rev match early and engine break more. This causes less wear on breaks, synchros and breaks.
The engine is a lot more expensive than a set of brakes. I'm just sayin'.
bullshitless videos are becoming more and more rare on youtube, Thanks!
Another great video that's taught me a new technique to try
this was awesome i never even thought of downshifting without a clutch...
😆 @ no clutch... I had a 99 sentra with a bad clutch i drove for a week... Just push on 1st and car would slowly accelerate and eventually drop into 1st.. So glad that is over 😆 great show!
i used to suck at heel & toe and couldn't understand how people were able to do it so smoothly but after lots of practice it is not buttery smooth... now im practicing left foot braking, trail braking & just overall braking for faster lines
Wouldn't clutchless shifting be really bad for your synchros if you weren't perfect at it?
How did u mount the camera for the heel and toe shot?
but does that also work with usual street cars' transmissions or only with racing cars' transmissions?
they are basically driving a stickered-up street car. just know that clutchless shifting can break things if you do it too wrong.
Just make sure you dont force it in the gear then you should be ok. The stick should drop into the gear with very little guidance, if you're pushing it in. STOP immediately.
thats how you drive a semi truck. you use clutch just for start and then everything is clutchless. on cdl exam tho, they require you to double clutch - 2nd gear, clutch, neutral, clutch with 3rd gear
Think the only difference between those gearboxes are how the tooth are shaped of the gears. The clutchless shifting I think has to do with the synchromesh rings have to be the same speed and will be able to change gear.
You have the greatest job in the world.
i learned my clutchless shifting while my clutch bearing went bad, useful trick and does not do any harm to gearbox if you do it the right way
Depends on whether you have spur or helical gears. Helical gears will incur significant damage over a sustained period of clutchless shifting. They synchros we’re not designed to deal with that.
I learned clutchless shifting in a 1992 s10 ive learned its easier for me to left foot brake and right foot on the throttle. I can go up and down all 5 gears no problems. I learned cause I told my boss (ex truck driver) that I had bad synchros he told me to not use the clutch and ever since that day it hasn't grinded gears but it does take longer to shift
I remember driving around like that for a couple weeks when my car clutch failed
I never knew you could shift without the clutch.. I don't really want to practice it though because I'll probably end up destroying my gears by grinding them.
wow i had no idea you could float the gears in a car i do it all the time in my rig lol
Who here has broken their clutch lever off in the morning, and still went riding all day.
Question from a novice driver here: When you shift without the clutch are you using the rev counter or listening to the engine or both to find the window to slot into gear? Also how would you recommend someone practice finding the window in their own car?
I personally listen to the engine mainly but just do whatever is most natural I guess. And as long as you don’t try to just jam it into gear in you won’t cause any damage to the transmission.
thanks wyatt great video keep um comin haha thats weird cause i was just driving around practicing this the other day and i was very curious about it and you answered my food for thought when you said you wouldnt shift up that way because the clutch is quicker but down shifting that way can definetly have its advantages before i knew how to heel and toe shift the whole concept of shifting down without the clutch was bad i really almost couldnt do it but it would actually be better then when i would down shift without the blip because you have to be patient for the gear to fall in place but still better and easier with the little blip of the throttle
Who the hell could ever give this a thumbs down??? May be some guys from horseback riding, couldn’t find the clutch or something.
Wow, this is really good, do you by chance have a school location in Miami????
The Rally School is up in New Hampshire, but Miami sounds great this time of year!
Cool video! On shifting without the clutch - you said this vehicle has a fragile transmission - is it still stock to the vehicle? Or do you only recommend this with vehicles with better than stock clutches?
ive smoothly downshifted from 5th to 3rd doing 80. i revmatched to 5000 rpms and it shifted flawlessly
With the way the gears are cut in most production style transmissions this will tear them up over time. The gears are cut at an angle. However, there are transmissions where this is perfectly fine and the gears are cut straight ie semi truck transmissions and racing transmissions.
Pretty informative, awesome vid!
so while driving i just can skip touching the clutch and just slow shifting??? damn thats nice to know
I love your subarus holy moly
Hey, do your syncros wear with the clutchless shifting? I love the ease and smoothness of shifting with this technique, and I have always done it in my cars (no rally car yet, unfortunately)...but not long ago I got scolded by a different youtube "racing driver"...he said I lacked mechanical empathy for doing this...but admitted this technique is possible with a dogbox trans.
I always thought I was working in sync with the car, and the only reason I got the stage 1 tune (w/ left foot braking) was so I could use this technique reliably! But this other guy got me worried about possibly doing damage to my shiny mk7 GTI, so I have been avoiding this technique for awhile now.
You can "feel" the wear on the synchros through your hand, by how hard you push the lever / stick to engage the next gear.
If you can achieve it smoothly with the lightest possible force and shortest possible contact duration (which implies patience, and an overall slower shift), then the chances are you're wearing the synchros less than with "normal" (or especially rushed) clutched changes. In any case, you still have the inertia of the gearbox itself to overcome in order to change its rotational speeds (change gear), which is what the synchros are actually for.
The bonus of clutchless changes is less clutch wear, on both friction material / flywheel and the actuation mechanism.
If your rev-matching (engine speed) is very close to the mpg (road speed) WITH the intended gear you want to use--little to no wear.
Practice this:
- Note mph and rpm before you shift from 3-to-4. Pick an rpm like 3000.
- Shift 3-to-4.
- Maintain same mph (helps to use a flat road at first.)
- Push 4-to-neutral.
* Rev match to 3000rpm.
- Push neutral-to-3.
If you matched your road speed (mpg) from 4-neutral-3, to that first rpm...the shift will go in with no grinding and with barely any effort. Use the pause in neutral until you get more precise with the throttle
@@deancoronado4898 I actually do this a lot, which is why I asked. I haven't had any problems so far. I tuned my brand new GTI about a month after I bought it, because the tune allows left foot braking! I didn't need more HPs, but now that I have them, I'm not giving them up!
I've got 6 years behind the wheel of a manual semi-truck, unsynchronized Eaton Fuller transmissions, and I was always told that synchro manuals couldn't be floated without damaging them. Curious to know how true this is.
The world is a happier place when you rev match
Driving like a boss in those big clunky shoes! Well in!
Yeah, my transmission had broken 3rd and 4th gear so I shift from 2nd to 5th and then 5th to second.
Can clutchless shifting help you win a race or at least go faster? And Can it damage your transmission over the time??
first of all... you do great videos with very useful info;that can be by a every day driver. on that clutchless technique, I already and it works, but on other hand on those transmissions that have hydraulic operated clutch, it isn't easy to apply that clutchless technique. só what I'm doing wrong?
Hi am curious which is shifting is ideal for rally racing or for an aggressive street racer?
not for all cars, this will screw your transmission, dont believe me, just listen to the grind lol
If the car has syncros, it can be done. Not that it's easy or doesn't take practice, of course, since every car is different.
Jong Regudo If the car doesn't have a sync, the only way to shift is to match the driveshaft RPM to the engine one.
So...
Which one do racers use normally? And which one is fastest?
so why does nobody ever seem to use clutchless shifting?
i find it way easier than heal toe but everyone seems to prefer that
i wish i could drive on snow, it looks so fun being able to drift like that with no effort
I love heel and toe but very nice video very informative
Why does this have to be a VS? I use both for different situations and they are both useful. Heck when i get lazy and can't be bothered to move my foot to the clutch i use them both together.
The world needs more people like you Andrew! The internet thrives on conflict, so the VS videos get a lot more traffic than if we did "Use common sense and a handful of different techniques as appropriate for the situation" but that's exactly the right answer.
Mate... can I do clutchless shifting in an old non-racer Vauxhall Astra Mk4 without break it? I believe that it could help me driving though slipping days, cause I could focus on left-footing brake all the time, for my own safety.
Cheers!
We don't have any Vauxhalls over here on the other side of the pond, but yes if you're nice and easy doing it you should be just fine. We usually recommend learning clutchess shifting in a beater car, a rental, your neighbor's car... Once you get good at it it's easy but there's usually some grinding gears in the early days.
Thanks Wyatt!
great video, very interesting indeed.
I use heel and toe technique in everyday use, and I also use the clutch, It all started with an worn transmission with bad syncros...
Made my life a lot easier!
Now that's how I downshift I every car, to save the syncros in a good transmission.. And it also engages the gears smoother.
I find that in some cars, the gas pedal is much lower than the break pedal making this very difficult and almost impossible! Damm manufacturers! It is also possible, by pressing the brake, and then let go and press the gas reving it to match the gear speed. but it's not that practical! Toyota what are you thinking?
t04844 exactly my problem!! My car has the gas pedal a good 4cm further than the brake pedal, and there's also just no room to turn the right foot sideways for heel and toe. When braking and downshifting I either let go of the brake, blip the throttle and very quickly get on the brake again (if I'm not braking too hard or that would upset the balance of the car) or I have to push the clutch in (I can't change gears and I can't leave it in gear or the car stalls) and wait until I'm done braking to blip the throttle and downshift. I can have really smooth and fast downshifts that way, but I'm aching for an opportunity to drive cars that allow for proper heel and toe cause I want to practice that correctly
ONE QUESTION!!! Is it needed that you only start reving the engine when you put it in neutral, instead of just start doing it once you clutch in???
Trauma Bear no, you don’t need to have it in neutral. You CAN rev match with the clutch in. The problem is that the clutch is gripping the engine gear, so when you rev, not only is the engine fighting the clutch, you’re also burning your clutch to death by making it hold onto an engine gear that’s spinning faster than necessary.
That’s why it’s better to put it into neutral, release the clutch, blip the throttle then put it back into gear
Hope my answer wasn’t 2 years too late 😂
I believe ideas of clutchless shifting is promoted by transmission repair stores..
Can cluthless shifting cause any mechanical problems to the car
Can you downshift without the clutch in a modern street car with synchronizers?
Good shoes... Which size?
So Team O Neil, on an older car like BMW E30, I want to preserve the longevity of the transmission and synchro. Should I shift with or without the clutch?
Not Team O Neil, but as long as you don't grind gears when you do clutchless shifts, then there should be no problem to do so. Just keep in mind that you will probably grind a few gears until you get the hang of it. :)
Use the clutch always. Could even double-clutch it on downshifts if you're anal about it, many people do in vintage racing to preserve the transmission on old cars.
longevity aside - you lose so much time and shift your focus off the road for waaaay too long doing those rev matching shifts and even then you're not guaranteed to be in the gear when you actually need it, it is only useful when there is a clutch problem on the car, otherwise - do not ever use that technique, it's a waste - every time you wait for rev matching - you cannot break hard enough, having a gear engaged and motor spinning helps controlling traction, especially when it is needed the most - on very loose surfaces with little grip, and upshifting you have to lift waaay too long for the technique to be useful, you could clutch shift in half the time, never miss a gear and be on the throttle sooner
but all this is in a context of synchro gearbox, if you use a dogbox, then rev matching and bump on a clutch will prolong the life of the dogs a great deal - but rev matching there is not essential to the shift, it simply helps, with a dogbox in good condition you can shift up and down with no clutch or throttle-bump or lift at all - if you're battling for highest step on the podium or a step at all - but it comes at a price of few thousand units of your currency - dog gear sets are not exactly cheap
electronically assisted (sequential or not) single clutch dog geared boxes are probably out of the scope of this conversation, so I'll stop here
you have to think about your revmatching?
It's muscle memory after a couple months...
William Thieme I've only really had to think about it the first few times when I was first learning to drive standard
Hey what about downshifting without heel and toe? Before someone tries to trash me for the question please see gilles panizi driving the lan evo on touge or rally driver vs racing driver. Guy never did heel and toe
@UK Racer yes but I believe this guy I mentioned before, gilles panizi, he uses the momentum and slipping from the downshifting itself for the turn-in.
Great video heel toe is what I like but I will experiment 🧪
What constitutes a throttle blip? When you downshift do you blip it when you are in neutral or before or after? It happens so fast I kinda need it written out.
the clutch pedal will be depressed, so it doesn't matter where the gearstick is when you blip. If the clutch is not depressed, then you would need to blip while the stick is in neutral.
Surya Thekkath thanks mang
It depends. Your blip does two things: (1) it raises the rpms so the synchros have less work to do [neutral], and (2) it raises the engine rpms to roughly where it needs to be once the clutch is engaged [after]. (otherwise the wheels can skid as they have to drag the engine up to speed.) Timed correctly, your blip covers both cases.
(Disclaimer: I don't heel-toe - on pavement - but many instructors have complemented my "HT" without knowing I'm not doing it at all. After a "get back in, watch my feet" session, it becomes "damn! you're really smooth on the clutch-brake transition". When I start screwing that up, I know I'm too tired to be driving. I also sequential down-shift if I've gone to 5th; it reinforces the fact of having gone to 5th, which we rarely do.)
With clutch: Clutch down (disengage) -> downshift / blip throttle -> clutch up (engage)
Clutchless: Let go throttle -> shift to neutral -> blip throttle -> downshift to desired gear
scruffy Clutch in -> blip while downshifting -> disengage clutch. takes some practice, but it becomes second nature when getting off highways rather quickly
Almost every rally driver i have seen uses no clutch on the upshift,But always on the
down shift..And i watch allot of videos :D.
Chase 4fun they use a a sequential transmission. Google it
I discovered clutchless shifting while leftfoot braking i to a turn so hard that i couldbt moove over to the clutch anymore 😂 result was a stunned myself and an intakt transmisson. Now i only use the cluch for starting a stage.. Then its all 2 foot work
What kind of transmission is this?
Ok, so whenever I "heel toe" (I actually roll my foot too, like in the video), I also pop the clutch out for a split second when I blip the throttle. It's been so long (I'm old) that I don't remember why I started doing it that way, but maybe it's not necessary?
Paul Lindenfelser I would think you're slightly burning out your clutch while you blip the throttle... you blip to get the gears to get to around the same speed, I keep my foot on the clutch till I want to get into the lower gear, after the rev match
If it's burning up the clutch it's taking a long time to do it. 140k miles on my last one. Anyway, I did some research and it's a thing. Google "double clutching". The Wikipedia entry has a short blurb about double clutching during heel-toe. Still not sure if it's necessary, but after all these years, muscle memory has taken over, so I'd probably screw up all my shifts if I tried to change now.
When you're clutch-out and blipping the throttle, you're raising the speed of the countershaft in the transmission which is normally left out of the process when you do not double clutch. Without double clutching, your synchro rings help match the shaft speeds to get the gears to mesh. With double clutching, you're doing that yourself and you'll notice that the gear selector slots more effortlessly when you match it just right. In a car without synchros at all, your method is how it MUST be done or your gear selector won't slot into place. In a car with synchros, this step isn't necessary but you could save wear on the synchros by doing it properly.
woo! so can you with actually any car upshift w/out the clutch? i have to try it!
i cant figure out how to heal toe, idk if its cos i have small feet or what but im practicing clutchless shifting as an alternative and its p good
great job!
What boots are you wearing
Can you blip the throttle while on gear or do you have to put it in neutral?
you blip the throttle between the gears, so from 3rd -- neutral (Blip) - 2nd
you can blip it while cluth in
+martin Yes, but its rather pointless unless its a modern gearbox. Nevertheless its always better to blip in neutral as it doesn't strain the synchromesh rings.
Would people agree that clutchless shifting is more harsh to your synchros? I find my old e30 needs that babied clutch.
Just shift without clutch and save it for the kicks.. xd
Speed in motion....i love rally!😍
Does clutch less shifting damage the clutch or transmission?
As long as you do it right it wont cause damage. Do it wrong and you will chew up the synchros.
God that looks so fun
Isn't shifting without using the clutch bad for the synchronisation
Oh man I would love trying the clutchless shifting technique on my car because its accelerator pedal is further away from me compared to the brake pedal, so its nearly imposible for me to do heel and toe, but Im too scared to fuck the transmission up. Ive only managed to heel and toe once while braking hard enough to the point of amost leveling both pedals, being able to reach them at the same time, which renders it unusable while driving with a civilized manner, so Im limited to do simple rev matching on my commutes :'(
Definitely all skills best learned on a $500 car, or come to rally school!
Team O'Neil Rally School Well I armed myself with courage and tryed the clutchless shifting aaaand... its surprisingly satisfying. The gear stick wont go in unless the revs are the right ones and, when done correctly, its super smooth 😌
I've always wanted to try shifting without the clutch but I feel like I will grind 😭
You have to feel out your vehicle. My GMC 1500 redlines at 5k I can float any gear around by letting it drop to 2k
Dank Video m8!
HOW THE HECK can you drive that smooth with that thick winter tank/shoe?
Practice double clutching to be good at clutchless shifting.
Are you related to the fellow who does Soccer Reviews for You?