Downshifting

huh? Of course you need to downshift. Not sure what specific circumstance you are asking about. Downshifting when slowing for a light? Not necessary. Downshifting when performance driving, of course.

Not necessary. If you want to do it for aesthetic or whatever reasons, by all means.

Heal-toe is a worthwhile skill, one I'm pathetic at. But only needed for racing. Basically, rev-matching on a downshift when braking to smooth out the transition (avoiding upsetting the car) and getting it ready for accelerating past the apex. A necessary skill for serious racing. On the street? Nah, but an enthusiast would practice the skill.

Yes. Though sales are actually on the increase, albeit from sadly low #'s.

Depends on the situation and what you're trying to accomplish.

Optional/waste of effort with modern synchronized trannies. Mandatory for non-synchronized trannies.

Yes.

It's probably not necessary.

But, neither is a Miata. ;)

I could do it in my Alfa Spyder, but I've never been able to do it in a Miata. I just can't get my foot on both pedals in a useful manner.

I sometimes practice up/down shifting without the clutch. Now that's pretty much a useless skill, but it's sort of fun.

If you need to slow for a corner and you wish to accelerate out of it with as much acceleration as possible, then yes. Definitely yes.

If you want your shifts to be as smooth as possible, then yes.

I have driven my three kids crazy with this one, yes downshifting is part of operating a manual transmission correctly. I still have to work on them as 2 of them like to put the clutch in and limit the use of brain cells (are they trying to preserve them? I say use um or lose um!). It saves on your brake pads to use the engine as such and if shifting is done correctly, there's no serious detriment to the clutch. It's an advanced driving technique, not hugely advanced by any means but it shows that you know what they heck you're doing if little more.

Chris

You'll not think it useless if/when the clutch slave cup goes away on you 50 miles from the middle of nowhere... Being able to get it home without needing the clutch is a *MAJOR* Good Thing that a whole bunch of people who drive sticks never learn to do.

(I learned it "the hard way" when the clutch cable on a '78 Honda Civic wagon broke on me as I clutched to grab second coming out of a parking lot. *MUCH* better to learn it ahead of time if at all possible, trust me!)

I replaced my last miata brake pads at 70,000 miles and they still had some life left on the front pads. I went ahead and did the rears at the same time, and it looked like they had half of their material left.

The point is, I guess, is that we are talking about maybe 3 or 4 brake pad changes total over the life of the car, and that is only if I had owned it for a long time. I can live with that kind of pad wear.

Brake pads and rotors are relatively inexpensive and brake work is extremely easy. The same can not be said for clutches. There may not be a serious detriment to downshifting for stops, but the surface is still losing just a bit more material more every single time it engages.

I have been rolling up to stop signs and lights for about 16 of my 22 years of driving now, meaning anytime I have owned a manual, and have never had to replace one of my own clutches. It works great for me.

My god, I am arguing with Chris D. now. Maybe I'll pick on Houston next. ;-)

Pat

How do you handle stopping and starting?

When you stop the car, you stall it. When you want to move again, you can put the car in first gear, turn the key, and the car will start and begin to move all together.

Downshift; If you need to. If you want to keep RPM up in the torque range. To slow down ? NO ! Your brakes are far better used for that.

If you are a "trucker" then, YES, down shift and depending on the age and type if truck and gear box, "Double-clutch" for up or down shifting.

Bruce Bing '03 LS

No biggie, just don't bother applying for a residency in podiatry.

First, defeat whatever %(*#^^%#%%$ interlock the idiots put on the car to prevent cranking while in gear/clutch engaged. (Second thing that happens with any stickshift vehicle I own, after changing the oil and filters on taking possession)

After that, stopping is a matter of clutchless downshifting (play with the throttle to match revs to current gear/ground speed to allow popping it out of gear. Play with throttle some more to match revs, ground speed, and target gear. Pop in. Sounds harder than it is, once you're familiar with the car, and once you get even REASONABLY good at it, can be done with little or no grinding.) until you get to first. Brake, and either stall it out, shut it off, or pop it out of gear and then shut it off as you come to a stop. Another alternative is to just pop it out and coast into the stop.

Starting is dead-simple: Put it in first, and crank until it fires. Tough on the starter, among other things, so not recommended for more than emergency "get it home/someplace to work on it" situations, but works. After you're rolling, it's just a matter of matching revs, ground speed, and gears.

Like I said, it's much easier than it sounds - *IF* you're familiar with the vehicle. If you don't *KNOW* your shift-points, you're never going to manage it. But then, by my standards, if you don't have at least a real good idea of what your ground speed should be when revving (for instance) 2500 in third gear - for my 626, that would be somewhere between 34 and 37 MPH, depending on what size tires I've got on the rear end at the time - you're not "familiar enough" with the vehicle to be trying it.

Now you're just being podantic...

You really shoedn't have said that.....

Pat

That sounds nerve-wracking.

I thought maybe you had to get everybody out and push like in "Little Miss Sunshine" (a movie involving a trip in an old VW bus with a broken clutch). :)

That's the tricky part if you didn't think of it until you're stuck in a large empty parking lot after you return from a business trip and find your clutch no longer works.

I wasn't going to, but the voices in my head toed me that if I didn't, my sole would be in danger.

Which is why, as I noted, it's the second thing that happens after I take posession of the vehicle. (Third is removing or permanently silencing those damned "door ajar" and "fasten seat belts" noisemakers)