Smart lad! Sometimes, movie writers put stuff in they know nothing about because it sounds neat. And as cool and tough as Vin was in the movie, who's to say he REALLY knows anything about driving a car? To him, it was just another line that he was paid to say.

 

If you have a low rpm 2nd gear grind and the synchros are pretty much shot, double clutching in the upshift to 2nd really helps.

 

I don't think I double-clutch properly, but I do try to rev-match when I'm downshifting. Namely, while I have the clutch depressed and I'm downshifting, I blip the throttle. I do not ever release the clutch while in neutral, and then press it again to engage a lower gear.

Is there a problem with this? My car doesn't do the nasty-lurch, and it isn't as slow as the double-clutch procedure above. Am I doing something nasty to my synchros? I wouldn't think so since I'm bringing the engine speed up to match, but I'm open to being educated.

What I do (right or wrong):

depress clutch
while clutch is depressed, blip throttle to rev match engine
engage lower gear
release clutch

 

Oh I see, always wondered about that, knew bout speed shifting but I kept hearing things about double clutch. So lesson we learn today, movies lie, tv on the other hand never lies

 

I believe homer simpson said something very similar once

 

Does anybody know if there's a problem doing the rev-matching while holding the clutch down (as I put in my post), rather than the double-clutching procedure detailed at the start of the thread?

 

Double clutching is only used for downshifting. The concept doesn't make a lot of sense for an upshift.

No, there's nothing wrong with this at all.

Dave

 

Thanks Dave.

If that's the case, why in the heck would anybody release the clutch while in neutral, only to step on it again to put into a lower gear? Seems to add an extra step.

Maybe I'm missing something...

 

Because when you let the clutch out and THEN blip the throttle you are getting everything up to the proper speed (in the gearbox that is) as well as getting the benefits of rev-matching (the clutch doesnt have such a shock when engaging). With syncros you can argue that rev-matching alone is fine (the syncros take care of the speed differences in the gearbox) but true double-clutchign will save wear on your syncros and as someone mentioned allow you to get into first gear on a slow corner that you need some oomph to exit from.

When I am really driving the S I double clutch on almost every downshift - it really helps keep the balance of the car when downshifting before a corner and after a while it becomes such second nature that it feels odd to have any driveline lurch when shifting otherwise. If done right you can change gears like lightning without ever upsetting the balance of the car. So - you save wear on your clutch, the gearbox, AND your passengers don't look so pissed off when you drop a gear and take off like a rocket...

 

oh yeah - F&F is FULL of stuff like that. I've been thinking that my Honda 2000 needs a MOTEC system exhaust and maybe an SR20DE. I love the way you hear that CLUNK every time they shift - and it always seems like they are shifting into 3rd on every shot. Its my favorite comedy.