Jonas Hedvall

And when you do misshift and blow your engine into orbit , it is not a warranty issue either !

Boit

Perhaps a "free wheeling" clutch might be an alternative to the current clutch design? When Yamaha first raced their 250 4-stroke motocrosser, their rider was Ernesto Fonseca who had trouble adpating to the engine braking effect of the 4-stroke so Yamaha installed a "free wheeling" clutch that effectively disengaged the clutch under decelleration. If this could be adapted to an automobile, this would elleminate the dreaded over-rev caused by downshifting in too low of a gear for the car's speed. However, the car would no longer have any braking associated with engine drag if you just let off the accelerator. This would open another problem. If you just want to let off the accelerator momentarily, the engine RPM's drop and then if you want to get back into the gas, if would be difficult to raise the RPM's back up so that engagement would be smooth. You would probably end up causing severe drivetrain snatch unless you use the clutch again as you would on a normal upshift. This was not a problem on the dirt bike because the dirt acts as a natural cushion for the drivetrain.