[MGT81]

Well, 2 questions I guess:

1) Does anybody else find themselves constantly skipping gears when driving? I will often go from 1-3-4-6. The N54 has so much torque and the gearbox ratios are spaced closely enough that I don't notice a big drop in RPMs. Driving this way also has improved my fuel economy a lot. Never had an engine this flexible.

2) Does anybody else double clutch when downshifting? I do probably 95% of the time. I know that we have syncros, etc but I just find that it's so smooth and easy to do on this car compared to my old WRX. It feels better when u just match revs perfectly on a downshift. Also a lot easier since I got a clutch stop.

[nightops]

yes- i skip gears all the time. i try to get up to 6 as fast as possible. i find i can sometimes even crawl along at 10-15mph in this gear without stalling. i really want to do the cdv delete so that i can get a smoother neutral to 1st and 1-2nd transition though. double clutching- i've never done it and dont really know what it is- although i'd like to learn...

[Vwgrk1]

Funny you post this; I came from a 2.0 WRX and skip gears much more often.

Double clutching was easier on the WRX, though. It rev'd much better in neutral, IMO. Also, the pedals were in better alignment for heel-toe action.

[skatevt]

I find my self skipping gears like 15% of the time but I double clutch 99% of the time.

[ziominix]

Skip gears when driving casually? All the time. I believe you are thinking of rev matching not double clutching your downshifts though. I also do this 100% of the time, the rev match, it's a subconscious habit now and it makes for such smoother shifts. Double clutching is an antiquated technique from the days of no synchros or weak synchros in the transmission.

[Vegetable]

When I learned how to drive a manual I was told that skipping gears was bad for the synchros (I don't know how true this is) so I usually go in order out of habit.. However, I am guilty of shifting from 3rd to 5th and 4th to 6th from time to time. I have never skipped 1st.. 2nd.. or 3rd... (on purpose)... My favorite gears...

[AndreyT]

Originally Posted by MGT81

Well, 2 questions I guess:
1) Does anybody else find themselves constantly skipping gears when driving?

Not really. I sometimes skip when downshifting, but not when upshifting.

Originally Posted by MGT81

2) Does anybody else double clutch when downshifting?

No. I simply rev-match my downshifts using gas pedal. But to do the whole double-clutch procedure... No. What would be the point?

[MGT81]

Originally Posted by ziominix

Skip gears when driving casually? All the time. I believe you are thinking of rev matching not double clutching your downshifts though. I also do this 100% of the time, the rev match, it's a subconscious habit now and it makes for such smoother shifts. Double clutching is an antiquated technique from the days of no synchros or weak synchros in the transmission.

No, I actually put the clutch in twice on downshifts. Occasionally I'll blip the gas to rev match but I find that it doesn't really take any longer to pump the clutch twice. I know it's not really needed due to the synchros but there's something about double clutching and feeling the shifter sucked smoothly into a lower gear that's satisfying.

I do find that for large RPM changes, double clutching is smoother than just matching revs. The reasOn being that you can get the whole drivetrain speed matched up better.

[MGT81]

Originally Posted by Vegetable

When I learned how to drive a manual I was told that skipping gears was bad for the synchros (I don't know how true this is) so I usually go in order out of habit.. However, I am guilty of shifting from 3rd to 5th and 4th to 6th from time to time. I have never skipped 1st.. 2nd.. or 3rd... (on purpose)... My favorite gears...

There's no reason that skipping gears would damage your synchros.

[liang]

For me its 1, 2, 3, 6 when I'm on the highway ramp.

[ChipB]

Double clutching on down shifts (meaning clutch in, shift to neutral, clutch out, blip the gas, clutch in, shift to the lower gear, clutch out) does nothing for modern cars. Back in the day (1970's) it was required to properly rev-match the gears, but not any more. However, learning to heel-and-toe is esssential so that you can downshift to the correct gear for the next corner. Note - the reason to downshift coming into a corner is NOT to slow the car (that's what brakes are for), but rather to be in the correct gear for the exit of the next corner. Hence you brake and downshift simultaneously, blipping the throttle during the shift while simultaneously braking.

Slight change of topic: a skill I've been practicing lately on the street is left-foot braking. The idea is to slow the car coming into a corner that doesn't require a down shift, and then transition smoothly to the throttle while simultaneously smoothly letting off the brake. This avoids the jerkiness of brake, then no brake, then gas. Getting this to be consistent and second nature takes a lot of practice - I'm getting pretty comfortable doing this on the street but have yet to translate it to the track. But I'm heading to Grattan Raceway this weekend with the Windy City BMW Club, so perhaps I'll have my chance to try it at speed.

[Astephens94]

Coming from a 5 speed - I find that I always seem to skip 5th (1,2,3,4,6 or 6,4,3,2,1). Poor little guy, he must feel so left out at this point..

[bumere90]

lol I've skipped a gear maybe once or twice in my entire life

[MGT81]

Ha ha. I always find myself skipping 5th as well.

[3_runner]

Rarely skip gears, often double clutch.

[Nalod]

No need to double clutch as mentioned.

Skip 1st any time the car is already in motion.

often skip 3rd. From 4th often to 6th.

I really hope nobody in the thread has an Step.

[Three_thirty_I]

On level or slight down hills I will skip gears, especially 1 - 3, but generally I am very careful of gearbox loading in the taller gears, so only use 5th gear from 80 km/h onwards and 6th gear from 120 km/h for cruising or higher speeds. Never ever needed to learn to double clutch - wasn't that for older cars that didn't have syncros... I do rev match when changing down, must still perfect my heel 'n toe technique, but in most cases it works really well for me.

[mashimarho]

I feel like doing heel toe in the e92 near harder than other vehicles. I find the brakes and gas a mile apart.

So, I revmatch downshift, then brake.

[Monster900]

Originally Posted by MGT81

Ha ha. I always find myself skipping 5th as well.

^^ Same here

[raj55]

1,2,3,5 and 6. And I have just 320i, a smaller engine.

[zipstic]

The only time I double clutched was when it was ~0 degrees outside on a cold start and I was shifting from 1 to 2 the first time (and maybe second depending on the stoplight 400 ft away from my driveway) after startup. The syncro felt like it was frozen and it made it seem easier to shift gears.

[kdbryce]

i always skip gears. like you, i usually go 1-3-5

or if i'm not on a hill or something, i'll often even just pull out in 2nd - if i'm not sitting in neutral for a while.. mostly at stop signs or pulling out of parking lots.


super noob question, but what is double clutching?