te…@delphi.com wrote:
: | Pete Wong <pete.w…@freddy.supernet.ab.ca> writes:
: |
: | > Riding the clutch refers to keeping your foot on the clutch
: | >pedal after you have engaged the gear that you want. This pressure on
: | >the clutch pedal after you have started accelerating may cause premature
: | >wear of the clutch.
: |
: | And if you match engine speed to what it will be when you complete your
: | upshift/downshift you save the clutch.
: | I blip the throttle on my upshifts and the service manager was shocked
: | that my ’87 RX7 Turbo with 90,000 miles was on its original clutch.
I began doing this a while ago because of a suggestion when I was driving my
’88 944 Turbo, and it really does help – since then, I began to do it on my
Mazda truck and 88 Toyota Camry All-Trac, and the Porsche is at 130k+ and the
Toyota is over 120, with no new clutches..
Of course, it makes engine braking less effective, but if you engine brake
w/o matching speeds, I think you’d really wreak havoc on your clutch!
It also makes for *very* smooth upshifting, which makes other people stop
complaining because they have automatics. 
——————————————————————————
: David K. Perkowski : dkp…@cac.psu.edu : dkp…@email.psu.edu :
: Founder of the International Association of Laypersons :
——————————————————————————
Pete Wong <pete.w…@freddy.supernet.ab.ca> writes:
> Riding the clutch refers to keeping your foot on the clutch
>pedal after you have engaged the gear that you want. This pressure on
>the clutch pedal after you have started accelerating may cause premature
>wear of the clutch.
And if you match engine speed to what it will be when you complete your
upshift/downshift you save the clutch.
I blip the throttle on my upshifts and the service manager was shocked
that my ’87 RX7 Turbo with 90,000 miles was on its original clutch.
In article <34dv1p$…@hearst.cac.psu.edu>, dkp…@wileypost.cac.psu.edu (David Perkowski) writes:
> te…@delphi.com wrote:
(deleted)
> It also makes for *very* smooth upshifting, which makes other people stop
> complaining because they have automatics.
I always find that blipping the throttel does nothing for upshifting but
wonders for downshifting.
Stewart
mckeev…@cofc.edu
*******************************************************************************
* S. G. McKeever ******************************* mckeev…@cofc.edu *
*******************************************************************************
* "I don’t want to be first in line to see the missing head!" -TMBG *
*******************************************************************************
O.K., another newbie question: what is blipping the throttle when
upshifting?
- Mike.
In article <1994Sep4.23231…@ashley.cofc.edu> mckeev…@ashley.cofc.edu (STEWART G. MCKEEVER) writes:
>In article <34dv1p$…@hearst.cac.psu.edu>, dkp…@wileypost.cac.psu.edu (David Perkowski) writes:
>> te…@delphi.com wrote:
>(deleted)
>> It also makes for *very* smooth upshifting, which makes other people stop
>> complaining because they have automatics.
>I always find that blipping the throttel does nothing for upshifting but
>wonders for downshifting.
>Stewart
>mckeev…@cofc.edu
That occurred to me, too, while reading this thread. Actually, blipping
the throttle when upshifting would increase wear on the clutch. When I
upshift, I try to time the part of the shift from the neutral position to
the next gear so that engine rpm’s have fallen to where they should be for
the next gear.
In a previous article, miked30…@aol.com (MikeD30786) says:
>O.K., another newbie question: what is blipping the throttle when
>upshifting?
> – Mike.
A: Probably a waste of gas. Blipping the throttle when downshifting makes
much more sense => You’re trying to match the speed of the engine to the
speed of the gears/clutch/wheels. This results in a smoother downshift –
less clutch wear and you avoid locking the wheels on slippery surfaces. If
you add braking with the throttle blip, you are "heel-toe downshifting".
Incidentally, most auto racers do not use engine compression for braking –
they are downshifting so that they are in the right gear to exit the
corner quickly. As Charlie Goodman put it "I’ve got a $4000 engine, $2000
gear box, and $1000 clutch. My brake pads cost $180 to replace. Which
would you use to stop the car?"
Later,
—
-Darren Mallette: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada!
Congratulations to Jeff Gordon & Team Dupont for an outstanding drive in the
Inaugural Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I was THERE!
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
In article <CvEvsz….@gpu.utcc.utoronto.ca> mdpe…@gpu.utcc.utoronto.ca (Marc Perry) writes:
>I am getting a new clutch put in my ’85 honda civic (48,000 miles).
>I said, "wouldn’t you expect a clutch to last longer than 48K?"
>my mechanic said, "maybe this clutch was not adjusted correctly, or
> maybe the last driver was riding the clutch."
>OK, so I’ve been hearing this term for 19 years now, and I thought it
>meant depressing the clutch pedal as you deccelerate to a stop, OR, in
>stop-and-go traffic, it means governing the forward motion of the car
>using the clutch pedal (with just a little bit of pressure on the
>accelerator).
>Then I was test-driving my last car, a ’76 corolla with 105K miles on
>it. Whenever my left foot even strayed over towards the clutch pedal
>in anticipation of shifting, or tarried a tad too long after shifting
>the owner (who was sitting in the passenger seat) would chide me for
>"riding the clutch."
>I suppose there is a FAQ somewhere that answers such mundane
>questions, but if not, what does this term "riding the clutch" mean,
>and does it follow that riding one’s clutch will decrease the life of
>the clutch (effectively wearing it down)?
>thanks,
>mdp
>–
>- – – – – – – – – – – –
>Marc Perry
>Dept. of Medical Genetics
>University of Toronto
Riding the clutch is normally considered as either having your foot riding
on the pedal when in normal driving conditions, or depressing or releasing the
clutch more slowly than necessary. Either of these cases wears down the clutch
because the plates are sliding against each other to absorb the difference in
speed in the transmission and the engine in the second case, and when in normal
driving conditions, having your foot riding on the clutch pedal CAN make the
plates slip, and therefore heating up and wearing out the clutch.
Clutching a car needs to be somewhat slow so that it is smooth and does not
jerk the car and the transmission, but if the transitions are made to slow, it
wears the clutch out faster. A compromise must be made.
Hope this helps.
Sean Bacon
STEWART G. MCKEEVER (mckeev…@ashley.cofc.edu) wrote:
: | In article <34dv1p$…@hearst.cac.psu.edu>, dkp…@wileypost.cac.psu.edu (David Perkowski) writes:
: | > te…@delphi.com wrote:
: | (deleted)
: | > It also makes for *very* smooth upshifting, which makes other people stop
: | > complaining because they have automatics.
: | I always find that blipping the throttel does nothing for upshifting but
: | wonders for downshifting.
Oops.
Of course, I meant downshift. This internet thing does wonders with 
what you type…
ab…@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Darren Mallette) writes:
:
: [shorten]
:
: Incidentally, most auto racers do not use engine compression for braking –
: they are downshifting so that they are in the right gear to exit the
: corner quickly. As Charlie Goodman put it "I’ve got a $4000 engine, $2000
: gear box, and $1000 clutch. My brake pads cost $180 to replace. Which
: would you use to stop the car?"
:
: Later,
: —
: -Darren Mallette: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada!
I have always believed this. Brake pads/shoes are *designed* to wear
out. That’s why they built in that little piece of thin metal that
squeals when the pads get too thin (whatever it’s called). That’s
why nowadays, it’s so quick and easy to change pads. I can do
all 4 wheels in under 1 hr. (pads, that is. Shoes on my older
car take a bit longer. . . )
—
/\ ( -Randy | ran…@kentek.com | It’s always
/^ \ /\ "My opinions are | Systems Administrator | best to be
/\. .\ /^ \ /\ my own only. You | Kentek Information Systems| prepared for
/. \ .. / . \/^ \ can’t have ‘em!!"| Boulder, Colorado | the worst.
MikeD30786 (miked30…@aol.com) wrote:
: O.K., another newbie question: what is blipping the throttle when
: upshifting?
Why do you need to blip the throttle while UPshifting (i.e. 3-4)? The
practise of blipping the throttle while DOWNshifting (i.e. 3-2) is to better
match the engine speed with that of the car and transmission, so as to
reduce the drivetrain shock and keep the ride civilized. You can tell
many a newbie/dork if he simply drops the transmission down a gear to
slow his car down – without blipping: the car lurches back, the
car’s occupants lurch forward, and the engine roars, causing a real
commotion!
BTW, if 5th gear is high gear, shifting towards 5th is UPshifting, right?
And if 1st gear is low gear, shifting towards 1st is DOWNshifting, get it?
Nhat-Viet Phi
nhatv…@nucleus.com
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
mbrun…@scantype.com wrote:
: In message <3487p2$…@dscomsa.desy.de>, evr…@desy.de (Erik Evrard) writes:
: >Adrian Zai (waf…@bu.edu) wrote:
: >: Phillip David Biddulph (evr…@desy.de) wrote:
: >: : Belgiums federal transport minister Di Rupo plans to
: >: : increase the max. speed on all motorways from 120 to 130 km/h.
: >: : When the roads are wet, only 110 will be allowed.
: >: : He also wants to lower the max. speed in busy city centres
: >: : from 50 to 30 km/h. On bypasses the max. speed would be
: >: : 90 km/h (or 80 under certain circumstances), now it
: >: : varies between 100 and 120 km/h.
: >
: What is not reported is Di Rupo is selling his plan to raise one limit because
: of all the revenue he generates from the lower limits imposed elsewhere. I have
: no way of knowing, I am just cynical about politicians dickering with speed
: limits. The national speed limit in this country remains because of the revenue
: stream from violations.
Well, in most European countries the speed limit is 130 km/h on motorways,
Belgium was below that limit and it makes sense to harmonise this rule
(together with all other traffic regulations). For the same reason Belgium
lowered the speed limit from 60 to 50 km/h in built up areas (this was in
1992 I believe, we were the only EU country where it was still 60).
I’m not sure whether Germany is willing to impose a speed limit
on its motorways. The police advises everyone not to exceed 130 km/h
but it’s still fun to pass a police car at 210 km/h while knowing
that what you’re doing is legal. Whether it’s wise is another matter…
—————————————————————————–
| Erik Evrard, Brussels, Belgium
_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ | evr…@hep.iihe.ac.be
_/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ |
_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ | "…In the beginning the Universe was
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ | created…"
_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ | "This has made a lot of people very unhappy
| and was widely regarded as a bad move…"
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