Can you take a car from 2nd gear to neutral with no clutch?

It is true. I used to have to drive my Alfa without using the clutch when the plate stuck from sitting too long. The only down side to not having a clutch is that you have to stall the motor at red lights, then start in first gear which is a little jerky.
BT

 

Here is some amazing foot work. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3155497110873728174 . I was looking for another video I had seen, which showed a driver racing without ever using the clutch once. I'll keep looking.
I suspect drinking lots of coffee helps with this technique

Gerrit
http://dino308gt4.com

 

The main issue with clutchless shifting is synchromesh. Racing gearbox's (and motorbike gearbox's) dont have synchro so its easy to shift without the clutch - infact on a Hewland single seater box you dont have to even lift off the throttle to upshift if you know what you are doing .

 

Another illustrative video http://www.brom.me.uk/pix/mv_feet.mpeg

 

My dad was riding with me and saw me clutchless shifting and thought I was insane, I told him that as long as he wasn't hearing any grinding it was fine, and it's not hard at all, in my M3 the syncros are pretty tough bastards too, in my roommate's subaru impretzel you forget that there is a clutch it's so easy

The video of hans stuck driving around the nurburgring in the E46 M3 race car has pretty much exclusively clutchless shifting, even though he has straight cut gears

 

When I was 17 my buddy and I decided to drive his old International Scout from Denver down to Baja Mexico. The clutch failed exactly 10 minutes into the trip. We drove all the way to San Diego without it.

The 360 does fine up and downshifting without the clutch. Just rev-match on the down shifts.

 

That'll be Michael Vergers in a Radical then (mv)...video was created to show pupils how to heel and toe.

 

But how'd you get into Baja? (and back)

 

Yes you can do all of those things if you dont mind replacing syncros. The little brass rings with the fine little grooves that cut through the oil on the clutch cones to "syncronize" the gear speeds are having fits when people pull out of a gear and even worse, engage a gear without a clutch. To say it does no harm is incorrect and sorry to say, that is an uneducated piece of advice that can instill a false sense of security. Engaging 2nd when stone cold is better than a clutchless shift and we all seem to crap our pants about shifting a cold ferrari gearbox. I guess its these kind of things that keep us mechanics in buisness so carry on.

 

Fixed it in my uncles driveway in CA.

 

Hey, were just trying to get you some more business!

I'm not suggesting you do this on a regular basis, just that it can be done.
And if you can rev match perfectly.....the synchro does nothing.

 

Yes, you are right that it can be done and I used to do it to my little civic when I was 19 and dint think anything of it but after training in the trade and rebuilding gearboxes as part of my job, Ive since realized how bad that was for the transmission. My only point is dont do it, there is no reason to and it does cause extra wear on the syncros. I tried to restrain myself and keep out of the thread but the comments like it wont hurt a thing, etc.....were just too much and I broke down. Another no-no is the resting of the hand on the shifter because it wears the shift forks out as dose shifting without a clutch up or down.

 

Brings tears to your eyes dosnt it To get the Hewlands to powershift properly we used to file the dog ring teeth down until they were (almost) worn out. But then we used to replace them every 3rd race (60 minutes running) .

 

i drive my truck without the clutch all the time, but i would question the sanity of someone doing it with a ferrari, at least their own one...

by the way, most 'old school' nascar drivers do not use the clutch...watch their feet when they show the footwell-cam...pretty cool...

 

Thats because they dont have any synchro's I imagine.

 

The syncros are different, kind of like a lenco transmission and they are race cars that get taken apart after every race. Yes, its stupid to do it to your own ferrari or any car for that matter.