Whats Double Clutching

That's when you're carrying two purses.

And if you enter "double declutching" under that search button at the top of the page, you'll find about a gazillion threads on it.

Basically, it's letting out the clutch in neutral between gears so you can spin the transmission input shaft up to a speed to match the gear you'll be selecting. Synchros do this for you automagically in most street transmissions, but synchros can be slower to shift than a racing "bash box".

 

That explains that all so well.

 

It's also a situation of having two ex-wives who claim a share of your estate at your funeral!

 

Answers to basic questions are often found on Wikipedia and Google:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_clutching

 

When I learned to race Formula Fords years ago, we were tought double clutching.
After years of not racing I had to take a refresher course to obtain an SCCA license. While driving in a Panoz racer with an instructor. I double clutched on each down-shift. My instructor chastised me big time; as it never was needed even when I learned the technique. Race cars are best shifted without a clutch and street cars have synchronisers. Dont teach yourself something thats not needed.

 

But if you're ever driving a big rig, ...

The rev matching priciple is the same with or without the clutch.

 

Isn't double clutch downshifting a lot easier on the tranny of most street cars though? I know I drive an Audi A4 manual transmission and even with the synchros it's a lot smoother and quicker to double clutch. Synchros are very easily worn out if you put too much strain on them.

 

Anything you can do to put less strain and wear and tear on the gearbox is a good thing. You may not "need" to double clutch a syncronised gearbox, but it sure wont hurt anything.