Just wondering...sometimes I just shift without using the clutch whatsoever. I just slip it into neutral then into the next gear as gently as possible without touching the clutch. But is this bad for something in my transmission? Does it wear the clutch down? Obviously if you screwed up and grinded a gear that would be bad but anything other than that?

 

It's argued, but supposedly shifting without the clutch strains the synchronizers more so the gear won't grind and it wears them faster...but I've had heated discussions with other people who claim that's not in the least bit true. The general idea is just not to do it. You're risking your transmission.

 

I've tried doing that but my gearbox won't let me. I can take it 'out' of gear and into neutral, however, but I almost never do it. Just use the clutch.

 

never tried but i think it wouldnt be healthy, clutches are good things

 

use the clutch, that is what they were invented for

 

haha, we think a like, i was about to put the exact same words. wow....

 

If you time it perfect you will not have an issue, but timing it perfect on these trany is next to impossible.

Use the clutch.

 

I did it all the time on my KX250 and had no tranny problems. I have done it on the 8 but it is not easy to time it right so it worked but not consistantly, there was an occasional mild grind, I'm sure that is damaging the gears so I use the clutch all the time now.

 

Not worth the risk.

If you don't want to use the clutch

get the paddle shifters.

 

the put the clutch in for a reason lol
why would you get a manual if you are too lazy to press the clutch

 

Hey guys thanks for all the responses. Its not that I'm too lazy to use the clutch heh its just I realized you could do it without the clutch and was wondering if it was bad. I'd only do it if I was on flat ground or a very slight decline making it easier to get just right...maybe did it a total of 5 times. But I'm going to have to disagree about it being hard to do...just apply the right amount of gas to make the tranny do no work and glide like an auto, slip it out of gear. Then slowly put very light pressure on the next gear as the revs drops down.

 

shifting without the clutch is like pissing with the toilet cover down, yeah you accomplish the goal of emptying your bladder, but do you wanna deal with the possible aftereffects.

 

my bro had a subaru back in the day he swore up and down that it wouldnt hurt anything within the next couple months his trani went "nope no more for me thank" and then bought a civic... uhgh but he had bent the shifting forks and thought the stick would move inside the car it was stuck in fourth gear. so not worth it

 

Or you could use your left foot to stamp away the anger when they're replacing your transmission. Clutchless shifting is for the movies. Or the guys who think they're in movies.

 

uhhhhh I would not go that far. With a proper trany clutchless shifting is better than using the clutch. This trany is just not built for it.

You will not find a clutch in comp drag racing.

 

It's an arguable topic b/c the correct answer varies - depending on the tranny. If done properly it won't hurt your tranny. But it's really hard to get the timing perfect. Imperfect timing = damage. Don't bother in the 8. It's really difficult to tell if you're timing is perfect, and the 8's tranny is not considered to be great in the 1st place.

 

absolutely perfect comparison haha

 

i did it on my trans am. synchros went out very fast. i would highly recommend not doing it.
maybe nothing would happen but are you willing to risk it?

 

Synchromesh isn't designed to be a freindly clutchless shifter. The index points are usually only a few degrees apart where as a non-synchro gear set has a lot more index slop between engagement dogs. In either case it takes a rev-it and stuff-it style.

Worse is it only takse a few "missed shifts" in a synchro box to tear up the engagement keys. Non-synchro is about 10,000 times more tolerant of missed shifts.

 

If you do it correctly there is no problem. The difficult part is making sure the revs match up perfectly to where they should be for that speed+gear. Can be good to know how to do if your clutch ever goes out and you happen to be far from home.

 

us truck drivers with a little experience dont use the clutch...its called floating the gears. but our gear boxes do not have synchros and we only have a 2000 rpm rev range so things are moving a lot slower and therefore a lot easier to float the gears. i could do it in my car but you have to let the rpms drop so far thats its just not practical in any situation.

 

just dont do it at 9k and mis-judge the rpms/speed.*

 

Ask the AT guys

 

I had a 72 Dodge Charger 440 Magnum with 4 spd Pistol grip Hurst shifter. I was 150 miles from home when my clutch arm broke, I had to stall the car at traffic lights then start it in 1st gear to get going again. That car shifted very easily without the clutch. Downshifting was a little more challenging but I managed to get home.

 

Back in the day transmissions were built (modified) specifically for clutch-less shifting......they were called rock crushers. A trans shop would grind off ever other gear tooth so that the 'sweet spot' was larger. Even these purpose built transmissions didn't last very long.

Use the clutch and save yourself some serious coin. I've heard the trans in the RX8 is very expensive.