Also, don't sit at lights in gear, you'll wear your clutch out faster. At least that's what I'm told. I always roll upto a light in neutral. Or I double-clutch to second to slow down. It's easy to double-clutch just right in the SS S/C because your RPMs in second basically correspond to your speed.

IE- 4500RPM is about 45MPH. It's easy. So I'm ususally going 50 in 5th, light turns red, double clutch to about 4,700RPMs (Car slows up a bit during procedure), and then I coast a little bit, then drop it into neutral at about 3500RPM or whatever. Sure helps the clutch out better than slowly letting second in and hearing your car go BRRRRRRRRRRRR.....lol, you know what I'm talking about.

So----In conclusion, neutral is your friend, be in him as much as you can =P.

 

As noted above, I'm new to the stick...what exactly is double-clutching?

 

I'm pretty sure he's just referring to downshifting and revmatching to engine brake the car and slow down. It wears on the synchros and clutch if you dont do it very well, but it's not a big issue. I do it all the time, only because i need to keep my practice up for autocrossing.

To the original poster, i'm wondering if you have your A/C on when this bad idle is happening? I know there is a problem concerning the A/C and "something" that causes that (i forget what that "something" is at the moment), and it's fixed with the GM stage reflashes.

 

Double-Clutching... basically the correct way to downshift.

First you're in fifth... lets say 2K RPM, You push in the clutch and shift into neutral

So you're in neutral so your RPMS have dropped. You want to match the RPMs of the gear you're about to put your car in.

(This next step is the CORRECT way to do it, but while learning you could skip this)

Release the clutch, tap the throttle to 4700RPM, push in the clutch, and pop into second gear.

The other way to do it, IE---the easy way. Is to just 'rev-match' with the clutch pushed in the whole time you are in neutral.

This way, the car is at exactly the same RPMs you would be in if you were in second.

Traditionally, or the incorrect way to downshift, would be to just shift into second from fifth and slowly let out the clutch while the car went BRRRRRRRR.... because it's going up to the correct RPMs for that gear. It can get more technical, you should google it.

So basically:

1) In 5th going 50 lets say you're at 2K RPMs
2) Engage clutch--Shift into neutral
3) Release clutch--Match to RPM's in second (In our case 4700RPM)
4) Engage clutch--Shift into second gear
5) Release clutch--Almost instantly, no need to drag it out because you are at the perfect RPMs.

hope that makes sense

GOING SWIMMING -- SOMEBODY ELSE CAN ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE, OR I WILL LATER.

PEACE,
VENDIAN.

 

Perfectly. Only other question then, if you're going to tap the gas to rev match, why not just do it with the clutch all the way in and release then, rather than release, rev, and press again? Or is it double clutching because you're costing a bit before shifting into 2nd?


ie
1. Engage clutch
2. Shift to 2nd
3. Tap gas to rev to 4700
4. Release

 

You know, I couldn't tell you . I read it in a magazine awhile back and how that's the correct way to downshift, although I cannot tell you WHY you are supposed to do it that way---- There is a reason though!

EDIT--- HERE:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-double-clutching.htm

 

Hmm...makes sense. Reading the article it looks like the method came about before synchros made it easier to shift. I understand it now, but it still doesn't mention why you can't leave the clutch in the whole time. Perhaps the ecu is programmed to hold the revs longer if you leave the clutch in rather than release it? Maybe I'll check after work.

 

mine stopped doing it as much after i put the intake on before like more than once a day now like once or twice a week

 

Dude ^ I see in your signiture you have a 700r4 in your camaro. I HATE THE 700R4!!!!!!! I blew up 2 of them in less than a year! I figure "screw it" so I put a racing TH400 with 3500 stall converter, ON THE STREET! oh thats fun!

 

That is actually the way I downshift. Double-clutching was only for non-syncing gears. All my friends do it with the clutch all the way in, same basic principle but actually saves time and is much faster. It work trust me.

 

I almost never have my ac on, i roll with the windows down, California weather is really nice. I drove around at lunch and cruise to a stop in nuetral, it didn't sieze at all. I think I am still going to reflash it though.

 

I don't double-clutch much anymore because the newer transmission syncros are excellent and the cars brakes are good. In the "old" days it was helpful when downshifting. Basically, there are two main shafts in your tansmission. One is connected to your engine via the clutch. The other is connected to your drive shaft(s). There are groups of gears that connect these two shafts together. When you shift, your selecting which sets of gears (ratio) connect the two shafts. The key point is that the output shaft (connected to the drive shaft(s)) cannot be disconnected from the wheels, so it spins if the vehicle is moving. The Input shaft, however, can be disconnected from the engine via the clutch.

When you push in the clutch and let off the gas to downshift, the engine speed slows down; dragging the input shaft to a lower RPM because of friction. Now the input and output shafts are turning at different RPM's, making the downshift difficult, or at least more wear on the syncros.

Now for the proper double-clutch. When you do this right, you press in the clutch and pop the transmission into neutral. Release the clutch and blip the throttle. This spins up the input shaft to match the output shaft for the next gear selection. For all downshifts, the input shaft will have to be sped up to match the vehicle speed (output shaft). Now you press in the clutch once more to complete the downshift (do this quickly) and release the clutch.

With our ecotec engines and good transmissions, there is very little need for double-clutching. For one, the engine RPM doesn't respond fast enough to do this effectively (due to throttle delays and overshoots). This makes it difficult to "blip" the throttle and get direct results. The other reason is that these cars have good brakes. Use them when approaching a slow down area and your effectively controlling the RPM of the output shaft of your transmission. Use this to match the speed of the input shaft instead of vise versa. Much easier as well.

Cheers!

 

I like to double clutch to drop it into a lower gear IE 2nd.... to smoke some ass though. I gaurantee you I can get into second and take off smoother and just as quick as if you were to just toss it in there and buck around. That's the number one use I find for it. Like if the lane is ending and I'm in 5th right next to some peep, it's time for the good ole double clutch.

 

Good stuff! I mean people who never drove stick before had a first car to learn on too, what's with them dissing us newbies to stick? I paid for it with my money so I'm not going to ruin it cause I can't afford anything now, haha!

 

Fellow Gilbert dude. I definetely still double-clutch from time to time, just not very often. Like you said, there are times when it make all the difference; like cruising at 45 in fourth or fifth and downshifting to second for a head snapper. Good stuff!

 

Yep, drives like the day I got it. Almost feels a little faster. Probobly due to the cat going since about 5000 miles ago.

 

They didn't give you a problem about the CAI? I might take it today then before the Cat-back goes on.

 

i got the same problem youre complaining about so i decided to take a look at some TSBs at work and theres one for this condition in the 06s only. yes they do recommend reflashing the pcm first but gm says it may not fix it but they are currently working on a fix. no word on when it should be ready tho. so i said to hell with reflashing it cause its really annoying being that i cant do it remotely with the tech 2 i gotta hook directly to the computer. i just rev it up a little when it acts up and it goes away, no biggie to me right now.

 

This is my first car, so by default, it is my first stick. However, I learned to drive a stick when I turned 16. IN MY BROTHER'S '99 CAMARO SS. That was scary fun at it's best...

 

If I had a Camaro SS or my current car when I was 16 I firmly believe I would have killed myself or someone else. Or maybe just would have racked up a huge pile of speeding tickets in the cop infested town i grew up in.