Here's another tip, if you're having issues with rev matching You can also shift from five to second by shifting into fourth third and then second while the clutch is disengaged the entire time so that each synchro is only doing a normal amount of work because if you shift twice as far you're actually doing four times the wear and it's exponential. Now you're only doing four points of wear and tear instead of 16 points of wear and tear to one single gear
I can’t say I’ve ever tried the double clutch heal and toe downshift, thanks for giving me something to try this weekend. As far as your execution - wow - smooth as silk! ~ Chuck
@@JamesPlaysWithCars At first I looked like an octopus trying to play the bagpipes. A few minutes, and it started to feel more natural. I want to try this with a friend’s 50 year old Triumph, thinking it will be more useful in a car lower on power (I was in a 2022 LT1 Camaro).
Thank you for your excellent video. Favorite for me in the past was to DCHT sequentially from 6th to 2nd turning onto my road. Now, being older & lazier, I'll DCHT skip shift from 6th to 2nd. The shifter feels like it's being sucked into 2nd. Great feeling!
For rev matching, what's the difference between blipping the throttle while still in the higher gear versus blipping after going into neutral? I've heard both ways recommended.
You should have covered clutchless shifting as an emergency technique (losing hydraulic pressure), since it goes off rev-matching as well--just more precise.
OR you could just get an automatic.... Just kidding! Thanks for the great demo, great video. Unfortunately it seems like modern cars are forcing us away from actually DRIVING and instead seem to be more focused on infotainment.
Hey James I recently acquired a 5 speed E46 and I'm not as smooth as I'd like to be when rev matching my shifts. How would you go about mastering making the right shifts? I was thinking I could plot out shift points all across the band across all the gears. For example, when I am in traffic I go to around 4200RPM in 1st to 3rd (is that a situation where you would want to double clutch) and it lands at about 2300RPM. At 3000RPM in first it drops 2000RPM in second. At 2500RPM in 2nd it drops to 2000RPM in 3rd. I was thinking that I could build a flash card collection of all the shift points and etiquette to use when making those shifts.
Hi Avery, congrats on your new E46! Upshifts generally don’t need double clutch bc synchros don’t need to do much work if you time things right. I think you’re on the right track-I recommend you familiarize yourself with the rough % differences in rpm between gears. For example, you might learn that 1st-2nd means dropping revs by 35%, whereas 4th-5th is maybe only 15% different. So rather than knowing exact rpm numbers, just know the rough % change in rpm between gears. Beyond that, it’s more about developing a good feel for the trans than anything else. Study videos that teach you how a manual trans works, so that you know what is happening whenever you feel the shifter kicking back or the car lurching (if you know what’s happening mechanically, you’ll know how to improve next time whenever you mess up a shift). Hope that helps, and enjoy your BMW!
@@JamesPlaysWithCars Thank you! Gear ratios for the transmission were super easy to find and easy to calculate. Much easier than my plan. I took a drive while being conscious of making sure that the clutch was hitting the floor and it was a lot smoother already.
Which technique is your favorite? Leave a comment!
Here's another tip, if you're having issues with rev matching You can also shift from five to second by shifting into fourth third and then second while the clutch is disengaged the entire time so that each synchro is only doing a normal amount of work because if you shift twice as far you're actually doing four times the wear and it's exponential. Now you're only doing four points of wear and tear instead of 16 points of wear and tear to one single gear
Very well explained. It was great to see heel-toe in practice by Ayrton Senna
Double-clutch heel toeing looks absolutely sick! Great tutorial!
I can’t say I’ve ever tried the double clutch heal and toe downshift, thanks for giving me something to try this weekend. As far as your execution - wow - smooth as silk! ~ Chuck
Let me know how it goes Chuck!
@@JamesPlaysWithCars At first I looked like an octopus trying to play the bagpipes. A few minutes, and it started to feel more natural. I want to try this with a friend’s 50 year old Triumph, thinking it will be more useful in a car lower on power (I was in a 2022 LT1 Camaro).
Thank you for your excellent video.
Favorite for me in the past was to DCHT sequentially from 6th to 2nd turning onto my road. Now, being older & lazier, I'll DCHT skip shift from 6th to 2nd. The shifter feels like it's being sucked into 2nd. Great feeling!
For rev matching, what's the difference between blipping the throttle while still in the higher gear versus blipping after going into neutral? I've heard both ways recommended.
Great explanation, thanks
You should have covered clutchless shifting as an emergency technique (losing hydraulic pressure), since it goes off rev-matching as well--just more precise.
OR you could just get an automatic.... Just kidding! Thanks for the great demo, great video. Unfortunately it seems like modern cars are forcing us away from actually DRIVING and instead seem to be more focused on infotainment.
Hey James I recently acquired a 5 speed E46 and I'm not as smooth as I'd like to be when rev matching my shifts. How would you go about mastering making the right shifts? I was thinking I could plot out shift points all across the band across all the gears. For example, when I am in traffic I go to around 4200RPM in 1st to 3rd (is that a situation where you would want to double clutch) and it lands at about 2300RPM. At 3000RPM in first it drops 2000RPM in second. At 2500RPM in 2nd it drops to 2000RPM in 3rd. I was thinking that I could build a flash card collection of all the shift points and etiquette to use when making those shifts.
Hi Avery, congrats on your new E46! Upshifts generally don’t need double clutch bc synchros don’t need to do much work if you time things right.
I think you’re on the right track-I recommend you familiarize yourself with the rough % differences in rpm between gears. For example, you might learn that 1st-2nd means dropping revs by 35%, whereas 4th-5th is maybe only 15% different. So rather than knowing exact rpm numbers, just know the rough % change in rpm between gears.
Beyond that, it’s more about developing a good feel for the trans than anything else. Study videos that teach you how a manual trans works, so that you know what is happening whenever you feel the shifter kicking back or the car lurching (if you know what’s happening mechanically, you’ll know how to improve next time whenever you mess up a shift). Hope that helps, and enjoy your BMW!
@@JamesPlaysWithCars Thank you! Gear ratios for the transmission were super easy to find and easy to calculate. Much easier than my plan. I took a drive while being conscious of making sure that the clutch was hitting the floor and it was a lot smoother already.