[A4] A4 clutchless shifting

[Stephen Kormilo]

IMO, one of the major causes of clutch wear is 'riding' the clutch. This 
has been mentioned in the discussion, but, again IMO, should be 
emphasized. I have driven with many people who consistently drive with 
their left foot resting on the clutch pedal, as if they are afraid they 
won't be able to find it if their foot moves away from the pedal. ;-) 
Even worse, many of them get 'upset' when I mention that to them.

Similarly, using the clutch, instead of the handbrake, to hold the car 
stationary while on an uphill incline will cause increased clutch wear.

Clutches are meant to be binary: ON or OFF. Unfortunately, the act of 
starting from a stop has to involve some clutch slippage, so the sooner 
you can match engine and road speed the better. Read: for minimum clutch 
wear use relatively low engine speeds until the car gets rolling & the 
clutch becomes fully engaged.

FWIW, I always sit at a stop light with the transmission in neutral & 
the clutch engaged (foot completely off the clutch pedal). Actually, 
with the recent high fuel prices, I will turn the engine off if I just 
'miss' the light & know that it's a longish stop. Hmmmm... how many 
starts to a starter? ;-)

Stephen Kormilo
Nanoose Bay, BC

2002 Audi A4 3.0 - Silver
Departed:
1998.5 Audi A4 2.8 - Silver
1985 Mazda Rx7 GSL-SE - Black

email: stephen at kormilo.ca

Robert King wrote:
> On 4/20/07, Tyson Varosyan <tyson at up-times.com> wrote:
>> By sitting at a light with your foot holding the clutch pedal you are
>> doing
>> serious damage to the clutch system.
> 
> 
> Sorry, but I've GOT to disagree with pretty much everything you posted.  If
> you like, I can get an authoritative quote from a good friend of mine who
> designed drivetrains for Ford, but for now I'll just say:

snip.....