Re: Manual Shift -Speed shifting

[Bubmeister@aol.com]

On the manual shifting thread:

>A very long time ago I washed a driver shift without pressing the clutch!! 
>I kit you not. The shift was a smooth as silk.. and I remeber that he 
>matched the engine rpm before shifting into gear but didn't matter when 
>shifting out of gear.

>Even since I was wondering...  If you match the input shaft speed to the
gear, assuming you are superman and >really know your gears, then that would
be possible...?

>I don't have an Audi myself, but have developed a liking just thourgh this 
>group.  Just  came back from Grattan last night (BMW school).. the track is 
>lots of fun  - light hills/corners/long straight :-)  enjoy..  There was 
>one white quattro that day, practising, eh..?

Well, if that BMW track school had been in CA, that white Quattro might have
been me.  Over the years I have enjoyed teaching those BMW owners to respect
the little 4kcsq for its' great handling.

Anyway, back to the before mentioned story.  Six months ago my husband, Keith
and I were about to embark on a two hour drive from a small town in WA to
Seattle when I couldn't even get the car to go into reverse to get out of the
driveway.  As confident of my driving as I am I was wondering if I was turning
 into the stereotypical "woman driver", "grrriiind, grriiind".  "You're not
putting the clutch in all the way" Keith says with a clenched jaw as it
appears I'm ruining the gears on the close-ratio five speed (similar to the
Porsche, but easier to shift because of the proximity to the transmission) in
his BMW 2002 Touring (picture a 2002 with a hatchback instead of a trunk).
 We finally realize that the clutch has gone away.  Being in a small town and
not trusting anyone there to know anything about this car or have the parts,
Keith was determined to get it to Seattle.  He used the technique Ash talked
about, it's called speed shifting.  Freeway driving was a breeze, but the
getting to the freeway, the stop for gas and the last leg through hilly
downtown Seattle to Seattle BMW (thanks Chuck)  was a little more exciting. 

In response to his question, yes, in order to do this you match the input
shaft speed to the gear speed and they slip together.  And yes, you
reeeaaally need to know your car for this one.  

Kelly