True...but GXP..this is a Cavy we are talking about..don't want to kill it.

He'* got a 50-50 chance... either the gears will mesh or.... they wont. hehehe. I am stuck here with out Beer and the water is still rising. Kinda on a destructive mood. Besides Cavys deserve to spill there guts all over the road......J/K

wit m/t'*, i really only down shifted from 5th to 4th and 4th to 3rd. also did the occasional drop to 2nd under harder stopping, but never hit first unless i was going < 5mph. never had any problems from engine braking (excessive hard launching is a different story)

I heard about this from the days of high school autoshop... having never owned a manual transmissioned car, I was told that you can feel/hear "the point" where you can shift. How :? And its different for every car, I gather?

I understand the theory behind it, the cogs and rotating parts within the tranny are moving at the same speed at a certain rpm - so gear changes can be snick-snick; you grind when things are moving at different speeds and collide

Shifting without the clutch is called "power shifting" As far as going down the hill and letting the clutch out slowly, thats a good way to ruin the pressureplate as it is not engaging right away like it should. Its more or less gently grinding against it making it wear.

It'* not quite that simple..

if you let off the gas..you gently pull the shifter out of gear..it'll come..then gently as you are off the gas...slide it into the next..the next will accept it when it'* synched because you've dropped engine rpm.

Say you are in 3rd at 3000 rpm.. and you know if you shift..it'* 2200rpm in 4th.

So you gently slide the shifter out..and about 2200 rpm it will slide into 4th with out force.

HEHE YEP and I have pulled moe than one of mine that looked just like that one. And worse. that one doesnt look like it had much clutch plate rivet gouging.

I see what you are saying, but that is pretty much the entire purpose of a clutch. Every time you work the pedal it is going to slip some. Starting off from a stop when you are in a bump/rut you are going to have to slip it to get going. Clutches are made for it, obviously doing it excessively is bad, but thats like locking up your brakes every time you come to a stop...you don't want the pads rubbing on the rotors do you?

yeah it has to use more gas to accomodate the new speed to the trans without having the car stall...i would say use the brakes...they are cheap compared to a trans

oops did not look at the whole thread....its alreayd been said...OOPS!