Refining Technique & Scenario Based Q's

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Re: Refining Technique & Scenario Based Q's

Post by tankinbeans »

I always keep the brakes on at lights. There less chance of a miscommunication.

Now the question of clutch in/stay in gear versus clutch out/stay in neutral is entirely dependent upon the situation. If I'm first in line I'll usually stay in gear so as to have the least amount of reactional delay (Minnesota is all about honking), but if I'm further back I'll stay in neutral.
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Re: Refining Technique & Scenario Based Q's

Post by watkins »

tankinbeans wrote:Minnesota is all about honking
That means I would slow down and make them wait. I love being passive aggressive.
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Re: Refining Technique & Scenario Based Q's

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Teamwork wrote:I know it's not realistic but I make a conscious effort to leave the mini-van mom whose morse coding false signals- tap dancing on the brake for no rhyme or reason (.. / .-- .- -. - / -.-- --- ..- .-.-.- / .--. ..- .-.. .-.. / --- ...- . .-. / .- - / - .... . / -. . -..- - / .-. . ... - / ... - --- .--.).
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Re: Refining Technique & Scenario Based Q's

Post by tankinbeans »

watkins wrote:
tankinbeans wrote:Minnesota is all about honking
That means I would slow down and make them wait. I love being passive aggressive.
One time I was about ready to shut my car off and hold the key out the window and wait for another cycle. Guy douched out and honked two seconds after the light changed.
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Re: Refining Technique & Scenario Based Q's

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Rope-Pusher wrote:Having more engine than chassis is less satisfying than having more chassis than engine.
Did I ever mention my father was Japanese and managed test and evelopment at Subaru?

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Re: Refining Technique & Scenario Based Q's

Post by theholycow »

Sometimes if I'm feeling lazy I'll let off the brake pedal at a red light. I watch for a reaction in the mirror. If there's nobody behind me I watch for anyone coming up and light it up again if I see someone, then once they're stopped I can let off of it again.

If I can see the other light I wait for it to be stale yellow before I step on the clutch and shift into 1st. If there's steady cross-traffic I try to wait to see them slow down. If it's a short light or stale and unfamiliar or something like that I'll stand on the clutch. I may be the only car on the road obeying the speed limit, but I sure do hate waiting around at a dead stop or anything less than the limit.
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Re: Refining Technique & Scenario Based Q's

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Yanno, mostly I don't even think about how I'm breathing, why I'm breathing, am I breathing correctly, etc. I just breathe.

I never pay any attention to my heartbeat. It's like "Whatever!....Out of my control.....Hardly matters."

Now farting, that is different altogether. Seams tummy it's somewhat about what influence one can make on other's perceptions, either "Wow, I never even notice when you fart" or "Wow, you are SO GOOD at that!"
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Re: Refining Technique & Scenario Based Q's

Post by Teamwork »

theholycow wrote:Sometimes if I'm feeling lazy I'll let off the brake pedal at a red light. I watch for a reaction in the mirror. If there's nobody behind me I watch for anyone coming up and light it up again if I see someone, then once they're stopped I can let off of it again.

If I can see the other light I wait for it to be stale yellow before I step on the clutch and shift into 1st. If there's steady cross-traffic I try to wait to see them slow down. If it's a short light or stale and unfamiliar or something like that I'll stand on the clutch. I may be the only car on the road obeying the speed limit, but I sure do hate waiting around at a dead stop or anything less than the limit.
I missed this reply somehow. I kind of have dead on the same thought processes for letting my foot off the brake and the stale yellow. If I can visibly see the cross pattern of the light once it hits yellow is when I clutch in and shift into 1st. If I'm first in que though I usually try and make a time "guestimation" and maybe hold the clutch in a little longer then I normally would just to be "ready". Nothing in terms of minutes but more or less I'd say 20-25 seconds as opposed to like 7. Brake I'm kind of scared about... I'll let it off on level ground if no one's behind me or even close around me but I watch my rear view mirror like a hawk and if I even see a hint of head light I'll re apply.

As for the other topics I kind of gotten used to being fully into a lower gear as I'm still going straight right before a 90 degree turn. I definitely need more experience though because if I absolutely don't rev match or blip I feel like I'm "bouncing" when I go into the lower gear. Other times I feel like it's fairly smooth but now I'm dealing with more a marginal amount of more speed- instead of the last possible second going into the turn which was probably 10-13 mph it's probably bleeding off speed from about 17-20 mph (rough estimates). Even if I do blip... I feel like it's only to aid the revs in going even further up. It's never really spot on but it does seem to smooth things out. I've been trying to practice doing it though without blipping at all and seeing what it's like... but I'm pretty unsure and need more experience. The thing is of course variables change but in leisurely driving I feel like this is the best approach because I can focus more on steering and other traffic variables other then juggling both of my feet around while steering also. I feel like I can get out of the turn faster as well and more efficiently but at the compromise of smoothness.

I also had Mr. RSX riding shotgun today for about a 10 mile stint. The only thing he noted that he thought was weird was how I would completely stop with the clutch down. Like say, if I was approaching a red light... I'd stay in whatever gear I'm in and when the rev's reach close to 1k or below I'll fully floor the clutch and continue modulating the brake. I'll either actually shift into neutral when I'm a few feet away from completely stopping or access the situation at the light (whether it's stale red or not) and either shift back into 1st if I think it's going to be semi-quick or shift into neutral and foot off the clutch completely from there. He said I was "riding my clutch" but I think either one of us are misunderstood by the definition of that? I always believed that riding the clutch is when you are accelerating and riding in the friction point for what is considered an "overkill" or abundant amount of time. As far as I'm concerned if I have the clutch fully to the floor while I'm slowing down that's the same idea as shifting into neutral? Would love some clarification here... I'm not even too sure how else one would stop formally either unless down shifting gears is done.
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Re: Refining Technique & Scenario Based Q's

Post by theholycow »

I have always heard "riding the clutch" to mean essentially the same thing as "riding the brakes" - your foot is on the pedal but you don't think you're actually pressing the pedal (but you probably are, a little).

What you're doing is fine, but depending on your level of paranoia about release bearing wear it may be considered non-optimal.

I prefer not to put that much effort into it so I shift to neutral and let go of that clutch pedal. However, there are plenty of situations in which I'll stay standing on the pedal. For example, in my car there are times when I expect to want to get into gear quickly and I expect some resistance from the transmission; by leaving it in gear (any gear) as I come to a stop I effectively double-clutch that shift (stopping the car brings the clutch to a stop, which is the same speed as the gear I want), so it will complete much more quickly.
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Re: Refining Technique & Scenario Based Q's

Post by Teamwork »

theholycow wrote:I have always heard "riding the clutch" to mean essentially the same thing as "riding the brakes" - your foot is on the pedal but you don't think you're actually pressing the pedal (but you probably are, a little).

What you're doing is fine, but depending on your level of paranoia about release bearing wear it may be considered non-optimal.

I prefer not to put that much effort into it so I shift to neutral and let go of that clutch pedal. However, there are plenty of situations in which I'll stay standing on the pedal. For example, in my car there are times when I expect to want to get into gear quickly and I expect some resistance from the transmission; by leaving it in gear (any gear) as I come to a stop I effectively double-clutch that shift (stopping the car brings the clutch to a stop, which is the same speed as the gear I want), so it will complete much more quickly.
I was fairly confident that I wasn't "riding the clutch" by the similar definition we have. I think he meant I was "holding the clutch" to the firewall in situations where I could've shifted into neutral and let my foot off all the way. He and you are very prominent about going back to neutral- as stated in really early posts in this thread he basically told me how when he'd go up this exit ramp from the main high way he would shift into neutral and brake and take a gear accordingly but basically be free spinning at 45-55 mph in neutral. I'm assuming that's why he called me out on it but I guess that's just naturally how I kind of took to slowing down and coming to a stop. I will stay in whatever high gear I am and fully floor the clutch when the revs drop around 1k or below... sometimes I put shift into neutral before the complete stop, other times I'll be just stopped and shift into neutral and take my foot off it.

I've also taken some flack (not from him but someone else) for not downshifting out of an OD gear when coming to a complete stop to "aid" engine braking but we had this discussion here in previous pages as well.
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Re: Refining Technique & Scenario Based Q's

Post by Teamwork »

Heat-Check
So with the change of jobs I've barely increased by previous route by 2 miles but now I'm in the prime time of rush hour on Long Island traffic between 7 and 8 am and 5 to 6 pm. I wanted to just give some examples of what I've been doing to operate my vehicle in really slow crawls where at times I feel like I go miles without getting out of 2nd gear or past 15 mph.

In scenarios where I'm in 2nd gear and traffic variables are inconsistent if I find myself dipping below a 2nd gear thresh hold speed (right before juddering) I'll clutch in and coast (out of gear) for a few seconds. I'm really not sure how else I'd approach this but I'm using this time to see if the traffic in front of me is going to resume or go into a complete halt. By then I'll either: A) re-engage 2nd gear, B) Engage 1st gear off a slow roll, C) Go into neutral and brake. Really not sure how else I could approach this... it's not like I'm flooring the clutch when I have rev's under 2nd gear but this is more when I'm near 10 mph and my revs are at 1k.

Also, if I'm on the parkway and every lane is crawling at say around 5-10 mph and I just want to keep up with the flow of traffic I've been pretty much just applying a blip of throttle and riding the bite for a second and then re-flooring the clutch and then repeating if I have to move up more. I know I could be more consistent in riding the bite and just applying light throttle throughout but I feel like this is more efficient for me- kind of just gliding by.

Can't really ask any advice on this one but I've had to encounter a new scenario of essentially going up a spiraling incline met with a stop sign at the top of the "hill" (it's not really a hill). Find this a bit difficult to negotiate the traffic pattern while getting quick on the clutch/gas for to incorporate for the hill. I rolled back a little with cars behind me (luckily not up my ass) but I found it hard to work my way onto the main road because I had to have my head twisted to gauge traffic variables and then the car was stopped on a pretty significant incline when I have to turn the car 90 degrees as well. Guess I need more practice but this has been a pretty challenging encounter.

If I had anxiety before... I don't think I have it any longer because everything's getting thrown at me and tested.
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Re: Refining Technique & Scenario Based Q's

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Sounds like you want to "Pulse" the clutch engagement just enough to get the speed back up there and then let it coast down with the clutch disengaged again. This is similare to when driving through a parking lot and looking for an empty space. You really don't need the torque multiplication of the lower gear, but you don't need to be driving in 2nd with the clutch fully engaged either.
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