Double Declutching

Are you ever cruising along in fifth and suddenly you come across an obstruction? You want to whizz past, but even changing down into fourth won't give you the power you need. What's needed is a quick change down into third or second gear. Doing this, however, runs a serious risk of damaging your gear box. This is where double declutching1 comes in.

In ordinary declutching you use the clutch to change from a higher to a lower gear. It's what you do all the time. Double declutching is a little more elaborate:

* Push the clutch to the floor
* Put the gear lever into neutral
* Lift the clutch off the floor
* Give the accelerator a little blip to rev the engine up
* Push the clutch to the floor
* Put the gear lever into the desired gear
* Lift the clutch off the floor

Why do it? It puts the gearbox into an intermediate state where it is better able to slip into the new gear, and matches the engine speed to the new speed required by the lower gear.

The same process in reverse, but without the extra blip of the accelerator, is used to go up to a higher gear. You'd do this when you've passed an almost-stationary granny driver, for example.

For really ambitious drivers, you might try the 'heel and toe' technique. This involves braking with the toe of your right foot. When you get to the point in the double declutch where you need to rev the engine, you use the heel of your right foot to blip the accelerator, while continuing to brake with the toe. You might actually find it easier in modern cars to use the left and right sides of the ball of your right foot for this manoeuvre.