Back in the early 20th century, double clutch downshifting was used because it was difficult to engage the clutch without it and transmissions didn’t have any synchronizers. Today, double clutch downshifting is primarily used in old cars and race cars because it is a more efficient down shift. If you want to know how to double clutch downshift, you can simply follow the steps outlined below:
Be aware of the situations where double clutch is useful
Double clutching was considered a necessity in times before syncromesh transmissions if tearing up your gearbox was not an option for you. These days, you don’t need to double clutch if you don’t wish to down shift, but there are a few reasons you may do it:
- You may want to do it if you want smoothness of shift, especially when you are moving more than one gear. If you don’t want to ride your brakes when you are taking a turn around the bend, downshifting from the 4th to the 2nd gear is easily with double clutch. Otherwise, the shift is usually jerky.
- The health and life of the synchros can be prolonged if you double clutch downshift. For instance, when you drag the 3rd gear to 2nd, it takes a while for the 2nd gear synchro to do its job. This means that the gears don’t mesh well. You are able to switch gears instantly through double clutch downshifting, which preserves your synchro’s life.
Practice in an empty parking lot
While double clutching is not very difficult, it is best to practice it in an empty parking lot or a place that doesn’t get much traffic. This way you can reduce the chances of something going wrong.
Begin in a low gear
This means that you can accelerate the car into 3rd gear and push in the clutch as you do when anticipating a normal gear shift. Basically, you are doing something you do normally.
Shifting into neutral
You need to shift into neutral when you are depressing the clutch and release your foot. When your transmission is in neutral, you need to be traveling around 25 mph or 40 kmph.
Depressing the accelerator
You need to hit the accelerator here because you want the engine RPMs to be higher than those in a lower gear as the transmission speed and the engine speed balances out this way.
Press the clutch
This is the actual?double clutch’. Get your foot off the accelerator and push in the clutch. This is the second time you are pushing the clutch before shifting into a lower gear.
Change gear and release clutch
Move to your desired gear from neutral and release the clutch guicker than usual. That’s it. Now, you know exactly how to double clutch. You can begin practicing at lower speeds and in lower gear and you can increase the speed and gear once you finally get the hang of it. It takes some time to master the technique, but it is best to learn it when you have an old car or are into racing.
