Re: shoot the shift

["Michael & Carmen Keith" <mikeandcarmen@pdq.net>]

I second that.  Down shifting used to be necessary to slow the car down back
in the days when sports cars (like all other cars) had very ineffective
brakes.  Back then, they really needed the engine's braking effect.  Modern
cars have such effective brakes that downshifting does not provide any
additional stopping power.  However, old habits die hard, & therefore, many
people still believe in downshifting to slow the car.  For instance, my dad
taught me that downshifting was necessary when I was learning to drive a
manual shift car.  It is only necessary to downshift in brisk driving in
order to set the car up for a corner.  I still downshift on the street just
to stay in practice for Club Racing.  I try to have as much of my braking
done as possible before I downshift, but I try to have the shift completed &
the car settled before I start to turn in.  My technique is still
inconsistent.  This takes a lot of practice.

By the way, I've heard that some people (not in the U.S.) have increased the
displacement of their VR6's to 3.1.  Does anyone on the list have any
experience with this?  Is the VR6 a wet sleeve engine in which you can
simply drop in new cylinders, or is it necessary to have the block bored by
a machine shop?  Also, about how much would this cost (including pistons)?

Just curious & looking long term.

Michael Keith
Pasadena, TX
'98 Jetta GLX
'85 Golf ITB/DSP
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Loron <peterl@cnw.com>
To: jettaglx@igtc.COM <jettaglx@igtc.COM>; gti-vr6@dev.tivoli.com
<gti-vr6@dev.tivoli.com>
Date: Thursday, July 30, 1998 6:05 PM
Subject: Re: shoot the shift


>Well, slipping the clutch into a lower gear to get a braking effect does
put
>wear on the clutch and the synchros in the transmission. I use just the
>brakes to slow the car down (if just letting off the gas isn't sufficient).
>To properly set the car up for a corner that you have to slow down for and
>thus will want to get on the gas in a lower gear as your are exiting, you
>need to shift smoothly to avoid unsettling the car on it's suspension. A
>double clutch, rev-matched downshift is what you're looking for. Basically
>you:
>
>1. Begin braking in such a way that you can maintain steady pressure on the
>brake pedal while simoultaneously being able to smoothly modulate the gas
>pedal. AKA heel & toe...I actually put the left side of my foot on the
brake
>and roll at the ankle...
>
>2. Push in the clutch and put the stick into neutral.
>
>3. Let the clutch out and blip the throttle to bring the engine and
>transmission input shaft speeds up to the speed they will need to be when
>you get to the next step.
>
>4. Quickly push the clutch in, move the stick to the lower gear, and let
the
>clutch back out. You need to do this fairly quickly to make sure that the
>engine and transmission are still spinning at the correct speed.
>
>Remember, all that is taking place while you're braking, and you want to
get
>it all done before you start turning, helping to insure that the car is
>settled on it's suspension for the turn. It also minimizes wear on the
>clutch and transmission synchros.
>
>If you can do all that (I still can't reliably do it) smoothly and quickly
>so the car doesn't jerk at all when you complete step 4, then you're in
>business.
>
>Check out these URLs for a more detailed description:
>
>http://staff.connect.com.au/ianh/318ti/1997-10/msg00461.html
>http://staff.connect.com.au/ianh/318ti/1997-10/msg00460.html
>http://staff.connect.com.au/ianh/318ti/1997-11/msg00020.html
>http://staff.connect.com.au/ianh/318ti/1997-11/msg00010.html
>http://staff.connect.com.au/ianh/318ti/1997-11/msg00011.html
>
>
>-Pete