Why isn't Heel Toe or Double Clutch being taught in regular driving schools? I hear double clutching saves your clutch from unwanted wear and tear so why isnt it being taught at a beginner stage?

 

b/c theres no compelling need to be in the perfect gear after slowing down and coming out of a turn b/c presumably on normal road, there is no need for the perfect exit speed.

 

Any other reasons? Like safety? Fuel consumption?

 

double clutching reduces the load on synchronizers by rev matching the gears inside the transmission. modern synchronizers and transmissions are pretty good so double clutching isnt very necessary

 

there might be other reasons, but if done right, safety and fuel consumption shouldn't be

i guess you use a bit more gas when you blip the throttle but the difference is negligble

 

for those who don't know...

double clutching was used back in the days when transmissions weren't "high tech" yet. to get from one gear to the next, you'd have to clutch, go into neutral, let go of the clutch to release the engagement, reclutch from neutral, and then finally shift it into the next gear.

nowadays, everything goes in smoothly from gear to gear. without releasaing the clutch.

heel-toe? that's just to rev match your gears so that it doesn't send a "shock" effect to your drive train. it's not only to get a good exit speed, it's also so that you don't get the "hard brake" effect of downshifting and letting off on the gas, especially in a tight corner where the "shock" effect can shift your vehicle's weight making undesireable effects on your driving.

 

So essentially heel toe and double clutch is pointless to practice in normal roads. They're only useful on the race track? Double clutching is only useful to do on normal roads if the tranny isnt "high tech"?

 

heel toe, does 2 things. rev match, brake. that's why you do heel and toe.

otherwise, you just rev match.

actually, most schools don't teach it because it takes time to do that and it's usually used at fast speed turns, where you have to brake and downshift (thus rev match to smooth out the turning without jerks).

Most driving (racing) schools teach you. but regular driving school... well, they want you to go slower.

 

its not really necessary to do on normal roads. if you want to do it, theres no stopping you. heck, if you do it enough, itll come naturally to you come track day.
on public roads, probably only old car and big heavy truck drivers use double clutching on a normal basis. heel-toe on normal roads? not really practical. on track, yes because itll cut off a fraction of a second and we all know that every little bit of time is important. again, theres no stopping you if you want to do it.

 

What DeZaVu and Alex Alex said .....

 

I double clutch during daily driving all the time, just because it makes driving that much more interesting. Like people have said, its pretty much unnecissary, but its only helping to save your synchros, and more importantly its fun.

And heel toeing is hard, but SOO much fun when you nail it. I thought it was mostly done to keep your engine rpms up while braking through a corner, so upon exit your engine is higher in the power band to give you more acceleration capability. There are a couple fun off ramps that I frequent in VT that are a blast to try it on. The great thing is its something you can practice at legal safe speeds.

 

Heck, over here they didn't even teach how to drive a stick when I had driver's ed. 30 years ago. I don't think our sadistic gym teachers would have known how to down shift anyway!

Dave

 

the "shock" effect slows you down and hurts your exit speed amongst other things

 

this is a silly topic, driving schools arent responsible for teaching you how to drive a manual tranny car. in fact they dont recommend it since they want you to concentrate on driving, not shifting.

yes heel and toe has a practical side to the street but you CAN live without it

 

just b/c it isn't really that useful on a public road doesnt mean its pointless to practice on the road. you dont want to waste a track day practicing heel toeing, you want to be ready to do it correctly when you get there. so practice away.