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Old 07-16-2009, 03:08 AM   #77 (permalink)
Ptero
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Smart Car ForTwo Pure - '08 Smart Fortwo Pure stripped
90 day: 51.35 mpg (US)

BMW 750iL V12 - '90 BMW V12
90 day: 26.4 mpg (US)

Wildfire 250C - '08 Shandong Pioneer 250C
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For pulse and glide, you'll want to master the slip. Always be gentle. Ham-handed people should avoid learning the slip in their own cars. You can break off gear teeth if you get clumsy.

SLIP

Get a tach if you don't have one.
Go 65.
Make note of the exact rpm. e.g. 3070
Go 55.
Make note of the exact rpm. e.g, 2750

Now, at 65 mph, touch the clutch and shift into neutral.
Take your foot off the clutch and off the gas.
Your idle will drop to around 500 rpm.
Coast down to 57.
Now bring your rpm from 500 to 2750. Be steady and precise, no hunting up and down.
As you hold the rpm steady at 2750 and your speedometer drops from 56 to 55, quickly jab your clutch (just a little - NOT to the floor) and slip the stick into high. A good slip shift will not make any noise except for a little "snick".

This technique works for all speeds and all gears (upshifts require doubleclutching) but you have to memorize the match points. To learn match points in big trucks that I'm not familiar with, I cheat by pulling the shift lever lightly against the spinning gears. A light accelerator foot, with an eye on the tach, will find the match point. Little transmissions with synchros can make this hard to do.

Once you are good at this, you will find the clutch is unnecessary, as well as the tach. It's like playing a musical instrument.

Last edited by Ptero; 07-16-2009 at 03:36 AM..
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