# Brakes or Gearbox?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brakes-or-gearbox/1030921>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [June 15, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brakes-or-gearbox/1030921 "2026-06-15T21:48:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brakes-or-gearbox/1030921/41 "2026-06-22T04:13:29Z")

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Thanks! I’m actually having a hard time envisioning how you do this. The first six or so vehicles I regularly drove (mine and my parents’ vehicles) were all stick shifts, but I never once tried to shift without using the clutch.

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**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brakes-or-gearbox/1030921/42 "2026-06-22T04:56:30Z")

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> [@robby](#):
>
> The first six or so vehicles I regularly drove (mine and my parents’ vehicles) were all stick shifts, but I never once tried to shift without using the clutch.

Upshifting isn’t really difficult, you just push it into the next gear as the revs fall to a point where it’s matching the speed of the engine and the transmission. Downshifting is a bit harder, as you have to raise the revs on the engine to get them to match. Here’s a video that covers it, and heel+toe downshifting. FF to about halfway through if you don’t want the lesson in heel+toe downshifting.

Doing it right, it doesn’t really put any stress on the transmission. Do it wrong, and the dog ears will let you know pretty quickly that they’re spinning too slow to mesh.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CwqVTikzOp4/maxresdefault.jpg "Heel Toe Shifting VS Clutchless Shifting") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwqVTikzOp4)

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**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brakes-or-gearbox/1030921/43 "2026-06-22T05:02:19Z")

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> [@scabpicker](#):
>
> Here’s a video that covers it…

Thanks! That was very informative. I always thought that trying to shift without using the clutch would grind the gears…so I never tried it.

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**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brakes-or-gearbox/1030921/44 "2026-06-22T05:35:55Z")

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To be clear, if you don’t match the revs and try to jam it into gear, you _will_ hear the gears grind. That’s not great, and it sounds terrible, but it’s still easier on your transmission than a drag race launch. When the guy in that video mentions that the Subaru has a notoriously fragile transmission, he’s meaning it’s not really great at holding up to that kind of launch.

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**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2026, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brakes-or-gearbox/1030921/45 "2026-06-22T10:24:13Z")

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The 1970s driving school taught me to change down as you slowed down, but my father was so rude about it that I stopped doing it.

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