I remember reading in a James Bond book a while back, where Bond says he “performed a racing change”.
My first car was my mom’s old 1966 MGB roadster. First-gear synchro didn’t come out until the following year. So whenever I was downshifting from second to first, I had to “double clutch”. I was quite good at it.
Is a “racing change” a downshift in a non-synchro transmission (i.e., “double clutching”)? Or has it to do with upshifting? (I’ve never not used the clutch in an upshift.) Or is it something else? If it’s not “double clutching”, then what is the exact procedure?
In a “racing” gear change, the driver lets up on the go pedal a bit to reduce the strain, then bangs the lever into the next gear without using the clutch. It can be done at or near the speed where you’d make a regular shift. It saves precious time in a race, and it’s worth the extra hazard to the gearbox.
Disclaimer: Though race drivers routinely shift this way, it is hard on the drivetrain. Parts are expendable in a race, and a gearbox may be rebuilt between races.
Like AskNott said. You can shift without the clutch and be relatively gentle on the transmission, but doing so is slower, so it kind of defeats the purpose.
When my dad drove rally cars, transmission rebuilds were a weekly event
