So, you've been driving stick, eh?
Next level: do you do double-clutching and heel-toe-ing?
I find both to be useful, especially with the close-ratio gears for higher speed situations when I need extra torque. Heel-toe-ing covers the added scenario of brakes being involved, usually that means going through a turn.
Double-clutch
Scenario: Cruising 70mph in 6th and suddenly you want power. Downshifting to 5th isn't quite gonna cut it, so you probably want 4th. However, the ratio diff between 6th and 4th is too big for the synchros to handle cleanly.
Sequence: Clutch in, stick to neutral, clutch out, rev to match (or really slightly exceed) speed in 4th, clutch in, stick to 4th, clutch out.
Why it works: the clutch disconnects the engine from the tranny, whereas neutral disconnects the tranny from the wheels (but leaves the engine attached). Thus, you can use the gas in neutral to get the revs from the engine transferred to the tranny. The wheels are disconnected, re-engaging 4th with the revs now matched connects everything. Clearly you have to do it fast enough that your revs don't fall during the post-neutral steps.
Heel-toe
Scenario: you need to slow down but want max power right after, such as in a turn.
Sequence: operate brake with toes of right foot. Execute double-clutch as above, but using your right heel/side of foot (depending on pedal layout) to operate the gas pedal.
Why it works: it parallelizes slowing down and shifting to the lower gear.
This one is a mental cluster-fuck. Ironically the first time I ever tried it, I just nailed it. Then I started thinking about it and it all went to hell.
Like so:
Both of the above require matching revs, which you can do mathematically based on gear ratios, however, you won't ever do math while driving. I rely on a "feel" of how deep and long I need to hit the gas depending on how many gears I skip, but this is naturally intermittently successful. It is possible to map it to music though.
Example: My car can hit 55 in 2nd, 80 in 3rd, 105 in 4th, 130 in 5th, 160 in 6th.
In the above example of 6th -> 4th, the ratio is almost exactly 2:3, which is almost exactly the ratio of a root to 5th in a scale. So, make it sound like a power chord :) Extend.
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