I've got a few questions regarding driving manual with a lightweight flywheel.
TLDR: How do I drive the car now with a lighter flywheel, grabbier clutch, and a short shifter to preserve the synchros the best that I can?
Not new to driving manual, but have never really thought about the mechanics of everything until now because I've installed a lightweight flywheel. Was taught shifting slowly, double clutching on upshifts, and rev matching on the downs can all preserve synchros. But now with a lightweight flywheel, I'm often thinking about how I drive. Also, with a ceramic clutch, the car has become less streetable.
From what I've read, preserving sychros is all about matching engine speed to the transmission speed. Obviously with a very lightweight flywheel these revs drop down to basic idle rpm in a second.
1) So with a lightweight flywheel, on an upshift, if you don't double clutch, should the act of throwing the shifter from Gear 1 -> Gear 2 etc. be as fast as possible to match RPMs to an acceptable level for the higher gear?
2) Does the actual act of moving the shifter and the speed of the shifter throw cause the wear and tear on the synchros? Or is it the speed of release of the clutch pedal? If I very slowly release the clutch and give it gas, I find my car shifters smoother, but I am still throwing the shifter faster then I would on any other car with a normaly flywheel.
3) Does a notchier short shifter damage synchros faster?
1. Yes, if there's not enough time to double clutch, the next easiest thing to do for the synchros would be a quick shift so that revs match as closely as possible.
2. Minimizing synchro wear is all about having the revs matched between the input and output sides of the gearbox for the next gear you're going into, the closer the match is, the less wear you'll get. This all happens between moving the shifter out of the neutral position and when the shifter is fully into the next gear. The speed of clutch release won't affect synchro wear since the synchro should've already done its job by then and the gear should be fully engaged.
3. Only if it affects how closely you can control the shifting, if you can match revs as well as before then there's no difference.
You can blip the throttle between up shifts to keep things smooth. I do this when my car is cold and the transmission is sluggish. The 1-2 shift isn't very happy in the morning
Why have all those mods if not to shift faster?
Shifting faster will result in worn synchros.
These things are at odds with one another.
A lightweight clutch disk will help the synchro life.
I have strong opinions about short shifters, but in theory because they make it harder to shift, synchro life should increase, because you can't apply as much pressure to the mechanism due to reduced leverage. (If you want to shift FAST put a 6" extension on a stock shifter, so you can ram right through into the next gear. It's a great way to damage things though)
