Heel and Toe Question

[anniesdad]

What is the advantage of;

brake >-- apply the clutch >-- move gearlever into neutral >-- lift clutch >-- blip throttle >-- reapply the clutch >-- select lower gear >-- lift clutch

I seem to be able to get a seemless downchange simply by;

brake >-- apply clutch >-- >move gearlever into neutral >-- blip throttle >-- select lower gear >-- lift clutch

Basically I don't pull the clutch pedal up and reapply before selecting the lower gear. Am I being less sensitive to the car in some way?

[anniesdad]

It is double de-clutching but in an article by John Barker that I have is basically the example used by him as the correct "heel and toe" technique. The article is titled "How to Heel and Toe".

It recommends double de-clutching even with a synchro gearbox as it "smooths out things even more".

[anniesdad]

That's what I thought. That by having all this extra foot and hand work involved would be in fact a disadvantage, when the ultimate aim is "quick and smooth" driving.

[anniesdad]

Andrew Noakes said:

And anyway, I have a non-synchro first gear...

Out of interest do you find that when pressing on, hence the need to heel and toe/double de-clutch, that you are requiring first gear?

[anniesdad]

Andrew Noakes said:

In manual gearbox cars I heel and toe all the time if the pedal layout allows - not just when 'making progress'.

I was going to edit my post actually but you beat me to the punch here as I do the same.