Alright, so I just started driving a stick (94 ex 5 sp) and I figured out how to slide the car into gear without the clutch. Is this at all bad for the engine/tranny? Is it good? I don't do it all the time and only ususally do it goin into 4th or 5th or downshifting into 4th and 3rd. Let me know, cuz if it's bad I'll stop but if it's slightly better then I'll continue doing it.

 

if you can do it without feeling/hearing ANY grinding going on it should be ok. BUT if you are feeling grinding those are your gear symchros...once those are shot you gotta buy a new tranny or rebuild the one you got. I tried teaching myself to speed shift, but couldn't get the hang of it. How are you doing it?

 

yea i can pull mine out of gear or put it into gear. I just dont do often because its slow. the easiest gears to get out of is 1st and 3rd. You get going at about 4000 rpms and lightly put pressure pulling it as if your shifting, and as soon as you let off the gas, it will fall right into neutral, then tap the gas to about 4000 while lightly pressing it into the next gear.
Yea if NO noise is heard, then theres no problem. I actually think it saves wear on the clutch and throwout bearing

 

...but is hard on the synchros. I had a clutchcable breakon a 1972 Fiat 128 many years ago, so I had to learn how to do it quickly. Not recomended for daily use. It is something nice to learn how to do though. As bm619 says, it is slow.

 

IF you didnt need to use the clutch to shift, it woulnt be there.

 

^ well said

 

downshifting without a clutch seems bad, idk, Pete put it well though, but if you can do with ABSOLUTELY no grinding, i dont think its that bad.

 

how hard is it to put your foot on the clutch at the same time as you pull!!! i do not recommend doing it because it is just an unecessary habit that could end up costing you $$$$ but it will not hurt the car as long as you do not grind

 

its called floating gears and a lot of truckers do it cuz somebig rigshave way more gears that cars and it can be a pain to push the clutch in and out that many times. it can be rough on the synchros if you don't do it at the perfect time. If you are having to force it in gear at all then i would suggest just using the clutch like the rest of us. especially since after driving a stick for a while you will get so used to it that it will be like second nature and you will sometimes even try to push in the clutch when you are driving an automatic...i've done it many times. and if you can't do it without grindign then definetely stop doing it.

 

The clutch is second nature to me...whenever i get into my sisters auto i try to hit the clutch and shift gears, and its a column shifter!