So! For red traffic lights, do as above, but instead of just click, click, clicking down through all the gears one immediately after the other, instead, hold in the clutch for the duration of your slow-down (as above), but only click down into the next lower gear when you have slowed to a speed which is appropriate for that lower gear (you’re also braking at the same time remember).
imo I don’t think that is a good idea; honestly its a bad habit when moving to not release the clutch after every gear change (or at most more than two gear changes). The reason I say this, what if you misjudge your current speed (or arn’t concentrating right) and you down shift 2 or 3 gears, but aren’t going slow enough when you accidentally drop the clutch…. that is a very dangerous situation.
Andrew, here are my tips for shifting.
* If you have a 6 speed transmission and are in 6th gear and coming into a stop- try estimating how long it will take you to come to a complete stop. Then count to 5, down shift after each number so that you should be on “5” (or first gear) by the time you come to a stop. Start the counting a little after you first start braking or decelerating (shift down each time you count).
*You know you are downshifting correctly when you are able to downshift (pull clutch in, shift down, release clutch) feeling little to no jerking or engine braking AT ALL.
* just practice down shifting BY Ear…. I too had lots of trouble downshifting too, especially when I looked at my speedometer and tach; its much easier to simply listen and shift.
* You don’t have to pull in the clutch all the way down, just enough to get it past the friction zone. I found this speeds up shifting quickly through gears.
* Release the clutch slowly when downshifting, as if you are going from a stop in first gear.
* For emergency stops, pull in the clutch then apply the brakes until you come to a complete stop. Worry about shifting back down after you have stopped.