[SD987]

I'd add the following and elaborate on my previous post...

I notice a surprising number of stick drivers who don't let the engine wind down and push in the clutch as soon, or too early as they start braking/decelerating. Letting the engine wind down dramatically improves brake performance and wear by using engine compression to help slow the vehicle. I’m not talking about engine braking, I’m talking about coasting/slowing with a gear engaged; not in neutral.

As far as engine braking goes, I would not recommend downshifting specifically for the purpose of slowing the car, only to keep the revs in the appropriate range so that if you need acceleration quickly you won’t be caught short. On that subject, variocam kicks in at 4200 revs (which is one reason they want you to stay below this range during break-in) and peak torque/power is produced between 4200-6000+. But this is not to suggest you need to keep the Boxster in this range to drive effectively. I personally downshift between 2000-2500 revs. I also don’t consider engine-braking to be running it in 3rd gear down a hill to stay at about 55, I’d consider that winding down, but just to be clear, if I was doing 75 down that hill in 5th gear and put it into 3rd without applying the brakes and matching revs, I would consider that engine braking.

Take the time to come to a full stop when going R -1 or 1 - R. I’ve been known to visibly wince when I see someone doing this. You're dealing with the two strongest gears and switching while rolling between the two just equals BAD. It’s a clutch, not a momentum-reverser.

Don't shift mid-turn. You're momentarily taking the drive component away when your car most needs it. I kick myself a lot on this one, instead of shifting down to second or third before a turn, I do it in the middle…not exactly powering through. This ties into heel-toe shifting and while I'm not personally concerned with classic heel-toe maneuvering I certainly would agree that blipping the throttle makes down-shifts smoother (classic heel-toe and blipping the throttle on a downshift are not to be confused as the same thing).

I noticed the adverse affects of the clutch-move into first instead of move towards first - clutch in the 987 5 speed when I would get jammed/locked out of first. This was just laziness on my part, and you can get away with doing this in a lot of cars but the 987 no-likee. Reducing the shifter travel when the clutch is disengaged will also improve your pull-away time, unless you’re one of those people who sits at the red light with the clutch in and the shifter in first, which is 2 Fast 2 Furious and 2 Long.

The above being said, I think the biggest culprit to poor clutch/transmission life is general technique. It amazes me that people can go their whole lives and be crappy shifters. But when you think how people are taught it’s basically like this:

The teacher tells them to put the clutch in, then let the clutch out while pushing down the gas…usually the teacher then puts his hands together palms down and starts waving them to simulate the pedal timing required to engage the pressure plate to the clutch disc. Not a lot to go on really…IMHO I think there's more to it then that if you want to shift with consistency and maximize your performance.