Transmissions, Double Clutching, I'm a better driver than you, ad nauseum

["John Paradiso" <johnp@domain.elided>]

WARNING: I have had my Spider drivable for about 3 weeks now, so I am
very much a novice. The empty barrel..., and all that.
I don't know about anybody else, but it pisses me off how much effort it
takes NOT to grind the gears on my Spider when downshifting.

I know that I like to delude myself that I'm Mario Andretti behind the
wheel ( more like his cousin Rudy who delivers bread in Bayonne), but
I've been driving manual transmissions for a good twenty five years and
never ground gears. From my perspective, the effort it takes not to
grind when downshifting classifies the tranny in my Spider as a grade A
piece of shit. I figured my particular transmission had shot synchros,
with all this discussion it sounds endemic. (OOH! Fancy Word!!!)

In my Eclipse, I can be going 80 in 5th, let out the clutch, depress the
brake, drop it into 3rd (about 1 1/2" of shifter travel), engage the
clutch/give it gas and take the off ramp in tire squealing glory with
nary a sound but the "clink" of 3rd engaging.

I fall more in love with my Spider each day that I drive it, I'd drop a
Japanese tranny in there in a heartbeat.

PS  This discussion thread sent me to one of my favorite web based time
sinkholes: Howstuffworks.com. Includes an animated, shiftable
transmission (pretty cool)
http://www.howstuffworks.com/transmission3.htm

John Paradiso
("Just lean on the S.O.B., it'll engage eventually!")
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