exactly the a rail
I drove my Olds Calais for about a week without the clutch. Put a good 250-300 miles on it like that. Was pretty fun actually. I first learned to shift without a clutch on my Prelude, which was my first manual trans car. On that car I learned to upshift, downshift, and yes, even powershift (not that the little 4 banger had any power) ... all without the clutch. I was a pro at it so when I got the Olds it wasn't bad at all. The Olds shifter was a little sloppy and didn't have the nice feel of the Prelude's, but it wasn't bad at all after a little getting used to. A couple times I ground third until I got used to the shifter and transmission. Also, I didn't like how those damned modern fuel injected cars would keep the throttle open a little after you let off of it. It's to reduce emissions supposedly, but it makes for a hindrance to 'enthusiastic' driving and makes shifting without the clutch a little more difficult. The Prelude had dual carbs and didn't have that silly slow return to idle stuff.
In any case, shifting without the clutch is fun. I've talked to truckers who do it frequently and the one guy's mechanic at work was baffled as to how other trucks going the same distance would go through several clutches before his would need one.
Cory
