[captainaudio]

Once you master the art of driving it becomes instinctive and muscle memory and the thought process involved is below the surface. You don't see a stop sign and think "I am going to have to slow down and stop soon, how do I do that? Oh, the brake pedal, which one is that? Is it the one on the right, the one on the left or the one in the center? Oh, now I remember its the one in the center. Now which foot do I use to press it and how hard do I need to press it and for how long?".

To a large extent the same holds true for shifting gears with an MT. At some point it becomes instinctive. I rarely look at the tach to determine what gear to be in the entire shifting process becomes second nature. You develop a feel for what gear you are in and what gear you need or want to be in. When you add the extreme power and flat torque curve of many modern cars to the equation you are in a situation where the gear you are in is not all that critical.

As an example if you know how to heel and toe and double clutch a downshift try going through the motions while you are sitting in a chair. If I try it in a chair I really have to think about it but when I am in a car I just do it with very little conscious thought process.