No, downshift revmatch whenever possible.

 

I always keep my car in gear when moving, if you are coming to a stop and have to accelerate for some reason and you are in nuetral you are screwed. Rev match is my answer. As far as wear, I had 147k hard miles on my 92 GSR and I was still on the original clutch when I sold it. I think they are made to be driven that way.

 

Im still confused as hell!! Whats the diff between downshifting w/revmatch and downshifting wo/revmatching? I usually do the clutch in release gear and cruise in neutral. Kinda scared of fudging up my engine since I'm not an expert as revmatching or downshifting. I dont trust myself yet i guess. I'm at work right now so I'm about to try this downshifting, revmatching deal (whatever that is).

JmIkE

 

thats what heel-toe is for, although i agree thats a bit much for normal street driving. I find heel-toe'ing only easy if your really on the brakes like you would be on a track. for soft braking during street driving i find it hard to hold a steady but soft pressure on the brake pedal.

 

a normal down shift you go (for example) from 4th to 3rd, and as you let the clutch out, this (the friction of the clutch engaging) forces the engine to rev up to the rpm of 3rd gear at your given speed.

for a downshift with rev matching, yo hit the gas breifly after you put the clutch in to go from 4th to 3rd. this uses gas to raise your rpm to that of 3rd gear rather than letting the clutch do it. as your clutch engages, your engine should be right around the rpm of the gear your goin to (in this example, 3rd)

 

depends on the situation.

if i'm on the freeway and i want to slow down just to have my typical 6-7 car distance between the car in front of me i let off the throttle. if the car in front of me is slow and i need to pass i rev-match (6th-5th-4th if need be to 3rd) to be in optimal passing gear without upsetting the car. if i'm nearing a light and i'm the only car around i'll rev-match to a stop (don't ask me why) but if there are cars i'll rev-match up to 2nd and use the brakes to come to stop. or if i know the light is about to go green i'll rev-match to not use the brakes. if i'm entering a turn i'll go about it two ways, rev-match or rev-match heel and toe and this based on how much speed i take into the turn but 90% of the time its rev match and i'll get a few cars behind me that gets pissed because you'll see me slow down sooner than most because i take the turn without braking.

 

When you're rolling to a stop in neutral and you need to go all of a sudden, can't you just shift into second and go?

 

You probably do more wear and tear rev-matching than you do just going in to neutral and using the brake.

People say "more gas or more brake pads?"

You actually save* gas by properly* rev-matching. You do add wear and tear on your clutch over time which is a lot more expensive than replacing your brake pads.

The proper way is do use rev-matching downshifting and brakes at the same time. Rev matching lower than 3rd is probably not smart/useful unless you are driving aggressively.

It all depends on how fast you are stopping and to what degree. If I'm on a feeder going 60 and see a red light up ahead, I down shift down to 3rd, use the brakes until the car is going ~25 then I put it in neutral.

Tires are what stops your car and it doesn't stop any faster using the brakes or the engine. The point of rev matching is to maintain optimum control of the car.

 

i heal toe every downshift. not really aggressively or anything extreme, i just made a habit out of it. also, i hate the feeling of letting off the break to blip the gas then getting back on it

 

I release the parachute.