Do you rev-match?

[homeforsummer]

Or, more succinctly, it's a way of matching engine speed to road speed when you downshift, rather than slipping the clutch as you might to smooth a regular downshift.

 

[niky]

Probably one-in-ten new test units going through my hands nowadays is a manual... so there's not much point in rev-matching... though some automatics need it, too!

On a recently concluded test drive with the MG3, which has an automated manual clutch, I had to rev-match every upshift to smooth things out, otherwise, it was herky-jerky going. After the first two or three days, I completely ignored automatic mode, because of the jerky shifts.

Downshifting was fine, however. Didn't bother to blip the throttle at all.

-

When I'm driving the truck, since everything's still hydraulic, and the shift linkage is direct (lever goes straight into the box), I use rev-matching... and heel-and-toe... and clutchless-shifting... just to stay in practice.

 

[Grandea GTR]

Aren't there cars that assist with rev-match downshifting, such as the C7 Corvette and the Z34 Fairlady Z/370Z?

 

[homeforsummer]

Aren't there cars that assist with rev-match downshifting, such as the C7 Corvette and the Z34 Fairlady Z/370Z?

There are indeed. The new MINI Cooper S does it too. The ones I've driven - the MINI and the Nissan - do it very well indeed, and the nice thing is they do it whether you're driving like a lunatic or just pottering around town. Basically all of your downshifts are beautifully smoothed-out.

 

[ImmalovemaGTR]

I am not a track driver so if I do it, it do it on da streetz (YO), but not very often. And even then, only when driving my parents Skoda 1.2 Fabia. When I am driving my car, the revs are mostly too low for rev-matching to make sense.

Also, I am not heel-toeing, because

A) I don't have the skillz for it
B) if I do, I hit the brakes rapidly and way to hard

So that means I only rev-match when downshifting under acceleration.

 

[Wolfe]

Or, more succinctly, it's a way of matching engine speed to road speed when you downshift, rather than slipping the clutch as you might to smooth a regular downshift.

Personally, I consider rev-matching a fundamental part of a regular, properly-executed downshift, just like smoothly matching the RPM on an upshift (which is a simple matter of timing with practice, of course). Heel-toe is the special case.

 

[homeforsummer]

Personally, I consider rev-matching a fundamental part of a regular, properly-executed downshift, just like smoothly matching the RPM on an upshift (which is a simple matter of timing with practice, of course). Heel-toe is the special case.

I don't disagree, which is why I've practised it for most of my driving life.

That said, it frustrates me when I can't also heel/toe now, which applies to many modern vehicles (due to the pedal firmness mentioned earlier), as if you're slowing down to a halt (rather than say, rev-matching in order to accelerate from a lower gear, or from a constant speed before a bend) it turns the slowing-down procedure into alternate braking and rev-matching sequences.

I'd also say that rev-matching becomes less necessary when you're not downshifting from higher revs. If you're braking and let the revs fall to almost idle before you downshift, then very little clutch-slippage is needed as you engage the lower gear. And that depends on driving style - in the Mazda I rev-match pretty much all the time; in the Honda, where I'm trying to be as economical as possible and therefore rarely at high revs, much less frequently.