enticiveblkmax

lately i have been driving like a grandma to try and save gas. but today i wanted to see if my car still had *****. i was coasting in 4th gear at 40mph when the light i was approaching turned yellow. idecided to downshift to 2nd...i still love my max. the neck snapping downshift still amazes me. well my question for you is this. is there a way to downshift carefully and smoothly? i have heard about rev matching but how exactly does that work? i blip the throttle before downshifting but i dont feel i mastered it. any tips?

Sprint

iTrader: (10)

there is no need to rev match anymore.. modern day cars are just fine without rev matching, you are only wasting your shift time doing that.. get a short throw shifter.. it makes the shifts more precise

wdave

Tou have to get the revs as high as they would be in the lower gear at that road speed to make the downshift smooth, and generally two gears at a time is a pretty big bite. Think what the revs would be at 40 in second, thats your target. It will take practice.

Dave

Ants97SE

It adds wear and tear to the clutch when you don't rev match. If I need the power immediately I won't rev match, but usually if I'm just casually driving or want to hold in that gear to get a nice rolling start, I'll rev match.

Vinipux

WRONG

you do need to rev up to match the speed, when you downshift and not rev up = less life for your clutch and posibly you can blow it up, but that's hard to do

if you want to perfect that, think about what you are doing, with the time that it takes you to depress the clutch and shift into a lower gear, you have enough time to rev the engine to a desired rpm. now which rpm is up to you, you should have an idea where rpm's are in each gear at a particular speed so try to remember it. like in 4th gear the speed and the rpm needle match almost perfectly together, so use that kind of association and HAVE FUN, snap those necks

Chebosto

iTrader: (1)

well. imho. letting out the clutch too fast and getting that frog jump, that's just as bad as slowly letting the clutch out and wearing it.

you should always try to blip the gas when shifting to match the REVs, but that also wastes gas.

eh.
i just dont slow down. hehe.


--Cheston

Autobahn Max

I have over 400,000 miles of 4 and 5 speed driving - just shift it and enjoy...don't worry about about rev matching. I don't and my clutches last a long time. (Although I don't like the maxima's clutch and almost wish it would go bad, but at only 33,000 miles I have a long ways to go!)

Dave B

I disagree.

Rev matching is still good practice even with todays syncronized transmissions. 30 years ago, rev matching was done because many trannys weren't syncronized and you would grind if you didn't syncronize the gears manually. Rev matching these days is still good practice, not because you are trying to syncronize the gears, but instead trying to reduce load upon the engine, clutch, and tranny. Think about for a second. You're rolling at 45mph at 2100rpms in 4th. Then you grab 2nd and instantly hit 4500+ rpms at WOT. This is extremely hard on your motor due the increase in load and pressure, hard on the clutch and associated equipment, and even your motor mounts. It would be much wiser to depress the clutch, put the shifter into 2nd, rev to 4000-5000 and quickly engage the clutch. The transition is much smoother because your engine is at speed, your clutch is at speed, and your mounts are flexed in the approiate directon on engagement. Every once and a while I grab 3rd at 75mph. I do everything in one quick motion and it feels nearly like an automatic.

Avid drivers like to rev match in the turns to keep the chassis stable. When you don't rev match, the car jolts and pitches which is not something you want to be doing in a turn. Rev matching is nicer on your syncros, but may abuse your clutch a little more than regular driving. If you rev match well, the clutch abuse probably isn't a factor.

I hope this helps.



Dave

Sprint

iTrader: (10)

Ok i was wrong.. will everyone stop beating up on me now? I never said i knew everything

CKNY

iTrader: (1)

sprint admitting he's wrong? incredible!

My question: is It okay to skip a gear while downshifting (ie. 5th to 3rd or 4th to 2nd)?

Ants97SE

Yeah, that's no problem, again remembering to rev match where you downshift. And make sure you don't downshift too low of a gear going fast and you should be alright.

2ndMAX

If you've got intake and exhaust upgrades rev-matching can become addictive. Many times when I'm taking an off-ramp or passing slower traffic, I love to rev-match. Its like the beast under the hood is just humming along, then you drop from 5th to 3rd (at highway speeds) and when done properly it goes from huuummmmmmmm, to wrrrrraaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!.

And like Dave B said it really helps to settle down the chassis. Many times when I'm on the Jackie Robinson Parkway (many turns, some pretty tight) I love to rev-match and downshift and just fly through the corner with out hardly using the brakes, and just balancing the car with the throttle.

Veery effective technique. Also makes you look like a pro, no jerking of the car back and forth.

fast97maxse

I think I understand what it is/how it works
but I've never done it - or even tried.
Any of you use that technique?
Was it hard to get down right?
Does it make any difference - or only when racing?

fast97maxse

I think I understand what it is/how it works
but I've never done it - or even tried.
Any of you use that technique?
Was it hard to get down right?
Does it make any difference - or only when racing?

greggmax

Who needs rev matching? If you can't find 'em-grind 'em. That's what I say.

enticiveblkmax

thanks for the feedback. i always blip the throttle when i do dramatic downshifts. it helps but sometimes i still get the jerking action. i have been driving manual for a year and i need to learn the proper technique for rev matching. this might sound stupid but can someone post step by step so i can go out and practice during break time at work?

Max_Gator

Well, it sounds like you are doing it right, you just need to get a feel for where the rpms need to be in the gear you are shifting into.


I have found that just popping the pedal gets me about 1000 rpms which is just about the typical difference between gears. That is, running in 5th at 80 mph is about 3000 rpms, 4th is 4000 and 3rd is 5000 (all very approximate and off the top of my head). Therefore, when I go to down shift, I push in the clutch, blip the throttle, and engage the lower gear.

To keep things easy, when I downshift two gears, I blip it twice to get to the right rpms.

When done going into a turn correctly, it is almost seemless and is a thing of beauty!!!! I have done it with another 5spd driver who didn't ever rev-match and he was so impressed he has since started.

Just practice - I've only been driving a 5spd for 20k miles but I've been rev matching the whole time. I have a very hard time not doing it anymore.