Do you rev-match?

[Vegard]

Over the years I've developed the habit of always rev-matching when downshifting.
It doesn't really matter what car I'm driving.

Do you?

 

[motortrend]

I almost always rev match in my car because it's way more fluid and there's less jerkiness, plus it's fun. I never double clutch but I do rev match upshifts sometimes to make the transition smoother by staying on the gas a bit. When I'm way too tired I might get sloppy with the upshifts but the downshift matching is automatic for me and it slows wear on the synchros. However, when I drive the M3, I don't rev match unless I'm driving hard because light revving without any load in a car with such a light flywheel is a PITA

 

[Heldenzeit]

Kind of a waste of gas to do it slowing down for every stop light. I will if I'm making a turn and the light is green though.

 

[motortrend]

Kind of a waste of gas to do it slowing down for every stop light. I will if I'm making a turn and the light is green though.

When coming to a stop I either leave it in gear until the revs get low and then switch to neutral or rev match if I feel like it or the brakes are hot from some hard driving.

 

[Heldenzeit]

Same here.

...I really need to drive my Miata again.

 

[ilikewaffles11]

I only recently learned how to rev match on my dads Miata, and I've been doing it ever since then. Makes driving spiritedly a lot less jerky, and I can only imagine it's easier on most components. I'll even do it on my truck if I need to downshift. Plus, nothing beats when you get it just right and don't even feel it.

But usually I don't need to do it when in traffic or normal driving unless I need to turn or something.

 

[homeforsummer]

I got into the habit of rev-matching with my first car, maybe ten years ago now. Now I do it without even really thinking. In non sporty stuff, vans, everything.

Actual heel/toe I taught myself a few years back, but have only really been able to do it regularly with my Miata.

Kind of a waste of gas to do it slowing down for every stop light. I will if I'm making a turn and the light is green though.

I've thought about this in the past, and assumed it made some sort of a difference, but my Mazda is inexplicably averaging about 36-37mpg imperial on my commute (30-31mpg US) even after I've corrected the mileage for how far the speedometer is out. So really, I think I'll just keep rev-matching

 

[Tornado]

If I'm jumping multiple gears, yeah, but if I'm just dropping one to pass or whatever I don't usually bother.

 

[Bopop4]

Plus, nothing beats when you get it just right and don't even feel it.

And then when you do it clutchless for left foot braking.

 

[JrDarknes]

Never rev matched til I got a new clutch in my 240sx (when I bought it, the clutch was bad but made it last a year). I had to teach myself to rev match and heel and toe because every time I would downshift my tires would schreech even when it wasn't at high rpms....

Every since the new clutch incident, I just rev match like its second nature. Its so fun.

 

[Crash]

Yes. Yes, I do.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Only in my dreams, yes.

 

[FordMKIVJ5]

I sometimes do, but mainly only if I'm driving spiritedly. As others have said it's an unnecessary waste of fuel when just pulling up to a junction/traffic lights etc.

When I'm way too tired I might get sloppy with the upshifts but the downshift matching is automatic for me and it slows wear on the synchros.

Only if you double clutch. Single clutch rev matching saves clutch wear, but synchro-wear should be the same as a normal down shift.

 

[Sertsa]

Yup. Although not quite always, but pretty close.

 

[Cale]

Up and down

 

[Cale]

Kind of a waste of gas to do it slowing down for every stop light. I will if I'm making a turn and the light is green though.

Not really. The injectors don't fire when decelerating while in gear. They do however when idling in neutral. The difference is negligible.

 

[homeforsummer]

Not really. The injectors don't fire when decelerating while in gear. They do however when idling in neutral. The difference is negligible.

The injectors are certainly firing if you're rev-matching on the way down the box - you're giving it a rev while the clutch is in. It's little different to sitting in neutral giving a blip on the throttle now and then.

However, I think the bolded bit is still correct. That brief flare of revs will be using very little fuel indeed in the greater scheme of things. Enough that you could probably cancel it out by cruising 1mph slower than you normally would on your next trip.

 

[Cale]

Yeah that is true. Also why not show off by rev matching? Chicks dig it.

 

[Stotty]

Yes and no.

I learnt to toe and heel 30 years ago when I passed my test, and it quickly became an unconscious habit. I still do it, but now varies by car.

There are a couple of reasons for this...

1) Over the past 15 years or so, the level of servo assistance on new cars has continued to increase, and with the super sensitive brake pedal most modern cars have T&H becomes increasingly difficult... the benefit of a smooth down change is off set by the likelihood of un-smooth brake

2) All my day to day cars for the past 10 years have been diesels. Very little need to T&H in a diesel as you're typically already in a higher gear than you would be in a petrol, and you tend not to drive them to the rev limit.

Still T&H in the Porsche as this has a solid brake pedal.

 

[homeforsummer]

1) Over the past 15 years or so, the level of servo assistance on new cars has continued to increase, and with the super sensitive brake pedal most modern cars have T&H becomes increasingly difficult... the benefit of a smooth down change is off set by the likelihood of un-smooth brake

This is one of my major bugbears with more modern stuff.

That said, I give it a go in most cars I drive now, and it's not impossible, just more difficult than it needs to be. As soon as you start driving at maybe 6 or 7 tenths, you start needing enough brake force that there's a stable fulcrum for heel and toe. And some cars are okay from it right away, either because the brake pedal is firm enough or because there's decent throttle response and you only need a light blip to get the required revs. Our recently-departed long-term WRX wasn't a great car, but it was one of the better modern ones I've driven for heel/toe.

I do still prefer a firm pedal from the start though, rather than having to brake quite hard to be able to heel and toe properly.

 

[Stotty]

I'm now at an age where, for the most part, I don't find myself driving quite as aggressively as I used to when I was younger... so I'm hardly ever using the brake pedal deep enough to find a solid base to T&H from.

In the Porsche, the pedal is so solid you can T&H at walking pace.

 

[Cale]

I basically have to be in a panic stop situation or on the track in order to Heel and Toe in my car. I usually just downshift down to second gear.

 

[Blood Eagle]

Yes, I rev match while downshifting a manual. The main reason is to save the clutch. Clutches aren't cheap to replace and very labor intensive. Any time you downshift and don't rev match it's dragging the clutch disc and it will wear out significantly faster. You can still use the braking benefits of downshifting with way less component wear.

 

[homeforsummer]

In the Porsche, the pedal is so solid you can T&H at walking pace.

The Mazda likewise. It's just one of those small things that improves the experience day to day.

 

[Grandea GTR]

Only when I'm slowing down and going around a corner and such, but not when I'm slowing down to a stop at a red light. Like what @motortrend does, I keep it in gear before moving it to neutral when the RPMs are right.

 

[Clark]

I can't help it in my car, especially as the exhaust pops and crackles on the overrun when you blip the throttle.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Yep.

Well, actually, not anymore as my present daily has a slushbox... A fairly useless and slow one at that. However, I learned it 99% as a method to save the clutch rather than for any sort of performance driving. Now, not rev matching sorta hurts me as it's either hilariously rough or I feel the clutch wear happening for absolutely no reason.

 

[20832]

I don't really rev-match at all, not because I don't want to, but rather because I can't!

I have no problems to rev-match in games, but in real life, I just don't have the hang of it. But then again, I find it rather unnecessary to do that on public road/with the cars I drive.

 

[Sage Ages]

Am I going to be the idiot who asks what rev-matching is?

 

[ImaRobot]

Am I going to be the idiot who asks what rev-matching is?

When you downshift, you blip the throttle so that way it eases into place rather then force its way up to the other gears RPMs.

Its basically what you see happening when you see videos of the drivers footwork. When you see them heal/toe they are pressing the gas as they downshift so it lands easily in the appropriate position.