Do you down shift while daily driving?

This is going to date me but I took drivers education in a manual car. A horizon to be exact. We were told to never go into neutral. It negated your ability to maneuver the car in an emergency if the situation arose. I could see that being a valid point as I have almost been rearended before and because I was able to just eccelerate and get into another lane I avoided the tragedy and the car that was in front of me got hit.

thank you for the unrelated anecdote?(cabpatch)

This thread is a disaster.
 
I'm not 100% sure what you guys mean by "revmatch' but I figure you mean 'easing' the clutch out on a downshift, so theres no hard bump when the lower gear is selected. If so, then I do this all the time as well . fun.!
However, I have wondered if it does throw wear and tear on the clutch. I'd rather replace brake pads than a clutch.
Had a 5.0 in my '86 Z28 MT.. one clutch replacement in 150k. miles I was young,and drove the wheels off that Beeatch!
 
Unrelated? There are more than 10 posts about people not downshifting and just putting the car in neutral to the stop.

if you need to accelerate into a stoplight you have bigger problems.

I'm not 100% sure what you guys mean by "revmatch' but I figure you mean 'easing' the clutch out on a downshift, so theres no hard bump when the lower gear is selected. If so, then I do this all the time as well . fun.!
However, I have wondered if it does throw wear and tear on the clutch. I'd rather replace brake pads than a clutch.
Had a 5.0 in my '86 Z28 MT.. one clutch replacement in 150k. miles I was young,and drove the wheels off that Beeatch!

rev matching means getting the flywheel speed (with the gas pedal) to match the transmission input shaft speed for a given gear at a given vehicle speed before engaging the clutch.
 
Last time I checked "Moron" was an insult. Forget already ?.... I think that's a little more personal than "ricer", but either way I couldn't care less if you call me a "moron" or not. You're right, having only a cat-back exhaust is just an attempt to make noise.... I'd like to know what I took out of context ? It seems to me that exactly what you said, was outright, well, you know. Everyone likes the sound of a good exhaust systems, but it's weak when that person has to downshift every gear when coming to a light, just so they can hear and be heard.


Honestly, tell me that when you're sitting at a light, and some guy comes gurgling and popping, downshifting every single god damned gear until he's stopped dead.....You don't think in your head "What a clown ass" ? I know I do.

I'll say this one more time so everyone who reads only 1 post in threads, will know where i actually stand. Downshifting has it's place, and should be done a certain way, but not at every freak'n stop light.





Sigh . . . are you really that immature ?? Taking what I said out of context.

I think the concensus is clear in this thread. People downshift as needed. It obviously changes in situations. I don't think anyone downshifts under 3rd gear. Causes no wear on the clutch when you rev match properly.

Honestly this is all a bunch of semantics. Even if you brake all the time brakes are cheap. Either way your fine. Your not doing damage.


Do what you wan't with your car but drop the insults. First im a ricer and now your calling me stupid. If liking my exhaust (which is why anyone buys a catback exhaust in the first place) makes me a ricer then so be it. I could care less and I hate "rice." IF someone wants a 10 foot wing on their car then thats fine. I like it because it makes me laugh. I don't critisize others though. ITs not like I said I was hitting the rev limiter in neighborhoods / at red lights.
 
In addition, the folks who drive properly and rev match to downshift aren't thinking "omg, what will the other drivers think of me downshifting?" They are thinking, "I'm going to slow my car down and be in gear to accelerate as needed for my current speed." If someone thinks I'm trying to race them by downshifting, they're a ******* idiot.

As a Mazdaspeed3 note...haven't we seen enough folks blow engines by trying to accelerate in 5th and 6th gear at low revs? ....your thought is 'Save a clutch, blow an engine' HondaEat-R?

Save a clutch indeed.

Haven't heard too many blow from trying to accelerate in 6th (especially not 5th) but its not good and could lead to detonation which could lead to failure down the road if it happens too often.

But to go with the thread, downshift when I stop, also when I come to hills and see the loads go over 50% (Dashhawk)

It has happened a lot in those gears. That's why i never lug the car down in the lower revs and shift around 3500 for daily use.


I rev-match for deccelerating and to be in the correct gear for needing to accel again (3000-3500 RPMS). And i heel-toe if there are any corners involved.

As for the comment saying downshifting is ricer. It only is when you dont rev-match. Cuz most ricers cant drive for s*** and it sounds crappy when you dont. Quick Blip FTW!
 
I rev-match for deccelerating and to be in the correct gear for needing to accel again (3000-3500 RPMS). And i heel-toe if there are any corners involved.

As for the comment saying downshifting is ricer. It only is when you dont rev-match. Cuz most ricers cant drive for s*** and it sounds crappy when you dont. Quick Blip FTW!


^ Exactly. But really, you don't need to downshift at every stop. Otherwise, I agree 100%.
 
^ Exactly. But really, you don't need to downshift at every stop. Otherwise, I agree 100%.

Also forgot to add, that i do it to coast down in the revs because it cutz fuel and you get better MPG as opposed to putting it in nuetral coasting @ idle burning fuel to a stop.
 
When you guys downshift to slow down, how high are your revs when you downshift?

Since i rarely cruise below 3000 rpms. I would have to say bewtween 3000-4000 rpms while coasting depending on what gear of course
 
It was / is funny that the one guy here said he downshifts so he can hear his exhaust drone, which is well, pretty stupid.

I don't understand why liking to hear your exhaust is stupid. If that's the case then why buy mods for our cars? What purpose do they really serve? This car doesn't NEED to be any faster than it already is for 90% of the people that drive it. So why? So other people will be impressed? No. Because we get satisfaction out of it. My wife argues with me all the time, "why do you need to buy something that goes under your hood? no one will see it or care" and I tell her "because I'll know it's there".

I respect everyone's opinion, whether I agree with it or not, but saying someone is stupid because they like to hear their exhaust is just disrespectful.
 
what? are these transmissions made of paper or something?? some of you guys baby these things too much!


i've owned lots of standard shifts... in fact, ALL the cars i've owned are/where manual transmission..... minus one jeep with an auto, and of course the new tundra (not offered with a stick in the V8... bummer)

downshifted every one of them. it makes it easy to have power when you need it, at the proper speed and gear....no searching if you are already there! it's so natural, i never even notice it.

and never had to replace a clutch, or any other issues on any of my standard cars, other than the nova, but that is a different matter... from muncies, to t-5s, to borg warners, gertrags, etc. etc. it's not hard on the clutch at all (unless you are a slipping clutch all the time idiot) and not hard on the tranny either. just using the other side of the gear teeth. :)

now letting the engine over rev because you stupidly downshift one to many? that's your own fault, moron. using the clutch as your 'launch control' .... epic fail.

i love the ease of gear matching this car affords... it toe-heel shifts very well also. in fact, it is refreshing to see a car set up for the toe-heel thing like this, at least for my feet. and it sounds very sweet to let you know you are doing it right. i hate quiet stick cars.


i've hauled in 30 head of cattle screaming downhill on useless brakes, with a 4speed in a '78 chevy dually once (THANK GOD it wasn't an automatic)... i had to pull the seat cover out of my ass at the end of that trip.... i guess i'm showing my age now... :)



side note: wifey says she is getting tired of ricer guys trying to hit on her while she fills up the tiny tank in this thing...
 
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I never engine brake, I don't see the point in that. I'll generally float it in neutral and use the brakes if I'm coming up to a light or something, and if it turns green before I stop I'll just throw it in the appropriate gear, I don't feel like that's a waste of time for me, it takes about 1 second.
 
I never engine brake, I don't see the point in that. I'll generally float it in neutral and use the brakes if I'm coming up to a light or something,

Please don't follow behind me too close driving like that. The immediately foreseeable outcome is the loss of braking due to overheating.

Wow, it appears that some people on these boards have little driving experience. Driving that way is bad enough, then to admit it publicly

At least keep the driveline engaged in the gear you were in until your speed is reduced. Its about being safe and in some instances driving in neutral also illegal.
 
Yep

illegal? (evil)

Quoting California VC.

Coasting Prohibited The driver of a motor vehicle when traveling on a down grade upon any highway shall not coast with the gears of such vehicle in neutral.

I'll bet many other states have similar laws. (limb)
 
illegal? (evil)

Yup, you betcha. Like someone else already mentioned, if you're not in gear, that just basically means you have no throttle and can't get out of the way if someone is coming at you in any direction. Accidents happen in a matter of a split second so it's not likely you can react in time by clutching in, putting it in gear, steer and accelerate to avoid it.

Obviously, at some point in time just before coming to a complete stop at a light, you WILL have to be in neutral. But it's better to be in neutral for only a second as opposed to 3 or 4 when coasting in from a longer distance.
 

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