How to Match Revs During Hard Deacceleration?

A question am afraid to ask. Does not matching revs during deceleration increase clutch wear?
Thanks.

 

Yes, and much more. Upsets the car. Shock loads the driveline. Wears syncros. And is just not cool when spectators hear tire chirp and see the ass of the car wiggle when you cram it in gear.

 

Yikes! Thanks.

 

Increases clutch wear, synchronizer wear, puts stress on the shifter linkages in the tranny, can cause crankshafts to break, can cause spins, and serious oversteer issues, and ends up slower than rev matching.

 

Really good to know. Although I try to match revs, I don't track my 328 often "to get the hang of it." And I can't practice on my daily drivers as they are automatic. Thanks.

 

I just give the left paddle a little tug

In other cars Mitch Alsup's version works for me.

 

+1 - always been a side-of-foot rev match guy myself.

I've found people's preference to generally be correlated to foot size/width - those with longer and/or wider feet can run into issues using the "traditional" heel/toe method, while those with narrow feet find it very tough to control both pedals with a vertical foot.

Interesting content here on the double clutching tangent. Anyone have links to further discussion on the virtues of double clutching for gearbox longevity?

D

 

FML.

Reading this thread and I can't remember the last time I drove a manual. It's been over a week. Sheesh.

 

a small audio reference !

http://youtu.be/bX2Cg6sTCX0

 

ha! I drove my 911 for the first time today since sometime before the time change (as the clock was an hour ahead). d'oh!

 

Back when I was first mastering the art of shifting I practiced clutchless shifts on a low powered car. When the revs match the shift lever will move smoothly ( and soundlessly) both up and down maintaining a fluid power delivery to the road.
It's not a technique that I recommend but it does teach the benefit of matching revs.

 

I'd recommend doing that on someone else's car first

 

One important point that I have not yet seen made (apologies if its here and Ive missed it): don't go for the big "hero" downshifts-- especially with high power cars. You shouldn't need to have the engine screaming in its upper RPMs and if you do not execute the shift just right, if you are driving it fairly hard, you can lock up the rear end/ cause a spin.

 

Yup.
The learning curve can be a bit spikey.

If you want to see some nifty shifting watch an old time semi driver.

 

10-4 good buddy.

 

Thank you Rubber Ducky.

 

What if you can't actually reach the brake and throttle at the same time? Any option besides getting a pedal extender for the throttle?

 

The solution depends on the specific car's specific problem. If the problem is that brake pedal travel is too long, then the car is never going to be a great heel 'n' toer, because it'll either set up well for deep braking but not well as you trail off the brake. You'll only be able to get whatever range you can out of your foot. A good car to practice on is an old Alfa Spider. Great driver's car except for pedal setup. On light-normal braking, I could roll the side of my foot over to the throttle. On deep braking, I had to really lift my knee, turn my foot quite sideways, and "grab" the throttle with my heel

On the Alfa, aside from long brake travel, the main problem is that the throttle is too high (relative to the brake). An adjustment kit is available that changes the lenghth of the lever arm at the throttle (where the cable attaches). This effectively lowers the throttle pedal (also reducing the range of throttle travel, thus making it more sensitive).

If the pedals are too far apart, then some sort of large pedal mod will be needed - or alternatively a large shoe mod for the driver.