[MainFrame]

I rev match every downshift, and engine brake every decel.. hell, sometimes I'll even heel toe. It's fun, and I feel like it's good practice.


If it's something you want to do, and you miss every now and then, keep practicing. Is it necessary? Not really. That's what the syncros are for.. but the less you rely on the syncros, the longer they will last. You could even shift without the clutch at all if you wanted, but I wouldn't expect the syncros to last very long if you did it on a regular basis.

Rev matching it pretty easy in my car.. stab the throttle all the way to the floor and immediately release. Near perfect every time. But obviously that's not going to be the case with every car.

 

[MainFrame]

Yeah 2017 WRX.. if I push it to the ground its way over lol

I would think it would be lower considering my lightened rotating assembly.. when I say to the floor, I mean in an instant, as virtually as fast as possible, immediately foot off the pedal entirely.

 

[MainFrame]

When stopping, I shift to neutral let out clutch and brake to stop. When slowing for a turn I shift to neutral let clutch out coast to just before turn then select new gear to go through turn.

That's one way to do it, and probably results on the least wear on the driveline. I just can't bring myself to drive like that. To me it feels unsafe to not have the car in gear with the engine connected to the wheels.

 

[MainFrame]

Yeah, I do give up instant access to the throttle, but in 37 years of driving like this I have yet to need it faster than I can put it back in gear.....

Yeah, it's much more about me just feeling uneasy with it than it is about actual safety. Plus, at least when I would drive my WRX on the street, I drove with a certain amount of focus on honing my skills for the track. Not that I would drive fast at all, but I would pay close attention to smooth transitions, nailing my shifts, weight transfer, hitting the apex of turns without needing to make steering corrections mid turn, etc. I feel like every little bit helps.. and as a bonus, I would get REALLY good tread life out of my tires.

 

[MainFrame]

Whatever the case, you shouldn't use the clutch to slow the car down (ie, drop a gear and release the clutch from low rpm). That's going to wear things (clutch) out more rapidly.

 

[MainFrame]

Isn't this bad for the engine?
https://youtu.be/dyEYaN6Y_FM

Not that I've ever heard before. I suppose if your tip-in enrichment tables aren't tuned properly you could have some issue with it (or injectors with a poor spray pattern), but I doubt it would be bad enough to damage the engine. If tip-in enrichment isn't tuned right you would likely encounter some hesitation and that's about it. Same with crummy injectors that allow fuel to pool in the intake ports.

I didn't see anything in the video talking about blipping the throttle to rev match downshifts..

 

[MainFrame]

I think he thinks you mean while in gear. You disengage the clutch, stab the throttle, hit your lower gear, engage clutch. Not stab the throttle then disengage the clutch.

I doubt doing that would hurt anything either.. unless you're at some ridiculously low RPM, and even then the throttle isn't pressed long enough to accelerate at all. But you're right.. when I stab the throttle to rev match the clutch is depressed, there is no load on the engine, and it is impossible to build any boost. This is no different than sitting parked and revving the engine (although it IS bad to free rev the engine to redline).



What you DON'T want to do is floor the car from low RPM and keep it floored, for a few reasons. One of the big reasons is that at low RPM the oil pump isn't spinning very fast, so you won't have much oil pressure, and high load conditions need more pressure to keep the bearings lubricated.... of course my car has a larger, modified oil pump which ramps up pressure much quicker than stock, so that's not as much of a concern. Also, my car doesn't create much load at low RPM, since the turbo doesn't start spooling till after 4000rpm. I also don't really ever go below around 2700rpm unless I'm at a full stop. If I'm downshifting to engine brake the engine will be turning somewhere between 4000 and 7000rpm, so not really lugging it. If I'm going to downshift to accelerate WOT then you're talking more in the 5000-7000rpm range (where oil pressure is already at its max).

 

[MainFrame]

Let me tell you what, it's a damn chore to remember to look at your tachometer while driving.

I'm not sure if I've ever looked at the tachometer to rev match, or paid attention to what RPM it needs to be to go into said gear at any given speed. In my experience the faster you're able to do it the smother it is.. same with up shifting when accelerating. Everything happens so fast there isn't any time to look away from the road.. even if I did I wouldn't be able to read the numbers and tell you where the needle was at.

 

[MainFrame]

If you go to down shift you typically are off the accelerator, to mash the throttle would be lugging right? I rev match but I also double clutch & blip durring the 2nd push. It doesnt seem to take so I typically press the accelerator somewhat smoothly. I'm really not knowledgeable enough to argue any method but was curious if the whole pressing all the way was lugging & if this is actually poor advice (full press on the peddal from complete off).

You have to be in gear and driving to lug the engine, just revving it in neutral isn't lugging it.. if it was, then letting it idle would be terrible for the engine.


I don't know why on earth you would double clutch when you can just put it straight into gear and keep going.

 

[MainFrame]

Anyone want to buy a dirt track and start a ClubWRX school of driving ?????

We have a rally cross dirt track here in Austin (owned and operated by the Rally Ready School of Driving).. they even have Subarus you can rent in case you don't want to tear up your own car. :thumbup: