I am really bored at work and am making another thread.

How do you guys rev match your downshifts?

I'm curious as to how everyone judges what revs they need for each gear. Not so much cycling down the gears from 6-5-4-3-2, but say you are doing 80 in 6th and want to shift into 3rd to overtake.

For single gear downshifts, say frmo 5th to 4th, 4th to 3rd, i usually just blip it 1000 revs or so and drop the clutch and it usually catches although the 3rd to 2nd is a little more temperamental.

But what about from say 6th to 4th? or 6th to 3rd? Or coasting in neutral at 50km/h to a red light which changes to green before u stop so you got to throw it into 3rd at the correct revs for 50km/h?

I've made up this little formula that i figured out through trial and error.

Don't know if it will help other people or maybe someone has figured out a better way?

Basically, assuming that you only shift into 2nd or 3rd (haven't really had the need to downshift into 4th):

1. Judge your speed in km/h. Take note of the speed and round to the nearest 10. So 54km/h would be 50 and 58 would be 60.

2. There are basically 3 'categories' that i made up. Low speed (0-40km/h), moderate, (50-60km/h) and high speed (60 and above).

3. Now if you want to shift into 2nd gear if you are at:
Low speed: Match your revs to the first number of your speed. So if you have rounded your speed to 40km/h, rev the engine to 4000. If you are at 30km/h, rev to 3000 and so forth.
Moderate speed: Match your revs to the tens digit of your speed minus 1. That means if you are going 50km/h, you want to be in 4000revs. If you are at 60km/h, about 5000 revs.
High speed: Above 60km/h. Match your revs to the tens digit of your speed minus 2. So at 70km/h, about 5000revs. At 80km/h, about 6000revs. At 90km/h, about 7000 revs. Any higher and you probably should think about 3rd gear.

4. If you want to shift into 3rd gear:
Low speed: Your tens digit in speed minus 1. Same idea as above. So at 30km/h, 2000 revs etc.
Moderate speed: Your tens digit minus 2. So at 50km/h, 3000 revs.
High speed: Your tens digit minus 3. So at 80km/h, 5000revs. 90km/h, 6000 revs etc.



I don't know if that made any sense.
But it seems to work most of the time for me. I'm sure there is some technical gear ratio explanation for all of this and if you are really bored you could just map or calculate the speeds you are travelling at in each gear and then throw it into an Excel spreadsheet and try to figure out a more accurate formula for yourself but i find the above works alright and is pretty easy to do once you get a hang of it.

 

It used to shock me, doesn't anymore.

 

Stop thinking about it and just do. If you want to have fun, shift lock it into 2nd and get some tail action! On private property of course!

 

My rear tyres are too precious to burn.

I dunno i have to think about it because my heart breaks everytime i misjudge the revs and drop the clutch and the feels like its going to split in two.

 

Thought of getting a car that's cheaper to drive?

 

You want the have the engine at the revs it will need to be at when you release the clutch, ie if you drop from 4th to 3rd and the engine is going to rev up to 7000rpm then you ned to have the rpm as close to 7000rpm as possible BEFORE you release the clutch.

It stops the load on the engine and removes the changes of locking your rear wheels which, when entering a corner, can be a recipe for over steer.

Cheers

Andrew

 

I just do it. So I can tell you how it is done. There are plenty of YouTube saying how to do it.

Just listen to the engine and rev match. I found it is waste of my effort on the street and only used on track. On street, I never drive hard enough to do so.

Make sense? The middle pedal is not depressed hard enough to do it in low speed.

That is if you are doing a 80kmh shifting from 3rd to 2nd then it is useful.......

 

But oversteer is good!

 

I do it a little on the street but it is not really necessary .
Mogley - you really need to get onto a track to practice how to do it propery - you never drive hard enough on the street to push down the brake far enough to do the heel toe rev match - like Taka says .

 

If you are drifting yes

 

Like the others, I don't bother on the street.

I've mucked around with it on the track but I've found it's really not necessary in this car. Others may beg to differ and like to do it for their own reasons but I think the need to heel and toe in modern cars is growing less and less (again, the purists here will howl bloody murder at such sacrilege but I'm not convinced it's necessary).

 

Synchros are your friend.
All you need to do is give the go pedal a good hard stab before you grab the lower gear.
Precision won't net you much additional stability (or less stress) in "normal" driving.

 

I agree with MM, no need for precision.

Revolver, on the street I agree its a waste of time, but on the track it depends on how you brake. Those who trail brake cant afford to be down shifting through a corner without doing else their rear end WILL come out on them (I can attest to it) or else you have to slow down to much entering the corner, which leads to slower times.

 

Slow in, fast out is tough with a car like the RX-8. Keeping it in the power band requires a lot of technique.
Trail braking is just as hard.

I prefer to enter the corner a bit slower and get the thing into the lowest gear possible.

 

Yes thats something I am trying to master. I have been a trail braker since I started tracking. But recently have started to work on the slow in fast out "technique".

 

That's what I aim for Andrew. I try to get ALL my braking and downshifting done while in a straight line and then get back on the power asap (often before the apex).