from what i have always heard is that neutral is a gear, just not a drive gear designed for hi RPM. rev natched is only adjusting the RPM to match the downshift gear rpm, so there isnt excessive wear to the clutch
, heal toe is a method of rev matching so you can still brake, while down shifting, while rev matching,

play more video games for more coordination, and please dont try this in traffic as you could azz bang somone.

 

The real engine braking is when you let go off the gas while still engaged in a gear, the car slows down. It gets more pronounced in lower gears at the same speed. Thats why people call heel-and-toe 'engine braking'. The technique itself isn't engine braking but it leads to better engine braking by dropping gears then letting off the gas.

The misconception of engine brake is when you drop a gear without rev match of any sort. This is what people talk about when they say 'engine brake puts a lot of stress to the car'. There will be a shock to the drivetrain, will slow the car down a bit and create a sudden weight transfer. This will eventually wear the synchros down. Although this 'method' slows the car down, this is more of a 'drivetrain brake' than 'engine brake'. This is no different than doing clutch in and out in a very short period of time. People use it as drift technique, to unbalance the car then make it go side ways.

 

Hey thanks for the advice now weres my copy of grand turismo

 

Coasting does not do any harm to the car at all. It is basically disengaging and preventing wear & tear. Whole purpose of coasting is to save gas, this effect can be pronounced if you turn off the car while coasting (might not work with a lot of new cars). However when you turn corners while in neutral, since more weight is in front than when you gas, you will be more tail-happy. It is ok for most cars during regular driving on regular roads, but during emergency cases on a poor road condition (rain or snow), the car will spin out easily. Also inexperienced drivers may panic when they wish to re-engage in throttle only to have the engine rev shoot up and nothing happen to the car's motion.

 

Don't coast around in neutral. Its not safe and like someone else said, illegal. How they catch you I have no idea but its still the concept.

 

i think engine braking put a lot of stress to my clutch.. coz now my clutch is slipping at low gear.. i have to admit that when i drive through mountain passes, i rely a lot on my engine braking to slow the car when i tackle the curves but i usually engine brake at high rpm.. but i have to do a lil more study & research about this to improve my driving skills & to expand the life of my precious evo..
keep posting guys..

 

i do it all the freaking time, cuz i get really really really bored it i just keep using the brakes to slow the car down.

as long as you rev-match well you'll be fine. other than using up a bit more extra gas, nothing's really prone to being damaged. when i down-shift rev-match the passengers cant feel any jerk, just the change in engine noise

 

Heel Toe
Manipulation of the gas and the brake at the same time, for the purposes of applying the brakes while feeding the car gas when down shifting.

Rev Matching
Non Rev matching - you are in 3rd gear and approach a light at 2.5k RPM and the light turns red. You apply the clutch, RPMs drop to 1.5k slide it into second gear and lift off the clutch and RPMs jump up to 3k...

Rev Matching – you are in 3rd gear and approach a light at 2.5k and the light turns red, you apply the clutch, brakes and blip the gas at the same time to get the engine to rev to 3k with the clutch in. You lift off the gas and the RPM’s are already at 3k and stay at 3k, the clutch is fully disengaged and the car slows. There was no immediate drop and subsequent jump in RPM’s between gear changes.

Engine Braking
Slowing of the vehicle utilizing the engine without any gas. You take your foot off the gas you slow down. You put the car into a lower gear you slow down even more.

NOW... in general downshifting as you approach a stop without matching rev's places additional load on the clutch as the clutch must temporarily absorb the load of the motor being at RPM x but the gearing forcing the motor to RPM Y as the clutch is disengaged. However, this will have negligible impact on the overall life of the clutch if you are not abusive. By matching rev's you transfer the majority of the load away from the clutch to the motor which is much better position to absorb the load then the clutch is, hence the reason it is used by racers and why you are more frequently seeing it being done automatically on manumatics on high performance cars.

Given the way many people drive their Evo's any of the above situations is EXTREMELY unlikely to cause undue wear on your clutch and cause premature failure... constant launching is the more likely the culprit.

So, in normal day to day driving there is no real need to match rev's... although I find myself doing it on off ramps and when I am shedding speed aggressively. I rarely rev match when puttering along at 35mph and coming up to a stop light with plenty of time to slow down.

Please note I keeping this non-technical and just attempting to paint a picture to clarify some of the discussion.

 

I do it almost everyday.

 

I used to engine brake without rev matching when i owned my 05 STI. I launched the car fewer than 10 times while I owned it. The clutch did go out before 20,000 miles. Could have been a problem from the factory, general hard driving, who knows.
I now rev match using the Heel-Toe method. The Evo IX's (and I imagine other Evo's) pedals are set up very well for Heel-Toe. I actually do it most of the time even while driving around town. It was just good practice at first and now it's just a habit.
!!!!!!!!First practice being able to brake the car to a full stop just using the ball of your right foot. This includes hard braking. But practice on deserted streets where it does not matter if your foot slips off the pedal at first. It is important that you get the braking down before you practice blipping the throttle with the top right outer edge of your right foot.!!!!!!!!!!!

Do an internet search for Heel and Toe shifting. There are a few posts on some forums where some Auto X guys have posted methods for pracitcing it. Read a few of them because you may notice some differences between the methods. Practice, and after about two-weeks to a couple months you probably will have the hang of it.

We'll see if rev-matching increases the life of my Evo's clutch. 4500 miles and counting.

Good luck!

 

i do it all the time. nothing feels better than a proper rev matched downshift into a nice turn. i got to start road racing

 

I do downshift......but if I know I am coming to a complete stop I will just shift in nuetral and coast.

 

I understand this method of thinking, but with a little more knowledge of how the engine, ECU, drivetrain and brakes all work together you'll see that this is not really correct ...

1) When coasting to a stop, all of the braking is done using the brake pads. This reduces wear on the clutch, but increases wear on the brakes. Brakes are cheaper to replace than a clutch, but keep reading ...

2) Coasting does save more gas than say, driving a XXX RPM. This is where the ECU comes in. When you are decelerating with the car in gear the injectors actually cut out after a few seconds, meaning you use NO fuel at all. They will come back in for a moment when you rev match to a lower gear and then cut out again. Datalogging will show this. So, comparing coasting to engine braking, they use about the same amount of fuel. Switching the car off does cut the fuel as well, but it also disables things such as the power steering, brake booster and A/C. I would not recommend that method to anyone.

3) Braking in any scenario will shift weight to the front of the car and possible reduce traction in the rear. This is not specific to coasting or being in neutral. This is the basic reason it's understood that you don't brake or lift throttle while in a corner. Tapping the brake or lifting the throttle (which induces engine braking) shift the weight to the front wheels and you are likely to lose traction.

4) Using normal braking combined with proper rev-matching and engine braking actually reduces overall wear on components. The clutch receives minimal wear (if any) if rev matching is done correctly and brake pad wear is reduced since the motor is assisting. The only wear that is increased is on the motor itself. you will operate at slightly higher RPM and that of course causes wear. This is the only reason anyone should consider not engine braking.

I hope this helps others understand the pros and cons of engine braking and coasting.

And, to add, I've heard that coasting in neutral is illegal in some states as well. The reason is that it takes longer for the driver to react to an emergency situation. Not having the car in gear takes away immediate accident avoidance options since you can only slow down and not accelerate. I know it doesn't seem to make sense to accelerate to avoid an accident, but there are situations that might require such maneuvers.

EDIT :: To address the OP's question, I use heel/toe downshifting and engine braking every day in every manual car I drive. It's a little tough to heel/toe in a Scion XB, but I still rev match the shifts.

 

just don't ride the clutch.... u know the deal.

 

Not sure if this has been answered. But when driving normal should i or shouldnt i use a little gas when changing gears?