Rev matching, down shifting and heal toe, MANUAL TRANS ONLY

Ive searched and read what I can find on here and I would like to start off by saying this thread is specific to manual transmission cars only. Ive seen a few threads completely trashed due to bickering about how an auto downshifts ect when someone was asking about a manual. So, please, keep this to manual cars only.

I am coming up on a month of owning my 17 GT PP Manual and would like to gather input from other manual drivers. Let me start off by saying, Ive been driving manuals for a long time now but a majority of them have been trucks and Jeeps. I have been working on my heel toe technique and its getting a little better but I still find it easier to just slow down, blip the throttle and then downshift.

What is everyone's normal driving routine in their manual S550s? I know this is a bit of a open ended question to ask but I think this could be an informative thread to help people or at least suggest tips.

For me, I almost exclusively blip on downshifts unless I am going very slow but even in this car with 3.73s downshifting at slow speeds still feels clunky. First gear for me is almost pointless as well, I work my way into second as soon as I can.

What about everyone else?

Having only driven manuals, I've never heel n toed, should never need to.

simonp83 said:

Having only driven manuals, I've never heel n toed, should never need to.

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Ive only done it in the cars Ive owned/ driven depending on gearing ect. Some of them, suck as my GT, just feel jerky and not smooth unless doing so.

I haven't bothered to learn heel/toe until driving this car; I'd like to track it a couple times for fun someday and have been practicing. There is a need for it; I live where there are several steep hills at stops and utilizing heel-toe from a stop prevents the car from rolling back before going forward. So it's a skill to learn for more reasons than just downshifting.

I'm still in a learning mode and consider myself a rookie at it, but I can tell downshifting is indeed smoother already. Is it a necessary skill to always do while driving? No, I've driven manual trannys since 1973 and just now decided to learn. But why not keeping honing skills and learn a better way.

I will say that the stock position of our accelerator pedal absolutely sucks for heel/toe and I had to do the DIY fix to raise the pedal that is mentioned in our DIY subforum; before doing that it was too much of a contortionist move for me to even try.

Just viewed the smoking tire second video on shifting. After 30 years of driving trucks and cars with clutches lasting over 150K I'll admit I've never heal toe. I rev match and never felt the vehicle unsettled. Never felt the need to simultaneously brake and downshift at the same time maybe it's just the terrain where I live for daily driving.

I rev match always and heel-toe when needed, which is typically going into a turn from high speed. My daily commute includes a right turn from a street posted at 50 MPH onto a street posted at 35 MPH. If the light is green I usually heel-toe into that turn.

simonp83 said:

Having only driven manuals, I've never heel n toed, should never need to.

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Then you've never driven your car hard on a track.
No heel and toe under heavy braking before a turn is a recipe for loosing control.

I use all of them daily, it's not that hard.
Most of the time you don't need to do all that just driving in traffic.

jasonstang said:

Then you've never driven your car hard on a track.
No heel and toe under heavy braking before a turn is a recipe for loosing control.

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Never driven a high powered rear wheel drive car, Mustang will ge my first. Only driven quick fwd and awd cars. It might be something I need to take into consideration if I track my Mustang.

Not really something I do on the street unless I'm really driving it fast. A blip of the throttle is all that is needed usually. But it is definitely a skill you will want to perfect if you are driving it on a road course track.

I agree with cgreen5150. Mine is a DD and I'll always rev match because it results in a smoother drive and it just sounds so sweet. That usually just requires blipping the throttle. It def took me some practice to get it right. I would either blip it too much or not enough and would get a jerk. I have not learned to heal toe yet and don't want to try around traffic. Need to find an empty road.

I honestly don't understand NOT side-foot or heel-and-toe shifting. It makes downshifts (and driving overall) so much smoother.

At this point it's second nature for me any time I'm decelerating and changing gears. Maybe it's a holdover from riding motorcycles so long, but my preferred technique is to always rev-match with the side-foot technique (size 13 Wide shoes make this the preferred style) on downshifts.

I need to learn how to do this!! I've experienced the discord between the engine & the rearend/tires under heavy braking at the track... not a good feeling at all.

I do rev match sometimes, mainly because I like to hear the engine but also because it eliminates the engine break when downshifting.
I always make sure I am in neutral and clutch engaged as I blip the throttle.

Do you do it the same way?

sldghmr said:

I need to learn how to do this!! I've experienced the discord between the engine & the rearend/tires under heavy braking at the track... not a good feeling at all.

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Check this video out, Matt covers it well and shows the foot work. Ive noticed, in my GT at least, that you really have to stab the gas to rev match enough for it to feel smooth.