How do you like your auto-blip

[EFI]

I also don’t understand why this wouldn’t be beneficial during spirited street driving, in particular twisty mountain roads.

It very much works well for this kind of driving, I often use it on the street when driving aggressively.

For day to day driving around town and in traffic it's pointless. But when driving hard it works well, but you need to be braking relatively hard for it to work well.

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[Dr. JL]

I'm not an auto-blip fan. My 2016 M2 has it and it takes away the joy of achieving the perfect rev-match. I was not proficient with heel-toe when I attended Track Attack...but now am "closer" after a year of practice. Most of the that practice was in my '09 Accord coupe. Now I heel-toe nearly every downshift. I say don't do it. Stay pure to the original design of the car and learn, then enjoy it the way the folks at FP wanted you to enjoy it.

 

[Norm Peterson]

He also agreed with many of you that it’s completely worthless on the street.

Likely worse than worthless if you have more than one stick-shift car in the driveway/garage and no two are from the same car mfr.


Norm

 

[Spart]

In all honesty my heel toe is just so/so, as I find it hard to practice anywhere expect when on the track and this will only be my second track season.

Is your DD a stick? Because that really helps. Even when the throttle response and brakes are different, just being in the habit and doing the motion without thinking about it is a huge step towards being able to do it under threshold braking. Track time is limited. There are some nay-sayers on here saying it's worthless on the street and I completely disagree. Just because you aren't using the same braking force doesn't mean you aren't building skill - you should be able to heel-toe with whatever braking force you choose.

I literally heel-toe my DD on my commute every day. And it's a truck. Obviously I'm not threshold braking (or even braking very hard at all) but it's the habit that matters. When I get in the GT350, it might take me a couple of downshifts to get into the groove but once I'm there I can do it without a conscious effort.

Just a few tips:

• Practice sitting still in neutral with the handbrake on until you can get your blips right. Then focus on your brake pressure.
• Practice on the road the exact same way - brake to a stop, but leave the trans in neutral and get your blips in. Again, focus on brake pressure.
• Even when you're not heel-toeing, practice rev-matching your downshifts and downshift the car to stay reasonably within the torque band. This will help you learn the amount of blip necessary to be smooth. If you're cruising at 45 in 4th or 5th and you come to a stop without at least rev-matching, that's a wasted opportunity to practice.
• Sport/track mode changes the throttle map, and it will screw with your perception of the car's throttle response. So use it consistently or leave it off. In the GT350 the suspension, TC/ESC, and steering feel are all individually configurable so I never use sport/track mode and I've personally gotten used to the throttle response in normal mode. You make like the throttle response in sport mode better and that's fine too.
• Vary your technique until you find what works. "Heel-toe" nominally means the ball of your foot on the brake, and your heel on the gas. But lots of people use the left-half ball of their foot on the brake, and the right side of their foot on the gas. You just rock your foot while maintaining brake pressure with the ball of your foot. There are also people who use their heel on the brake and their toe on the gas - but I think that's more dependent on pedal setup than anything.
• If you like the "rock" method I described above but feel like the gas is a little too far away, try out a Steeda heel-toe pedal. I have pretty wide feed and I get by without one, but I can see where it would be a benefit.

 

[ZX3ST]

so it doesn't work with the majority of GT350's? That seems bizarre to me... or do I have it backwards? I thought most were 12v and a few were 5.5v....

The docs says 0-12v

To be fair, I haven't contacted them directly. This is just based on the verbiage on the xplosive performance site linked earlier in the thread. (excl 2017.5 12V ref pedal)

 

[pilotgore]

Is your DD a stick? Because that really helps. Even when the throttle response and brakes are different, just being in the habit and doing the motion without thinking about it is a huge step towards being able to do it under threshold braking. Track time is limited. There are some nay-sayers on here saying it's worthless on the street and I completely disagree. Just because you aren't using the same braking force doesn't mean you aren't building skill - you should be able to heel-toe with whatever braking force you choose.

I literally heel-toe my DD on my commute every day. And it's a truck. Obviously I'm not threshold braking (or even braking very hard at all) but it's the habit that matters. When I get in the GT350, it might take me a couple of downshifts to get into the groove but once I'm there I can do it without a conscious effort.

Just a few tips:

• Practice sitting still in neutral with the handbrake on until you can get your blips right. Then focus on your brake pressure.
• Practice on the road the exact same way - brake to a stop, but leave the trans in neutral and get your blips in. Again, focus on brake pressure.
• Even when you're not heel-toeing, practice rev-matching your downshifts and downshift the car to stay reasonably within the torque band. This will help you learn the amount of blip necessary to be smooth. If you're cruising at 45 in 4th or 5th and you come to a stop without at least rev-matching, that's a wasted opportunity to practice.
• Sport/track mode changes the throttle map, and it will screw with your perception of the car's throttle response. So use it consistently or leave it off. In the GT350 the suspension, TC/ESC, and steering feel are all individually configurable so I never use sport/track mode and I've personally gotten used to the throttle response in normal mode. You make like the throttle response in sport mode better and that's fine too.
• Vary your technique until you find what works. "Heel-toe" nominally means the ball of your foot on the brake, and your heel on the gas. But lots of people use the left-half ball of their foot on the brake, and the right side of their foot on the gas. You just rock your foot while maintaining brake pressure with the ball of your foot. There are also people who use their heel on the brake and their toe on the gas - but I think that's more dependent on pedal setup than anything.
• If you like the "rock" method I described above but feel like the gas is a little too far away, try out a Steeda heel-toe pedal. I have pretty wide feed and I get by without one, but I can see where it would be a benefit.

Thanks for the well thought out response. It has been interesting to hear so many different opinions on auto-blip vs. heel toe. To answer your question, I don't really have a daily driver. I rotate between vehicles based on weather. 2 of the 6 vehicles are manuals, so maybe 4k miles a year on manual cars. When downshifting I always rev match, and I enjoy doing it (especially in my limited miles with the 350.).

That being said, I think that I've been convinced to buy the auto-blip. . . not because I'm incapable of of heel-toe (which I absolutely can I'm just not great at it), but because I believe it's more practical to offload the job of rev matching while downshifting and braking to a device more proficient than 95% of humans, so I can shift my attention elsewhere. Although I hear the argument of "Your taking away from what this car was made for by removing the rev-matching from the equation," I completely disagree. This car was made to go fast around a track, and it just so happens to have a manual transmission. I bought the 350 because of the NA engine, look, sound, great cornering ability, and price. Getting better lap times around the track is my primary goal with this car, and if any device can help me achieve that goal then I'm all for it. . . especially a device that will lessen clutch wear & tear.

My C7 z06 is an automatic, and I love driving that car on the track (I realize this statement might not be popular with this group, but it really is a hell of a machine.) Without having to shift, I can 100% focus on my driving technique.

Different strokes for different folks. No judgment one way or another no matter which road you take, but I think the auto-blip is for me. Thanks again for everyone who contributed!

 

[Spart]

I think where I differ is, I view heel-toe as part of the technique or art of driving. And I find it enjoyable and rewarding. It's part of why I continue to buy stick shift vehicles.

There is zero satisfaction to me in clicking a button to change gear. I want to be involved in the process.

Maybe a GT500 is in your future?

 

[jmn444]

yup. DCT is just like autoblip lol

 

[pilotgore]

I think where I differ is, I view heel-toe as part of the technique or art of driving. And I find it enjoyable and rewarding. It's part of why I continue to buy stick shift vehicles.

There is zero satisfaction to me in clicking a button to change gear. I want to be involved in the process.

Maybe a GT500 is in your future?

That’s the great part about cars, they can be identical but mean different things to different people. Like I said, to each their own.

Probably no GT500 in my future (Unless it’s a ‘67-‘68), although not for any philosophical reasons. The gt350 simply scratches the mustang itch I’ve had for a little while at a fair price.

 

[Spart]

That’s the great part about cars, they can be identical but mean different things to different people. Like I said, to each their own.

Probably no GT500 in my future (Unless it’s a ‘67-‘68), although not for any philosophical reasons. The gt350 simply scratches the mustang itch I’ve had for a little while at a fair price.

One can hope that insane GT500 ADM's aren't a permanent thing though.

 

[pilotgore]

QUOTE="Spart, post: 2793830, member: 25607"]One can hope that insane GT500 ADM's aren't a permanent thing though.[/QUOTE]

Supply and demand. . . give it 5 years and you’ll be able to buy last years MY at invoice.

 

[madlag]

Rev matching via autoblip makes sense. It’s better than you’ll ever be and is as far as I personally am willing to go towards an automatic transmission. When driving casually (it’s not my daily driver) I heal toe manually for practice but when running it harder I always use the auto rev match and enjoy the precision of it.

 

[Creedog]

YouTube video using auto blip in a GT350. No installation info on it though.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...3FECDC5C63C1B96F0EE83FECDC5C63C1B96&FORM=VIRE

I’ve got a couple of “new guy” questions.
Is this xineering going to void my warranty?
Can you link any videos on installation and someone actually using this auto blip on the GT350? Yes I checked.
I also don’t understand why this wouldn’t be beneficial during spirited street driving, in particular twisty mountain roads.

 

[460Fred]

YouTube video using auto blip in a GT350. No installation info on it though.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...3FECDC5C63C1B96F0EE83FECDC5C63C1B96&FORM=VIRE

Thank you for that.
An on/off button seems practical. Considering most have a hard time “mastering” revmatching, why not take advantage of it.
Some cars come with revmatching as we all know, I’ve never heard of anybody disabling it.

 

[jmn444]

Thank you for that.
An on/off button seems practical. Considering most have a hard time “mastering” revmatching, why not take advantage of it.
Some cars come with revmatching as we all know, I’ve never heard of anybody disabling it.

I didn't watch the vid, but it also will automatically turn off after X hours so you really only have to turn it on when you get to the track, and it'll never accidentally be on when you just hop in for a drive around town....

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