2009 Nissan 370Z: Training Wheels For Rev-Matchers

I saw my first 370Z last night, a black one. It looked better then I expected and better then I remembered from the autoshow. Maybe it was just the excitement of finally seeing one on the road.

Synchro RevMatch is known as "progress."

Will I miss not having to heel-and-toe with this feature? About as much as I miss double-clutching in a non-synchromesh gearbox.

Hey Josh,

I'm constantly practicing my heel toe work, and the thing I have the most trouble with is doing it all simultaneously.

To make things smooth, I have to do things slow. Clutch in, change gears, blip, then release the clutch. I can't seem to smoothly perform the gear change and the blip at the same time. When I attempt things simultaneously I either over/under rev the engine (most common) or botch the shift.

Any advice, or does it all come down to practice, practice, practice?

"Any advice, or does it all come down to practice, practice, practice?"

Practice.

"Will I miss not having to heel-and-toe with this feature? About as much as I miss double-clutching in a non-synchromesh gearbox."

EXACTLY!

"Now turn it off and try again. " -JS

Or just leave it on. It's faster and more precise than you are.
-MM

Many people who drive a stick can't heel-toe at all. This feature should be a tremendous selling point for them. However, the true enthusiast will dismiss this new technology as nothing but a toy for want-to-be's.

Actually, I'd say 90% of people who heel-and-toe during regular city driving *are* wannabes. I should know, I was one of them. :) (Now I'm stuck with a slushbox.)

Also, don't confuse rev-matching downshifts with actual heel-and-toe, which is doing all that while braking. I think rev-matched downshifts are fine, but I have a hard time justifying heel-and-toe on the street. Well, "for fun" and "practicing" are good justification, but that still files you into the wannabe category. :)

@crowb,

It all kind of happens at once, ideally. But seriously, a little time with Synchro RevMatch and I bet it would all make sense.

@boxermike,

"Or just leave it on. It's faster and more precise than you are."

Yes, and so is a slot car on autopilot. But I don't therefore want my car to be a slot car on autopilot. For me, matching revs is a big part of what makes driving fun.

-JS

@felonious,

"I think rev-matched downshifts are fine, but I have a hard time justifying heel-and-toe on the street. Well, 'for fun' and 'practicing' are good justifications, but that still files you into the wannabe category."

Completely agree except for the last clause. Heel-toeing is useful when you don't have time to brake and downshift separately (because you don't want to scrub off speed unnecessarily), and that's never the case when you're driving down the boulevard.

But I'm all for practicing it whenever possible. Cruising in fourth and see a red light up ahead? Accelerate briefly and then heel-toe your way down to second. Why not? Practice makes...better.

-JS

what is with all this snobbery associated with driving stick? a true car enthusiast embraces all things car... he doesn't sit there on his throne and poo poo anything that isn't a traditional manual transmission.

i've tried just about everything for a long period of time to allow me to get used to it, except for the Ferrari F1. Guess what?! i want to go running to a manual, also. i'm sure that i would get used to it over time and i will love it for what it has to offer.

if you asked me what I prefer, then i can't give you a simple answer. they all have something to offer.

"...jab the throttle while changing gears before disengaging the clutch."

Don't you mean AFTER disengaging? To me a disengaged clutch is one in which the pedal is depressed and clutch plate has disengaged from it's connection to the flywheel. If you blip BEFORE you push the clutch pedal down the rev's will go up, but so will your speed, so no rev matching will occur.

@huyracing

+1 There are some people who automatically associate anything "different" as "worse." One of my biggest problems with manuals is that they're often impractical for my daily driving environment, even though I enjoy shifting for myself when I have play time.

I welcome any technology that gives me the OPTION of making a manual more convenient to live with, just as I welcome any technology that makes an automatic more fun.

@bankerdanny

I was wondering the same thing.

@bankerdanny and mikeolan,

Yeah, from a mechanical perspective, I think you guys are right. At the very least, "disengage" is a confusing term there. I'll fix it.

And mikeolan, sure, I'll take the option of Synchro RevMatch. I'll just leave it off unless I'm teaching someone how to drive.

-JS

I'm certainly not one for having the car do things for you. However, Synchro RevMatch can be turned off. That's 1 positive point. Second, while Nissan is better than most, the 370Z is still DBW and thus has some small throttle lag, especially on quick blips. This can mess up your timing, especially if you're coming from a traditional throttle cable car. So, at least Nissan has given us a way of mitigating some of the negative effects of DBW (while using DBW to do so - cool). Finally, rev match downshifting is one of the more difficult tasks for drivers to learn, and nailing the right rpm is difficult, even for experienced shoes. Thus, the RevMatch function adds some utility too.

"Any advice, or does it all come down to practice, practice, practice?"

I tell my students to practice heel-toe on the street so that it will become second nature on the track. Anyway, most students have enough trouble learning the track, the correct line(s), the proper braking points, etc. Trying to learn heel-toe at the same time is simply too confusing.

For once, I cannot be a smart alek. Bought an auto ( living in a big city with traffic jams and hills made it the more practical choice. That being said, the 7 speed auto is very sweet. AND, it throttle blips on downshifts as well when using the paddles.

@crowdb: Brent wrote and article explaining how to Heel and Toe Downshift
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/howto/articles/45792/article.html

There is also a video here:
http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpcontainers/do/VideosCategoryIndex/category=How%20To

--Donna