Quick question.

"Panther Brown Tdi Volvo Shooting Brake Manual Miata RWD Wagon Stole HondaBro's Accord." (ningaboss)
08/20/2017 at 20:51 • Filed to: None

Ever since I got my car I have been downshifting by skipping gears.

For example if I want to pass on the highway I go straight from 5th to 3rd and rev match accordingly. I do this instead of going from 5th to 4th to 3rd. Mostly because I don’t have the time to shift that quickly when making a maneuver.

Am I increasing wear on the car? If so how much and how significantly compared to downshifting normally .

DISCUSSION (9)

Wacko > Panther Brown Tdi Volvo Shooting Brake Manual Miata RWD Wagon Stole HondaBro's Accord.
08/20/2017 at 20:57

This is normal downshifting when you know your car.

bhtooefr > Panther Brown Tdi Volvo Shooting Brake Manual Miata RWD Wagon Stole HondaBro's Accord.
08/20/2017 at 20:58

For a 5-3 downshift, if you’re doing the rev match in neutral with the clutch engaged, you are not increasing wear. If you’re just going direct 5-3 with a rev match during clutch disengagement, you are increasing wear on the 3rd gear synchronizer, as it has to bring the input shaft up significantly in RPMs. (However, you’re not putting any wear on the 4th gear synchronizer, which you would be otherwise.)

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Panther Brown Tdi Volvo Shooting Brake Manual Miata RWD Wagon Stole HondaBro's Accord.
08/20/2017 at 21:00

No reason why this should matter. I like to shift through each gear just because more shifting is more fun. If anything doing less shifting should do less wear. It’s one less clutch friction interface to go through.

E90M3 > Panther Brown Tdi Volvo Shooting Brake Manual Miata RWD Wagon Stole HondaBro's Accord.
08/20/2017 at 21:02

As far as I know you’re doing nothing wrong. I do the 6th to 3rd downshift all the time. Why do I need to go 6 -> 5 -> 4 -> 3 when I can just do 6 -> 3.

facw > Panther Brown Tdi Volvo Shooting Brake Manual Miata RWD Wagon Stole HondaBro's Accord.
08/20/2017 at 21:05

FP had a video today (maybe the source of your question?): http://jalopnik.com/heres-how-to-avoid-destroying-your-transmission-if-you-1798124788

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Panther Brown Tdi Volvo Shooting Brake Manual Miata RWD Wagon Stole HondaBro's Accord.
08/20/2017 at 21:11

If you are rev matching you are doing no additional wear. If you aren’t rev matching you are doing slightly more wear than not rev matching a normal downshift.

wafflesnfalafel > Panther Brown Tdi Volvo Shooting Brake Manual Miata RWD Wagon Stole HondaBro's Accord.
08/20/2017 at 21:23

no worries at all - I do 2-4 up shifts and 6-4 down shifts all the time, blipping the throttle to rev match. One of the advantages of being in control of your transmission!

Stephenson Valve Gear > Panther Brown Tdi Volvo Shooting Brake Manual Miata RWD Wagon Stole HondaBro's Accord.
08/20/2017 at 22:02

If you don’t double-clutch, then the 3rd gear synchronizer has to accelerate the input shaft up to engine speed. Since this will be a greater increase in RPM than downshifting to 4th, it will cause the 3rd gear synchro to wear out faster... but is it enough extra wear to be a problem? I don’t know. On the other hand, rev matching with a proper double-clutch will result in almost no wear on the synchro.

I always do a rev match & double-clutch when downshifting for this reason. Well, that and I learned to drive on an un-synchronized 4 speed, so old habits die hard...

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Panther Brown Tdi Volvo Shooting Brake Manual Miata RWD Wagon Stole HondaBro's Accord.
08/20/2017 at 23:10

as long as your rev matching its fine. The FP article is pretty full of BS