Is it bad to only downshift when your RPMs are low?
I Drive a 4 Door Ford Escort (93) 5 Speed. I Shift to a higher gear when i hit 3000RPM, And Downshift when it goes under 2000RPM, But i do not REV Match when i downshift. Is this bad? And should i learn to REV Match for my current car? If so, How DO i REV Match for my car?
Added (1). I Should have Added, I Do not Jolt at all when I downshift, it is completely smooth, But I want to do what is better for my vehicle. I Absolutely love Manuals and I plan on getting more and I'm just trying to expand my knowledge on them starting from here.
You don't absolutely have to rev match, as long as your gears don't grind when you engage them.
If you are slowing down, though, you could probably delay the downshift until you get to 1500 - 1800 RPM. That might make for smoother engagement during the downshift. (And it might eliminate the jolt to your passengers they get when you downshift too soon, without rev matching.)
Why are you downshifting at all? Ask yourself this: Which is cheaper - transmissions or brakes? Downshift is something that only needs to be done for two reasons: 1. Driving a race car. 2. Driving in the mountains or on very long hills. For the latter, you alternate between braking and downshifting (engine braking) so you don't burn out one or both.
For upshifting, you should not stare at the tachometer and robotically upshift at one predetermined RPM. You upshift by feel according to conditions. Again, back to the mountains. If you are going uphill, (or trying to accelerate on to a high speed super-highway) you may want to upshift at 4,000 or higher so you don't lug the engine. Lugging can damage the valves among other things.
I don't know why you are stressing over rev-matching. That's something that is done to shift without the clutch. And I know this from experience - driving for over 40 years in just about every kind of vehicle in all conditions including two Ford Escorts, one a 4 speed manual and the other a 5 speed manual.
There's no rev matching in a synchro transmission. Push the clutch pedal in, move the gear selector to the gear you want and release the clutch pedal. FFS, this isn't a semi truck. Don't act like it is
You need an instructor. You still have a long ways to go to drive a manual properly. When you are good enough, the only thing that you need to look at is the speedometer. You will know when to shift just by listening to the engine and observe what the car is doing.
Did Kavanaugh ever drive an Escort? Is so, doesn't that indicate he likes hookers? (Signed -- Senator Spartacus, a.k.a. Just another illogical loudmouth grandstanding Democrat)
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