Yes obviously. The whole process will be quick, I must say heel toeing in this car is much different than my previous car. Here for me its more of a twist foot sideways and use the side of my food rather than actual heel toe.
6
Downshifting and you
- Thread starter DD89
- Start date
Yes obviously. The whole process will be quick, I must say heel toeing in this car is much different than my previous car. Here for me its more of a twist foot sideways and use the side of my food rather than actual heel toe.
DREKO
Passed Driver's Ed
I really dont see a point in downshifting before a red light under normal circumstances. Now when downshifting during a race or for passing that is a different story. I usually just let of the throttle and stay in the gear i'm in until I have to stop, then just go into neutral. This way you actually save gas. And i'd rather change my brake pads then working my clutch and synchros more then I have too. Brakes are much cheaper!
Heartagram131
Go Kart Champion
ive been a big downshifter for years as i use to drive truck alot... heel and toe s nice for the track but anyone doing this on a daily basis is just overkill. i will in town down shift to 3rd before i even hit the brake and then brake through 3rd gear lightly if at all and then as i coast down i will... push clutch and blip throttle without continuing to brake and then toss it in to second as i am blipping. after the revs build i will let out the clutch as the revs come down and at the same time start to brake again.
summary: coast brake downshift brake downshift brake neutral stop. i dont heel toe unless in emergency stops. just not necessary... IMO <- of course.
summary: coast brake downshift brake downshift brake neutral stop. i dont heel toe unless in emergency stops. just not necessary... IMO <- of course.
lalalaprise
Ready to race!
Brakes last longer if you downshift a bit...sometimes you can come to a complete stop without even using brakes lol
If you rev match there should be less wear on your clutch than if you just plonk it in the lower gear and take your foot off the clutch pedal.
Also if you're in gear and braking very little to no gas is used in modern cars, check your gas consumption when in gear and slowing down.
I agree that heel-toe is a little much for the street however rev matching isn't really, its better for the car so why not. I'm starting to heel toe more and more around town as I've decided to track my car this summer. I am finding it much more difficult than in my civic, although it may just be that I'm used to doing it one way and the pedals are obviously placed differently in this car and I need to adjust.
Ronkerjake
Ready to race!
The pedals in the Mk6 are set up weird so you can't heal-toe as easily as you could in other sports cars. I find that if i have half my foot on the brake and the other half overlapping the throttle, it will blip when I brake. It works fine for me.
fatty@golfmk6.com
Go Kart Champion
you guys down shift to 3.5k? I only down shift enough so that when i'm in the lower gear, the rpms are at 2k
I sometimes downshift to 5K!
As you get more experience driving you'll realize there is no set RPM to downshift to. All dependent on driving style and situation.
DREKO
Passed Driver's Ed
Dont get me wrong, I am totally for downshifting. I just dont think there is a point to shift into progressively lower gears before you stop. That puts extra wear on your clutch because it has to engage everytime you downshift, even though you rev match you are still putting wear on it. What I do is, lets say im in 6th gear and I see a red light up ahead, I just let off the gas and coast until the revs drop low enough that I have to go into neutral or the cars are close enough for me to stop anyways. This way im using no gas and not wearing my clutch for no reason. Now if its pouring down rain i'll probably downshift multiple times before stopping.
McQueen77
Banned
this is a good point. the downshifting is best for coming into a corner or curve in the road, for passing, etc. day to day driving, city, if i get up to 4th, i'll usually keep it in 4th and then go to neutral to coast up to a stop. easier on the tranny vs. always downshifting. all depends. i drop it into neutral often in city driving situations.
also, as to the heel/toe, its hard to do in this car. i don't know why. height of brake pedal vs. brake or something makes it difficult, so i don't do it a whole lot since getting the gti. its really more a track/racing technique than anything else though, and in most real world driving is kind of unnecessary as rev matching does the trick. always rev match though, always. 'cept maybe 6th to 5th, otherwise, gotta match those speeds..
Sometimes I will downshift once or twice coming up to lights but a lot of the time I don't bother.. no point wearing the clutch more regardless of the minimal gas savings.. I'd much rather replace brakes and use a bit more gas than replace the clutch a bit more often. I have been practicing the downshifts a lot and I'm rev matching a lot better lately. I also don't really see the point in heel-toe downshifting unless you're on the track... and I've NEVER done a heel-toe downshift...
DREKO
Passed Driver's Ed
But you actually save more gas by just coasting in the gear you are in with your foot of the gas. You save your clutch and gas! My brother and i put a led light with the positive lead connected to the fuel injector and the negative to the body. This way you can see exactly when gas is beaing injected. And when you are in gear and you let go of the gas, the injectors stay completely turned off. Of course only in a manual car. So GeoFux you are actuallu saving gas by doing what you are doing.
McQueen77
Banned
are you sure? if you look at the real time fuel consumption, it is blank/shows nothing when slowing down using engine braking after a downshift, but if you throw it in neutral, it will say 200mpg or something. this implies that it uses a little more gas going in neutral than when using engine braking.
as a general rule, i either downshift when i need more power or more traction/control. when neither is necessary, its fine to coast. but with such torque available at various points in the tac, i don't find it necessary to downshift nearly as much as in previous cars. i love that about this engine, that i can be in 6th around 2k rpm wanting to pass someone, and instead of having to throw into first, i can just hit the gas and the power is there. i can only imagine how magnified that is with stage I or II...