Yeah, excellent tip. Practice it in a straight line way out on a country road. braking from 4th, to 3rd, to 2nd. Don't go to first, that can hurt/grind. It's very easy around 3-5 rpm.

 

So you are slowing down to make a right turn. Basically you're downshifting like normal. So you downshift to 2nd right?

The only thing you do different is tap on the gas when you're changing gears.

The transition will feel smoother now. Now just try to make it smooth as possible.

 

you can also practice just reving the engine while applying the brake with the same foot. you can do this in neutral at a stop light, in a parking lot, etc. you'll find initially that your brake pressure will vary along with your throttle pressure. when you can brake consistently while varying throttle, you're on your way.

next up is doing "easy" shifts - say from 6th to 5th at 40 or 50 mph without worrying about brakes. this way you don't have to rev the engine like mad. also you can back out of a shift if you sense you've done something wrong - just put it back into 6th.

then try shifting down the gears as you slow for a light or stopsign. heel/toe for each shift, throttle to rev-match, light braking pressure.

finally try more aggressive heel/toe - ideal circumstances are the sharp exit ramps off of highways. these allow you to brake firmly from high speeds while working the gears.

I find the Z transmission (stock shifter) is not the easiest to manipulate so to remove chance of error I go through all the gears, even if I don't let the clutch out. in other cars (close ratio boxes, light flywheel), I'd blast from 4th to 2nd quick enough that the engine sounded like it just blew up.

also I think the Z, with its drive by wire throttle, reduces throttle response when applying brakes. this means that you'll need to be more aggressive with the throttle than in other cars. I have to readjust when I drive other cars with normal throttle cables as I end up jerking the car when revving too aggressively. might be the 38 lbs flywheel in the Z too.

whatever, it makes driving fun and interesting to heel/toe.

also makes me wonder why the guy in The Run didn't heel/toe on that one hard turn - he loses a lot of momentum because he doesn't shift while he brakes.

now to go heel/toe on the way home

 

Just to clear things up for me,
when you approach a stop sign, is it okay to downshift from 4th to 1st with one puss of the clutch? is it really necessary to drop it into each gear when your downshifting?

 

Nope not all the time! I've gotten into the habit of double down/up shifting all the time......This seems to help out alot!

 

It is ABSOLUTELY OK to shift from 4th to first when approaching a stop. I think we are making this too complicated. You just have to make sure RPMS match. When approachiing a stop sign in 4th gear, you should just slow down in 4th, clutch in and stop, then 1st gear to go.

 

If you are coming to a stop there is absolutely no reason to run through the gears. If are not anticipating coming to an absolute full stop, I would go directly into second gear when it shifts easily. When you try to downshift into first and feel resistence this is a little suggestion that you could get away with starting in second gear at your present speed and save yourself an upshift or that you need to wait until you are going slower before you shift. I rarely shift into first unless I am absolutely at a full stop or near a full stop going up a steep incline.

If I am entering a corner at speed and if i really want to have fun, I will definitely run through all the gears, blipping the throttle before I downshift, so that I can find the perfect gear as I enter the corner.

 

you should never enter 1st gear unless your stopped.

 

I posted up a chart (Gran Turismo style) I made in Excel of the gear ratio using the gear ration calculator in the Modifications forum. RPM's on the Y axis, mph on the X. You can use this graph to help you better rev-match.
https://my350z.com/forum/attachment....chmentid=86832

 

thanks for the chart mavtais. So, would it be "safe" to say that you should blip the throttle about 1000 rpms for each gear that you downshift? That appears to be about accurate for each gear.