can someone help with my manual car downshift issue?

A

Anthony L

New member
I am trying to figure out how to downshift so i know both ways to slow my car down. i just bought a 99 protege and i know how to drive it but i can't figure out how to down shift.

Say i am in 3rd gear going 35 mph, and i need to slow down. how would i go about getting into 2nd? i know you have to do something called rev matching but i have no idea what to do. i still don't really understand that. do i just press in the clutch and go to 2nd and let off?? but i am thinking if i do that the rpms would go really high. can anyone help please??
 
If the idea to downshift is too slow down, then you don't rev match. When you rev match you are downshifting while raising the rpm of the engine by pressing the gas so that when you let the clutch out, you won't experience a slow down and can benefit from the high rpms of the engine for better acceleration. But if you do want to slow down, then you would downshift and let the clutch out, you don't need to give it gas or rev match. When you do this, the lower gear of your transmission forces the engine to raise it's rpm when you re-engage the clutch causing the car too slow down a little because the engine is now taking some of the load of the transmission's speed. This will wear out your clutch faster if you do this a lot. It's better to use your brakes as those are easier to replace than a clutch. As long as you don't exceed what the maximum speed of your gear is, you should be fine. Look it up in your manual if you have one. For example, the maximum speed my car's gears are 1st, 35mph, 2nd 60mph, 3rd 86mph, etc. I hope this helps.
 
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