Proper Clutch Ussage

[studdly]

Is it harmful to the transmission/clutch to shift slowly to a lower gear?
Say you are in 4th and slowing down and go to 3rd. Is featherring the clutch
for smooth transition a good idea?

Also, in reverse, how fast should you be on the clutch shifting to a higher gear? I am wonderring about this so that I will maximize clutch life.

[Loc]

My understanding is that you should never be feathering the clutch unless in reverse. I could be wrong. Why don't you just rev match to downshift?

[Noel]

Don't feather, it's putting more wear than normal on/off clutch shifting. Yes, rev-matching is a better practice.

[BigballinTSX]

can someone teach me how the hell rev-matching works?

[nachob]

It is very hard to do in the TSX because the brakes are overboosted and the drive by wire throttle is too sensitive but I can do it reasonably well now. Let's say you are going into a corner and braking a bit. You have the ball of your right foot on the brake pedal to slow you down. Then with the outside of your right foot or heel depending on how big your foot is, you tap the throttle to bring it up 3-4 rpm while simultaneously downshifting and releasing the clutch while the engine is in the 3-4 K range. Again, this is one of those things that frustrate me with Japanese cars, they just don't get it. The TSX brakes do not have linear modulation like BMWs or even VWs. They are too sensitive yet not really any stronger at stopping the car than the Germans. So you have to be very careful when doing this because you might hit the brakes too hard when doing this. To make matters worse the DBW throttle is too sensitive and light so it makes this even harder to do well. With practice you will be able to do it. Remember all your downshifting and braking has to be done before you start turning the wheel into the corner if you want to do this right and not upset the car. If you are going into the corner too hot and you continue to apply the brakes while turning, you might plow off the road, even with ABS.

[PearlWhite05]

Wait, there isn't anything wrong with downshifting from 4th to 3rd or 5th to 4rth. it slows the car down, so u don't use too much of ur brakes, as long as u don't downshift at such a high rpm, usually 3500rpm and below is good it shouldn't be too much of a stress to your engine. As for "feathering" what is that exactly. I have never heard of that term.

[Noel]

That is engine braking, yes ... Nothing wrong with that.

Feathering is describing slowly letting the clutch out while balancing the throttle.

And when shifting up or down, don't be lazy and skip gears. It destroys the synchos.