I've been practicing the heel-toe method on a daily basis going to school and work but I have some questions. Sometimes the car would jerk but sometimes it wouldn't after letting the clutch out and I'm wondering is it because I'm revving too high or too low?..... or is it because I'm letting the clutch out too quick/slow? Or maybe I'm in the wrong gear for the speed I'm in? I really don't know because I just started learning how to drive a stick shift and I'm learning this on my own. How high do you guys rev for whatever gear you are downshifting to and is there a strategy to make it consistently smooth everytime it is done? What gears are appropriate for what speed? Thanks.

 

I'm assuming your down shifting from 3 to 2. What RPM's are you down shifting at? If your car is "jerking" obvious answer would be that you're letting out the clutch too quick. In terms of how high you are supposed to rev.. just give the throttle a little blip. Again, depends on your speed, gear, current rpms, etc.

 

I'm usually in 4th going to 3rd and going about 30-40 mph. RPM is around 3-3.5k in 4th gear. This is for situations where I am coming to a stop light and need to get acceleration when traffic is starting to move again by the time I get up to the traffic.

 

If you are trying to "rev match" and your car is jerking it is because you are letting the clutch pedal out at the wrong rpm. Speed of engaging or disengaging isn't a factor, timing is the only thing to practice.

It is important to understand the concept of what you are trying to do when rev matching (heel-toeing is just rev matching while applying the brake). A person uses rev matching to make a perfectly smooth downshift which avoids any sort of rear wheel lock or untimely oversteer due to excessive deceleration.

When you are downshifting with rev matching you are trying to match the rpm of the engine to the rpm of the tranny in the gear that you are goin into. So the problem lies in knowing how high the engine has to be revving when you let the clutch pedal out at a particular speed. For example, using a downshift from 3rd to 2nd:
(plz excuse the km/h and the rpm and speed may not be accurate, it is just an example):
- You are cruising at 60 km/h and your engine is revving at 3200 rpm. You decide to downshift into 2nd WITHOUT rev matching, you feel your car sort of lurch as you let the clutch pedal out, and now you are in second going the same speed as in 3rd but your engine is now revving at 5000 rpm.

From this test you have just found out what rpm your engine needs to be at while rev matching from 3rd to 2nd going 60 km/h. So for this example you would need to "blip" (quick press of the throttle) and let out the clutch right when your tach drops down to 5000 (Letting the clutch out a hair earlier is better). Do this a number of times at a number of different speeds and soon you get a "feel" for it.
That's the best i can do to explain it technically, i hope it helps. Good luck and keep practicing, i've found that rev matching is the best thing i've learned about driving a car and there is nothing like downshifting while braking into a corner and executing a perfect heel-toe

 

+ve psi - nicely said. Not much else I can really add.

kiddo118 - If I interpreted what you said correctly, you're trying to get your car to a point where you can get going quicker after slowing down? I'm not sure if heel-toe is exactly what you'd want to do (although it's fun to practice), but you might want to give double-clutching a try. It's what I do sometimes. Not sure how much faster it is but it uses the same idea as what +vs psi was talking about in terms of rev matching.

In case you don't know how to do it here's a nutshell version of how to.
1. clutch in and move stick to neutral
2. let go of clutch
3. blip throttle quickly
4. clutch in quickly
5. move stick to next lowest gear.
6. get on the gas

Sounds a lot more complicated than it really is. Just requires a little time and patience. Keep in mind that it's also one motion and can be done very quickly. You'll notice less strain on your synchros and the transmission will "catch" quicker.

 

A heel-toe is either a rev match or a double clutch, done under braking. One part of your right foot (your toe, assuming small enough feet) is on the brake while the other (heel, assuming small enough feet again) blipping the throttle as necessary.

If you're trying to smooth out a downshift after braking then you want to rev match or double clutch. The first thing you should try is simple rev matching. All that really entails is holding in the clutch for an extra instant so you can blip the throttle. You kind of have to guess at the revs. What you should do is familiarize yourself what rpm the engine spins at while the car is going a particular speed in a particular gear. Then you'll know about where to put the revs while rev matching. Once you get the hang of what revs to use when, you can move on to double clutching as described by mike02gt.

 

WOW thanks mike, psi, & fatbooty. I really learned a lot just from your replies but the real learning comes from practicing the technique. So if I'm understanding this correctly, to rev match, I should rev to or a little over the rpm that the gear I'm downshifting to would be at? Sometimes when I try to heel-toe, my heel hits the carpet on the side next to the gas pedal so I would have to let go of the brake and then blip the throttle. I have to find a way to position my feet properly.

 

Exactly.

 

I get the same thing bro...but my feet are size 14's so I ended up just putting my foot at about a 25 degree angle (toes on the brake) and rolling my ankle back and forth seemed to do the trick for me. :driving:

 

Glad it helped