M6 GS driving tips/techniques
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 2,130
Likes: 574
From: North AL
I don't have a lot of street driving experience in them so the only kind of rev matching I know how to do is heel and toe downshifting when I am engaging the proper gear for an approaching corner. I was just curious if you were trying to get the car into a lower gear smoothly in preparation for an upcoming corner and for that I may have had some ideas.
Have fun with your car and enjoy it as often as you can!!
Have fun with your car and enjoy it as often as you can!!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2021
Posts: 2,032
Likes: 228
From: Colorado Springs, CO
The car may be a hot rod, but 95% of the time you don't drive it like a hot rod. I've been driving manuals for the past 50 years. One thing you notice and I hate about modern cars with manuals is rev hang. The revs drop instantly on my C3. On my M6 C6 I shift slowly enough to let the rpm drop on each upshift. That way the trans just about drops into the next gear. Conversely, I blip the throttle on each downshift, using my ears and gut to manually rev match. I never downshift into first if I'm moving. The C5/C6/C7 will never shift as nice an old Muncie, or even a new Camaro, just physics, I like driving fast , but I'm not risking damaging my trans. My nephew blew his trans on his Z06 at a track day at Buttonwillow, and I've blown many a VW transaxle bracket racing back in the day, but those were relative cheap and easy fixes.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 792
Likes: 195
From: NC
By inserting "modern cars" you're making it plain that this is a (relatively) new phenomena - would you mind expanding on this? Why would auto makers begin engineering cars/transmissions with more rev hand, i.e., so that revs quickly drop back to idle or near-idle speeds in between shifts? There must be a reason or reasons.
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 4,464
Likes: 1,395
From: SC
No, the slow rev drop is an emissions thing, the ECU is keeping the throttle open a little because if it slams shut there will be excess fuel coming off the walls of the intake manifold and causing a rich condition that the catalyst can't deal with. Keeping a little more airflow lets it burn cleanly. You can program this out with a tune.
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,950
Likes: 498
From: Chino Hills CA
I said modern, but even back in '68, air cooled VW's had a vacuum operated linkage on the carb that slowed the throttle closing when you took your foot off the gas (for emmisions). We have a '12 Honda Fit and a '16 Honda HR-V both with manuals and the rev hang is annoying to say the least. It's like a built-in non-rev-matching feature, My non-emmisions carburated cars shift so sweetly, especially the T5 in my '72 Corvette, I can shift smoothly without using the clutch.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 1,061
Likes: 455
From: San Jose, CA
2023 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
I said modern, but even back in '68, air cooled VW's had a vacuum operated linkage on the carb that slowed the throttle closing when you took your foot off the gas (for emmisions). We have a '12 Honda Fit and a '16 Honda HR-V both with manuals and the rev hang is annoying to say the least. It's like a built-in non-rev-matching feature, My non-emmisions carburated cars shift so sweetly, especially the T5 in my '72 Corvette, I can shift smoothly without using the clutch.
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,950
Likes: 498
From: Chino Hills CA
I kinda like the way they smell, air cooled ones anyway. Still got my '65 Ghia, 1700 lb, 2110cc, dual Dellortos, 12 lb flywheel, no rev hang here, quicker than a Civic SI, simple as a brick, built for heel and toeing, the complete antithesis of my C6, but just as much fun.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Every 2027 Corvette Engine Explained
Joe Kucinski
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Verdad Gallardo
10 Ugly Corvettes That We Still Kinda Love
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski