Blip The Throttle?

[craigdm]

Noticed on the way to work this morning that for some reason I have now started to blip the throttle on up changes, as well as down... Anyone else suffering from this ?

Think I started blipping the down changes in the belief that it was smoothing out the gearbox.... it's quite a heavy sort of change. No idea if it's actually doing any good.

 

[A1GSS]

Well, in the days before synchromesh gearboxes, blipping the throttle mid gear change with the clutch engaged in neutral (double declutching) was an essential way to match revs and gears on a downchange. Upchanges you'd not blip, just coast briefly in neutral clutch engaged.

So, no good unless you're double declutching, and on upchanges, pointless...

 

[Worcester_spoon]

I've always blipped on change down - brings e revs closer to the lower gear change. Not sure there is any benefit to doing it on the way up (as it has the opposite effect on matching revs) but the only damage I can think of would be to fuel consumption and therefore your wallet...

 

[A1GSS]

If you feel in need of a proper explanation...:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_clutch_(technique)

 

[paulgs1000]

Important to balance the car on down-changes. Yesterday I entered a lovely swooping, damp, tight left hander with a steep down hill approach - dread to think how the Zed would have responded without a bit of heel and toe vital there to match the revs - quite a spirited drive at the time - it all adds to the fun and enjoyment as well as sounding wonderful.

Love the sound of the 6 cylinder on the over run as well - lovely

Changing up? Well I can see how you'd get more of the same noise as you wait for the revs to die to the road speed - bit like the delayed changes heard on the 'Bullitt' Mustang driven by Steve McQueen (Well we can all dream :lol: )

 

[walker1c]

I think the point of the blip when downshifting a synchromesh box is to avoid using friction at the clutch to absorb the difference in speed between the engine and the drive shaft (people who actually know anything about gearboxes can substitute the correct terms here). Back when all cars had feeble brakes it was customary to use the engine for deceleration. When I learned to drive this was still common, but my dad pointed out that a clutch is much more expensive to replace than brake linings, so you should try to match speeds before engaging the clutch.

The other day I was watching what was probably an old Top Gear. Whatever the insanely expensive supercar was that Clarkson was testing, he mentioned that the automatic box matched revs during a downshift.

I can't imagine that blipping during an upshift would do anything but slow down your gearchange. If you're changing up, then you're probably accelerating, so you can't afford extra time with the road wheels unpowered.