2020 Gear Ratio Question

charleswrivers

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I only blip the throttle if I am looking to accelerate, otherwise I simply slip the clutch and let the revs catch up. Been doing this for years and it seems the wear on the clutch, flywheel, etc is pretty minimal as I get very long clutch lifespans.
Naw... I gotcha. I did the same thing forever. I mostly do it for the fun of it. I have to assume it's better for the clutch but, as I've only ever replaced 1 clutch ever out of about 10 manual cars... and that was mostly out of convenient work since the engine was getting pulled at the time, God know what, if any, little difference it makes.
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I almost never downshift through the gears while slowing. Whatever gear I’m in when approaching a stop is what I stay in till just before the car starts to stutter. Then, neutral until time to go or right back to first if a stop sign or something. My thought is less wear on the engine and clutch. But also, that’s just too much damn shifting for me. I average 39-41 mpg this way on mix city/hwy.

I never coast in neutral. My ex had a manual accord sport and she put it in neutral and coasted every chance she got. Drove me f-in nuts.
 

REBELXSi

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I almost never downshift through the gears while slowing. Whatever gear I’m in when approaching a stop is what I stay in till just before the car starts to stutter. Then, neutral until time to go or right back to first if a stop sign or something. My thought is less wear on the engine and clutch. But also, that’s just too much damn shifting for me. I average 39-41 mpg this way on mix city/hwy.
If you downshift when slowing down, you're always in the right gear to accelerate if necessary AND it helps you slow down. It's a win/win.
 

Gino27

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If you downshift when slowing down, you're always in the right gear to accelerate if necessary AND it helps you slow down. It's a win/win.
Might be a dumb question but do you guys rev-match when slowing down?
 


REBELXSi

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Might be a dumb question but do you guys rev-match when slowing down?
If you want to avoid destroying your clutch, I'd recommend it.
 

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If you want to avoid destroying your clutch, I'd recommend it.
Disagree. I only rev match when planning to accelerate. Slipping the clutch while braking and downshifting is not going to put some measurable amount of wear on the clutch. I have done it in every manual car I have had.
 

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Disagree. I only rev match when planning to accelerate. Slipping the clutch while braking and downshifting is not going to put some measurable amount of wear on the clutch. I have done it in every manual car I have had.
If you want to avoid destroying your clutch, I'd recommend it.
Yeah I've always figured it's better to rev match. The wear on the clutch probably wouldn't be too severe but it feels way smoother to match the revs.
 


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REBELXSi

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Disagree. I only rev match when planning to accelerate. Slipping the clutch while braking and downshifting is not going to put some measurable amount of wear on the clutch. I have done it in every manual car I have had.
Not slipping the clutch seems like the better choice.
 

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Might be a dumb question but do you guys rev-match when slowing down?


No, I always down shift, revmatch fo what? By the time the clutch is out its matched itself. Generally don't down shift into first. Rolling is generally good for second.
Same as its always been since at least 1964.
 

MattyNice

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If you downshift when slowing down, you're always in the right gear to accelerate if necessary AND it helps you slow down. It's a win/win.
I understand the reasoning behind it. I just think it’s more wear that isn’t needed and just a lot of unnecessary shifting. And I don’t need anymore shifting..lol. I get enough and then some just going up through the gears in all the traffic where I live.

Now, I will use engine braking in traffic by holding a lower gear to keep from repeatedly hitting the brakes when needed. Or in the mountains. Or at times I’m hauling butt and need to slow down pretty quickly and don’t want to cook the brakes.
 

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Well... it did increase wheel torque... so assuming you put the old gearing correction factor in 4th and did a pull, you'd see the extra 6%. Honda's deadset on keeping the Sis L15B7 at it's present power levels. I was secretly hoping they were saving a true TD03 and ditching the TD025 and bumping engine output up a smidge for the 10.5 gen Sis. As it is... I assume it will soldier on in this form until gen 11 hits. I was hoping for a bump... any bump in engine output as that'd show some Honda confidence in uprating their existing engine and in keeping the car competitive because numbers help sell cars. We'll just have to see what the instrumented tests show. I just don't think it'll be enough to hardly matter. We're still looking at a mid-high 14 second car. The beautify of mating a slightly larger turbo... or bumping boost targets up a couple pounds from the factory would have been it shouldn't have affected highway MPGs at all.

I really hope they've got something up their sleeve for gen 11's powertrain. As much as I like the car... I think a gen 11 Si will struggle to sell well if they stick with the existing powertrain. Since gen 11 will be in existence when the 2025 CAFE targets take effect... I wonder if there's going to be a last ditch push to meet them, assuming they don't get punted. We may see mild hybrid setup's, like what I know GM uses, across cars that were otherwise pure-ICE. While I like staying as light as possible... GMs idea of ditching a standard alternator for a unit with a motor controller which will either produce electricity or provide additional torque and allow start/stop (I think this is specifically a gimmick for the most part)... essentially as an accessory, with a miniscule battery... while providing nearly 50 extra ft-lbs off-the-line. It'd close the gap between city and highway MPGs a lot.

I'm very interested to see how fleets are going to reach their 54.5 average. There's been great strides made over the last decade... and Honda finally made some meaningful improvements with this car compared to the last few generations... but as one of their most economical pure-ICE cars and a volume seller... and a powertrain that's across the Civic, Accord and CRV... they're going to have to show their cards soon or start paying penalties. We may end up finally getting those super high, overdriven gears shortly. This is kind of one of the big reasons why I was surprised the gearing change was their card to play. They're going the wrong way... though gen 10 will have long folded by the time 2025 rolls around.
Great point about 11th gen which I will wait for. Given the Si only comes with manual transmission which filters out a lot of drivers I think they should give the ones who buy credit for a 6-5 or 6-4 downshift vs the shorter 6.
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