Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Match the revs?

^ Just read up about it. Makes sense.

I've always done a lot of engine braking, but doing it by slowly releasing the clutch without increasing / matching revs. Does this mean I've been abusing the clutch?

Yes! Although not as bad as slipping the clutch on hill starts etc. Theoretically if you match revs well enough a slight dip of the clutch, or not at all, and you get seamless downshifts. You have to be slow through neutral though. Easier to do on a small NA engine rather than turbo due to throttle response.

Yes, you have to be precise, which means it's a great feeling when your blip is spot on, but you feel like you are wearing a virtual cone-of-shame when you get it wrong and the syncro has to catch your fumble.

I used to heel-and-toe in the hire cars (as I really, fundamentally didn't give a shit about them) but in the Volvo I dip the clutch, blip, into the next gear at a fairly sedate pace. Heavy flywheels don't help in some ways.

If you need a trimmer I can highly recommend Harrison Trimming in Swanley
http://www.classiccarwebsite.com/harrison-trimming

Depends really - the car can go fast from 0-60 but that would also mean replacing the front tyres for every third run to Saino's.

I observe all speed limits apart from the motorway, generally, where I tend to end up around 85mph.

My dad taught me to always match the revs when changing down (he'd learnt to do this driving non-syncromesh lorries), so I do go down through the box and engine brake a lot - I tend to give the brake pedal a light press just to show the car behind that I'm slowing, but the majority of the braking is compression braking on the engine.

i rev match obsessively... even if braking i will heel-toe brake and throttle with one foot, clutch with the other

I've always done a lot of engine braking, but doing it by slowly releasing the clutch without increasing / matching revs. Does this mean I've been abusing the clutch?

yes you're destroying your clutch. more than you'd even think at first because the bi-directional friction is really a killer on clutches. worse than having two different drivers for one car.

Try to use the clutch as little as possible. One reason I love manwell so much is engine braking.(Buddy used to love changing gear sans clutch in his ol 309.) Second only to holding gear mind. 😀 Just short shift Yo.

Does it do that much damage or just wear a little same as going up the 'box.

How about compared to slipping the clutch or slow changes.

Never had to do the headlining. I bought one with a good interior, turns out that was the best thing about it!

The heater blower is a bitch, I think that's a whole dashboard out. While you're there you should sort out the wiper motor washers because that's a weak spot on those. Although the bodywork looks good on yours so maybe they are not to bad.

I liked the original seats, used to take the bench seat out for large loads. I realised a couple of years in that I should have bought the LWB though. Mine used to get around 12mpg, idling in traffic was a factor.

Thing I loved about it was being able to work underneath it without jacking it up. I had to buy loads of larger spanners and sockets though, everything is a bit more truck like. Mercedes engineers hated them because it's a Puch chassis with a Merc engine so there are plenty of annoying places where bodywork and bolts interfere. Wings are perfect for the tool roll though.

I used to use car gearboxes like motorcycle gearboxes. Changing down rev-matching and dancing about on the pedals like Nureyev. Then I did the "System" at the police driving school. I was told that brakes cost less than gearboxes/clutches and I should slow down with brakes not gears. It does make sense though. I can still recite great swathes of Roadcraft off by heart (party bore).

I love this car ...

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I used to use car gearboxes like motorcycle gearboxes. Changing down rev-matching and dancing about on the pedals like Nureyev. Then I did the "System" at the police driving school. I was told that brakes cost less than gearboxes/clutches and I should slow down with brakes not gears. It does make sense though. I can still recite great swathes of Roadcraft off by heart (party bore).

My driving instructor said the same thing, however- if you only attend to the brakes when approaching a corner you then have to change gear before tackling the corner, which if at speed can unsettle it, or simply be annoying.

If you match the revs you can (for e.g.) go from fifth to second whilst braking (say for one of the many roundabouts past Chichester) leaving you in the perfect gear to really scare the labrador around the roundabout and off down the road to the next one.

This is a great way to push the MPG down to the 9-10 area, however.

Meh. It's a re-skinned Nissan Micra.

It also means that when you change down you can change down so that you're in, say, 2nd gear in the power band (say, 4-5krpm) ready for a good hard launch out. Shifting straight into 2nd at that road speed without blipping the throttle is going to be rather hard on both the box and clutch.

it's beautifull.

ah - what do you mean the wings perfect for the tool roll? i just ordered one so would be interested in cubby holes i can stow it in

Obvious troll is obvious.

Yes, I would never make that shift without matching revs, it'd be an horrific thing to inflict on the gearbox.

If you're braking hard in the RWD car, it's also liable to cause the rear wheels to lose traction and lock up, which is not a good thing. Been there, done that, felt the elevated heart rate...

Not a problem I have, unfortunately. I also have probably 70 percent of the weight over the front axle, maybe a little more.

I've never managed to trigger the abs on the road or on the track however, with four piston AP Racing brakes and floating rotors, although I've had to do slow laps of the pits until the brakes stop smoking.

Has the gearing been altered?

(I hate Labradors).
We used to have "Kebab Vans" in the mid-eighties (LDV Sherpas) with 3.5 litre V8s. On the overrun you'd get four feet of flame out of the side exiting exhaust. Worth using engine braking only on night shifts obviously. Up until they were rev limited they were good for 120.

Did you get them to power slide/drift? Found that the weight shift and then lifted the rear wheel and then all the power went to that wheel....

One or two up they were a handful, you had to use third to pull away from a standstill otherwise the rear wheels spun like a bastard. They were fitted with a big box, like a Luton van almost, on the back. They were awful in a crosswind or passing an HGV and were frightening (brilliant). Fully loaded with a dozen cops and gear they were more controllable but swayed really badly in the corners. Roundabouts at speed were interesting.