Pedal Spacer for 6MT guys (Heel and Toe goodness)

Copy that

 

Frequently. Tacoma, motorcycle, all my previous manual transmission cars.

 

Amusing. Had no idea sharing a product that I enjoyed that somebody else may find useful would ruffle so many feathers!

If you don't want to or don't need to or don't know how to heel/toe, cool! If like me, you want to but don't have size 15 feet to reach both pedals, this is a well thought out and well made product that helps out at a reasonable price.

Now back to Tacomaworld's regularly scheduled program of Raptor lights and motor oil change intervals!

 

Genuinely curious as to why. Not trying to be a dick here but this makes absolutely 0 sense to me. Why would you waste gas, put extra stress on your drivetrain when simply coasting to the red light. I see folks do it all the time and it honestly makes me cringe.

Unless I’m going downhill, I’m in neutral when coasting to a red light. Sometimes I’ll coast in 4th or 5th to activate DFCO and save a bit of gas.

 

Yeah I don’t get this heel toe in city driving thing. Can easily drive just the same shifting gears normally, IMHO
of course.

 

it’s this first part that you said that’s so ruffley.

 

No worries, I don't mind conversation and honest questions.

Just like upshifting, if downshifting is done smoothly there's no significant wear on your drive train. The clutch and pressure plate are meant to be used like your brakes. Rev-matching greatly minimizes wear on your synchros, clutch and other components. I got into a MT again because I enjoy the involvement.

Coasting to a red light from 4th or 5th gear speeds I like blipping the gas and downshifting; and yes this Tacoma feels like it's got a ridiculously heavy flywheel. Modern engines use zero fuel when the clutch is engaged and you're coasting as the fuel injectors don't need to fire while the motor is spinning down. If you're slowing down in neutral, the injectors need to fire to keep it idling.

Plenty of folks have put hundreds of thousands of miles on their vehicles using both methods without issue. Whether you prefer to downshift or coast to a stop, if done properly the gas or clutch saved is negligible. Point is to enjoy driving if you're still rowing your own gears!

 

^^^^^This^^^^^

Heel/toe downshifting is meant for racetracks where unloading the drivetrain through turns can cost seconds worth of time. Tooling around in the city there's no penalty to rev-matching by lifting brake foot briefly to blip the throttle while downshifting. My other car is a Civic Type R which has a fancy auto-rev match where the computer sees you're about to shift into a lower gear and blips the throttle for you. Every time it does that it seems so unnecessary.

I don't even see any benefit in using handbrake on a steep hill because my feet are quicker than the inertia of a 6,000 lb vehicle. Although I might do it if someone is right on my a** on a steep San Francisco hill (but people in SF who drive those hills all the time seem to know to keep their distance at an uphill stop).

 

Yes! If you enjoy heel/toe downshifting, by all means do it! Even if it's unnecessary, which I think it is. It's your car (truck), enjoy it as you see fit!

 

Tacoma mt will shut off fuel while you’re slowing down, it takes a few seconds to engage when you are not pressing down on the throttle, if you blip the throttle it will not save fuel.

 

Assuming the handbrake comment was in my response to my post, I don’t use the handbrake during normal driving either. I only use it in off-road situations where I’m on a 20+ degree slope and rolling backwards even 6” is not desirable and/or safe.

 

I'd bet a million imaginary dollars that the MPG loss you suffer from throttle blipping to downshift is significantly offset by the reduced wear on your clutch. I squeaked an extra 20k miles (at least) out of my 2003 WRX clutch by rev matching. Shops I talked to were stunned I got 169k miles out of the stock clutch, never mind I was the second owner (bought at 50k miles). I experienced expected MPG out of the car when I drove normally.

 

Clutch start cancel also works great for those situations.

 

Sure, but why would you rev match downshift when simply coasting to a red light in the first place.

 

Because it's fun?

 

A. It's illegal to do that in a lot of states.
B. I'd rather stay in gear so if I have to suddenly accelerate to, say, avoid an obstacle or accident, I'm already in gear. This is the same reasoning for the laws regarding point A.
C. Fuel cut usually only occurs while you are in gear. So you'll get worse fuel mileage slowing down in neutral, as the motor has to feed fuel to keep the motor spinning. When you're in gear it goes into fuel cut and turns your motor into a glorified air pump.
D. It's fun. I bought a manual to shift, which I find fun. If I wanted brainless I would have bought an automatic.

So really C will offset things all on its own.

 

Yes it was, and I stand corrected, kind sir! I would totally use a handbrake in that situation as well.

 

I rev match all the time when say going from 6th to 4th or 3rd, basically anytime I’m skipping more than one gear.

I see no point whatsoever to rev match from 4-1 or 5-1 when simply coasting to a light, except for maybe doing it cuz you enjoy it so much.

Unless you do a perfect rev match everytime, which is impossible with drive by wire, you are definitely putting more wear on the clutch and syncros.

Rant over

Edit: would like to add, I get advertised or better MPGs with like 600 pounds of extra weight, so I know all about those little fuel saving tricks.

 

Oh I know all those things.

When I’m coasting downhill, I’m always in gear. The only times that I’m coasting to a red light in N is when I’m going like 20-30 MPH, and just waiting for it to turn green, no harm done whatsoever. I’m the guy who drives in the right lane and usually follows the speed limits.

Most of the time i coast in 4th or 5th till my rpms drop to about 700, then I flick it to neutral.

 

I tried clutch start cancel once or twice in safe situations but haven’t learned to trust it. It also seems like a bigger hassle than using the parking brake. I might experiment with it again some day.