SRM: Who has it and uses/doesn't use it?
 

So I've been using my SRM since the day I had the car. Having driven manual transmission cars since the day I learned to drive, giving up the heel-toe downshift was tough at first. Then I just loved the perfection of SRM. Now I'm starting to feel like I've been driving with training-wheels again and at times, want to turn off SRM and rev-match myself.

So, where do you stand with your SRM? Take the poll or post a comment.

(This is obviously for 'sport' package owners only)

I use it most of the time. It's really nice when just driving spirited and down shifting coming up on a corner and not having to worry about heel-toe.

I did let my friend drive it, she freaked out a little b/c she's used to the G just jumping from downshifting to go around traffic. LOL

Coolest thing though, is if you shift nice and slow, you can see it work on up shifts.

I try to drive with it off as much as I can because I know if I were to get into a car without SRM I'd look like a retard otherwise. I'll use it sometimes in special situations like god awful traffic or if my gf is in the car(manual cars kinda make her nervous lol)

I use mine most the time. It's a nice bit of technology.

I love SRM, but when I turn it off the throttle isn't sensitive enough to blip so I end up not giving it enough revs when downshifting. :-/

uh oh, sounds like a few are forgetting how to downshift properly, I like the technology, but I think it leads to learning bad habits.

It does take a mental moment to give that extra 'stomp' to get the revs up. I wish our engines revved a bit more freely.

[shrugs] I don't know if it's the engine or the throttle programming, but it feels slow to respond when I try to tap it (even half way). That's probably why our cars feel a bit sluggish. Going back to the 350Z (co-worker's car), you can feel a kick when he accelerates. Our throttle action is just too gradual.

Nonetheless, SRM is so much fun. :D

I use it all the time. I thought I wouldn't use it that much at first but I fell in love with it.

for some reason when i turn it off, i feel like i dunno how to drive manual anymore :S.. not sure if thats only me, so it's on most of the time, but i do turn off from time to time.

I voted purist. I have never used SRM and I don't plan on it ever.

I turned it off a few times thinking it would save me on gas, but then I missed it. LOL

For the first month and a half I would have SRM on almost all the time. So then one day while turning on an on-ramp I downshifted and thought it was SRM was on when it was actually off and the car got a little loose on me. I was proficient at heel and toe before the Z. With the Z and SRM off, it's not easy to downshift manually as other cars. I tended to over shoot the RPMs when I started with SRM off.

My point is that I don't want to lose the ability or the sharpness of my downshifting by using SRM all of the time and if I drive another car. I don't want to get used to having SRM and not being able to downshift correctly. I love SRM though especially when I'm going through mountain passes just for that extra security.

I always keep it off. I don't think it is perfect, sometimes during a hard braking situation, and downshifting, to me, it revs higher then I would want it, causing the car to jerk a little forward, which I don't like. Because of that, I don't use it - prefer to do it myself.

loos like your friend doesn't know how to drive stick. that "jumping" thing is due to the engine braking that occurs when the clutch engages when engine rpm is too low. It can be very dangerous since it causes severe weight transfer to the front end of the car, and also may lock the rear wheels, and cause snap oversteer and even a spin out.

personally i voted 50/50. sometimes, especially when wearing thick heavy shoes with a thick sole, i use the srm since i cant feel the pedals that well. some other times, i like to have it off so i can practice my rev matching skills

I've been driving legally for 38 years and I learned to drive in a Meyers Manx dune buggy off road a couple of years earlier. For all but a couple of those years I owned manual transmission cars. It's very hard to break habits and muscle memory when driving. It's been hard enough not to have my keys in my hand and reach for the ignition switch when I get in the car. I had the SRM on for the first week or so after buying the car and even while driving it easy during the break in I forgot about it and had some strange experiences when starting to blip the throttle and downshift just from habit. Now I leave it off except for a couple of times I've been able to take it for a mountain drive. Even then I had to conciously avoid rev matching manually. I'll have to try it a few more times to get used to it, but for daily driving it's off. I'm old school I guess.

During my break-in period (1st 1.5k miles) I didn't use SRM. Since then I don't leave home without it. I left it off by accident on 2 occasions. During a sweeping left hander I down shifted from 6th to 4th gear and the rear end slid a little bit. Thankfully it was controllable. Also when I was doing 40mph in 6th gear and down shifted yet again to 4th and the rear wheels gave a really nice chirp.

After 40 years of Rev Matching manually, I'm more than happy to now let the car do it. I can spend more time on line selection, brake modulation etc. It does make you a better driver if you use it that way. Technology is a wonderful thing. Screw that old school stuff...I've paid my dues. (more than a few times)

:iagree:
I found that my track days were much more focused on lines, braking points, etc instead of worrying about rev matching.

Gone are the days of wincing during downshifts, wondering if you got it spot on or missed it badly and have a big lurch coming as you release the clutch.

I will have to get use to it.

I use it always.

Anyone who says they don't like the SRM is a Luddite. (look it up)

Prolly the same folks who laughed at power steering, air conditioning and fuel injection.

I switched it of 2 or 3 times, only to realize the car does a better job at it then I will ever do... (even after more then 15 years of practicing)

I've never turned it off and I never will.

:iagree:
I turn it off on the street but use it on the track. Occassionally, I will do a session without it, but it really is awesome on the track.

On the street though, especially in traffic, as you roll to a stop and slide it in first, the engine revs and people think you are showing off or revving at them, and its kind of annoying.

:iamwithstupid:

my brother took my car to his dealership one day to tint my car. he had the SRM off when i got back in the car. i go to downshift in some rush hour traffic and nose dive hard lol. since then i leave it on, souly for downshifting. i usually double up on the upshifting blip as i have a habit of holding the gas for just an extra second.

drive the car with it on since day one
im lucky to have another MT car so i dont forget how to rev match myself :D

sorry to bump an old thread...but id really like to see this poll taken by others. ive been driving with SRM off for the last 100 miles or so. at first when i turned it off, i realized how lazy and SLOW my shifting has become. i will shift and the revs will drop too low and ill jerk back, but once i go back to shifting like a non SRM car, then my shifts are smooth again! ive totally become spoiled by SRM (since it holds revs between gears)

however, once going back to SRM, ive realized its kind of a pain to have on...i mean aside from the simple, idiot proof downshifts (my first downshift with SRM off lead to a jerk...totally forgot to rev-match). with SRM on, ive come to not really like the fact that it holds revs between gears. my shifts have become jerky with it on now, as the revs are not dropping fast enough, so its jerking forward.

who else has experienced the difference in driving with SRM on/off?? i ask because i feel that if i get into another 5mt/6mt, i'd be embarrassed at how jerky my shifting is, thanks to the SRM making me a lazy shifter!

I have SRM ON more often than not, but it's off occasionally to remember the 'old' days.

This is me to a tee. I wish the throttle was as responsive for me as it is for the SRM.

I've always downshifted when making turns during normal driving and always blipped the throttle when doing that even though no heel-and-toe was involved. I did it mainly because it SOUNDS cool!!

Now, I can sound cool and I don't need to think about it. Although I still haven't gotten completely used to it.

It's staying ON.

SRM ROCKS!!!

I leave it in, but I hardly ever hear or feel the engine rev.

I've been wondering about this lately, whether it is an SRM thing or a clutch thing. I still have not been able to get perfectly smooth FAST upshifts. It's perfectly smooth if you wait for the rpms to drop and then ease out the clutch slowly, but I haven't figured out the secret for smoothing out faster shifts.

I didn't buy a car with it, partially because I didn't see any real benefit to it. I mean, there is some, but I think it helps develop bad habits.

LOL that this thread has been revived. I read my OP and was a little embarrassed I ever asked this question!

I've found the car loves fast upshifts when you're heavy on the throttle. Run that baby up towards redline and the MT just sucks itself into the next gear as you shift. Try to shift quickly when driving slowly though and it's not going to be pleasant. Lately I've had SRM off as I like the added task of rev-matching. However, it's going right back on during my autox or track days.

Day to day driving I use it. When I want to go out for a spirited drive I typically turn it off.

:iagree: I don't see it as any particular advantage or innovation.

I have only used it one time and that was on the test drive, until I figured out how to turn it off. It took a day or two to get used to shifting the Z, but I've been fine since.

yes this is the SRM doing its thing. as you're shifting the revs are being held in place, so in low gears where the difference in RPM is greatest, you'll have a jerky shift if you try to shift quickly. unless of course you're on the throttle. as others have said...if you rev high, that manual shifts silky smooth! otherwise with SRM on, you need to hold the clutch in for an extra second or so in order for that rev to fall

I like it when I am going out for a weekend drive to have fun. Otherwise I have it turned off mostly since the car serves as a daily driver for the summer. In traffic or around town its just overkill and not needed. Sometimes I roll the last 20mph with the shifter in neutral and the car revs for about 5 seconds before it figures out that I am not going for 2nd gear and just coasting.

In stop and go traffic it behaves badly sometimes.