Proper way to down shift?

wilsonp

The 7AT is very aggressive - as long as the revs will be below redline, it will let you downshift. It also won't let revs drop too low, it downshifts automatically if that will happen, though unfortunately without DRM, all the way down to first. Even in full auto, it will downshift and run revs up to 6500-7000 with no problem if you floor it.

I think manually downshifting depends on what you are about to do:

If you are coming to a complete stop, let it drop gears automatically unless you just want to hear it rev - then be careful as DRM can cause you to hold speed when you are trying to stop, and it is easy to downshift late since their is a lag and end up two gears down.

If you are slowing down for a corner, and want to accelerate out, downshift to keep revs above about 3500 RPM - the torque curve is practically flat from 3000 to redline in most gears, so you will have close to maximu torque available for acceleration.

If you are pulling out into traffic and want maximum acceleration, downshift as low as possible and floor it - I normally drop from 5th to third coming onto the highway with a 65MPH speed limit when I see it's clear, I'm going about 45-55 before I downshift.

The racing rule for downshifting is to drop to the lowest gear that will keep you below redline through the curve so you can accelerate out of the curve without an upshift.

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