Friday 27th October 2017

Match 'box enthusiast: Tell Me I'm Wrong

We should embrace rev-matching manuals - they might be the stick shift's best chance of survival

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All manual gearboxes should come with automatic rev-matching.

Before bellies begin to ache, though, I should declare one essential caveat: you must be able to deactivate said rev-matching at the touch of a button. And I do mean one touch of one button. No drilling-down via touchscreen menus, no convoluted confluence of drive and traction modes - just a button to switch it on or off, just like in the Sport Pack-equipped Nissan 370Z that brought the function to market with its Synchro Rev Match system in 2009.

Porsche makes it hard - it shouldn't be!

Yes, heel-and-toeing is a simple but eternal joy - even in the most lethargic of front-drive hatchbacks, where it serves no purpose other than to entertain the driver. But even if you're an exponent of the ankle-bending ritual and your car's pedals are appropriately spaced, it's not always appropriate or, indeed, possible. In most cases, you need to be braking fairly hard before the throttle pedal is within tickling range, and unless you're on an open, empty road - which, on the balance of probability, you aren't - that level of brake-squishing is pretty unlikely. So for the rest of the time, why not let the car flawlessly smooth your transition from one gear to the next, and save a little drivetrain wear in the process?

If you were buying a used manual BMW M2 or Sport Chrono-equipped Porsche 991 or 718 from a seller short on mechanical sympathy, surely you'd be glad of the clutch-pampering properties of their respective rev-matching setups?

To date, such systems have been confined to more performance-orientated cars, but it needn't be so. It's a software-based addition, and much simpler and therefore cheaper than the safety and autonomous tech that trickles down the market with each passing day. That you can buy a £16,200 Mini Cooper with rev-matching speaks of its affordability.

Nissan system one of the oldest but still the best

Indeed, the most populous beneficiaries would be indifferent A-to-B drivers, who'll suddenly find their regular manual hatchback, crossover or SUV easier and more user-friendly to drive while avoiding the expense of an automatic. Their car's parts will last longer, and their passengers will be happier, too, saved from the nodding-dog indignities of their host's misjudged shifts. Owners might even save a little fuel from smoother driving.

Automated manual city cars such as the Toyota Aygo x-shift or ASG-equipped VW Up aren't popular because of their added expense and awkward mannerisms. But furnish those cars' conventional manual gearboxes with rev matching, and you've taken away some of the apprehension of buying a manual at a fraction of the complexity and cost of an auto. You could easily argue a rev-matching manual would actually provide a smoother drive than one of those clutch-actuating jobs too.

Rev-matching manuals should be the new normal, then. And in the process, they'll win back market share from autos, thereby prolonging the career of the manual gearbox that we know and love.

Richard

[Words: Richard Webber]

[Ekona]

No issue with rev-matching 'boxes at all, just so long as there's an option to turn it off.