BMW M4 - Active rev-match

[Shadow]

First time I ever heard of it was on the Nissan 370Z. Now it seems that active rev-matching is starting to become more and more popular. The most recent application I read about was on the new BMW M4. Don't get me wrong....I think this is a good thing, so long as it can be completely deactivated by the driver.

Anyway, will active rev-matching trickle down to just about all manual transmission cars in the future? Assuming that manuals don't eventually die out of course....

[daleadbull]

As far as I know Active rev match is on 370Z, Porsche 911, C7 Corvette and now the BMW M3/M4. I might have missed some.

The others have a dedicated button to turn on/off the active rev match but I'm hearing the BMW either has it on/off based on different driving modes: normal, comfort, sport etc. I'm not sure I like how BMW is doing it, so if you want the car in comfort (suspension, throttle etc.), you are forced to have rev match on. That's my understanding of it, maybe I'm wrong but I rather have a dedicated button which turns the feature on or off at will.

[tankinbeans]

Now that I know how to rev-match, more or less, I don't think this would be a selling point for me. I still botch them more often than not, but I'm working on it and it doesn't bother me when I'm not bang on perfect.

The only people that would understand why rev-matching is desirable probably would deactivate it anyway, while those who don't understand its importance would be excited to have a gizmo (if they buy the car in the first place). Most people I talk to think that rev-matching is a waste of time and wouldn't be swayed either way.

Anyway, will active rev-matching trickle down to just about all manual transmission cars in the future? Assuming that manuals don't eventually die out of course....

Probably. Not so long ago hill-start assist was only available on certain cars and now it's becoming more available on certain trims of vehicles. It will allow more people to get into a manual without being afraid of messing something up, and could possibly increase demand. Those gadgets certainly have their appeal.

I'd disagree with the premise that manuals will die out though, because it seems that their demise has been predicted for years. However, they seem to continue chugging along in good order.

[Shadow]

As a big fan of the manual transmission, I obviously would love to see it live forever. But I honestly think the day will come when nobody builds new cars with a clutch pedal. Sad, yes, but I honestly think it is inevitable. I just hope that point in time is far into the future.

It seems right now that we're part of a small niche group and the car companies have to decide if they'll continue to support us. I'd say the numbers are most definitely trending downwards when it comes to the amount of different models that are available with a clutch pedal though....