froggy47

OK so I felt a little rusty having loads of autox time (one upshift & drive it) but not that much track. I sense a change coming as it was way fun, but here is the question. Pretty general I guess.

Is it better/faster to down shift every gear, each corner, or leave it in the higher gear & then just skip down to the one you need for the corner.

Thing is Auto Club Roval has 4 2nd gear corners, IIRC, 5 to 2, 3 to 2, 3 to 2, and 4 to 2, (again IIRC) so it's a lot of down shifting.

Also the 5 to 2 is hard braking from as much as 150 down to about 25 mph and I really needed my full hard right foot brake to carry the speed as long as possible.

I am sure I would have to brake much earlier to use just the side of my foot & throttle blip.

I know BBK would probably help but how would you suggest with stock brakes (they worked fine EBC Blue, but really needed more pad I believe).

Jason

Brake hard, brake once,.hit every gear on the way down. That's my suggestion. Others will differ.

bdanyluk

Whatever you are comfortable with.

froggy47

It just seems to me that going from 5 to 2 is a whole lot less frantic if I just stomp the middle pedal & execute a nice double clutch heel/toe shift to execute the corner.

Yes/no?

dbratten

I've always hit all the gears going down quickly with control and find it good practice to do so, if for no other reason. It reenforces muscle-memory making all your shifts faster. Same for autox or HPDE. Now, in the last few years with the A6 shifting just happens much faster.

I have never had the need to double clutch for a shift after moving past our old '60 GMC granny-first-gear truck when I was 12

CHJ In Virginia

If you are running a breaking zone that requires you to go from 5th to 2nd, you should only shift ONE time. Intermediate shifts all offer the chance to cause car instability. You are not running a sequential tranny and do not have to hit each gear. Concentrate on threshold braking, not shifting. Ride the car down in 5th, shift to 2nd just before your turn in using proper heal toe blip, apex and roll on the gas. Many will advocate using a "clutch in" braking technique in this situation, but that is another discussion. Try the 5th to 2nd - it works !

95jersey

we don't have sequential boxes, no need, and if you are going REALLY fast, you just don't have the luxury and yes it could unsettle the car. The less you do, the less chances you will have to make a mistake in my opinion. I like to concentrate on my braking and shift just before I release the brake to match revs with the new gear of choice.

RX-Ben

Skip to what you need, but realize if you are dropping a couple gears you'll need a decent blip and a relatively late shift or you will run out of rpm.

JRL

The problem I had when first trying heel/toe, was not blipping the throttle enough. Once I started using higher revs when blipping, it smoothed everything out.

John

RacePro Engineering

Bob,

As you expected, you are getting "definitive" arguments on both sides of the subject. I'll be presumptive, and weigh in too:

In theory, the only practical reason for a downshift is to be in the proper gear for corner exit.

CHJ correctly points to each intermediate downshift as an opportunity to unsettle the car. And, those who run through all the intermediate gears will argue that, done correctly, the 2 extra down-changes will "unsettle" the car much less than a single downshift that is done INcorrectly, probably resulting in a spin.

I sort of think of it this way - if I do not get a "big" enough blip between 4th and 3rd, I might get a little "chirp" of a reminder from the rear tires. However, if I mess up, and do not get the revs matched between 4th and 2nd, I may end up in the weeds.

So, our preference is to use all the gears going down under normal running, and save that 5th-into-2nd move for out-breaking someone into a turn.

And, as you know all too well, trying both until they are smooth, and then looking at the stop watch, will ultimately answer your question for you and your car.

Ed

Everett Ogilvie

Possibility of ending up in the weeds AND paying for a new engine due to a mechanical over-rev!

Some guys actually think a rev limiter will prevent mechanical over-revs...

RacePro Engineering

Everett,

They should have THEIR electronics checked!

Ed

varkwso

Jake can make it sound like a sequential...

But it really is what you like best.

froggy47

Link to track map - Sports Car version

It's the left 90 right 90 (at 12 o'clock) after running on the banks for more than 1/2 the way, so if you hit all the gears it's also while turning slightly on the bank at speed. I thought it safer & faster to just stay in 5th & focus on steering & braking. The fast line is up next to the wall towards the end, so I am told so that was where I put the car. My passanger/buddy has about 6 events there & he was instructed on the lines & they seemed right to me.
Too much fun though. Just want to drive it proper/better next time.


http://www.autoclubspeedway.com/Trac...rack-Maps.aspx

Click on the pdf to get a bigger look at the track. Garages & air water etc are available.

Jason

It's those size 5 Sammy Davis Jr feet.

mountainbiker2

Just do one shift. Much easier and only one chance on making a mistake. Sometimes I let out the clutch real slow, if I didn't think I matched the rev's.

Steve A.

froggy47

Timz06

I like to run through all of the gears.

redtopz

My technique is to heel/toe through each gear as I slow if I'm braking in a straight line. Otherwise, if I'm braking and turning, I will wait and skip gears on the downshift if necessary to keep my hands on the wheel as much as possible.

I just started racing at that track this year and it's the fastest track I've been on with the big oval. My car can only get to about 150 mph so I just stay in 4th gear at my 6800 rpm rev limit. When I brake for turn 3 I'm already going in a straight line and I hit 3rd gear and 2nd. On A6's we can do around 55 mph through the 1st 90 and 45 through the 2nd 90. Of course street tires would be much slower and you would have to start braking much earlier. My last time there I tried a different rear gear so it took me a while to adjust my shifting points both up and down.

froggy47

Thanks. Maybe I should have held 4th, but I had Sumitomo street tires on so I played it safe mostly. It's a really fun track. I heard a Vette blew a motor early in the day, but I got there late & missed that drama.