Ranger

Fast driving is like any other athletic endeavor, a combination of techniques and practice to embed muscle memory. Think about the difference between two b-ball players' foul shot percentage. One shoots 62%, the other 89%. Why the difference? Usually the answer is: practice, practice, practice.

An Enzo's F1-derived paddleshifter tranny completes each shift in 400 milli-seconds. Think about that; it's 400/1000=4 tenths. So accelerate through three full shifts and the engine has been "clutch-in" for 1.20 seconds. That's with an automatic...an F1 auto at that.

So how long does it take you to make three shifts with an M6/M12 manual tranny? If you practice, you can beat the Enzo shifts. And guys that achieve the really fast times at the drag strip, do so, in part, by achieving fast shifts. Note I didn't say "power shifts." Just fast shifts.

Here is a good drill for improving shift speed and eliminating missed-shifts.

Step #1: Check your hand position.

My advice is always to keep your thumb OFF the shifter.

Pull the shifter with cupped fingers (no thumb).

Push the shifter with the heel of the hand, no fingers.

To go 1-2, pull the shifter straight back (remember cupped fingers and no thumb.)

To go 2-3, push the shifter toward the radio (remember heel of the hand and NO thumb). This will allow the strong centering device to find the 3d gear shift gate.

To go 3-4, same as 1-2.

Step #2: Using the step-#1 hand positions, do shifting drills.

My experience has been that the magic to strong shifts under heavy acceleration (with no missed shifts) is, like the 89% foul shooter, practice, practice, practice.

To reduce wear, I practice with the oil warm (over 100 degrees) and engine off and omit the throttle but include the clutch.

1-2, 2-3, 3-4...repeat. Sets of five. I do perhaps 50 sets per week, usually 5 sets at both ends of my daily commute, and then 10 sets between passes in the staging lanes. This routine embeds muscle memory and makes each shift a preparatory queue for the next.

I suspect that practicing these step would end missed shifts for most owners and make each shift much faster and more confidently executed.

A third and related practice is taking care of your clutch. Pedal woes lead to tranny issues, because of incomplete disengagement of the clutch during shifts. Changing the clutch fluid regularly helps keep the pedal acting normally.

More clutch fluid details are here and here

Following these approached, I've got 553+ passes is three Z06s without breakage and with three still very smooth trannies...and the record stock/near-stock for the 2001 C5Z, 2002+ C5Z and now C6Z.

A lot of that comes from doing these shifting drills.

So start practicing. You too can shift faster than an Enzo.

Ranger

Patrick McDaniel

Could you address your clutch footwork timing in relation to the shift?

Thanks!

Ranger

There are three parts.

(1) clutch-in
(2) gear change
(3) clutch out

It takes practice to get the three moving parts synchonized, so that all are accomplished positively and in minimal time.

Later, you add in the lift or easing of the throttle. No reason to do that until the muscle memory is embedded with the shifting queues.

Ranger

NORTY

Ranger,do you push the clutch pedal to the floor on every shift? Also,do you have a "late" clutch?
Also again, have you noticed any change in "time" regarding clutch engagement since new? (You know, where the clutch engages @ the same travel as new?)

bernrex

Regarding the point of keeping the thumb 'out of the action'.

I'd say there are two gears where the thumb gives some insurance.

Fifth and Sixth. Luckily 5 & 6 are not used often, but when making the 4-5 shift ... I do use some thumb pressure to prevent a 4-3 shift from happening.

Same applies to the 5-6 shift.

When you are really winding out a Z engine .... a missed 4-5 shift, can go into 3rd, and is really tough on the gearbox. Some have even stripped out 3rd gear.

I use a Kirban aftermarket shifter in my C5Z. I've played around with these two shifts, experimenting with your advertized techniques. W/0 some firm thumb pressure .... these shifts mistakes do occur on occasion.

I'd hate to see someone hit third by mistake when at redline in 4th, and blow out a tranny.

For what its worth ... GM's C6Z's shifter is smoother than the one in the C5Z ... so this may help prevent this mistake. Experiment with your car at less than redline speeds ... to be sure.

Ranger

Hi Norty.

My clutch pedal has from new engaged beginning at the mid-point of upward travel. Due in large part to my clutch fluid changing regime, that engagement point hasn't changed in 5300 miles even at the drag strip.

At clutch-in, I depress the clutch well beyond the engage-disengage point, essentially to near the floor. I do not do a minimal clutch-in. Rather I follow a safer course to ensure a full disengagement during the gear change. That clutch-in depth is highly repeatable due to the muscle memory retention from the drills.

Ranger

NORTY

Thanks for the info Ranger. That is precisely my technique too. I change my fluid often too. (Maybe I'll buy DOT 4 in a 55 gallon drum!)

OAN-have you noticed any "jelling" on the underside rubber of the clutch fluid reservior? I did the first time I changed it (@ 2900 miles.)

Ranger

Changed my clutch fluid for the first time at the conclusion of the 1350 post-delivery trip from Iowa to Maryland. On that occasion, I do recall some gooeyness on the rubber membrance that seals the clutch reservoir. Wiped it off and it hasn't reappeared. Some have speculated it was a lubricant for the rubber seal. Perhaps. But I wipe the cap down every time I change the the fluid.

Ranger

Jim Shearer

Thanks Ranger. Great information!

GaryZ06

I know as a fact I can shift very very fast and never miss a shift.I'm a drummer so the hand foot cordination is not a problem.....but I'm no Ranger

camille

Being fast is essential for the track, sometimes for the street, but being smooth is another area where I could improve a lot.

With this car, my 1st-2nd shifts under moderate to hard acceleration are probably too slow, and that seems to cause bucking or lugging sensation - sort of like a poor launch from 1st gear on a hill. I feel smoother in all other taller gear upshifts.

Ranger

Should add that these principles and techniques apply to driving on the street and competitive driving on a road course or drag strip.

At the strip, with experience, the shifts will tend to be much faster and more aggressive because drag racing is about violence and the action is compressed into just a few seconds. On a road course the objective is smoothness over tenths of minutes or more; so the shifting pace is adjusted accordingly.

Ranger

Painrace

Hi Ranger, I just got my shift time information from a few weeks ago. We emailer earlier. I am well under 400 milli-seconds on 1-2 and 3-4 but just under or at 400 milli-seconds on 2-3 shift. I don't know why I am slower at 3-4. My shifting is at approximately 240 milli-seconds with a dog ring (no clutch, just blip the accelerator or brakes) transmission in all gears (1 through 5). I have not practiced like you but I have a life time of road racing and i just needed to learn the C6Z shifter. I agree with you there is no need to change it. It sounds like I slam the gears harder than you do in the C6Z. I am very easy on dog ring transmissions but I get a lot of tire spin with the C6Z. How far do you let off of the accelerator on shifts, if any. I keep my foot planted! This may not be the fastest but it is sure fun. I will probably never drag race the car. I shift much slower on a road course. Smooth is the key on road courses.

I am going to practice on my way home tonight and after I get home. I think I always have my thumb on the shifter??? I will try your method.

I will be in Detroit around the third week in July and have a guy set up to talk with me about the clutch. Initial comments were not to take the peddle all the way to the floor. More info coming.

Jim

vetdude

Ranger, this is how I was taught to drive a stick shift 40 years ago by my uncle who bought and roadraced his 4-spd '58 Corvette Fuelie new in '58!!!! The shift **** was so small back then that it was about the only way it could be shifted!!! He always said, "never grab it like a baseball."

camille

Ranger, one other question: Can you feel the intrusiveness of "torque management" during spirited street driving? If so, what is the sensation?

Ranger

Hey Painrace.

I recently started to powershift the 3-4 but am still doing some lift on the 1-2, and 2-3. How much lift depends on track conditions. I try to focus on not exceeding available traction. Spinning excessively is the enemy of fast times. But so it the time spent with the clutch-in. So suspect that with improved shifting, I can shed the better part of two additional tenths, across three shifts.

Your shift times are really impressive. Unless you're going to make passes though, faster shifts than those are not really necessary. But the Enzo FXX car is said to have a selector that lowers shift times to 150 milli-seconds. now that's a goal, for an M6 owner with a background in tap dancing.

Thanks about the clutch. Take care.

Ranger

Ranger

Just this one question OT. To me, TM on the street feels like wheel spin, but the wheels aren't spinning. That is, I sense a loss of acceleration, a decrease in acceleration when it should be increasing. Doesn't last long but you can sense it on launch and the 1-2 shift. But I don't do much strong acceleration on the street. I do hit a local abandoned airfield occasionally, when I can get access. The concrete surface provokes TM to a very perceptible level.

With that said, let's hold TM to a separate thread. This is about shifting.

Ranger

waynet

Anytime I read about shifting fast, I am thankfull that I got to see Ronnie Sox drive a 4 speed in person many times! If he could outshift a Lenco an Enso would have been cannon fodder!


Ronnie Sox, long regarded as one of the greatest four-speed drivers ever and voted No. 16 on NHRA’s list of Top 50 drivers, passed away April 22 after a long battle with cancer.

The longtime racing partner of Buddy Martin was the winningest Pro Stock driver (with nine victories in 23 events) during the short-lived four-speed era (1970-72), and he also claimed six additional Super Stock victories from 1967 to 1969. His skills as a four-speed driver in match races, ranging from his lumbering full-sized Chevys in the early 1960s to his injected, nitro-burning Barracuda Funny Car in 1966, are also part of drag racing lore.

But perhaps the best measuring stick for Sox's shifting talents came in 1973, the year that everybody switched to the clutchless Lenco transmissions. Many teams cited the reduced breakage as the primary reason for the move, but just about every driver went quicker with a Lenco, some picking up as much as a tenth of a second. Sox, by contrast, was the only driver whose car slowed down with a Lenco, losing a very measurable .04-second.

Sox, right, and longtime partner Buddy Martin made an unbeatable tandem in the early days of Pro Stock.

The science of power shifting, which is the act of changing gears with a manual transmission with the engine at wide-open throttle, is a lost art in today's world of air-shifted two-speed Powerglides. Power shifting requires the hand-foot coordination of a tap-dancing juggler because the timing of the hard yank of the shift lever must be carefully synchronized with the minimal application of the clutch pedal to prevent the over-revving of the engine. During the 1960s and early 1970s, there were a number of excellent four-speed drivers on the scene, including Don Nicholson, Butch Leal, Herb McClandless, Arlen Vanke, Bill Jenkins, and many others, but none could boast that they were better than Sox.

Said Martin in 2001, "Ronnie's skills as a driver were a gift. He was very coordinated with the hand and foot. In addition to his shifting, his reaction times were outstanding. Everybody drove four-speed cars at that time, and other drivers would miss gears left and right. That never happened with Ronnie. Everybody had an excuse, but Ronnie could get into anyone else's car and have no problems whatsoever."

Martin was one of the first to recognize Sox's talents when he saw him drive his 409-cid Chevys in the early 1960s. "I was driving my own 409 '61 Chevy, and every time he took first place, I'd ask him to drive my car for the second place consolation prize. At the end of 1962, I told him that I was planning on ordering a new '63 Chevy with the Z-11 427, and I asked him if he'd like to be the driver. He agreed, and we won our first time out in January."

Sox drove a variety of cars over a long and distinguished career, but few are remembered as fondly as the tri-color Sox & Martin entries.

Sox and Martin raced through the end of the 1963 season despite Chevrolet's formal withdrawal from racing in February, then secured a factory deal with Mercury to run one of their new A/FX 427 wedge Comets in 1964. Martin's assessment of Sox's driving skills paid off handsomely -- Sox picked up a holeshot victory against team rival Don Nicholson in the A/FX class final at the 1964 Winternationals -- and the duo established themselves on the match race circuit that summer; ace engine builder Jake King supplied the power, Martin swept the rosin at the starting line, and Sox picked up the front tires on each gear shift. The season was capped by their trip to England that fall as members of the select U.S. Racing Team organized by NHRA.

After switching to Plymouth that winter, Sox and Martin were pleasantly surprised by the new altered-wheelbase Dodge and Plymouth vehicles that Mopar had created for the 1965 campaign. The radical entries were disallowed in A/FX competition by NHRA, but that mattered little since the bulk of Sox and Martin's income was earned in match racing. Sox quickly made history that spring by recording the first nine-second clocking for a naturally aspirated doorslammer at York U.S. 30 with a new Hilborn fuel-injection system developed by Chrysler, and they were virtually unbeatable in match race competition.

In 1966, the team fell on hard times when their new Barracuda, still built from a production vehicle, was outperformed by the new tube-chassis, fiberglass, flip-top body-equipped Mercury Comet of Don Nicholson. A reluctant switch to an automatic transmission put the Barracuda in the eights, but Nicholson dipped into the sevens late that summer. Chrysler's racing manager, Bob Cahill, noted that Plymouth didn't sell that many Funny Cars in 1966, and that factory efforts would be directed back to Super Stock production models.

In addition to Martin, center, Sox also benefitted from the mechanical expertise of Jake King, left.

Initially, the thought of regressing from the eights back to the 11s appeared to be a bad career move for Sox, but he relished the idea of returning to the four-speed. Sox went on to win the NHRA Springnationals Super Stock title three times (1967-70), the 1969 Nationals, and the 1968 Nationals.

Sox drove a variety of cars in the newly created Super Stock ranks, but his favorite was the '68 Hemi Barracuda, which he also ran in match race trim against similar cars campaigned by Nicholson and Bill Jenkins in 1969. The popularity of the heads-up, nine-second four-speed cars prompted NHRA to create the Pro Stock category for the 1970 season, which set the stage for the high points of Sox's career.

Pro Stock gave Sox a chance to return to the glory days of the A/FX match races of the mid-1960s, and his four-speed wizardry was never better. He won three of the seven NHRA races in 1970 with victories at the Springnationals, World Finals, and SuperNationals. He then doubled his win total in 1971 by taking the Winternationals, Gatornationals, Springnationals (for his fifth straight year), Grandnational, Nationals, and the SuperNationals.

With three consecutive world championships, things had never looked better for Sox and Martin, but with other Mopar entries winning all but three of the remaining races for those two years, NHRA determined that the Chrysler cars were too dominant. They accordingly created lighter weight breaks for the Chevy and Ford entries in 1972, and the new rules enabled Jenkins to take six of the eight races, and Sox was shut out from the winner's circle.

The Lenco transmission came on the scene in 1973, and Sox was no longer able to utilize his competitive edge with the four-speed. Sox and Martin raced their Hemi Barracuda and Colt vehicles in Factory Experimental for a few seasons before shutting down their racing operation in 1975.

Sox continued to drive on his own in IHRA competition in the 1980s and early 1990s and made a brief return to NHRA in 1998, when he reunited with Martin to campaign a Dodge Dakota in Pro Stock Truck and also drove Bob Reed's four-speed '68 Barracuda, which was painted in traditional Sox and Martin colors.

In a 2001 interview, Sox said, "I'm certainly glad that I was able to race at the time that I did. Today's racing technology has diminished the role of the driver way too much. Back in the days of the four-speeds, the driver had a lot more to do with the outcome of the race, and I couldn't imagine anything being more fun than that."

js78

Ranger, does this practice shorten the life of the clutch?

Ranger

Not at all. The clutch is not spinning because the motor is off. Also these practice sessions do no harm to the tranny. I've done literally thousands of practice shifts and my trannies have remained completely normal and have never required repair.

Ranger