Getting into 1st gear in the Mazdaspeed without any jerking

I had a much harder time due to impatient OH drivers. I think the impatient and dangerous OH drivers actually helped me get over the hump.

LOL. I live in Ohio as well, hence why my license plate is L2DR1VE!!!

It is a dual meaning, think it through ^_^
 
The 07-09 is basically a retarded trans. I traded in a 06 MX5 and it was a totally different shifting experience. The MS3 was designed by the bosses son. (One Dum Sun) I think was his name.
 
This is my fifth manual transmission car. and i still curse at it occasionally. its not an easy clutch, but that kinda adds to the attitude of the car. like the cars "overly torquey" demeanor.(motor-trend) ever drive a Porsche 911? crazy hard to launch in. the raw nature of this car is a big plus for me. if its easy to drive, its probably not fun to drive.
 
this is my fifth manual transmission car. And i still curse at it occasionally. Its not an easy clutch, but that kinda adds to the attitude of the car. Like the cars "overly torquey" demeanor.(motor-trend) ever drive a porsche 911? Crazy hard to launch in. the raw nature of this car is a big plus for me. If its easy to drive, its probably not fun to drive.

+10
 
I've been doing much better the last couple days ...been getting the clutch out to the point where it just starts to grab or maybe right before and have been adding the smallest amount of throttle (barely touching) and as soon as the car starts to pull forward I increase the gas and ease the clutch out the rest of the way as smooth as I can. Had some pretty good starts this way and it doesn't sound like I'm sitting there over revving waiting for the clutch to grab. I tend to rev a little more on hills as I don't want to stall by not having enough throttle when the clutch starts to grab.

I can see myself really enjoying the clutch once I've been driving it longer. Maybe this is a good car to learn manual on as it really forces you to pay attention and learn good technique. I can be as sloppy as I want in my girlfriend's 5-speed focus and you barely even notice.
 
I thought I should share since you guys are talking about shifting smooth. It's kinda funny.

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I thought I should share since you guys are talking about shifting smooth. It's kinda funny.

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Ouchhhh
 
Isn't the point of hot-lap coaching to teach the driver how to drive the course properly? Having said that I know how aggravating it is to teach someone when they have no clue what they're doing, but worse yet don't know that they don't know anything...
 
Yeah it can be frustrating to teach someone something but if that's the case he shouldn't be an instructor.

He never said something like "Don't attack the corner so hard" or anything like that. Just "GAH you completely missed the line" after the fact.
 
I'm glad the situation with that instructor was resolved and the driver got better instructors for the rest of the event.

I am looking to attend my first HPDE this year. Would anyone agree with the instructor that the student wasn't being smooth?

EDIT: To me, he looked smooth, but I'm a novice. Maybe not the perfect line, but you can't expect that from someone on their first go around a track.

OP: Just going to jump on the pile, but you've been getting some great advice in this thread. You'll be shifting smooth in no time, it just takes practice and a willingness to improve.
 
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It's hard to tell from the video, but he probably wasn't transitioning between acceleration and braking very well (and clearly having clumsy shifts). Tires really hate changing loads, so going really quickly from accelerating to braking lowers the total grip the tire can generate. If you're really ballsy and don't care about brake life you can try left-foot braking to blend acceleration and braking zones, and keep your turbo spooled up... but I digress...
 
I felt the same way you guys do although I've got an MS6. What made it a ton better was adjusting the APP (accelerator pedal position) tables in the Cobb ATR software and then uploading the map to the ECU via the AP.

The stock APP tables are not a direct 1:1 relationship between the rate of pedal application and the rate of throttle valve opening. Here are the first few examples of the tables where the 1st # is the pedal value and the 2nd the throttle value:
0:0, 2:.25, 4:.65, 6:1.68 ... it doesn't get even until 28:28.

I changed all of my APP tables (incl. neutral) to a direct 1:1 relationship so 2:2, 4:4, etc. just to get the direct feel I missed on my cable-driven throttle cars and not only did I love the snappier throttle that came with it but an unexpected side benefit was the car was much easier to get going in 1st with little to none of the jerkiness when stock.

You obviously need to already have a Cobb AP and the free ATR software to do this but if anyone does do it, don't forget to change the "0Neutral" table as well because if you don't you're still gonna get the jerkiness.
 
cwp wasn't until 08.5

I'm from Canada so was able to get a 2007 CWP. It's got xenon headlights, led brake lights, heated mirrors and rain sensing wiper blades.

Lol. pwned.


I felt the same way you guys do although I've got an MS6. What made it a ton better was adjusting the APP (accelerator pedal position) tables in the Cobb ATR software and then uploading the map to the ECU via the AP.

The stock APP tables are not a direct 1:1 relationship between the rate of pedal application and the rate of throttle valve opening. Here are the first few examples of the tables where the 1st # is the pedal value and the 2nd the throttle value:
0:0, 2:.25, 4:.65, 6:1.68 ... it doesn't get even until 28:28.

I changed all of my APP tables (incl. neutral) to a direct 1:1 relationship so 2:2, 4:4, etc. just to get the direct feel I missed on my cable-driven throttle cars and not only did I love the snappier throttle that came with it but an unexpected side benefit was the car was much easier to get going in 1st with little to none of the jerkiness when stock.

You obviously need to already have a Cobb AP and the free ATR software to do this but if anyone does do it, don't forget to change the "0Neutral" table as well because if you don't you're still gonna get the jerkiness.

I don't want to stray too far off topic here, but you realized that most cable-driven throttles don't have linear, 1:1 relationships between pedal position and throttle plate position either, don't you?

Ever looked at the "pulley/cable guide" that the cable follows right where it attaches to the throttle body? It's usually at the very least some sort of concentric design, and sometimes will even be ovular rather round in shape. I don't know that I've ever seen one that's a perfect circle with the axis of rotation being the center of said circle (which is what would be required for there to be a direct, linear 1:1 relationship between pedal position and throttle butterfly position).
 

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