Fast Shifting?

[t3ase]

Alright, so I downloaded some movie off of Gnutella of some Japanese guys racing with an Acura Integra and a Honda Civic. The video showed the guy as he was shifting, with feet and hand movements in their own window. This guy shifted *FAST*. Isn't that bad for the transmission? Would this be better than slowly shifting? What's good/bad shifting technique?

I've already been through one clutch and Mazda covered it, but I do not want to do that again. Yet I'm not going to not race my car, either.

Any suggestions, guys?

 

[SpicyMchaggis]

well..shifting is a very precise method..I.E. heel and toe shifting..etc..it varies from set-up to set-up..I heel and toe in my protege, I got the MP3 pedals from mazdastuff.com and moved them closer together to make it easier..Definetly to improve shift times go with a short shifter/bushings/etc..maybe even a ACT clutch/fidanza flywheel...to be honest though..in our proteges..you can shift as fast as you want and even rev match..but proteges just arent fast..they never will be..

 

[t3ase]

I'm sure it's been discussed many times, but since you replied, I'm just going to ask you...

What's this heel & toe technique all about? Does it make that much of a difference in an actual race?

 

[SpicyMchaggis]

well, cornering heel+toe helps tremendously..lets you keep leverage in corners..its a great technique..it would be very effective if proteges were RWD..that would just be amazing..

 

[SpicyMchaggis]

check out any japanese track videos, pay attention to their foot work..its easier for them too..they dont have size 13 feet like me..but check it out..you'll see what i mean

 

[t3ase]

Heel on brake & toe hitting the throttle, right?

 

[uclap5]

toe on brake for precision, heel on throttle

 

[SpicyMchaggis]

you are correct sir..you should see some of the wacky s*** they do on the track

 

[t3ase]

I'm not quite that flexible to be doing it toe->brake, heel->throttle

But anyway, what about shifting? I've read many people don't like quick shifting due to possible damage on the transmission, but I hate slowly shifting now in fear of burning up another clutch. How do *you* shift?

 

[uclap5]

if your feet are too big or its just too awkward using the left side of the food for the brake and right side for the throttle works too.

its all about being smooth for me. i hate letting other people drive my car since they tend to shift quickly and crunch the gears because they dont know the sensativity of our trannies on the 1-2 shift.

 

[SpicyMchaggis]

yea..our trannies are butter soft from 1-2..you can't hit 2nd if your over 5k on the tach..just no way its going into gear..I rev match all my shifts, It's just a habit I got into doing. I do heel and toe, not that often though, I only do it when I'm out on a cruise through some twisties or decided that I dont care about burning off the rest of my stock rubbers..."fast" shifting isnt a very good idea..smooth, short, precise shifting is however..make it fast enough to catch, smooth enough to glide, and precise enough to match your revs...

 

[Ryan]

yea..our trannies are butter soft from 1-2..you can't hit 2nd if your over 5k on the tach..just no way its going into gear..I rev match all my shifts, It's just a habit I got into doing. I do heel and toe, not that often though, I only do it when I'm out on a cruise through some twisties or decided that I dont care about burning off the rest of my stock rubbers..."fast" shifting isnt a very good idea..smooth, short, precise shifting is however..make it fast enough to catch, smooth enough to glide, and precise enough to match your revs...

i beg to differ.
I can pop in gear every time over 5k from 1st - 2nd
and by fast shifting do you guys mean power shifting? as in holding the gas through the shift?
I do something of this sort and have no problems i do about 50% - 25% throttle through the shift and no problems never hits the limiter just keep the rpm's up.

 

[SpicyMchaggis]

I dont have a tach in my DX..I do alot of gues work right now when shifting..BUT, high rev shifting from 1-2 isnt always smooth, hence I dont bang on first, besides, there is s*** for power in 1st on redline, we get all of our power before redline.

 

[nocar]

thats tru the power in first is all before redline, i run second to 7500 works pretty good for me..