Anyone ever miss a shift?

My 308 is only a 5 spd.

Tell Brittany to call and I'll show her how to drive.

Damn celebrities.

 

You are correct center position of six speed is 3-4.
On my 5 spd that center position is 2-3.

R 2 4
1 3 5

Don't forget to push "down" to get reverse!

With the ratios, you don't need first anymore if you have any motion at all, just 2-4.

 

Gary: same in the E39 M5 and the 550.

--Dan

 

Aircon

I'd ask to look over the teams engine history with regard to recent fluid changes, overhaul, hours, km and crack test results....if they can't produce them, they have no leg to stand on...apart from the one hanging out the side of the block.

Warranty expires at pitlane exit on pretty much all cars. Any serious team/responsible owner should never go on to the track if they can't afford a total loss...anything less than total loss is a bonus.

 

On my track car (brand that shall remain nameless) I have removed the detent springs in the interests of quicker shifting. It uses the same pattern as 5sp Ferraris with the 2-3 in the center plane. On my first outing at Road Atlanta after a complete rebuild including a new engine, I was coming into turn 10 flat out in 5th. I needed to get down to 3rd for the corner and I always go through all the gears, 5-4-3.

Unfortunately I went 5-2-SH*T!

The engine survived somehow and I will be installing a Robotek shifter in the near future.

Slower shifts and running engine > fast shifts and a paperweight.

Mark

 

Check out the shift gate from Hill Engineering. The tines (the things between the slots) are tapered to cut down on the angle you have to move the gear selector horizontality for each shift. I haven't tried it but it looks interesting.

 

Missing a gear ended my motorracing.

Many of you guys have mentioned that overrevving a motor does not necessarily damage anything, and well you might be right, BUT I bet there are a few components that have been highly stressed if NOT cracked because of this.

About 6 years ago I was testing my club racing sportscar thing that won the championship the season before ... we had made a few expensive suspension changes, etc. and were seeing a consistent 2 seconds a lap improvement .

Anyway, I was using a particular corner to set the camber, etc. and thus was only driving at around 80% for the rest of the track (which is a dangerous situation because while you are not trying, you are actually still carrying very similar to full race speeds) ... AND I MISSED A GEAR.

Actually I missed the 3rd to 4th change. Did not put it in to 4th properly and thus nailed the throttle with her still in neutral ... now I was real quick, but a full race motor at 8500 rpm with the throttle buried revs really, really fast and it went right off the end of the rev counter (10000 rpm) and the motor sounded like an F1 motor for probably half a second. Now this motor sounded great anyway ... but well you get the picture.

My father who was watching from the pit lane, even heard it. I lifted off and coasted and gave her a few little blips to see if she was alive, and then drove slowly around to the pits. She appeared to be 100% right and pulled just as hard, etc. Came into the pits and found all looked correct and then went on with the testing. Later on once home we checked valve clearances, etc. and all were spot on ...

Well a month later and the first round of the that years series started. First race = win, second race = win with great lap times and everybody saying 'heh you are flying this year', etc.

Third race started on pole and the motor did not feel right when I pulled up to the line ... but I was on pole, but I could feel a new minor vibration ... but I was on pole!. Anyway the racer in me pushed on and I was leading by a huge margin when BANG and the rear of the car locked up and I dumped the clutch and coasted off the track. Looked at the front of the engine and all the cam belts had come off and the front of the crank was pointing slight off. Once the engine had cooled you could grap the nose crank and wiggle it around. One broken crank.

Pulled the motor down and you could see that the over rev, thanks to that missed gear, had cracked the crank and it was waiting to break.

Estimate to fix was over $8000 as everything was broken, even the front main bearing cap!. I was still working hard to pay off the cost of last season and a very costly (3 motors in one year) season before that. I'm not a rich man like many of you Ferrari guys, but had been racing hard for 9 years and I loved it and every penny I earned went into racing

I'd had enough and have never raced since ... thus make each gearshift stick when it counts, and I would suggest a full strip down if you ever have a big over rev like I did.

Pete