Since the next track day here (that I can attend) is only in first week Feb, I have in the meantime been playing with my new toy - a DL1.

So as not to be 'racing' on public roads the only thing I thought I could safely measure was my gear shifting speed. So I drive out to a deserted 'desert' back road and do a few acceleration runs up to ~120 kph. My shifting was what I consider 'fast', but without risking any gear grinding etc.

Looking at the dataplot it takes me 0.25-0.3s to shift 1->2, and 0.22-0.28s to shift 2->3. I measure this on the speedplot from where the accelaration starts to taper off to where the accelaration starts to pick up.

I would appreciate all comments on the following questions;
-Is my shifting speed slow? Should I start concentrating on shifting faster?
-Does this shift speed matter greatly for lap times?

Cheerio,
Matt

- edited: spelling -

 

Those are nice quick shifts. Trying to make them faster won't help your lap times but might damage your synchros. To really lower lap times, just concentrate on the important stuff -- line, vision, and smoothness.

 

Most pro drivers will tell you that it is not necessary to be fast inside the cockpit in order to be fast on the track. In fact, often the reverse is true. It is better to take just a little more time with what you do and do it right. Smooth is fast.

I would not consider shift times to be a particularly valuable metric for road course driving, in most cases. You don't want to dawdle, but you don't need to rush it, either. Different story for drag racing.

 

Thanks guys, your comments and advice seem sensible and down to earth. Once I get some data of track day lapping I will be back, asking/benchmarking again...

 

I haven't checked my shifting times on my data logger, but in videos it's INSANE how fast the S2000 shifts. It's just a flick of the wrist - and even a bit faster w/a Voodoo knob.

And though I understand that being fast inside the car can slow you down if you're all frantic and confused, but with as many shifts you have to make in the S, rippin' off .75 second shifts vs. .25 sec. shifts on a course where you have to upshift 10-15 times a lap could equate to 5-7.5 extra seconds spent NOT accelerating. That would make quite a bit of difference on lap times.

 

What track are you thinking of? At my home track, I go:

5>4>3>4>3>2>3>4>3>4>3>4>5 -- six upshifts

At another local track, I go:

5>4>3>4(>5>4)>3>2>3>(4>3)>4>5 -- four to six upshifts (the shifts in parentheses are marginal and only sometimes do I think it is worth the extra effort ro try and flick up and back down a gear at the end of the straight)

These are both 2+ mile tracks. In each case, I get tempted to go into sixth at the end of the longest straight but it's not really worth it. I'm sure there are tracks with more shift action, but 10-15 upshifts a lap would be very busy.

 

Yeah, he's already at 0.25 sec per shift! IF he could get down to 0.20, and IF the track had 10 upshifts (and IF he could nail all 10 in one lap!), that would be a whopping 0.5 sec difference. You can make that up in 1 turn by concentrating on line, vision, and smoothness instead of power-shifting.

 

SOW, which is the shortest track at 1.5 I think, is 11-12 upshifts (plus similar number of downshifts!). I am usualy sore after a weekend.

 

When you actually have your DL1 at the track, try shifting slow and shifting quickly on a long straight and watch the time slip function.

We did an endurance race at VIR in November and I was one of the slowest shifting people on the team. We'd had clutch trouble earlier in the week and the mission was grinding 3rd so I was taking it easy. Anyway, on the back straight (which is very long) my slow shifting was costing me 2-3mph at the end of the straight and 3-5 10th's per lap compared to what other people on the team were doing. Not saying they were abusing the car, I was just trying to be extra easy on it. And this was just on one straight.

My opinion is if you're in a sprint race (10-20 laps) shift as fast as you can without hurting the car because I've seen first hand the effect of slow shifting on lap times.

 

Thanks again, I appreciate you sharing your experience.

As ellisnc suggested, once I get to the next track day I will do some sets of laps; 3 laps shifting 'fast' then 3 laps shifting 'delibarately'. After this I can see the speed at the end of the straights and laptimes as well. That should be easy to analyse. Then start the work on smoothness and lines, which might be not so easy...

Anyway, returning to my question; twohoos considers my shift times quick , however, I would be very interested in someone elses times for comparison.