Asahi

Hi,
I intend to participate in Autocross next year and I need some advice on shifting.

Is it true that in Autocross, the maximum gear utilized is 3rd?

I own a stock 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo. What is the maximum mph/rpm I can achieve in gear:

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th

Thank you in advance.

rage2

Depends on the course, but as a general rule, 3rd is the highest gear in most Autox's. I don't know the speeds of each gear, but I do know the extra 500rpm provided by my Autothority chips helps a lot in the AutoX's when I first got them, there used to be a lot of corners on one track where I'd be bumping the revlimiter lightly in 2nd gear.

SherionG

Your biggest issue here will be the turbo lag, not mph. You should try some Autothority stage 2 chips, with a Lindsey Boost Enhancer, this might help and then ist and 2nd gear may be all you need on the course. I have the above setup with a K&N Cone filter and can get 60+ easily in 2nd gear. The chips will increase your rev limit and the engine will not flutter in the red zone. Happy motoring!

rage2

Yea, turbo lag is terrible in our cars for AutoX's. I had to learn a totally different driving style because of it. On the track the lag isn't too bad, but things are happening a lot faster on AutoX's, so you get caught up in lag out of nowhere.

Danno

Yeah, the turbo lag is aweful on tight courses. I have enough trouble with it on the smaller Streets of Willow Springs course (13 corners in 1.1 miles). Can't imagine what autoX is like. I've learned to manage it by using the rallying method in the tightest corners; left-foot braking while keeping right foot on throttle to keep boost up.

Anyway, I've got a gearing chart on my website at 951 RacerX. Third gear should be good for about 110mph or so depending upon your redline setting.

Luke

I hope your 86' 951 is not an LSD.. It will be twice as hard to learn the "Lagg" curve in an LSD tranny!

Irish

I run SCCA Autocross (Solo II) on a regular basis and most of the courses are very tight. It is rare to see speeds that are much over 70mph, (usually less), so 1st, 2nd and occasionally 3rd is all you will ever need in most cases. We had a run this past month that was so tight that the fastest driver (in a very trick late model Vette) ran the entire course in 1st gear.

Solo I is held on race tracks and as such will have much higher speeds and should allow you to let the turbo stretch its legs. You will usually use up to at least 4th on even the tight tracks like Putnam and 5th on most all tracks with any long straights, like Road Atlanta, Nelson Ledges, Mid-Ohio, etc.

Luke

Irish,

Just curious, would you recommend an LSD or open diff. for a beginning autoxer?