tstafford

I leave mine in auto but occasionally upshift when it's wound way up but not quite at the point where it will take the shift itself. Better option would probably be to have the nuts to apply more throttle but sometimes I just pull the paddle. There are times when the shift will upset the car in situations that make me uncomfortable. I will shift early (manually) in those cases.

chrisducati

I have not carefully timed laps comparing pdk auto vs. manual shifting; but would echo other posts describing how amazing pdk is in auto mode. Most of my laps were in auto mode at Sebring and it is truly flawless. I left foot brake, so, including pdk auto shifting, there are several variables that I have taken out of the equation to achieve a fast lap. One thing that intrigues me though—pdk in auto will hold each gear to the full 9000 rpm, yet this is well past the torque peak. I feel that a shift at 8500 would result in a faster lap and less stress on the motor. I wish you could set a maximum revs variable in the GT3 for auto shifting. Does this make sense to anyone?

R.Deacon

He is manual, shifting the car
@ 6:04 he back hands the stick
To auto for his Cruz to checker
Such composed talent. ...
Most extordinary

TRAKCAR

It depends on the track and traffic.
Im sure it’s faster in traffic on the Ring where you’re not always same gear, same corner.

But I’ll try to prove it to myself one way or the other at Sebring. My speed is to low in T1 and it shifts to 3rd I like to drive through it in 4th because massive bumps and having to feather quite a bit before committing.

Same with T4-5 the far goes to 2nd gear but it’s harder to balance the car in 2nd instead of 3rd.

Could very well be that I’m just not good enough and or just don’t like the feeling in that gear at that corner. Or I’m right but the rest of the lap the few more RPM at every shift make up for it.

Then there is unexpected shifts occasionally when conditions change and your rhythm doesn’t anticipate a shift. Like rain, debris, traffic..

Also I don’t like the max RPM sound. Sounds like engine is not as happy and my but says it’s faster if I don’t use the last 100RPM. Maybe I’m to mechanically sympathetic with my car :-)

At the Ring, where I don’t know my way around I’m 100% sure faster in full auto, but my best lap, still way off the pace @ 8:02 BTG I did manual because shifting myself helps me learn the track and I like it better for fun and no surprise shifts.

R.Deacon

For me when in auto on track one is more of a passenger,
Kind of like jumping out of a plane and wondering if you parachute is packed properly.
I find at Sebring in certain corners
After the,apex when heading for red line to short shift up car settles and launches rather than sliding with to much torque at the wheels
Carousel , Bishop Bend prime examples for this for me . Gavin
Has always encouraged me to do some laps in auto to learn were the car wanted to be . Not really quaified to compare as of the 20k on my meter I bet not 50 miles have been in auto. I guess new goal for Winter
Fest will be to crack 2:19 in auto
On my stock set up

96redLT4

I wonder if there is a certain machismo of not wanting to admit that the transmission is smarter or better prepared than the driver especially as one's skill level increase?

Jim

96redLT4

Don't race drivers, whether it be in F1 or any class, generally shift manually? Things happen so fast at those speeds. I wonder why the engineers would not take shifting out of the equation if it was possible?

J

mdrums

On my 2012 GTS I got to the point of leaving it in auto and like TrakCar I would override and shift myself. You can shift in auto as well as you all know.

My new 2017 GTS seems to have a better faster PDK in it. I hit Sebring Nov 3rd so I will try it out both ways and see.

Footsoldier

They did take it out and then it was banned, as it was seen as a driver aid. Same with traction control etc.

Kind of proves the point - F1 drivers were quicker in auto

bccars

Makes total sense, I feel the same. I think even Lars Kern didn't rev it out to 9k on the gt3 record lap !

Footsoldier

Everyone's forgetting it's not just the power curve on the gear you're in, it's where you drop to in the next gear up. The PDK changes in accordance with revs and also rev drop between gears, to make the power delivery as optimised as possible.

MaxLTV

PDK-S is beautifully programmed, and automatic mode is almost flawless and super-human in optimizing shift points to maximize power.

BUT there are some corner cases where shifting is not optimal because it seems the programming is built with the assumption that throttle input is always optimal. For example, the situation Trackar described - where under braking the car would downshift to 2nd and start skipping and binding on uneven pavement. If you could have perfectly neutral throttle input at such time, that would not have been an issue and downshifting would have been optimal. In real life, most drivers would be completely off the throttle while braking, so downshifting causes instability in some circumstances. Similarly with upshifts on wheelspin - drive over a crest or a low-traction curb, rear wheels break traction and spin, and the gearbox upshifts because it reached the redline. It does not know that it redlined only for a moment because it's impossible for a human driver to completely avoid wheelspin in challenging terrain.

So I drive in Auto but manually override gearbox in such situations for a fast lap.

gago1101

I do agree with you, and it does make sense. However, do you think they would have run the GT2 RS in auto if they could obtain better times? He is clearly shifting manually in the video.

TRAKCAR

Max, this is ideal, but how do you override it? Won’t it downshift and upshift?
I can override it by down and up shifting before the computer, but not make it stay in gear. You flick the stick left and right?

C.J. Ichiban

I cannot imagine placing that much trust in a computer to drive sebring ***** out in auto.


Didn't you guys see Terminator 2? Skynet is winning. Yikes.