juanpablo046

Earlierapex

So says the intermediate driver still learning how to heel-toe. It's intriguing because it's still difficult. I've been racing for 20 years. Once you learn how to HT well (about 18-19 years ago), you max out the learning curve and impact on speed from shifting. After a mid-intermediate level and HT proficiency, there's not any more performance that can be squeezed out of shifting. It's just routine downshifting under braking and doesn't impact speed unless you screw it up because you haven't mastered it. You can't brake any harder by shifting a little bit better after you are already shifting well. After that point, track speed comes from corner entry, dynamic chassis management and throttle application, which don't have a peak because the relationship to speed is dynamic, complex, and doesn't plateau (if you increase corner entry speed, you make chassis management more difficult, and throttle application varies, etc.).

On the street, I totally agree that manual shifting is more fun and involving because you can't (and shouldn't) push the car to the point where you have to engage your corner management skills (so it's fun to have something to do).