In my Cayman, if I go to 2nd for oak tree exit, my vMin is very slightly lower, but overall it is faster. And when I shift from 3->2, the engine braking after the shift seems like it helps to drag the nose right and give me a better exit. If my skills were better and downshiftng I could probably roll the same vMin.

Moving to Sebring, T7 is the only place I go to 2nd. The other spots, like T10 and T13 are just too close to the top of 2nd for me to get a good downshift without overslowing. With a PDK I bet I could pick up 2 bits of time exiting out of these corners. Same for T3.

 

Good stuff to chew on, thanks guys.

The (probable) overslowing at the end of braking and earlier vMin is the squaring off of the corner. With the lower gear you’re straightening out and shifting the corner exit line rightward, more adjacent to the T10 inside apex curbing. If you were to carry equal vMin in 2nd and track out to the same extent as in 3rd gear – the rounder driving line – I’m not sure that would work. The back end is more nervous at higher rpms, you’d be too far left when you jumped back on the gas in 2nd (it’s bumpy over there too), and then compromised as you attempted to turn in to Collier apex #1.

But if you can get closer to 3rd gear vMin in 2nd and keep it tighter to the inside T10 curbing, seems it’s the right gearing approach. That jump out of the corner is a big-time advantage. Even with a -5 mph vMin in 2nd, gained a tenth vs steady in 3rd.

A similar S. Florida corner is T6 at Homestead, can be taken in 2nd or 3rd. But there it’s pretty definitive advantage downshifting to 2nd and jumping out of the corner before a quick upshift to 3rd.

Newer to Porsches and one of the driving adjustments I’ve had to make, remembering there's endless rear traction. If there’s the option, in most cases it's going to be the lower gear and power exit. In just about everything else I’ve driven both of these corners are 3rd gear end of story.

 

Agree, at Sebring I only used 2nd gear right before turning into T-7, then it's a quick pop into 3rd almost as soon as I'm out of 7. That's the only place on the track I am in 2nd, and it's only for a second or two if that....

My Cayman S (981S), in sport plus PDK, would probably drop into 2nd gear if I mashed the throttle at turn in for 7. I can't confirm that, but I think I'd be going slow enough for the PDK to downshift into 2nd right there, and only right there. Again, can't confirm that.....yet.

 

Different cars with different redlines.... Cup motors will wind out a lot farther than a street Cayman, and most of their power is way up the RPM's

 

+1 to VR.

The idea that one gear methodology fits or is optimal for each track is why a lot of folks don’t improve.

Most DE drivers do not use or even study the potential of their specific car.

Make the gear make sense for the exit speed of the corner.

Make the vMin early, but not too early.

If you have to shift up using MAXIMUM revs before track out, you are going down to low in gear.

 

After all the years driving Sebring there are still a few corners I still don’t think I’ve mastered. Turn 1 16 and 17 are three right off the top of my head that I feel I leave the most time but I’m sure most of the others could stand some improvement also. This track is so epically fun. I feel grateful to live only 2 hours drive from it.

 

Who's going to be practicing with David Murray Tuesday/Wed? See you there!

 

Nice 2:06 by Mike Skeen in 991.2 Cup. 4:00 minute mark starts fast lap.

 

Amazing......

 

Too bad the brake bar wasn’t set up right. But, you can see the gSum and the relative brake application under the red bar on Skeen’s video.

Here’s something a little quicker (well, a LOT quicker):

 

Using all of the track and then some. Driver?

 

I had Skeen as an instructor long ago and he took me around VIR in his E30 318. I swear it felt like he never touched an input, the car just magically went around the track smoothly and perfectly and very quickly. I'd love to see those Gsums.

 

Ask and ye shall receive!

Traqmate doesn't have gSum, but this is Skeen's record lap in that car, a SpecE30 he won the NASA Championship with, from 2008. Track was four seconds slower then than now. Narrower, more hazardous...

That speed trace is beautiful... We decided he could do better in T11 into Oak Tree, more a single downwards stroke in speed throughout the entire braking zone. He did it, next time out.

 

Fred Makowiecki. Q3, R1

https://us.motorsport.com/imsa/news/...value%5D=12423

 

I love Sebring because it's really hard to learn, as a consequence it's hard to commit, it's possible to lose your bearings sometimes and it's (relatively) flat, which makes it hard to pick out references.

Just the ability to learn the order and severity of the corners, the disclpline required in T5, T15 and T17 and committing to the HUSTLE required in both T3-T5 and T15-T16 is REALLY rewarding.