I'll quote his whole section on this. I believe he is saying to row down through the gears bc if you don't, it's bad on the engine. Not my belief.

"I also have never found a reason to skip gears, whether I'm operating a traditional gearbox or a sequential one. I find the common practice of holding down the clutch and banging through the gears to be lazy and hard on the engine. I also think that going through each gear helps keep the platform neutral, thus helping handling and braking." Patrick Long, Grassroots Motorsports, Volume 26 . Number 1 . February 2009.

 

Thanks for the whole quote. That really makes no sense to me. How can it be hard on the engine if you keep your foot on the clutch and simply move the gear lever among gears??

Isn't the opposite is the case; de-clutching at each gear when downshifting can be considered "hard on the engine".

 

There's also a good story on inexpensive racing options (944 cup, Spec Miata, Spec Racer Ford, etc.). I'm definitely a GRM fan.

 

I drove my racecar yesterday in half a foot of snow... I dunno what you pansies are talking about!?!

Anything about the ARRC in there yet??? Mine hasn't arrived... obviously held up by snow...

 

Oh, don't worry: when you're at Road America or Gingerman in the summer & it's 77 degrees, we'll be grumbling at 105 degrees & humidity.

 

Don't forget e30, there is a good mention in that GRM on spec e30.

 

Join NASA for $44 and get GRM delivered as part of the deal!

 

I just read it. 3 interesting tidbits i got were the following:

1. The 911 is well set up to take high speed corners faster than you think:

"Overslowing the 911 upon corner entry in medium and high speed turns is a common mistake that causes the car to lose large amounts of momemtum. Here's what work's well: since there's no engine mass up front to overload the front tires they can handle higher-than-expected cornering speeds. if u need to brake before a high speed corner do it in a straight line so you can get back to subtle maintenance throttle just AFTER turn-in. This will stop the aero drag and engine braking from killing your speed. plus it will balance the platform by moving weight back to the rear wheels"

2. 911s have mid corner push if you're not patient

"Adding more steering lock to an understeering 911 is a mistake i commonly see. it's amazing how waiting one extra moment before getting on the gas lets the car easily change direction, giving you a clean shot out of the turn. Those who think that the transition from brake to throttle should happen in a split second usually find they have mid-corner push. be patient."

3. Don't throttle steer

"If you find yourself lifting off the gas toward the exit of a corner because you're running out of real estae, chances are you're falling behind the pack. I believ you should only get on the gas when you're totally committed to achieveing full throttle and aren't ready to give anything back. 9 times out of 10, throttle steering is a fix for handling or driving issues"

 

Back to the downshifting issue:

I wish VR were here to clarify what he said and how to go about it. I would call Pat but since he's direct competition I don't want to let him know my weaknesses

There just doesn't seem to be time in the brake zone to downshift through every gear. The two goals are at odds: brake as late as you can thereby reducing the time and distance you are on the brakes and leave enough time to row through 5,4,3,2. Particularly with a 915 that doesn't shift fast. In fact it refuses to shift fast which is not a hindrance when you get used to it but if it takes a second to downshift each gear and the brake zone is not 3 seconds long what do you do?

 

Having ridden shotgun with Patrick in my car with a 915 tranny I can attest to the fact that he does what he says in the article and his gear shifts take far less than 1 second.

Part of the reason is that his hands and feet are quicker than ours and he has the car so well balanced it is more receptive to his inputs. The other reason is that it became very clear to me that he was used to replacing his tranny after every race. He was a bit violent with his shifting and I'm pretty certain my tranny would not have lasted a season being whipped like that.

 

I gate every gear on a downshift and release the clutch, so a WGI turn 1 for instance, I am 6-5-4-3 and it keeps the car stable like he said - as long as you match revs properly. Most all of the 911s that I've driven do not have the accelerator pedal properly oriented to the brake pedal to facilitate this type of foot action and is a major contribution to brake pressure traces that are erratic in a brake zone. Ususally moving the accelerator pedal towards the driver will solve the issue.

 

Streak, sorry if I was not clear. How can I help?

Also, as folks here have seen me post on more than one occasion, I am not a huge advocate of super-late braking unless you are fighting for position. IMO it is much faster to brake a little earlier & a little softer, buying you plenty of time to do your shifting & balance the car, in order to get back to throttle at turn in.....even when trail braking. Remember, your 911 loves & needs to be on the gas in the corner, so allow it to do its job by doing yours: brake sooner & softer, balance the car, and give yourself planty of time for shifting. Also realize that in most cars, there are few places where you are downshifting more than 2 gears, usually. Geoffrey mentioned one (and in most cars, you would be doing a 5-4-3 there)...others are the hairpin at Sebring, the entry to the infield at Daytona...the list is pretty short.

 

+1

In comparing data traces of myself to a faster driver in my own car revealed this as the biggest difference between our times. Now I need to work on breaking some bad habits.

 

IMO it is one of the hardest to break...but the revelation in car stability & lap times when you get it right is remarkable!

This is one area where I have found great commonality of need between coaching clients, and great commonality of the benefits to slight changes in their braking profiles. Seth & Chris C, please chime in here on this as well.

 

Regarding downshifting with a sequential gearbox...how do you skip a gear?
I didn't know that was possible.