Hi Rx8 Community!

I have a question about shifting too fast.

Sometimes when i upshift too fast and release the clutch before the rpm falls to match the current speed for the next gear, I feel a forward lurch, which is expected because of the rpms not matching. Will i damage anything in the car?

I often see clips of people shifting really fast. Foot into clutch, shift to next gear and foot off the clutch.. in super speeds.

Please advise =)

cheers!

 

it will wear out the clutch faster tho, but still very mininal

 

practice i noticed the huge difference from my passat clutch to my 8. took me a week or so to really get used to it.

 

How hard are you pulling the shifter to shift that quickly? I'd be more concerned about wearing the synchros or bending a shift fork.

People do shift quickly when racing, to minimize power-off time. Sometimes they'll shift without taking their foot off the gas. Just a trade between driveline life and performance.

Ken

 

fixed.

we have a close ratio transmission already.

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0:42

i wish i could shift like that.

 

This is off Mazda's site:

Gear Ratios (:1)
1st 3.82
2nd 2.26
3rd 1.54
4th 1.18
5th 1.00
6th 0.79
Reverse 3.60
Final drive 4.78
Driveshaft Carbon fiber
Limited-slip type Torque-sensing conical limited-slip differential

 

not really a fan of left foot braking. been practicing heel and toe.

 

Oops.....those are Series II numbers.

There are the Series I numbers:

Trans Model First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth
6MT 3.760 2.269 1.645 1.257 1.000 0.843

 

Practice heel toe-ing OP.

Like others have said, your clutch will wear a little faster if you don't rev match, but it isn't something to be too concerned about.

 

Though some would argue that the jury is still out on left foot braking, even this video clearly shows there is NO advantage to it.
It's just a lazy man's version of proper heel-toe technique and even then its only useful in Auto-X where you aren't going to change gears often if at all once you get into 2nd in an RX-8.

 

If it was the thing to do all NASCAR and Formula I drivers would do it.

 

^^^

Do what?

I'm not sure about Nascar as I don't follow up on their cars at all. But I know that left-foot braking is used in almost every form of motorsport.......it's just that not everyone uses that technique.

Michael Schumacher uses it. Lewis Hamilton uses it. Of course all of the Rally drivers use it to pitch the car and throw it correctly.

It's definitely an advanced technique and even some professional race car drivers don't use it because they haven't mastered it and they're faster using the traditional method of braking and clutching.

Also, the clutchless upshifts you see in race cars ARE from the close-ratio transmissions or in Japan (as you would see on Best Motoring International) they are called CROSS MISSION. Spoon, HKS, RE Amemiya, and others all use these types of transmissions that are custom spec'd for them. That means custom gearsets and sometimes even straight-cut gears.

I wouldn't try one of those clutchless upshifts in our cars lol.

 

I don't see the point of left-foot braking, why would you need to apply throttle and brake at the same time? I'm not saying there's no point, just that I don't see one and would like to know what I'm missing.

Anyway, back on topic, there's really no such thing as shifting too fast, unless you are trying to shift faster than you're comfortable with.

It's possible to do very fast upshifts smoothly without feeling any jerkiness at all, but after trying to write about it I realized that I can't explain it. I think it has to do with the timing between hitting the throttle and letting the clutch out. I guess it's something you just learn by feel.

I suspect that there's some subtle clutch control going on there. Yes, that means slipping the clutch, but up to a point that's what the clutch plates are for. It's very quick in any case, and I'm not exactly sure what's going on.

It's like trying to explain how to do a chauffeur stop, all the technical detail in the world does no good, because it's all about feel.

 

in a race 0.05s delay every lap after 40 laps you will be lapped by other drivers if its a 2 min laptime.

 

rev matching? Or pushed the car?

 

If you don't need to work the clutch, your left foot is free. If you need to work the gas and the brake, you can do that better with a foot for each rather than juggling one foot across the two.

Ken

 

The heel-toe method is very popular among drifters to maintain a steady power ratio, or so I'm told. For daily driving I only use my right foot for brake and gas and my left for clutch, and to occasionally kick my steering column if needed.

 

I used to drive a BMW 318ti Compact and had it for years I could change that car all the way up and down through the gear box without the clutch just using the throttle to rev match. My Rx8 is a whole different story though I struggle to match the gears and have a habit of grinding due to not pushing the clutch the whole way because I didn't need to in my BMW. I have only have the Rx8 for a couple of months so I hope ill get better soon. until then practice, practice, practice, race, practice

 

No car NEEDS the clutch to shift. Learning how to shift clutchless is something everyone should at least know how to do, in the event something goes wrong with the clutch.


Just a matter of matching the revs and it slides right in...



...and yes, that is exactly what she said