I was wondering how people prefer to shift when road racing?

Clutch in, Full off, clutch out, full on or do you guys blend both a little?

I want the life of my clutch to stay somewhat longer so I am assuming the on off is the best option.


I have a high performance clutch that can handle 800hp.



Any tips would be great. Any links to videos?

 

If you can't find it, grind it

I have a Tip but looking at feedback from others in threads I've seen over the years looks like almost everyone is pretty gentle on the porsche trans.

 

Hold the Pedal to the metal and press the clutch as fast as possible while shifting,,,that's the up shift way..

 

insert fast and furious reference here ..........

 

 

engine speed=trans. input shaft speed=long life

 

You better use finesse or you will be paying for it. Quick and gentle is fine, jamming through the synchros and you lose.

 

Does anyone else just half clutch, just past the engagement point then shift as suppose to fully depressing the clutch?

 

Understand, these Turbo trans' like slow and deliberate, positive shifting. While it is possible to force and shift them fast, you won't be doing it consistently and for a long time before it will start poping out of gear. 2nd gear goes first, and it's not an inexpensive fix.

Use a delicate feel and you will know "mechanically" when to pull/push the shifter and let it fall into the next gear. Generally, you will fist slip half way through the shift and will be able to detect, as the motor Rs drop when it's ready to complete the shift.

Doesn't matter how far you depress the clutch pedal as long as power is 100% disengaged from the trans. I depress it fully to be sure. Again, this stuff isn't cheap.

 

"Let it fall into the next gear" is a good description. Do not "caveman" it.

 

You clutch is not the weak link in the tranny and Porche trannies do not thrive under abusive conditions. I am a track person and I set my car up they way I like and think a Porsche should be done. Engagement is in the top 1/4 travel and I built in a very positive peddle stop. A nut is tack welded to the floor of the car and an adjustable bolt is used as a stopper.

Consistency and smooth is important, anything you do not do consistently will not be as reliable and repeatable; that is in terms of shifting style. Both how you grab the shifter and use the peddle. You do not find many driving schools that teach this, any even fewer people think on these terms. The military gets the principle and so do a few elite driving instructors I know. Find a comfortable shifter grip and peddle style and use them consistently, consistent actions usually produces consistent repeatable results.

Now the tranny aspect of the car, I do not know what clutch you have but if you want to drive hard the clutch is not your greatest worry, they are cheap, a tranny rebuild is not.

Smooth yet positive shifts are possible with these trannies but they are not the best in the industry for crispness dues to the cable set up.
For shifts I put a slight bit of tension on the shifter just before the pull or the push; as the clutch is going in you will feel the tranny want to shift and at that time you make a very positive yet smooth change. These trannies do talk to you quite a bit if you actually pay attention to what they are communicating to you. Throttle blips are not super necessary on down shifts to rev match but you should slow down your clutch peddle coming back out just every so slightly so as to soften the change or the way the newly selected gear loads back up.

Really to do it nicely I think the clutch engagement should be in the top portion of the travel and a good peddle stopper should be installed. The stock clutch set up has as much peddle travel as your average school bus and the hydraulically boosted clutch is about as consistent as the wind.

 

I really don't understand this statement. I will agree that first gear engagement can be inconsistent, but the rest of the gears are easier to use because the clutch is basically weightless. I never had any inconsistencies in shifting or engagement in 2nd through 6th. When on track, you only use first to get out of pit lane, and not again until the next session. OK, I didn't drive my car much around town or in heavy traffic, so first gear engagement never really bothered me. But I much prefer the stock clutch to the GT2 conversion I drove. It felt like a Corvette, and you needed a larger left leg to to pump the thing. No thanks.

If drag racing is your primary objective, then I can see why you might want the GT2 conversion, but for road racing, I don't see the need.

 

Subscribed! Very informative discussion! Tks everyone!

 

Is this RSS clutch stop a good one??


http://rss.rpmware.com/rss/rss_clutc.../i-290248.aspx

 

The boosted clutch's engagement point and worse even the release point Vs. peddle travel changes position all the time; to me and many other drivers that is maddening and makes for a much harder car to drive. You can see it when Porsche owners are pulling away from traffic lights; they are always WAYYYYYYY slower off the line because they are very slowly letting out there clutch so they do not stall it because the never quite know where it is going to start grabbing from time to time.

Yes Like you said you have less trouble with the other gears as the whole process takes less time and is much less critical in terms of stalling issues but the inconsistency is still there and that makes for a much harder car to drive fast consistently. Good driving skill is largely a skill that relies on muscle memory and timing that is precise enough to measure in tenths of seconds and less then 1/4 inches. Take that away from a good driver and driving quality suffers, lap times increase, missed shifts that can hurt times or a tranny become more frequent. There is a reason why you never see a boosted clutch in a cup car or other race car and it is not that drivers like stiff clutches.