Is there really a 6th gear on my S?

[hjkim550]

Originally Posted by 986chris

downshifting at the track with a throttle blip helps shorten the time it takes the engine to recover from the lower ratio you're about to engage.

Chris,

Hate to nitpick but I just wanted to clarify. I believe the real reason why we heel-toe and blip the throttle for downshifts is to match revs and minimize shock to the input shaft / output shaft / synchronizers and most importantly the rear grip = overall balance of the car through the corners.

When we depress the clutch the engine is no longer connected to the input shaft. With your foot off the throttle the engine falls to idle speed 1,000 RPM. You are correct in stating the throttle blip will help the recovery and keep it from bogging. However, the real reason is that if you release the clutch without the throttle blip to match the input shaft spinning at 3,000 RPM in 2nd gear, (even with the synchronizers) there is that lurch as the engine puts a huge strain on the input and output shaft and the rear tires as the teeth come into contact. The rear tires strain to speed up the engine and the engine in effect puts the brakes on the rear tires. Nothing like having the rear wheels lock up and spinning your car in mid-corner. With the throttle blip, there is ideally no difference in RPM speed between the engine and input shaft... no change in cornering stance and a smooth and gentle turn.

Believe me, I do not have any delusions of being a smooth and proficient heel-toer but I get this driven into me by my friends who race regularly. Like they always say, downshifting for corners is not to help slow the car down. Brakes slow the car down. You downshift to get the car in the right gear for the exit out of the corner.

[986chris]

yah yah yah, you nailed it. I was trying to say the same thing, but with much fewer words it would have taking me 45 min. to type all that.lol. I think we heel toe to see how many things we can do at one time. I mean give a guy a break. later

[Frodo]

Quote:

"The issue is always to match the gear and engine speed to the speed of the car."

Posted by The Man.

I agree. The more you drive a given car the more you get a feel for what gear you should be in for a given speed, situation, etc. If that involves skipping a gear to get to the one you properly need, what's the car care?

I remember Tom & Ray ("the Car Talk" guys) talking about how many gears cars have these days, they having cut their teeth as mechanics on 4-speeds and 3-speeds. At one point they jokingly said that these days, if you wanted, you could use only the odd-numbered gears on odd-numbered days and vice versa.

I never get tired of listening to them, week after week, notwithstanding the fact that I suspect they don't think a whole lot of cars like Porsches, for reasons of practicality. probably.

[hjkim550]

Originally Posted by 986chris

yah yah yah, you nailed it. I was trying to say the same thing, but with much fewer words it would have taking me 45 min. to type all that.lol. I think we heel toe to see how many things we can do at one time. I mean give a guy a break. later

Sorry Chris,

I figured you were saying the same thing. I am insomniac. I have nothing better to do when I cannot sleep except post some long verbose answers in the middle of the night.