Mechanical over-revving

[ntmatter]

Here's a technique that I picked up when I was running my Viper at the track a lot - the Dodge gearbox was definitely suseptible to a 3-2 mis-shift:

Notice when shifting from 1st to 2nd to 3rd that your hand is held much like you're holding a soda can, with the top of your wrist pointing to the passenger window. When shifting from 3-4, rotate your wrist counter-clockwise about 90 degrees, so that your wrist is now positioned as it would be on a bike's handlebar. Rotating your wrist like this will make it nearly impossible to go from 3-2. Practice this in your street driving so it's second nature, so that if you're under the stress of hard driving and upshifts you don't yank the shifter towards yourself and grenade the motor.

A

[Adam]

Thankyou for the tip Andy. I will try that technique out. The 3-4 shift is the only one that gives me any grief. You think it would be the easiest too since it's just straight down...but like you said sometimes I have a tendancy to pull the shifter torwads me(to the left) when shifting quickly and the result is 2nd gear. I'm going to buy a B&M ssk soon as well so hopefully that will help. Less travel in the lickage means less of a chance to mess up I would think and hit the desired gear.

[donv]

Originally Posted by Adam

I'm going to buy a B&M ssk soon as well so hopefully that will help. Less travel in the lickage means less of a chance to mess up I would think and hit the desired gear.

Hopefully yes, but remember it will also take less travel to get into the wrong gear too...

[Lux]

Great advice from ntmatter.

I've been shifting like that for years. Thumb down, palm facing the passenger side for 3-4 shifts and 5-6 shifts. This is a good way to avoid the "money shift" (e.g. mechanical over-rev).


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[Adam]

Originally Posted by ntmatter

Here's a technique that I picked up when I was running my Viper at the track a lot - the Dodge gearbox was definitely suseptible to a 3-2 mis-shift:

Notice when shifting from 1st to 2nd to 3rd that your hand is held much like you're holding a soda can, with the top of your wrist pointing to the passenger window. When shifting from 3-4, rotate your wrist counter-clockwise about 90 degrees, so that your wrist is now positioned as it would be on a bike's handlebar. Rotating your wrist like this will make it nearly impossible to go from 3-2. Practice this in your street driving so it's second nature, so that if you're under the stress of hard driving and upshifts you don't yank the shifter towards yourself and grenade the motor.

A

Thankyou very much for the advice. I've been using the technique you mentioned by keeping my palm over the top of the shifter when shifting 3-4 and it is working much better. I think I was unconsciously putting my hand to the side of the shifter from time to time which resulted in the mis-shifts. Now I'm more aware of my hand position...particulary when shifting from 3rd to 4th. I'm glad I became aware of this before I blew my motor!

[ntmatter]

I started practicing this daily after I went from 3-2 at around 90 MPH at Thunderhill. The car went very sideways down the front straight, and all of a sudden the traction hooked up and I was moving toward a concrete tire wall perpendicular to traffic. I saved the car by inches, but since then have made it a point to rotate the wrist for any shift up out of 3, even in street driving. Actually, you could say ESPECIALLY in street driving; as with heel-and-toe, it's best to build the muscle memmory in daily driving so you don't think about it under stress.

A

[donv]

OK, this is something I've puzzled about for a bit. I know heel & toe is using your "gas" foot to work both the brake and gas at once. I've tried to find pictures on the web showing a foot in position and have come up empty. I presume the heel is on the brake and the toes are on the gas - is that true?

[Lux]

No. The ball of the foot (toe) is on the brake and the heel blips the gas. You want maximum control for the braking. Another way is to use the foot in a slightly toed-in position for braking and roll your foot over to blip the throttle. I like the latter method.

Search for some Best Motoring videos on the net. They'll sometimes have a camera in the footwell showing how the drivers heel/toe.


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[ntmatter]

The basic idea on heel-and-toe is to blip the throttle to sync the engine with your downshifts. Good HAT technique will save wear on your engine and clutch by preventing that forward "lurch" if you downshift hard and the motor has to rev up to speed. You want to use the ball of your foot on the brake to have the best control and modulation of the brakes, and then use some other part of your foot to blip the gas while downshifting. Some pedal spacing (and feet) make it easier or harder to use different parts of your right foot - there's no one perfect answer. I tend to wedge my foot between the brake and gas, put the ball of my foot on the outside edge of the brake pedal and squeeze the top of my foot onto the gas to blip the throttle. You can try this, or your heel, but I'd recommend using the "toe" part of your foot on the brake because you'll get the best control.

Properly done, you should be able to brake hard and downshift from 5th to first with absolute smoothness. Practice this in your every day street driving, it's a good habit to get into that is also a good track skill.

A

[Adam]

I tried the "heel and toe" thing the other day just to see what it was like and it felt really awkward. It doesn't seem like I have good control of the brakes or the gas and it was especially difficlut to reach the gas with my heel. I guess it takes lots of patience and practice.