Downshifting in Autocross

[Lynxis]

Originally Posted by Frost

Man, I wish there were more large autocross events like that up here. Ours is soooooo much smaller.

The ones at Picton are usually huge.

[Frost]

Originally Posted by Lynxis

The ones at Picton are usually huge.

Yeah except they are also more than a day trip for most of us in the GTA.

I plan on making it to at least one of them but for some reason the dates this year don't line up well with the PITL events.

[rx3]

Originally Posted by renfield90

Also, looking at video 2, at 1:19 there was a right hander you stayed in second gear for.

First off, thanks for your elaborate analysis.

That's a good point and I did stay in 2nd the year before, but what's not obvious in the video is that the road after this right hander is extremely steep and it took a long time to get the car up to speed when I stayed in 2nd.

[renfield90]

Originally Posted by rx3

First off, thanks for your elaborate analysis.

That's a good point and I did stay in 2nd the year before, but what's not obvious in the video is that the road after this right hander is extremely steep and it took a long time to get the car up to speed when I stayed in 2nd.

Yes, you lose a lot from video regarding road camber, uphill vs downhill, road conditions, etc.

If our courses looked like that and had some of those really tight turns, I would for sure try 1st gear a few times. If you nail the downshift and the exit, it IS faster for some turns.

[Stang70Fastback]

I don't, but that's basically because I don't really have much experience downshifting into 1st while moving because I don't do that on the street. So it'll just cost me time because I'm inexperienced. Maybe I should start practicing some heel-toe downshifts into 1st...? It's really only if the autocross has one of those 180-degree hairpin turns that it would be worth it, but in that situation if I could do it smoothly I would because it would definitely save some time.

But even in those instances, often times it's more a case of taking the right line than it is shifting down to first. If the course is REALLY narrow then maybe, but often times I feel like if you're going that slow, even through a hairpin, you might need to rethink your line through that section of the course.

[smg1138]

Thanks for all the responses on this. I'm probably going to stick to only downshifting to 1st when going around pin cones. Even with a good line it's hard not to chug around those things in 2nd. BTW I'm jealous of you guys that get to hit 3rd gear in Autocross. That's extremely rare in my region.

[rx3]

Originally Posted by Stang70Fastback

Maybe I should start practicing some heel-toe downshifts into 1st...?

I wouldn't worry about this, since you usually have enough time to downshift as you are braking anyway and if you drop the clutch (without rev matching) you can even initiate a spin.
Here are two examples (the mic went dead):
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2VEgjZcoOs"]Sweeper 1 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1l2XlZMK44"]Sweeper 2 - YouTube[/ame]

Originally Posted by smg1138

BTW I'm jealous of you guys that get to hit 3rd gear in Autocross.

Here's one where I could even use 5th gear :
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmxE3ggzGK0"]Fast autocross - YouTube[/ame]

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by rx3

I wouldn't worry about this, since you usually have enough time to downshift as you are braking anyway and if you drop the clutch (without rev matching) you can even initiate a spin.

Good point. I used to do this all the time in Live For Speed. I would downshift into first, and just drop the clutch, using the temporary loss of grip from the rear as the wheels came up to speed to initiate a tight turn.

Of course, I'm much more wary about doing this on my actual, real-life car because I don't want to break something, lol.

[smg1138]

Originally Posted by rx3

I wouldn't worry about this, since you usually have enough time to downshift as you are braking anyway and if you drop the clutch (without rev matching) you can even initiate a spin.
Here are two examples (the mic went dead):

Here's one where I could even use 5th gear :

Wow, that is some beautiful scenery! Where is that, Austria?

[rx3]

These are the Alps in Switzerland.