Problems shifting from third to second

[JB86'd]

@Churg I know exactly what corner you're talking about, I was there sunday in my white FRS. I was able to shift from 3rd to 2nd on that corner, albeit the one time I did, I double clutched and locked my wheels up and slid out. After that I decided to ride it out in 2nd gear, ended up getting 6th in novice, not bad for my 3rd event on stock tires I guess.
On the stock tires I'm pulling less G's than you, but I also have a weighted shift knob, mtec springs, and motul 300..all helped with making shifting more precise.

[Churg]

Still have the stock transmission mount, yes. I'll install that and see if that makes a difference. Unfortunately, I can't really replicate the issue on the street or through spirited canyon runs, I've tried. Hopefully that mount will stiffen things up.

And I'm glad that I wasn't just losing my mind and someone else was having an issue too! I was being stubborn, my fastest time included my screw up with that 3rd to 2nd issue, so I thought I could improve upon it, but it just made me slower.

[Akari]

I was having a similar problem at the track the other day, except upshifting 2nd to 3rd while having weight transfer from one side of the car to the other. When I tried to shift this it seemed the gate would end up being way far off from where I'd normally expect it which was causing me issues. I do wonder if we're able to actually get that much movement out of the transmission mounts to where it's a problem.

[cdrazic93]

I was thinking along the lines of shifter bushings and rear transmission mounts would go along way to solving the lateral G play in the tranny.

[wparsons]

Originally Posted by Akari

I was having a similar problem at the track the other day, except upshifting 2nd to 3rd while having weight transfer from one side of the car to the other. When I tried to shift this it seemed the gate would end up being way far off from where I'd normally expect it which was causing me issues. I do wonder if we're able to actually get that much movement out of the transmission mounts to where it's a problem.

It won't take much movement... the shift is attached to both the body and the gearbox (through linkages), and the space between gears isn't very big. Plus, the stock rear gearbox mount has a lot of movement stock, definitely enough to mess with shifting.

I've personally never run into an issue with it, but I do more track than autox and it's a better habit to be downshifting under braking than mid corner on a track. Autox gets hairy because everything is much tighter.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by wparsons

I do more track than autox and it's a better habit to be downshifting under braking than mid corner on a track.

Good point.

[rx3]

After well over 200 slalom/autocross runs with this car this just happened to me in one run and it happened twice in that run. Both times it happened in left turn chicanes.

It was unusually hot and I drove on slicks (Michelin super soft).
So it would confirm what wparsons said (higher G-forces and transmission mounts get softer, so gear box moves around more):

Originally Posted by wparsons

It won't take much movement... the shift is attached to both the body and the gearbox (through linkages), and the space between gears isn't very big. Plus, the stock rear gearbox mount has a lot of movement stock, definitely enough to mess with shifting.

(I also couldn't reproduce this problem on public roads (not too surprisingly).)

I never do any double clutching in fast chicanes (it's not really that practical if you want to win and should be as fast as possible) and I never had any downshifting issues before.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by rx3

I never do any double clutching in fast chicanes (it's not really that practical if you want to win and should be as fast as possible) and I never had any downshifting issues before.

OP has six posts in this thread and never mentioned double clutching, if I had the transmission fight me I would have immediately let the lever return center and double clutched and tried again. The next run I would have just gone for the heel-toe-double-clutch under braking without hesitation.

This gearbox is not a gem, it's good but sometimes it needs that extra bit of effort to do what needs to be done.

[rx3]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

if I had the transmission fight me I would have immediately let the lever return center and double clutched and tried again.

That's what I did and probably most people would have done.
But the gear didn't actually get in before the turn was practically over. So, it appears as it was not related to the synchros and had primarily to do with the movement of the gearbox relative to the shifter.