First of all, there are no stupid questions!
Myself, I never shift on course, though I still brake
with my right foot. Under most circumstances,
whatever time I would gain by taking a corner in first
is lost in shifting gears. FWIW, I drive a 1.6L Miata
(116 hp, RWD).
The only time I find it worth my while to shift is on
a course with a long, fast section. The course we had
at 3Com last Sunday is a good example. Leaving the
car in second, I was bouncing off the rev limiter for
about half of the back "straight."
Scot - proud to be "shiftless" ;)
--- Chris Tweney <cat@pobox.com> wrote:
> OK, this question has had me fretting since
> Saturday's event.
>
> I was talking to my co-courseworker, Darryl, who
> said that
> he runs his Cabriolet through almost the entire
> course in 2nd
> gear. Now what I've found is that I'm losing lots of
> time by
> trying -- and usually failing -- to heel-and-toe
> downshift into
> 1st on the slower turns. So should I just forget
> about downshifting
> in autocrosses, or should I work on perfecting
> heel-and-toe?
> What are y'all doing out there -- left-foot braking
> w/o shifting?
>
> I'm driving an ES Hyundai Tiburon (140bhp, FWD), if
> that affects
> the answer.
>
> Anybody want to help a newcomer out? This feels like
> such a
> stupid question that I hate myself for asking it,
> but there it is.
>
> ---
> Chris Tweney
> http://www.pobox.com/~cat
>
>
>
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