We already have a factory installed audible shift indicator.

 

generaly once you run the car hard for a bit you can tell when the motor runs out of air and then you learn to shift to match. cirtian areas on the track we don't bother to shift and just let it eat ell over 7000 because the **** is a waste of time. and the funy thing is i was eating a cheese burger when i started reading this.

 

biatch.

 

but there are people out there who shifts higher than what the factory recommended

 

you forgot, "uphill both ways."

 

also "And we liked it that way! Unlike you youngins with your shoes"

 

Lol thanks, I was in a rush so couldn't type much.

Lets use this dyno graph for instance. Yes, I know it is for a vette:



And lets use the Gear ratio calculator in the first post:



If we rev it all the way to redline, then we are "only" making about 350HP. But when we shift to 2nd, and that brings our RPM to 4828, which makes us about 435HP. Ideally you would want to shift around 6000RPM, as that would be around 60ish more HP than redline. Next gear should drop you to around 4000RPM+ depending on the gear. This way, before you shift you will be making about 405hp (as it lessens the more you rev) but if you shift and the next gear lands anywhere above 4000rpm, you will be making as much, if not more HP than before.

 

nm

 

Some of us do. I wish my car had one. I've been thinking of making one.

 

You actually take it past the point of maximum output before shifting into the next gear. This ensures that when you do shift, you will be in the power band again. If you shift at the point where you stop making maximum power, like right at the point where it starts to drop off, then you will be under the power band in the next gear. Obviously this is a "rule of thumb", and you will find differences between different cars, possibly even some exceptions to the rule.

Anyway, that's how it was explained in one of the racing "how to" books I've had over the years...

Also, my gearing must be a bit lower than everyone elses (85 GS w/83 GSL rear end). I will often redline in
2nd gear on the straights, sometimes even having to shift to 3rd for short periods. I mean, hell, I'm shifting into second gear (with the redline buzzing) within 20 ft of the start line! Other RX7s will often run the entire course in 1st gear without ever hearing their redline buzzer. But my car is also pretty damn quick, so maybe I'm just getting up to speed a lot faster than they do. I dunno, but I've always kinda wondered about that...


.

 

maybe your rear end has different gears?

 

Or your tires are much smaller than stock. I seem to remember you're running 215/50s, right?

 

ooo that makes sense. man i wish i had new tires oh well, BURN THESE UP!

 

Yes, I am running 215/50s, but they only throw the speedo off about 4 mph @ 60. So not a very big difference, and not nearly enough to explain it all.

However, at the last race I took Orion's car around the course (just remembered this important fact) and I shifted and drove pretty much like I always did. There was no big difference, and I certainly didn't find the urge to stay in 1st gear. But I think he was staying in 1st gear for the majority of the course.

Probably just comes down to different driving styles, like me being fast and them being slow.

 

Man you must have some tight courses!!! I stay in 1st gear for about 20-30 feet and shift. Then use 2nd the rest of the course.. I have found sometimes that I might have needed 3rd, but it would be a waste because you would be in 3rd about a sencond and then need to downshift to turn...

Nice thing about the rotaries, they don't seem to mind being wound up tight that extra second or two!!!

 

That's about exactly how I drive the courses. Once I hit 2nd gear, I never look back. I think that those guys driving in 1st would probably be a lot faster if they got into 2nd gear...

 

I'd love to do auto-crosses if my 2nd gear synchro's weren't worn and I grind/clunk going into 2nd.

Smooth driving, I can manage it fairly well. But, forget racing.

 

lol you can forget "smooth driving" in my car, the only way its possible is to start in second.

Has anyone noticed that our cars like to be driven rough more than driven "smoothly"?

 

Smooth driving isn't in my car's vocabulary...........................actually, now that I think about it, neither is "speed limit".

Can't help it, these cars are fun to toss around.

 

I remember back in the day when I autocrossed my SA I would get into second and never leave it unless I had to make a hairpin type of turn where you end up slowing way down ( I usually pulled the emergency brake and swung it around for those ).

 

Isn't it about here that somebody ought to mention that the torque/hp curves for a rotary are completely different from those of a boinger?

 

In a car that makes the most of its powerband towards redline... you want to take it out as far as you can go without hitting rev limiter (since that would be losing 1/10ths.

It really is as simple as that. If you have a mid range peak and the high range is just dead, then you would want to shift earlier. But in rotaries, it is a moot point (barring very specific engines)