Do you shift at redline?

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I think they take power-band into effect in GT3 and i was just wondering if you should change gears at redline for every car? In real life there are many cars that don't hit peak power at redline, it could be lower, or even past that point.

Driving in manual, do you just hit redline for every car or do you change earlier or even extend beyond the redline to achieve fastest lap times? I normally just change when i hit redline or when that little red light flashes, but i don't know if this is the best thing to do for every car.

Thanks 👍
 
Depends on the car. More often than not, I'll let it go all the way past redline, just shy of where it "bounces back", before I shift.

Sometimes, if I really want to push a car for all it's got, I'll take a closer look at the HP/Torque/RPM info, and change my shifting accordingly (usually means shifting earlier, and a lot of times it won't even hit the redline at all). Sometimes you can see the power band at work when you're driving, especially in the higher gears. At the high end of 4th gear (as an example, I'm not being specific), you'll see that it's not accelerating so fast, maybe 1mph increase per second. Then you shift, and let the RPM's drop back down to "optimum range" and now you're getting 3-4mph increase per second.

If I'm paying attention to that, I usually try to set it up so that the top HP occurs in mid-gear.. halfway between shifting into a gear and shifting up to the next one. Which I think would be the right way to do it. I've been doing this more and more lately in GT3, and no doubt I'll keep doing it in GT4. Takes a little more mental effort to keep eyeballing the tac and remember where you need to shift, but it's worth it in the extra performance you'll get.

This is one part of the game where I and others wouldn't mind seeing a graphical representation of the full power band, rather than just "350hp/5400rpm" that's there now. In order to actually SEE where the power is at different RPM's on each car, and adjust our shifting to match and get optimum performance.

This is also one place where manual transmission has a clear advantage over automatic.. take the above example of 4th gear.. with auto, you have to keep pushing in 4th until it redlines. With manual, you can just pop it into 5th and jump ahead.
 
But the thing is... you can still have MOST of your power beyond the peak power, so you have to feel for it in each car. Typically, the Japanese cars you will want to run all the way to the limiter, because they are all high rev engines. American and European cars it really varies on... its mostly just a matter of seeing when your acceleration drops off.

The place where it "bounces back" is called the rev limiter, some cars you may want to have it bounce off of the limiter in corners, rather than shift and screw up the balance.. I do this in Autocross. But again, it depends on the car...
 
most of the times in auto I hold the gear till about 500-700 revs after where it automatically shifts, depending how much the car is accelerating. I really suck at manual thats why i just play around and control the auto.
 
It totally depends on the car. I shift past redline on street cars because they like it better and it's faster. I also notice where the powerband of the car is to find the best shifting point.

With the LM/racing cars, I mostly shift past redline, but I noticed a lot that they like to be shifted right on redline. It just depends on the car.
 
I think I remember driving a viper and having it completely above the redline the whole time. Up shift and it still is past the redline even with higher gear ratios.
 
Interesting, so indepth and complex. I've never looked at the graph plotter thing so i might have to check that out.

So basically to answer my question. You don't obtain optimum results by hitting redline all the time for every car. I just assumed that when that little red light flashes, it was time to change gear..i guess not. The more i burry myself into the world of GT3 the more complex it gets...in a good way tho.

Thanks for your input.
 
Yeah, some cars are really weird.. like I think I was shifting 1000 RPM below the redline in a stock Opel Speedster...
 
Really? So if you took that car on a 1/4 run, and changed gears 1000 rpm below the redline, rather than changing at redline, you should have a faster run in theory.
 
in theory anyhow... but that was awhile ago...
My copy of GT3 is at my bro's.. so I can't go test it.

What I did to find the shift point was use a level area, and just accelerate, and when it seemed the acceleration would drop off a bit, I would see what would happen if I shifted gears..
 
Ok, but there is some graph plotter that measures Torque/HP/rpm output isnt there? I never botherd looking at it so im not sure.

This thing about changing gears at different rpms, is it something that you all consider important when racing to achieve fastest lap times? I mean, do any of you guys that do the weekly race series focus on changing gears, other than at the redline?
 
I focus on what feels right, by sound and how the car pulls... it really depends on how i have my gears setup, and what course it is. Sometimes I'll blip down from 4th to 3rd, pegging the tach in the red, for when I am going on a hill, cause 4th might not have enough pull in it, and I'l gain 1 or 2 mph rather than just stay at.. say... 80 mph. Its just something you get the feel for, jus tlike in real life. I rarely look at the tach for when to shift in real life. I check it after I shift sometimes to see where I am shifting for what driving, like street, where I prefer to save gas, and adjust accordingly :D
 
Way back in GT1 they had power + torque curves that you could actually see, which was a great feature for seeing where the powerband was for each car. Also, if you had a stage 3 turbo, you could adjust the amount of boost it made without swapping it out, so if you wanted a bit less power than stage 3 but more than a stage 2 you could set it in between.

Shift points do affect performance differently for each car, cars like Spoons and Honda V-Tecs and the Mazda RX-8 respond much better by shifting as close to the rev limiter as possible. Cars like some of the Race Skylines and some of the the Evo's do better by shifting alot ower, like 300 or so before redline. In general, high-rev naturally aspirated engies are faster when revving the piss out of them, big displacement V-8's have more power down low, and turbo cars are all different depending on if the turbo is designed for low end torque or high HP.
 
Jedi2016
Depends on the car. More often than not, I'll let it go all the way past redline, just shy of where it "bounces back", before I shift.

Sometimes, if I really want to push a car for all it's got, I'll take a closer look at the HP/Torque/RPM info, and change my shifting accordingly (usually means shifting earlier, and a lot of times it won't even hit the redline at all). Sometimes you can see the power band at work when you're driving, especially in the higher gears. At the high end of 4th gear (as an example, I'm not being specific), you'll see that it's not accelerating so fast, maybe 1mph increase per second. Then you shift, and let the RPM's drop back down to "optimum range" and now you're getting 3-4mph increase per second.

If I'm paying attention to that, I usually try to set it up so that the top HP occurs in mid-gear.. halfway between shifting into a gear and shifting up to the next one. Which I think would be the right way to do it. I've been doing this more and more lately in GT3, and no doubt I'll keep doing it in GT4. Takes a little more mental effort to keep eyeballing the tac and remember where you need to shift, but it's worth it in the extra performance you'll get.

This is one part of the game where I and others wouldn't mind seeing a graphical representation of the full power band, rather than just "350hp/5400rpm" that's there now. In order to actually SEE where the power is at different RPM's on each car, and adjust our shifting to match and get optimum performance.

This is also one place where manual transmission has a clear advantage over automatic.. take the above example of 4th gear.. with auto, you have to keep pushing in 4th until it redlines. With manual, you can just pop it into 5th and jump ahead.
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Everything you say here is VERY true. Sometimes I've come across cars that accelerate like pigs after (taking your example) 5400rpm, so you have to shift up a gear. What really... irks me, I guess, is when you're barrelling along at a nice clip and then all of a sudden you'll hit a "brick wall" in terms of acceleration, which basically is where the needle does not move. That always takes me by surprise and it's actually pretty annoying.

Polarbear
Ditto. Although sometimes I have to know where it peaks, so I can keep my eyes on the road while knowing when to shift.
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Racing very much depends on memorising where to shift, so you can keep your eyes on the road and just tap the L2 or R2 button as required, like you mentioned. Sometimes though, I will admit to shifting up a gear coming out of a corner before I hit my shift marker just to smooth out a slight tailslide and maximise traction. Sometimes it proves a godsend because (taking the Jedi Master's example) the car bites down and launches off the corner, making full use of its power-band that wouldn't have happened if you had continued in the appropriate gear while sliding.
 
Like everyone is saying it really depends on the car and your driving style. Some people keep the RPMS high and in bigger gears while other drop lower into corners.

The best advice is to test, test and test more. You'll find the given shift points for a car and magic to it's setup.
 
Polarbear
Ditto. Although sometimes I have to know where it peaks, so I can keep my eyes on the road while knowing when to shift.
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I try not to look at the RPM meter but, just listen to sound of the engine, you can hear when it hits the power band.
 
RX-7_FC_DrIfteR
I try not to look at the RPM meter but, just listen to sound of the engine, you can hear when it hits the power band.
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Some cars, yes. Others the engine noise is so generic or hard to read that you have to watch the RPMs. Plus on some highly tuned (stage 3 or 4 turbos) if you go by sound alone you will be hitting the limiter due to the car being tuned out of real world possibilities.

I usually go by sound too, the RUFs have no issue with this in any stage of tune, the 911 and Gillet are great for it too. Though a VW Bettle or stoke Skyline you really need to watch the meter or you'll miss the shift points.

I pretty much drive 6 cars now-a-days and know them intimately. It has taken years to get that feel with them though, but now that I do I know them by sound and how to tune them for anything.

Again every car is it's own beast.
 
Yes, each car's different in gear response.
If you first try it in manual, see how far past the red line it goes, before the light flashes, if it's way past the red line, you most likely have a little more boost driving it in manual, but if the redline flashes as soosn as you hit it, than, you're probably better off driving it in automatic and, just litely tap the reverse botton at anytime you feel the engine is underrevs(choking for power) and it will shift back one gear, or lightly tap the brakes, if you're using a steering wheel & pedals, and it will do the same function! Try it going around corners, to better feel the difference, but on a straight line, manual transmission, definitely gives you the extra boost, by allowing you to shift way past the red line!!It also has alot to do with your gear settings, high/low and on wich track and, last but not least, on your driving style/skills 👍 Take care and..... persist! :crazy:
 
kensei
I pretty much drive 6 cars now-a-days and know them intimately. It has taken years to get that feel with them though, but now that I do I know them by sound and how to tune them for anything.
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What are those cars and why did you pick them?
 
MasterGT
What are those cars and why did you pick them?
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I've listed this before...but can't find it.

They are;
-RUF RGT (one with full mods and one stock)
-RUF CTR2 (all mods you can turn on/off, so I can run it stock too)
-RUF 3400s (all mods you can turn on/off, so I can run it stock too)
-911 (996) GT3 (the car only runs in stock)
-Gillet Vertigo (engine upgrades)
-VW new Bettle 2.0 (full mods)

Pretty much one of those does it for me. I recently played GT3 one last time to 100% using only those cars (and the ones I HAD to buy). The RUF RGT logged over 4200miles alone in this play thru and anything I could enter it in I won, so very close in the pro league. The cars with full parts I usually run different depending on the race, circuit, etc. I also have settings saved, over 20 alone for the RGT, for various things...

That is my full race kit. Once in a while I'll throw a Elise 190, NSX-R, Skyline R34, tuscan or viper GTS in there for kicks. That is my "b-team" I guess.

Why did I pick them? I'm a Porsche/RUF fan, love VWs and the gillet is the only race car that does anything for me (I find the rest bland and dull). i do wish i had some of the BMW choices in GT2 though.

to stay on topic, each one is it's own beast and own shift points depending on alot of factors.
 
it is different for each car. if you want to find the best shift point for a car, do the 1/4 mile on the test track and keap the ghost on and keap racing (shifting at different times until you find the best)
 
Excellent advice by FC3S5. That's normally what I'd do to find the shift points, and it was there that I realized the Zonda C12 (nee S) had to be shifted at about 5500rpm.

Also, while some cars are quicker when shifted at or just before redline, it's worth noting that on certain turns, they will react differently by staying in a lower gear for longer. I'm only going to guess that at the end of the rev range, the car's making less torque than it would had you have shifted up, giving the turning wheels less oomph to fight against. It can produce a huge difference on a single turn of a track.
 
Jedi2016
This is one part of the game where I and others wouldn't mind seeing a graphical representation of the full power band, rather than just "350hp/5400rpm" that's there now. In order to actually SEE where the power is at different RPM's on each car, and adjust our shifting to match and get optimum performance.
Click to expand...
Like the graph in GT1 then?
 
TMM
Like the graph in GT1 then?
Click to expand...

I don't want to speak for the Jedi Master, but this is exactly what I would like to see. It shows in a "dynotune" style, which to me is a lot better when you're adjusting the gears, because you can actually see where each gear peaks.
 
Is there some graph plotter in GT3, where you can find out where your cars peak power is? I know there is some track logger thing, i was mucking around with it last night and it basically showed me what my average speed was around various parts of the track i was racing on.
 
No, sadly there is not. The only graphing tool I have seen is hte speed thing, which is nice, cause you compare it to another saved replay on that course. It is interesting to see how cars that put down similar lap times but have idfferent power and stuff do it. Quite nice to also see the cornering approach comparisons you can do with the replay tool thingy
 
Yeah it's interesting to compare lap times with different powered cars. It would be good if the graph showed how much HP you were putting out at X amount of revs.

Maybe there needs to be a Dyno in GT4 👍
 

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