Gear Shifting?

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HugeGremlins

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HugeGremlins
Hey, I don't drive in real life hence the nub question :yuck: I'm wondering if there is more to gear shifting.

At the moment I just shift up before my revs hit the red marker on the gauge and I shift down when I slow down and hear the deeper rev rumble.

1)I'm just curious what is the most efficient way to deal with revs and gear shifting? Should you just keep the revs high?

2)And what about Turbos and Superchargers, some descriptions say they improve mid-low rpm does that mean the car performs better at mid-lower revs and I should hover on that?
 
1) Most of the time, you shift at the powerband (the most effective revs operable). When you shift up, you do so at the top-most zone of the powerband, denoted as the redline right before it bounces off the max rev. When you shift down, you do so at the bottom-most zone of the powerband, inside the redline. However in many cases, you downshift even below the powerband. This can be determined if you know your car well enough to find an RPM range that can place the previous gear inside the powerband.


2) I'm not too sure about this..
 
1) Watch, if the car still accelerates at the same rate when the revs are approaching the red line. If the rate of acceleration drops pretty rapidly, shift up. You have to discover the best shift points by trial and error. If you discover that the car drastically loses acceleration AFTER you shifted, then rev a little bit higher in the lower gear.

This is different for each car. Some are fastest when shifting at the red line or even past it, for some it's faster, if you shift 500rpm or even 1,000rpm below the red line. You can get an indication of how the engine is behaving from the settings-sheet. If the power and torque-curves go down sharply at high revs again (and don't continue to climb), that tells you you might have to shift before power drops into the cellar and your acceleration comes to a halt.


2) There's no definitive answer to that. It again depends on the engine. You basically can choose a turbo that will help a deficiency that the engine comes with in stock form. If it has enough power in the mid-rpm range, you might want to bolt a high-rpm turbo on to help on straights (when you're usually running with high rpm's. If it has lots of high rpm power already, but is lacking power out of corners, you might want to give it a mid-rpm boost by equipping your car with the appropriate turbo. It can even vary depending on track which turbo is best.
 
The key to racing is keeping the revs within the powerband whenever you can (e.g. downshifting before a corner). Although cars with more torque like the dodge viper and the corvette can accelerate pretty readily at lower revs because high-torque cars have a broader powerband.
 
HugeGremlins
Hey, I don't drive in real life hence the nub question :yuck: I'm wondering if there is more to gear shifting.

At the moment I just shift up before my revs hit the red marker on the gauge and I shift down when I slow down and hear the deeper rev rumble.

1)I'm just curious what is the most efficient way to deal with revs and gear shifting? Should you just keep the revs high?

2)And what about Turbos and Superchargers, some descriptions say they improve mid-low rpm does that mean the car performs better at mid-lower revs and I should hover on that?
Click to expand...

To answer your second question, they don't actually improve the lower/medium/high RPM range, it means that they are working within that RPM range to improve the car boost. A low RPM range turbocharger won't give as much boost as a medium or a high RPM range turbocharger but if your car has very poor acceleration within the lower RPM ranges the it will help that. Personally I find that installing the medium range turbo is best for most cars as it gives you that good balance between maximum power and minimum turbo lag.

With superchargers, they are directly connected to the engine and that means no lag at all but at least in real life it reduces the overall economy of your car. Superchargers work best in the lower to medium RPM range but they still won't provide as much boost as a high RPM turbo, especially in the higher RPM range.

To sum up this very long post, I guess you could say that improves performance in the specified range, but it's more of an improvement in the cars boost.
 
Simple Answer: Look at the dyno graph. When HP drops, shift at that point.
Example: The stock 07+ MINI Cooper S can rev to 6500 RPM. You'll get better lap times by shifting at 5500.
 
Bottoz
Simple Answer: Look at the dyno graph. When HP drops, shift at that point.
Example: The stock 07+ MINI Cooper S can rev to 6500 RPM. You'll get better lap times by shifting at 5500.
Click to expand...

This is your best simplified answer. But I tend to shift a little bit later than when the BHP levels start to drop so the RPM range can get back into the fattest part of the powerband.
 
Yes like people have said it's a good idea to look at the power graph in the settings screen. Sometimes you have a car which has good torque low down but which then drops off drastically when you're reaching the top, so sometimes when you're accelerating hard uphill (after turn 1 at Monaco, at the end of the long straight at Nordschleife) it's a good idea to short shift a bit to get the revs a bit lower down so you can use that torque.

When you get all down to the nitty gritty it gets really complicated. An easy way would be to buy SSRX and compare acceleration times with different shifting points and/or gearbox setups.
 
Bottoz
Simple Answer: Look at the dyno graph. When HP drops, shift at that point.
Example: The stock 07+ MINI Cooper S can rev to 6500 RPM. You'll get better lap times by shifting at 5500.
Click to expand...

Close but not exactly. Every car operates through a given rev range in each gear, maybe 1000-2000 rpm. That means if you run up to 7000 rpm and grab the next gear you'll drop down to 5000 rpm. So assuming you are using 1500 rpm per shift you want the car to operate in the 1500 rpm range according to the power graph that has the highest average power. Most cars make their power up high but some make more power with the peak closer to the middle or upper middle of the rev range.

So for example, if the redline of a car is 8000 rpm but HP peaks at 6000 rpm and the curve is roughly equal on both sides of 6000 rpm and you have a 1500 rpm shift range, you'll want to shift around 6750 rpm down to 5250 rpm. That way as you run through each gear from 5250 to 6750 rpm you'll be using the maximum average power available for that gear. Any higher or lower and you sacrifice power.

This is expecially true on a car like the Zonda C12 for example. It's power peaks early and drops like stone towards the redline. Shifting at the redline means losing a second or two a lap on most tracks and perhaps 8-10 seconds on a track like Nurburgring.
 
Bottoz
Yeah... that's why I said Simple Answer so that the OP who's never driven a real car before could understand it. :dunce:
Click to expand...

You shouldn't modify someone's quote otherwise you're putting word's in their mouth.

I do agree with you in some sense, the op states he's new and is looking for beginner advice. Some of these answers are way too techinal for him.

To the open, the best advice is to listen to your engine, if you hear her screaming too much, upshift. Just play with the throttle a bit and you'll feel the engine peak level with out redline bliping Try slow at realistic speeds and you'll see what I'm talking about. A lot has to do with sound rather than reading a meter.

I don't play with anything on screen, no music either for that fact, I love listening to the engine lol.
 
If the car has 8000+ rpm then I'll shift 500-1000 rpm before I hit the red area. Its like a "sweet spot" for 90% of cars I drive. It might sound like it will make the engine bog down but it will shift and keep going real smooth. It will accelerate better(90% of the time). Never hover at a certain rpm. Even though cars have maximum horsepower and torque at one slender spot on the gauge, it needs more rpm for more speed.
 
Ok thanks guys.

I did wonder if there was any point to the power graph in the settings, so there's a few things I can experiment with now.
 
Bottoz
Yeah... that's why I said Simple Answer so that the OP who's never driven a real car before could understand it. :dunce:
Click to expand...

He said he was a noob not a moron. I'm sure if he needs any clarification he's capable of asking himself:tup:
 

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