How do you determine the ideal shift RPM?

  • Thread starter tedgreene
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tedgreene
In competing in last months Online Eiger WRX TT, I noticed that all of the top drivers were shifting at 7000 RPM, which is about 1000-1500 RPM before the shift light comes on. Obviously this was faster than shifting at redline, and my question is, how can one know this, short of trial and error?

I've always wound out the motor all the way up to just a hair before the rev limiter, thinking this was faster. This was an eye-opener for me, for little did I know this approach was actually slower with certain cars.

I'm curious of any of you could help me to interpret the HP/torque curve diagrams, and how one can ascertain what the ideal shift point would be from looking at it.

For instance, I'm currently working on the 450PP Suzuka East TT with the OFC-1, and still not totally sure where I should shift it. Is just prior to the rev limiter ideal for this car?

Any help or input is much appreciated.
 
I have noticed that in some cars you are only excelerating slowly when you are near the rev limiter however when you shift up you excelerate quicker. Hope that makes sense.
 
It has to do with the torque of the engine and the distance between the gears of each car.

i.e. for a diesel engine that has maximum torque in a range of 1500-3000 rpm and open gearbox in the distance between the gears its nice to chance the moment you pass 3300-3500 because the rate at with you accelerate falls very quick but if you change the engine falls again into the range above and you continue to accelerate. This fits for small petrol turbo engines also. But for F430,S2000 or RX8 which have max torque above 6000rpm and go such up to redline, its best to be on the pedal till there to get the maximum in acceleration.

It is good to know the torque diagram for every car to get the point better.
 
When in quick tune I believe you can see the torque/power graphs, this can help you better understand where your cars peak torque and power are, which in turn should help you decide where to shift.
 
When you quick tune your vehicle you see a power to RPM counter in the right.
There you see where the engine gives out the strongest output according to RPM.
Most cars have the punch at 6000-6500RPM so stop revving it to RED unless you actually have tuned the car to do so.

Hope that helps.
 
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