Well, we've been delt a bit of a shitty card when it comes to grabbing the next gear quickly with our T45's. From what I've heard that can be remedied during a rebuild by filing the teeth on the shifter rings to a point so that they will grab the synchro's better than the factory square cut edges. This was not done to my T45 when it was rebuilt :bash: but I have found a few small ways to grab that next gear a bit quicker.
First off, an aftermarket quadrant and firewall adjuster would probably be a good start if you don't have them already. I have the UPR triple hook quadrant and firewall adjuster and they work great, with the triple hook you have a ton of drastic adjustability with the cable then with the firewall adjuster you can fine tune where the clutch engages in your pedal throw.
In a recent issue of Grassroots Motorsports they had a good test to make sure your firewall adjustor is set properly and that your clutch is fully disengaging...
With the car on and stopped, put the clutch to the floor and push the gearshift into first, pull it immediately into neutral, then push it right back into first. If your clutch is fully disengaged, it should slide right into first nice and easy that second time. If it doesn't and there is resistance getting it into first, you may need to set the engagement point of your clutch up a bit higher in the pedal throw.
Second, hammer the clutch pedal to the floor when you shift. This may sound like an easy one, but I've been driving manual cars hard as hell every day for the past 8 years and because of my tendancy to drive nice and smooth when not at the race track I've developed a bad habit. You can get very used to the lazy clutch stomp you do a million times in regular traffic and for me it has made a hell of a difference now that I consciously tell myself (usually after looking at the note on my dash board) to pound the clutch to the floor on quick shifts.
Third, preload that shifter. The one thing that has sped up my shifts the most is to not wait for my brain to tell my hand "ok, the clutch is going down, shift now" and to just pull or push on the shifter towards the next gear as you are approaching your shift point. This way, the second the clutch starts to disengage the shifter will come out of the gear it is in and smash headlong into the next gear's synchro's so they can start doing their thing. Try not to push too hard as if you hit those synchros hard enough you will push right through them and grind the gear. This will happen to me even with a freshly rebuilt transmission, so I push firmly but not as hard as I can.
To remind myself of all this crap I actually have it written on a small piece of tape on the dash, whatever works my friends! There's so much going through my mind as the car pulls up in the other lane on the street or track, this is just one less thing I have to remember as it's written right there where I can see it :rockon:
The last thing is something I personally do, but it technically may not yield the fastest track times... I yank my foot off the gas very quickly as I'm hammering the clutch down... There is no way I can powershift this tranny without bouncing off the fuel cut, and after trying this method and speed shifting (holding the revs up during the shift) I'm able to get the car into the next gear a bit quicker this way and get the power right back on. I do have an aluminum flywheel and IAC restrictor in so my revs drop pretty quick which helps, but I'm making the synchros do less work in making up the difference in revs between the motor and the driveshaft which I like.
The last thing that definitely helps but can and will lead to missed shifts is to anticipate when the shifter will snap into gear and start letting up on the clutch a bit early. I don't really do this too much any more as I HATE missing shifts and the tranny is just a bit unpredictable as to exactly how long it will take the synchro's to do their thing and let the shifter into gear. BUT, for the most part you know how long it will take the shifter to snap home into that next gear and you can just pound the clutch down, wait that amount of time, then let the clutch out. That is definitely faster than waiting for your mind to process the shifter snapping into gear then telling your left foot to come up off the clutch then your left foot actually coming up off the clutch.
Thoughts and/or comments????
For the record, this is all stuff that I've sorta learned/figured out by doing, not just reading on the net
First off, an aftermarket quadrant and firewall adjuster would probably be a good start if you don't have them already. I have the UPR triple hook quadrant and firewall adjuster and they work great, with the triple hook you have a ton of drastic adjustability with the cable then with the firewall adjuster you can fine tune where the clutch engages in your pedal throw.
In a recent issue of Grassroots Motorsports they had a good test to make sure your firewall adjustor is set properly and that your clutch is fully disengaging...
With the car on and stopped, put the clutch to the floor and push the gearshift into first, pull it immediately into neutral, then push it right back into first. If your clutch is fully disengaged, it should slide right into first nice and easy that second time. If it doesn't and there is resistance getting it into first, you may need to set the engagement point of your clutch up a bit higher in the pedal throw.
Second, hammer the clutch pedal to the floor when you shift. This may sound like an easy one, but I've been driving manual cars hard as hell every day for the past 8 years and because of my tendancy to drive nice and smooth when not at the race track I've developed a bad habit. You can get very used to the lazy clutch stomp you do a million times in regular traffic and for me it has made a hell of a difference now that I consciously tell myself (usually after looking at the note on my dash board) to pound the clutch to the floor on quick shifts.
Third, preload that shifter. The one thing that has sped up my shifts the most is to not wait for my brain to tell my hand "ok, the clutch is going down, shift now" and to just pull or push on the shifter towards the next gear as you are approaching your shift point. This way, the second the clutch starts to disengage the shifter will come out of the gear it is in and smash headlong into the next gear's synchro's so they can start doing their thing. Try not to push too hard as if you hit those synchros hard enough you will push right through them and grind the gear. This will happen to me even with a freshly rebuilt transmission, so I push firmly but not as hard as I can.
To remind myself of all this crap I actually have it written on a small piece of tape on the dash, whatever works my friends! There's so much going through my mind as the car pulls up in the other lane on the street or track, this is just one less thing I have to remember as it's written right there where I can see it :rockon:
The last thing is something I personally do, but it technically may not yield the fastest track times... I yank my foot off the gas very quickly as I'm hammering the clutch down... There is no way I can powershift this tranny without bouncing off the fuel cut, and after trying this method and speed shifting (holding the revs up during the shift) I'm able to get the car into the next gear a bit quicker this way and get the power right back on. I do have an aluminum flywheel and IAC restrictor in so my revs drop pretty quick which helps, but I'm making the synchros do less work in making up the difference in revs between the motor and the driveshaft which I like.
The last thing that definitely helps but can and will lead to missed shifts is to anticipate when the shifter will snap into gear and start letting up on the clutch a bit early. I don't really do this too much any more as I HATE missing shifts and the tranny is just a bit unpredictable as to exactly how long it will take the synchro's to do their thing and let the shifter into gear. BUT, for the most part you know how long it will take the shifter to snap home into that next gear and you can just pound the clutch down, wait that amount of time, then let the clutch out. That is definitely faster than waiting for your mind to process the shifter snapping into gear then telling your left foot to come up off the clutch then your left foot actually coming up off the clutch.
Thoughts and/or comments????
For the record, this is all stuff that I've sorta learned/figured out by doing, not just reading on the net
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