How To: Shift Faster

[Nine Ball]

I wrote an article on how to improve your shifting precision and speed. Having helped a number of people at the track, I decided an article to reference and share would be useful. Hope it helps!

http://nineballgarage.com/2015/05/precision-shifting-a-manual/

Tony

 

[ViperJeff]

Nice write up, thanks

 

[Paul Hawker]

Great instruction.

Another tip is to make sure you do not move your left hand on the steering wheel when you are concentrating of getting those shifts done quickly.

Watching drag racing from the tower you will often see cars twitching to the side during each. This is often caused when the driver uses his whole body to make the shifts instead of just his right arm.

Keep the car dead straight ahead the whole way down the track.

Good shifting nine ball.

 

[dmann]

Thanks for the post! We can always learn if we don't let our ego get in the way. Curious, how tall are you? I'm 6'1". The back seat position and distance from the pedals make it a little difficult to accommodate.

 

[ViperJeff]

Thanks for the post! We can always learn if we don't let our ego get in the way. Curious, how tall are you? I'm 6'1". The back seat position and distance from the pedals make it a little difficult to accommodate.

Being 6'1", your pedals are all the way back anyway, right?

 

[ViperJohn]

Thanks for taking the time to put that together.

 

[Nine Ball]

Thanks for the post! We can always learn if we don't let our ego get in the way. Curious, how tall are you? I'm 6'1". The back seat position and distance from the pedals make it a little difficult to accommodate.

I'm 5'-11", but the Gen 5 seat moves about 3" further back than it does in my Gen 3. I usually drive my Gen 3 with the seat all the way back, but the Gen 5 I have to move it up a little in order to be able to slam the clutch to the floor without locking my knee.

 

[dmann]

Being 6'1", your pedals are all the way back anyway, right?

I had to sell last Aug so I dont remember but kinda want to think I did slide the seat and pedals back to give more leg room. I'm hoping to be in another one ASAP.

 

[dmann]

I'm 5'-11", but the Gen 5 seat moves about 3" further back than it does in my Gen 3. I usually drive my Gen 3 with the seat all the way back, but the Gen 5 I have to move it up a little in order to be able to slam the clutch to the floor without locking my knee.

Could very well just be me not use to the tighter cabin than what i'm use too. I think what you said was to make sure the knee was slightly bent with the clutch fully pressed. My prob seemed to be that my knees hit the dash in a odd way.

 

[cigar]

I've been trying all kinds of seat/pedal positions, maybe I'm stupid but what I don't understand is whether the pedals are all the way forward or back the clutch still has to be fully depressed, so why bring them forward? All it seems to do is increase the travel distance of the clutch and that doesn't help anyone. There has to be a reason or they wouldn't have put the adjustment in the car.

 

[Nine Ball]

Adjustable pedals are for comfort, because we don't have a telescoping steering column. So, this makes us have to adjust to the steering wheel position. I actually use a different seating position when I roadcourse race, focused more on arm leverage and comfort for a 30 min ses session. Not as focused on fast clutching.

 

[MoparMap]

Everyone's build is different two. Two different people might be 6' tall, but one might have 3' long legs and the other might have 3'6" long legs, so the adjustable pedals can help make things more comfortable. I've had mine custom set for a while now where I disconnected the clutch adjustment, moved the gas and brake all the way back, then reattached the clutch adjuster to hold it in place all the way forward. Gave me a more comfortable knee position when sitting in traffic with the clutch locked and also made the pedal a little lighter due to the way the adjusters work (makes the pedal longer as it arcs forward). Just adjusted them all back together and now I understand why people say the car has a heavy clutch, lol. One of these days I'm debating getting clever and wiring up three separate switches so each pedal can be controlled individually. Just don't really feel like cutting anything up right now and once it's set I'd probably never touch it again.

 

[ViperPete]

My car does twitch between shifts... so.... its me... hmmm I gotta work on that because I cant stand it. Always twitches to the left so that means I'm pulling on the wheel.

Good advice.

 

[cigar]

Adjustable pedals are for comfort, because we don't have a telescoping steering column. So, this makes us have to adjust to the steering wheel position. I actually use a different seating position when I roadcourse race, focused more on arm leverage and comfort for a 30 min ses session. Not as focused on fast clutching.

A couple of months into viper ownership it seems the best for me (5'11", 190#) to adjust all pedals as far back as possible to reduce pedal travel, then pull the seat forward to a comfortable position. The problem with this, and the reason I keep experimenting, is that I have to push the seat back for easier exit and entrance, that requires adjusting the seat every time you get in the car, of course I could always lose weight and twist myself in and out.

Since you mention the steering wheel, I've had mostly adjustable wheels on cars since the mid 60s and I've always ended up dropping them in my lap, with the Viper the wheel that low interferes with my knees operating the pedals, it's a real problem with the left knee being jammed between the wheel and the dash/door when operating the clutch and the right knee jammed between the wheel and consul when moving the right foot from the gas to the brake pedals. Recently I've been experimenting with dropping the wheel all the way down when cruising on the freeway and moving it up when approaching an offramp, but I see this as dangerous in the case of an emergency where I would need to hit the clutch and get off the gas on onto the brake, it's not good practice but it sure feels great, feels like I'm sitting back guiding a rocket.

 

[NMviperguy]

I'm 6'2, 195. I actually would have to tip toe if my pedals were all the way adjusted against the fire wall. I drive with the seat all the way back and with the pedals brought forward for my III gen... I agree though, nobody is built the same... So what works for me won't work for the next. Thanks for the advise!

 

[WANTED]

I posted a thread about this years ago. I can somewhat teach others how to shift but it is a art. I have always shifted by the feel of it,the car. Not all can do it. I've been able to shift without even using the clutch, cant teach you that, its all knowing the feel of the car and when to shift. One thing I can say is practice makes perfect. Shifting is a skill.

 

[cigar]

I'm 6'2, 195. I actually would have to tip toe if my pedals were all the way adjusted against the fire wall. I drive with the seat all the way back and with the pedals brought forward for my III gen... I agree though, nobody is built the same... So what works for me won't work for the next. Thanks for the advise!

I agree, if the clutch pedal is all the way forward or all the way back it still has to be pushed to the floor, so the only factor that is in play is the distance between the floor and the seat-back, if the pedal is all the way back as far as it goes there is less travel to push the clutch, if you bring the pedal forward all your do is contact it sooner but push it further. But as I said I must be wrong because there has to be a reason Dodge makes them adjustable. Perhaps the clutch pedal does stop before it hits the floor, I can't see down there but it doesn't feel like it. I've sat in the car and tried adjusting and pushing it all ways and can't figure it out.

 

[MoparMap]

I think the stop is built into the pivot, not necessarily the floor. I know when my clutch is all the way back it feels like I have to extend my leg further than when I have it adjusted all the way back. The angle feels a little different too though, so that might have something to do with it.

 

[cigar]

I think the stop is built into the pivot, not necessarily the floor. I know when my clutch is all the way back it feels like I have to extend my leg further than when I have it adjusted all the way back. The angle feels a little different too though, so that might have something to do with it.

I buy that, trying to figure this out I've tried looking at all three pedals while turning the knob, it does appear that they start moving at an angle, I'm going to try turning the knob again and see if I can identify what they are doing.

 

[Roy]

I haven't tried, but I assume the clutch (dis)engages at the same spot with the pedals up or down, you are only able to push the pedal further down when they are up, but I assume it will do his job after X inches of pressing. I do think it was more logical to make a stop behind the pedal which travels along with the adjustment, I agree that it now feels like you have the pedal to the metal either way.

It does help to cycle the pedals up in my opinion, because that last piece of travelof the clutch is easily done with the tip of your too, but when the pedals are down alltogether, I would have too brake with the tip of the too and that's a bigger problem

 

[3whitevipers]

Thanks so much--this old dog needs all the help I can get--Dave

 

[cigar]

I haven't tried, but I assume the clutch (dis)engages at the same spot with the pedals up or down, you are only able to push the pedal further down when they are up, but I assume it will do his job after X inches of pressing. I do think it was more logical to make a stop behind the pedal which travels along with the adjustment, I agree that it now feels like you have the pedal to the metal either way. It does help to cycle the pedals up in my opinion, because that last piece of travelof the clutch is easily done with the tip of your too,

but when the pedals are down alltogether, I would have too brake with the tip of the too and that's a bigger problem

I guess I'm old fashioned in wanting to have my clutch all the way to the floor when I shift gears, I see these guy power-shifting without the clutch and shake my head thinking: "How do they dare do that?"

 

[Morketh]

I was just trying to shift like this and I find it hard to not do the pistol grip with a circular sphere shifter knob, I might have to look into a different shifter knob.

 

[FrankBarba]

Someone with lightening fast reactions can shift faster...no write up needed....but thanks for your insight

 

[Nine Ball]

I guess I'm old fashioned in wanting to have my clutch all the way to the floor when I shift gears, I see these guy power-shifting without the clutch and shake my head thinking: "How do they dare do that?"

Powershifting still uses the clutch. Powershifting simply means not lifting off the throttle while shifting. Nobody races a synchronized manual transmission without using the clutch, that will just wear down the teeth on the sychronizers and cause the trans to start grinding every gear.

 

[Bobpantax]

I think it is important to note for the readers of this thread that the rev limiter plays an important role. Without it being there, there might be a risk of over reving and damage to driveline components and, in some cases, flywheel detonation. In the old days before rev limiters, a scatter shield was a wise modification on a street drag car if you wanted to power shift. Back in 1961, I saw a street car flywheel detonate on a run at Colchester Speedway in Connecticut. They had to extract the driver from the car. Both his legs had shrapnel in them. It was not a pretty sight.

 

[cigar]

Powershifting still uses the clutch. Powershifting simply means not lifting off the throttle while shifting. Nobody races a synchronized manual transmission without using the clutch, that will just wear down the teeth on the sychronizers and cause the trans to start grinding every gear.

Thanks Nine Ball. I think I've solved my pedal position dilemma, with the pedals adjusted forward, sitting at idle with the clutch fully depressed, releasing I found the clutch doesn't engage until you let up a few inches off the floor, so we don't need to fully depress the clutch to the floorboards. When I started driving cars from the 30s we always had to be sure to depress the clutch to the floor, just a habit I got into I guess. The last car I had with a clutch was a POS '81 DeLorean that I sold about '89, so I've been out of practice driving automatics ever since.

 

[Nine Ball]

Thanks Nine Ball. I think I've solved my pedal position dilemma, with the pedals adjusted forward, sitting at idle with the clutch fully depressed, releasing I found the clutch doesn't engage until you let up a few inches off the floor, so we don't need to fully depress the clutch to the floorboards. When I started driving cars from the 30s we always had to be sure to depress the clutch to the floor, just a habit I got into I guess. The last car I had with a clutch was a POS '81 DeLorean that I sold about '89, so I've been out of practice driving automatics ever since.

You are absolutely correct, the Viper has an engagement point about 2/3 up from the floor, along the pedal travel. But, when I'm slamming the pedal, I want to eliminate thinking about that engagement point, so I slam the pedal all the way down each time to keep things consistent. A pedal stop would be a great mod for the Viper.