Poll - Mis shift
 

I am taking a poll. I am curious if I am the only clutz who is not a proffesional Pcar driver. I am still learning this car and once in a while I like to get on it. I make mistakes am I alone?

How many times have you watched racing and the TV guys say -"it looks like something broke" on the lead car as the second car speeds past him, but then the former lead car catches right back up. This it typically followed by the announcers saying "he must have missed a shift".

It happens to the best. What I have found is that if I am matching revs on a downshift then as soon as the clutch starts to engage I can feel it if I am two gears off (revs are not matching at all and there is a jerk in the driveline) and the clutch will go in before damage is done (hopefully).

Just keep driving it, getting used to it, and learning new techniques as you go. Drivers Ed with talented and experienced P-car drivers can give you confidence that you are doing OK or the knowledge to modify what you are doing.

James

BigB,

Been there, done that. At a track event, no less.

I have the early 911 (901 type shift pattern) transmission and shifted from 5th to 2nd instead of 4th coming into a 90 degree turn from a long straight. My tach bounced off the bottom of the dial, but even then I thought I had caught it in time.

After a few laps of getting passed, I realized I was down on power and turned into the pits. Sure enough, low compression revealed a bent valve on cylinder number 2. My motor is out and on the stand right now for a repair that was done poorly on that valve over a year ago.

I sort of liked the comment to slow down your hands and feet during track driving. That philosophy seems to smooth things out and actually get you around the track faster.


JA

There wasn't a choice of a missed shift but putting the clutch pedal back down before redline. One doesn't even need a tach; if you know your car one can tell right away by the sound that something isn't right with the shift. Jim

Going down Hanger Straight at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in my 944S, I screwed up the downshift at the end of the straight and ended up needing a new gearbox.

I thought this might be good place for the following announcement. Starting a new thread might appear to be blatent advertising using Wayne's nickel. Instead, I can hide the blatent commercial note within a related topic. :) I'd like to thank Wayne for the opportunity, via this forum, to tell owners about this product and benefit from its use.

A little reminder about the Gate Shift kit might be appropriate since missed shifts is the general discussion. This shift housing upgrade kit is designed to prevent such potentially expensive mis-shifts from occuring, or at least provide more shifter feedback to reduce the chances of it happening. This product has received favorable reviews from many owners who are using it in their 915-based race or street cars.

http://www.seinesystems.com/Images/GS-BeautyShot-S.jpg

An ad for this product is coming out in the Sept. issue of Excellence with some press release announcements (hopefully) from European Car, 911 & Porsche World and 9 Magazines. I've tried to price this to be both affordable and useable compared to competing products. BTW, the introductory price will remain in effect until Excellence hits the newstands in a couple of weeks.

Regards,
Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars
www.seinesystems.com

The second day of ownership with my '74 Carrera, I was in Oregon visiting a friend and really winding out the engine on a fun run. I was near redline in 3rd, going to 4th and put the selector into 2nd. You guessed it ... rrrrreeeerrrrr .... put, put, gasp!! and dead silence. Coasted to the side of the road and could not start again.

I bent every inlet valve in the engine. 10 days later with a top end rebuild done by the local Porsche dealer (ouch!) we were back on the road again.

I will be adding Sherwood's gate shift kit when I get the '74 back on the road!

Cheers,

I have a few track miles myself. Been there, Done that. It happens BigB, dont worry about it and go have fun with your new car.:)

That's right Brian, just enjoy your car and don't worry about the people who are not being helpful. Also try what I said in the other thread, drive fast somewhere where it's wide open and safe and you can make a lot of relaxed shifts. Just because the car is hauling cheeks, doesn't mean that your hand has to. You can do a lot of safe up and downshifting w/ that 6-speed at freeway(and faster) speeds. I would imagine that at 70-80 mph you could go between 4-5-6 and back w/o radical change in engine speed. :cool:

I haven't missed a shift but I've made too many other mistakes while driving to count. Important is to be safe and enjoy the drive.

So far so good, but I ain't jinxing myself by answering this poll.

Tom:D

Well, your shifting is OK, but you just lost your no-hitter. ;)

On the very first day of driving my first ever 911, a 1966 one with of course the 901 transmission with the dogleg 1st gear, I was not at all used yet to the car and ended up trying to drive away in 3rd gear. Not at all a thing to recommend unless you like the smell of the clutch plates overheating....

Never happened to me again of course, but I once let my sister drive the car and voila, the same thing happened to her :D

BTW: a while later it turned out that the gearbox needed an overhaul but because of an entirely other reason.