[Grady Clay]

Pete,

Good question. Lots of good ideas.
I agree with the above that programming the ECU is the solution.
You could even have a ‘thumb control’ to change the characteristics.

However, I’m of the ‘old school’ where I like to use the engine braking to maximum effect in many situations.
I’ll even ‘dump the clutch’ to initiate rotation in some situations.

Part of this is toning your ability to left-foot brake, heal-toe operation of the brake and accelerator and being willing to use (‘abuse’) the clutch.

In the situation you describe, I might enter the corner with the clutch disengaged, maximum braking and holding the rpm at some high speed. When I re-engage the clutch, I can choose to match rpm, have trailing throttle or applying acceleration power.

I agree with some shifter kart ‘testing’.
Careful, they are adictive.


What gears do you use?
You may want to build a transmission with several gear ratios close to your current 2nd.
This will allow you to pick a gear that will minimize shifting.

Another issue is your choice of clutch.
The 215 mm push-type is far more tolerant of engine-braking loads than the 225 mm pull-type.
A common failure of the pull-type is buckling of the three flat tension springs.
They are designed for high power loads and can fail on engine braking loads.
Of course the 215 mm clutch won’t long tolerate a 3.6 in a autoX intentional slipping situation. The 215 discs are cheep.
The other extreme is a huge, multi-disc clutch that will tolerate slipping heat (drag race style?).

What hand brake do you have?
One more ‘tool’ in autoX performance.

What LSD? What settings?
One difficulty with LSDs is the transition from decal to acceleration where the differential releases during this transition.
I prefer the predictability of a ‘spool’ on race tracks.
I suspect the low-speed (autoX) ‘push’ would be intolerable.


A couple of years ago my son (then 22) was in a Formula Mazda Pro Star car with all the ‘driver aids’.
In a slow turn, the ‘traction control’ wouldn’t let him use the engine braking to assist the ‘turn-in’.
He was eventually fastest with it turned completely off.
Same with the ABS.

Some times ‘kiss’ is best.

Best,
Grady