SilverPR5

Downshifting does take finesse. I got it on a couple of occassions, but it helps to have an aftermarket exhaust so you can listen to your revs and such.

My way is just as I'm slowing down, right foot is on the brakes, left foot is getting ready to tap the clutch. Just before I get to the apex of the corner I quickly stab the gas to bring the revs up, clutch in with left foot, downshift into 1st, and feather the clutch out to not jerk the car. There were times I've let the clutch out too fast and jerked the car rearward. Then other times I didn't get the clutch-in in time and bogged the car coming out of the corner.

rowan

Pigeon, you should check out toprotege.com to hookup with more Toronto peoples.

The next event at Hershey centre is August 24 I think.

If you don't mind a bit of a drive to London, there is an event August 18th that they have on an oval track down there. Pretty fast and fun.

Pigeon

thanks a lot man
im going to try to make it to this one with a couple friends
thanks alot

bmassche

yeah, Delaware speedway is an oval just out of London and is pretty cool. I would like to aoto-x but my wife thinks I will hit something- or someone.

rowan

No way man .. you would have to really screw up and make many mistakes in a row to hit anything other than a cone.
Of course, Delware speedway does have those nice big walls.. but they aren't really as close as they look on the first couple of times around

Davard

But the chrome-moly makes excellent sparks at night.

On my recent trip, there was some road work across the road. For some reason, they thought that having a big bump in the middle of the road would be a good idea (maybe tires just compressed the stuff on the edges). Whatever it was, it didn't look that bad, so I didn't slow down and hit it at 35mph. The hit was hard enough that it felt like the car launched (it didn't), but my friend following in his Miata was treated to an excellent spark show.

Sorry to go off-topic:

Usually the only cars that benefit from downshifting to 1st are the ITRs (Integra Type-Rs). Why? They have a long 1st (about 40mph), a killer LSD, and a tall 2nd with little low-end torque (at least compared to the tons of Hi-RPM HP that they have).

Until you get consistant, you have no idea if the downshift made you faster. Most newbies will see huge improvements from 1st run to last. If you picked up 1 second after downshifting on your last run, you might have picked up 2 secs if you hadn't downshifted.

Of course, all this is course dependent. Where I started autocrossing, the parking lot was so tight, that I often ran half of the course in 1st gear. On full-sized courses, I can count the number of times when a downshift to 1st in the Protege was useful on one hand (in 10+ years of driving).

Pigeon

im still interested in this event on august 24th

its at the hersey centre
what car club is hosting it??

and is it the same rules and everything as the last one?

thanks

chris