When you drag race either on the track or street do you use the manual mode or leave it in drive? If you use manual mode what RPMs do you shift at in each gear? Whats the best way to launch? I have a big race coming up with my buddies 2002 S2k. He's an OK driver with the 6 speed but he's real cocky about his car and doesnt think I have a chance. This is my first sports car so i'm kinda new at the whole drag racing scene. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I'd love my first kill to be a S2k. Well I beat a 1990 Celica last week but that wasn't even a challenge

 

manual mode without a doubt. Go ut and practice yor shifting @ WOT so you don't hit the rev limiter.

 

Yeah, you definitely need to get used to where the rev limiter is. You should be able to beat the S2000. I have beaten two of them at the track.

 

What rpm do you shift the 1-2 to keep from hitting the limiter? I've never been able to do a clean manumatic 1-2 shift in my G without tapping the limiter. When I was at the track a few weeks ago, I let the tranny shift itself on the 1-2 (indicated 6500rpm shift) and then I held 2nd manually for a 6800rpm indicated shift. I'm sure my G could be a smidge quicker if I could figure out the right rpm to tap the shifter into 2nd.

 

From what I can tell leaving it in drive it shifts about 300 or so before the rev limiter, and you wont have to worry about missing a shift.

 

From what I understand, with our 5ATs in manual mode, we don't really shift. Instead, we are moving a gear limiter. In manual mode, we are controlling the highest gear into which our trannies can shift. So all you have to do is bump from 1-2 before red-line, and your tranny will shift itself into 2nd gear before your engine bumps up against the rev limiter. How many rpms before red-line should you bump it? It depends how long it takes your tranny to shift itself.

If you bump it up to 2nd too soon, your car will continue to accelerate until the tranny shifts on its own at red-line. If you don't bump it up into 2nd until your tranny hits the rev limiter, then you fell asleep!

 

Turn off TCS. Hold the brake with your left foot, preload the drivetrain by holding RPMs with your right foot. Accelerate on green with your right foot and release the brake with your left foot simultaneously. You probably want just a touch of wheelspin. You will need to practice to determine the proper RPMs to preload without burning out your torque convertor.

 

That's not true with mine. When i shift, it shifts. It has nothing to do with redline. If i shift at 4K in WOT, it goes to 2nd. If i shift at 6500k it goes there and just misses redline. If i'm in 3rd and pull to a light without down shifting , it goes to 1st. But on the way up, it's all the drivers responsibility to shift properly.

 

The 03 and early 04 G35 sedans have different shift algorithems than the Zs and later Gs. I do notice that if I just tap the shifter for upshift at WOT, sometimes won't shift. I have push up on the shifter and hold it to get an instantous shift. I think what happens is the electronic pins don't get a good signal if you just tap up/down too quickly. Holding the shifter while up/down shifting results in instant shifts, regardless of WOT or part-throttle.

The problem I have with a manual 1-2 at WOT above 6000tpms is that there is a clear bogging sensation before it hits 2nd. To me it feels like a torque management system kicking in. If I let the tranny shift itself on the 1-2, there's no bog on the shift. Manually shifting the 2-3 at WOT has no bog what so ever. Do you guys get this 1-2 bog when manually shifting at rpms over 6000?

 

My first offical kill was an S2K.

If you can afford it, go light up your tires a little somewhere else before you race him :P

Stall it up to like 1800-1900 and launch from there in manual mode of course, practice your shifts and get as close to redline as you can, keep pushing it till it pings the limiter and figure out exactly where you want to shift at.

 

I have the 5AT, and I usually shift it when it hits about 6100-6200 at WOT. It usually beats the rev limiter by only about a 100 rpm. As far as the brake torqueing, be sure to pull your brakelight fuse or it will set off the VDC and you wont go anywhere. I tried this once, and it wouldn't let me shift out of first until I came back to a complete stop. The ECU goes haywire if both gas brake are pressed at the same time, and shuts down power to the engine.

 

It actually only kills 30% of the power and make sure your TCS is off when you launch. I did OK burnouts without the brake fuse pulled at the track, its really up to you.

 

On my car, I can "shift" to higher gears, but the only time the car shifts at the very next moment is if the tranny will have shifted at that point anyway. If I move to a higher gear too early under WOT, the engine runs to 6500rpm and then shifts itself. If I don't move to a higher gear in time, the engine bounces off the rev limiter. When I come to a stop, the tranny shifts into 1st gear by itself. When I accelerate again, the tranny will shift itself up through the gears until it reaches the last gear I selected before.

So, you're saying later model ATs are actually shifted in the manual mode?

Wow...