Gear Change When Booting it

**MattM** · Sunday 29th April 2012, 21:18

Do you change up at 6k when going flat out or go higher before changing up?

**graemewelch** · Sunday 29th April 2012, 22:06

i change just befor limiter kicks in. dosnt get full beans very often though

**T5frankie** · Sunday 29th April 2012, 22:09

you will find peak torque is alot lower probably 4-4.5k so probably changing lower between peak torque and bhp figures would be more advantageous

**Cubes** · Sunday 29th April 2012, 22:13

You need to get to know your car. That's the simple answer.
I'm lucky enough to be able to try this on a regular basis so I can speak from experience.
Taking it to the limit (as The Eagles once said - showing my age there!) can be a a waste of fuel, energy and momentum. Tha last 1200 - 1000 revs or so often labour, and speed increase tends to tail off. Simply put - just have a play around.

**Wobbly Dave** · Sunday 29th April 2012, 22:27

Are we talking about drag racing or going to the shops?

**LeeT5** · Sunday 29th April 2012, 23:55

I never go beyond 4k. Don't see the point! I'm not on a race track, i don't drive like my cars been nicked and want to keep my licence. It wastes fuel and you won't get to where your going any quicker....

Does it really matter?

Sorry Matt but i think it's a pointless question.

**Wobbly Dave** · Sunday 29th April 2012, 23:58

Hence why I was wondering if this was to do with the track?

**t5_monkey** · Monday 30th April 2012, 00:05

Originally Posted by LeeT5

I never go beyond 4k. Don't see the point! I'm not on a race track, i don't drive like my cars been nicked and want to keep my licence. It wastes fuel and you won't get to where your going any quicker....

Does it really matter?

Sorry Matt but i think it's a pointless question.

That's basically like saying you date Nicole Scherzinger but never go further than touching her boobies ?

**V70 Graham** · Monday 30th April 2012, 00:11

Originally Posted by t5_monkey

That's basically like saying you date Nicole Scherzinger but never go further than touching her boobies ?

Oh I'd be happy to get that far with her

**Cubes** · Monday 30th April 2012, 00:58

Originally Posted by LeeT5

I never go beyond 4k. Don't see the point! I'm not on a race track, i don't drive like my cars been nicked and want to keep my licence. It wastes fuel and you won't get to where your going any quicker....

Does it really matter?

Sorry Matt but i think it's a pointless question.

I think it's a fair question, to be honest. We all like to know how to get the best out of what we have, right? Doesn't mean we have to break the speed limit, or drive on a way to put others at risk.

Lee, why would you choose a T5 over a drive-e?

**fassi1** · Monday 30th April 2012, 07:09

Originally Posted by LeeT5

I never go beyond 4k. Don't see the point! I'm not on a race track, i don't drive like my cars been nicked and want to keep my licence. It wastes fuel and you won't get to where your going any quicker....

Does it really matter?

Sorry Matt but i think it's a pointless question.

So what's the point of having a powerfull car and never use its potential?
Waste of money for road tax.

**zip929** · Monday 30th April 2012, 07:32

Originally Posted by fassi1

So what's the point of having a powerfull car and never use its potential?
Waste of money for road tax.

I am inclined to agree. Get a 1.6 and get fantastic fuel consumption if that is your primary goal when you drive your car.

**MattM** · Monday 30th April 2012, 10:07

Just curious to know how you get the most pace out of your car in a straight line. I saw some videos of someone in a T5 changing up 7k, I always thought it was best not to go into the red because it's generally not going to give you the best performance.

**M-R-P** · Monday 30th April 2012, 10:39

You'll often find that when doing a 1/4 mile, you're better off hitting 7k in 3rd than changing to 4th and losing 2/10

7k @3rd gear = about 100 mph (depending on gearbox and wheels etc)

**Wobbly Dave** · Monday 30th April 2012, 11:14

Depending on the blower and remap it will vary. I launch at 3700 rpm & try to keep between 4 - 6500 for the 1st 2 gears but it happens so quick - I would reckon that I may reach 7 easily.

I will dig out my in car vid with the telemetry from the run at Avon Park.

I leave it to run out in 3rd gear - nearly to the red line because I found I get a better time than doing another gear change.

**jardon** · Monday 30th April 2012, 12:40

Suck it and see but with my set up (which is similar to yours now I have an M66 box) I don't rev out so high now as the ratios are closer. I probably haven't experimented as much with this box as with the old M56 - then I used to rev out to 7500 in first, 7000 in second, 6250 in third and 5500-6000 in 4th. These are approximate figures but you get the idea - at high load torque will drop off well below the limiter hence the earlier shift in higher gears. I will occasionally hold 3rd to 7500 rpm if an upchange is going to get in the way.

My peak torque is around 4500 rpm so when I change up I aim to be there or thereabouts if I'm going for it.

If you have a dyno plot that tells you where peak torque is then use that as a guide - change up when the next gear lands you in the oomph. If no dyno plot you should be able to tell where peak torque is as that is when it pulls the hardest - in my car the old clutch used to slip at ~4500 rpm so it was easy to figure out what was going on. Nothing worse than upchanging into a bog of low boost but equally thrashing the nuts off it in high gear will be counter productive.

**MattM** · Monday 30th April 2012, 12:46

Looking at the dyno it seems torque does drop off quite a bit between 5-6k. I can only assume it would be worse going towards 7k. This was in 4th.

**jardon** · Monday 30th April 2012, 13:22

I haven't driven your car but based on that graph I think a good place to start is to try landing your upchanges around ~4000 rpm. The ratios are closer at higher rpm so you won't have to (or want to as the torque drops off) rev as hard in high gears to acheive this.

In an M56 1-2-3 are quite far apart so I used to rev out to get me in the right rpm point for the next gear. I notice that with this M66 (like yours) I can be quite lazy about when I upchange as I usually land in boost.

Short shifting is rarely going to get you anywhere fast unless traction is hopeless. I asked a very similar question a few years ago and the answers were variously:

1. Drive it and see what feels best

2. Upchange at 6000 rpm

3. Overlay a dyno plot with a gear chart

I would go with the first two.

**mitchyboy01** · Monday 30th April 2012, 14:48

Depends on the size of the turbo. A 15g will tail off in the upper revs whereas a Garrett 3071 will put hard to the Redline and beyond. Depends where the car makes the power. Surely you can feel it when driving, if it's still pulling hard, then keep revving.