MagiC5

you cut a 1.8 on street tires? WTF thats bad ***... I need more seat time!!!! what tires/wheel size are you running?

Ranger

How many passes have you made in this car?

How many passes have you ever made in a traction-limited car with manual tranny?

Reason I ask is that it generally takes 30-50 passes to approach the bottom of your capability in any platform. If you're at the upper end of that range, you're probably correct. But driving better does not necessarily mean being harder on the car. Driver technique can be refined without undue stress on the car.

Consider, please...

(1) clutch is a wear item. 150-175 passes should come from a well maintained clutch, whose fluid is changed regularly and not slipped significantly on track launches.

(2) car has a rev limiter to protect it on upshifts.

(3) the threat to the tranny is minimal for a driver who shifts precisely. To that end Here's a post to review: Fast driving is like any other athletic endeavor, a combination of techniques and practice to embed muscle memory. Think about the difference between two b-ball players' foul shot percentages. One averages 62%, the other 89%. Why the difference? Quite likely, practice, practice, practice.

An Enzo's F1-derived paddleshifter completes a shift in 200 milli-seconds. Think about that; it's 200/1000=2.0 tenths. So accelerate through three full shifts and the engine has been "clutch-in" for .600 seconds. That's with an automatic...an F1 auto at that. So how long does it take you to make three shifts with an M6/M12 manual tranny? If you practice, you can come very close to Enzo shifts. And guys that achieve the really fast times at the drag strip, do so, in part, by fast shifts. Note I didn't say "power shifts." just fast shifts.

Here is a good drill for improving shift speed and eliminating missed-shifts.

Step #1
Start by checking your hand position.

My advice is always to keep your thumb OFF the shifter.

Pull the shifter with cupped fingers (no thumb).

Push the shifter with the heel of the hand, no fingers.

To go 1-2, pull the shifter straight back (remember cupped fingers and no thumb.)

To go 2-3, push the shifter toward the radio (remember heel of the hand and NO thumb). This will allow the strong centering device to find the 3d gear shift gate.

To go 3-4, same as 1-2.

Step #2
Using the step-#1 hand positions, Do shifting drills.

My experience has been that the magic to strong shifts under heavy acceleration (with no missed shifts) is practice, practice, practice.

To reduce wear, I practice with the oil warm (over 100 degrees) and engine off and omit the throttle but include the clutch.

1-2, 2-3, 3-4...repeat. Sets of five. I do perhaps 50 sets per week, usually 5 sets at both ends of my daily commute, and then 10 sets between passes in the staging lanes. This routine embeds muscle memory and makes each shift a preparatory queue for the next.

I suspect that practicing these step would end missed shifts for most owners.

A second and related practice is taking care of your clutch. Pedal woes lead to tranny issues, because of incomplete disengagement of the clutch during shifts. Changing the clutch fluid regularly helps keep the pedal acting normally.

More clutch fluid details are here and here

Following these approached, I've got 542 passes is three Z06s without breakage and with three still very smooth trannies...and a bunch of ET records. A lot of that comes from doing these shifting drills.

(4) Finally, shift points need to be precise and consistent...and right before the limiter. That's easy to say but hard to achieve.

So, my take is that folks looking to find the bottom for their driving in a Z06 can best focus on eliminating all vestiges of waste in the driver component.

Perfect launch = high 1.7X
Perfect shifts...minimal clutch-in durations
Perfect shift points...right before the limiter

Easy to write all this. Hard to bring each component to reality in the same pass. But it is that quest that brings the hooked driver back to the track day after day pursuing the perfect pass. :thumbs

Ranger

96-speed

iTrader: (19)

Ranger: Last night my last pass was #41 on the car (in 3 months ). Total number of passes in M6 cars is probably somehwere around double that, so about 70-80 passes.

I didn't mean to sound like I have mastered the car and cannot gain anything else. I will continue to practice and work harder to gain as much as possible through the driver mod. Thanks for the advice.

Magi: Tires are Firestone Wideoval 295/40 ZR18s in the stock rear Z06 wheels.

There was a photgrapher out last night taking pics. He just so happened to catch me launching on my 1.82 60'. I'll post it once I receive it.

Ryan

96-speed

iTrader: (19)

For those that care, here is a pic of what a C5 looks on a 1.82 60' with stock tires:



Another 1-2" in the front and we might see some daylight. J/k ,
Ryan