[JimMueller]

With the exception of the 3-4 Evolution schools I've taken, I've only raced my car at an autocross. Since my car is down, I have been given the opportunity to co-drive a 400rwhp C5 with an automatic tranny. The car has received FTD at the first three events of the season. The guy who typically got FTD last year has been without his Z06, and when he drove this car he had difficulty getting used to the automatic tranny. I think he's got 315 V710's on all corners, and something like -2.5 camber. Recent changes made at the suggestion of Danny Popp.

This event will sorta be a mini-road race. When we run the course as an increasing radius sweeper, stock Z06's reached about 115mph on the back stretch. We'll be going the opposite way this event, however.

So, anything in particular I should know if I take him up on his offer? Let the car shift itself? How do I prevent it from shifting in the middle of a corner? What else?

[RedHardSupra]

oh, perfect timing for this topic, i was just wondering myself...
i do my HPDE events in 3, which is fine, except for one thing: coming down from mid-speed straights (in 2nd) to a slower corner. what happens is the moment you get on the brakes, car thinks 'oh we're going to cruise now' and shifts to 3rd, then i have to get on it BEFORE the apex to get it to shift to 2nd again, to exit the corner on some proper power. so not only i have to get on the gas before the apex, but i also do 2 unnecessary shifts, which just beat up on the trans. faster straights (3rd gear) are similar, but with one less shift. I would _really_ like to avoid it.

so i go out and read about it as much as i could find, but if you type in f-body and auto trans, all you find is how to make it shift harder for quarter mile runs :/ so i put before you these few questions:

1. how safe is it to downshift from 3->2 under braking? (as that's my main annoyance)
2. i read that shiftkits allow you to 'hold in gear up to any rpms' how is that different from just shifting yourself ?
3. i read that shiftkits can actually extend the life of an auto trans under racing conditions. is it true? why?
4. what's the best technique for going through a corner in an auto, if you were just slowing down and trans want to go in the 'civilian' mode of not keeping it in gear, but upshifting as much as possible?
5. i have HPTuners, which is a fantastic toy as far as playing with transmissions goes, and i've been thinking of creating a special program just for track duty, with totally bastardized trans settintg, that wouldn't upshift until you run out of revs. i'm kinda unsure how to set it up so it doesn't upshift under braking though. any ideas?

this is the table i've been using for normal driving, i'm about to redo it all completely as i'm putting in shorter gears right now.

CODE

colums are just different % of throttle from 0 to 100% in equal intervals
1->2   11    11    11    12    14    16    20    24    28    31    33    35    36    37    37    37    37
2->3   17    17    20    22    26    30    37    44    50    55    61    65    69    71    73    74    76
3->4   24    24    29    35    43    50    56    87    125    125    125    125    125    125    125    125    125
2->1   10    10    10    10    10    10    10    10    10    10    10    10    10    10    10    10    31
3->2   16    16    16    16    16    16    18    20    23    25    29    34    39    45    50    57    72
4->3   22    22    23    25    29    32    37    42    48    55    66    82    94    100    107    114    123