I drive a 2005 sti. When shifting gears while drag racing with the awd should I let off the gas or keep my foot down on the gas?
I am not sure if I am the best person to answer this. But i just shift as fast as I can. Foot off the gas and back on. That way I don't over rev the car when i push in the clutch. I think with some seat time in your car (and maybe a few mis-shifts) you should be able to get pretty fast at it. I have always found that seat time is the best thing when learning how to shift. Oh and this!
well if you have a FFS program, then by all means don't lift, but.... if you are " powershifting" then you should stop doing that while you can still drive your car.
If you're not tuned for flat-foot shifting, I would strongly suggest not flat foot shifting. You will mechanically overrev your engine. In my experience, a solid 60-foot time, a straight alignment, and proper tire pressures got me better times than slamming gears.
^^this more seat time and getting your tires to actually hook up well is going to get you your best times. I have also found that smooth shifting while on the track instead of just jabing at gears at whatever RPM you happen to be helps on times and on your tranny. But lets face it drag racing is not easy on your car something will break eventually.
I'm not sure how the rev-limiter works on the OP's car. Is the rev limiter based on fuel cut that is based off of "on above" and "off below" rpm limits like on the 07 sti? I know on a wrx, I've datalogged some autox runs where I've bounced off the rev-limiter on acceleration for long enough that the rpms slowly rose beyond the rev limit. Not as likely to bounce off the limiter that long when drag racing I suppose.
If you let off fast enough and shift fast enough, it'll feel like flat foot or power shifting. I have power shifted/flat foot the 6spd withOUT the FFS program. you have to be good at it. The engine will not overrev. It may go past the redline a few hundred rpms, but that's because the engine is spinning up a little after the ECU cutting off ignition/etc. Sometimes powershifting causes the car to run rich because it cuts ignition leaving unburned fuel and them burning out after so it chokes. Just let off a little bit but shift fast. Fast foot work too BTW.
Right, I can see some creep into long periods in the limiter or more likely more creep with the on/off the gas pedal scenerio. Both of these will not get far enough into the red to make me worry without excessive time spent there. Mechanicaly overreving comes from choosing the wrong gear for the vehicle speed.
Gotcha. Wrong choice of words on my part. My main point is, there are other ways to cut a better time at the drag strip. If the OP is taslking about skreet racing, then I know nothing!
You can jam into the next gear, but plan replacing syncros and gears within a short time period. IMHO, the only proper way to shift without lifting is with an auto or a dogbox.
What could be the cons of driving using this style?...i look at it as what i interpreted from Fuji's explanation above
He's got a dogbox. The only reason he clutches is because he's cornering (fast) and wants the smoothest power delivery possible.
A syncro box still uses the balk rings whether you lift or not. Not lifting makes them work harder and faster. It will tear up the balk rings and gears faster than shifting normally. With a dog engagement gearbox, you don't even need FFS. A hard-cut rev limiter does the job quite nicely, and doesn't tear up the tranny since that is how they are designed to work. As the old adage goes, you can't get something for nothing.
