Ranger,
Interesting thread, and I appreciate your willingness to help others improve their game. I notice that you don’t mention power-shifting, but it’s hard to believe you could attain those times without it. Do you power-shift all gears? I’d also be interested in hearing your technique for heating the tires.
Thanks again for the advise!
Thanks for the kind words, Black SRT.
Powershifting is very much a mixed bag.
(1) Power shifting won't lower your times unless the traction is extremely good. That generally doesn’t happen on Corvette stock tires. On drag radials that are well-heated and with very good track prep, traction will definitely support a power shift from 3d to 4th, and 2d to 3d, but not necessarily the 1st to 2d. Try it both ways and see which is faster. Just remember if the power shift makes the tires spin, some easing of the throttle may make them spin less, which may lower the ET.
(2) Power shifting definitely increases the risk of damage to the tranny. Most of the Z06 racers I know personally that power shift have had their trannies rebuilt or replaced. My trannies have been fine so far; but I power shift ONLY when conditions reward it. Otherwise, I shift very fast but ease the throttle.
Making strong shifts work well requires very fast leg speed and well coordinated movements of the right hand and clutch foot.
It take practice to get the moving parts of a very fast shift synchronized. Leg speed governs the pace. The legs (clutch and throttle) must move in two directions. The shfter hand moves in only one direction. And the movements need to occur fast and in proper sequence. Practice, practice, practice.
My experience has been that the magic to strong shifts under heavy acceleration is to practice, practice, practice. To reduce wear, I practice with the 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 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.
On the C6Z particularly, I always ensure the oil temp is above 100 degrees, before banging the shift drills. With that in mind, good time to bang through the drill is at the completion of the daily commute to and from the office.
Heating the tires with a burnout is necessary for drag radials and improves traction on C6Z06 stock runflats.
Drive around the water, back into the waterbox and immediately spin the tires just enough to get a full rotation of them, but NOT enough to throw water up into the wheel wells.
Roll forward out of the water few feet; but do NOT roll so far as to put the rear wheels onto the rubber/VHT prepped area.
Put the 6-speed in 2d gear.
Drop the clutch and feed the throttle and (if necessary), quickly lightly apply the brakes with your left foot. I don’t always need the brakes but sometimes it's helpful for keeping the rear end from walking sideways.
Bring the rpm to about 5000 until the tires smoke strongly and start to grab and the rpm starts being drawn down. At that point, back out of the throttle and (if applied) release the brake, and you'll roar forward. The tires are heated. I don't count seconds but just spin them strongly until they smoke and begin to grab hard.
Takes a little practice. But remember, if you botch the burn-out, DON'T retry it with dry tires. Doing that will likely glaze the clutch...or worse.
Ranger
Hey Ranger,
