GidyupGo

To bad during all his bracket races, he never learned about reaction time. That is what determines the winner in those races.

06VistaBlueGT

You're right, they usually do congratulate me. After which they come over to look at the car and are very surprised to see it's a stick. I've had quite a few people very upset with themselves for losing to a stick shift car. You are also right, autos are beatable but if you got the stats of races where a stick car (not a clutchless manual),is bracket racing an auto I bet the auto will win 75% of the time.

06VistaBlueGT

You make it sound like I don't like auto's, it's actually the opposite. I would much rather have an auto to race, I don't so I use what I have even if I am at a disadvantage.
Trust me, I know that reaction time is where the race is won or lost. Don't forget that the ability to cover your number without going under is also going to win you many races. So, lets say both cars had identical R/T's (.520 which is about what I average) and I short shift or late shift, I'm more than likely going to either break-out or be a few hundredths slow. Meanwhile, the guy in the auto just has to worry about his R/T and keeping his foot on the floor for the rest of the race and he will probably be within a couple hundredths of his dial-in. This is why auto's are more consistent.

I had this exact thing happen to me last weekend. I had a .502 R/T, the guy I was racing had a .591. This should have been an easy win but I broke-out by .004s, the other guy broke-out as well but he only broke-out by .001. I did everything right except for being .004 too fast.

Norm Peterson

That"s a good example of showing what happens when folks look only at one piece of the puzzle instead of the entire picture. Usually discussions go downhill from there when no real numbers are produced to establish just how big any given effect is. It"s way too easy to think or imply that really small factors are bigger than they really are. And we"re all guilty of doing that at least once in a while.

Here, nobody who"s serious is going to leave 3% on the table - unless by picking it up they are likely to lose more that that elsewhere. Quick and dirty numbers for what that 10 HP might be worth if everything else stayed exactly the same are about 0.16 seconds and a little over 1 mph.

But that"s why races are decided at the track instead of at the keyboard.


Norm

Goldenpony

When I get too lazy, or too old to drive a manual, I'll call a taxi.

howarmat

I agree if you are serious that even 3% can be a big deal and it is put into serious consideration. But as you stated if its only roughly .16 seconds off in the quarter I am sure that can be picked up with the quicker auto shifting. All of this really relies on if the car is setup correctly. An auto with improper shift settings doesnt do anything for you at all. For most people just hitting the track once and awhile though for the fun of it, the 3% shouldnt be deciding factor for the race.

zkiller

Not to mention the torque multiplication of the torque converter once it is locked.

You might as well be in a taxi if you want to race my automatic, cause the result will be the same.
Also, I'm not lazy or old and I have owned more manual Mustangs than you have probably even ridden in. Whena drivermisses a shift in a high boost car with a manual - hemay have a disastrous result. That won't happen with an automatic. Ther are many reasons people choose to not have clutch.

Beast

IMO manuals are just more fun. Automatics dont have to worry about occasionally missing 3rd like a manual but I would just be bored to death. If I want to cruise in an automatic I'll get in my Explorer. Seriously though, drag racing, automatic. Track racing, standard. Fun to drive???? Manual There's a reason you cant find automatic Lambo's, Ferrari's, and Porsche's.

GTVapor

My thoughts [sm=exactly.gif]

Mudflap

hehe, its clear some people think having the manual increases the size of their e-peen. My car pulls like a freight train and has pretty much no throttle lag, soI'd be seriously impressed if someone with an identical car/mods and a manual could keep up in a race. Some say the manual is more fun... I thought so too up until a couple years ago. Now I find nothing fun in micromanaging the shifting process, especially when the auto can do it better/faster/more consistent than virtually any human. I guess tastes change over time...