Hi all, I have set the Clutch to manual but when I shift down, I don’t have to use the clutch. Is this normal in race cars? I do give a blip when down shifting by the way.
Yes, it's normal. (Can wear out the car though) With blipping it's perfectly fine if you are rev matching sufficiently yes. Even upshifts might work clutchless with proper lifting. It also depends on the car. Gr.C cars will allow for no clutch at all if done properly, an F-Vee will probably challenge you more and you could damage a gear if executed wrong pretty quickly. You also have to consider clutch damage. Flat shifting at high torque application like C3 Corvettes could hurt your clutch even if you use the clutch all the time, if you apply unprecise shifting technique.
Thanks.. that clear things out. I have full damage on so I hope I do it right. I suck at heel toe so therefore I brake with my left foot.
You should avoid heel&toe for downshifts in shorter races if you can for cars like F-Classics, F-Retro, Gr.C and maybe even F-Vintages. Mostly lowest gears could have a benefit for stability with heel&toe tho. When you do longer races, heel&toe can safe your materials though and you are less likely to fail shifts, downside is indeed the consistency on the brakes. I sometimes lost my 3rd gear in the F-Vee already to take that example again, when attempting to shift it clutchless the whole time, so some cars still really don't like it. If you think, any car seems suspicious with shift tolerances and you have some references, it's still good to read about it. There is certainly room to improve for some.
