Can anyone from Reiza comment on the behavior of the Formula Vintage cars when trying to execute 'dogbox' shifts, i.e. not depressing the clutch, but simply relying on engine blipping to rev match when shifting up or down using an H-shifter. I may be imagining it, but I perceive a slight difference between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 when shifting this way. The Gen 1 seems to be more fussy about the required execution in order to avoid nasty gearbox grinding / wear. You have to wait longer off throttle before executing the shift. Ideally I'd prefer them both to be more forgiving in this regard, assuming there is, in fact, a difference? Has anyone else tried to drive these cars this way, as opposed to using heel / toe or auto clutch?
I drive them clutchless all the time. For upshifts i would recommend the clutch though, for downshifts just a healthy blip and you'll be fine unless you're in the lowest 2 gears, there heel&toe helps with stability if needed, comes at a cost of braking precision obviously. For clutchless upshifts, you need to hit the right rpm when lifting and it's perfectly possible that engine inertia, gear ratios and shift tolerance is resulting in slightly different results. These cars do not have todays more modern synchromesh gearboxes though so rev-matching is naturally more challenging for them.
OK thanks Crimson. I do think Gen 2 upshifts more readily without the clutch than does Gen 1. I guess a slightly more tolerant gearbox than the older Gen 1 makes for more realism