rec.autos.simulators

There have also been a few posts recently about people who are developing
plans to build this kind of shifter.  The ones I've seen so far don't really
go immediately from one gear to another that is not immediately in sequence
though.  Instead they try to simulate that by doing the appropriate number
of sequential shifts very quickly so that it seems as if it goes all the way
at once.  The problem with that is that there is apparently a delay that is
programmed into GPL after each shift before another can be recognized so
that kind of defeats the scheme.  Here is a link to one of these sites:
http://wwwcip.rus.uni-stuttgart.de/~mas20122/hshift.htm.  If you search in
this newsgroup you may still be able to find some other posts on this
subject.

H-Shifter:
http://wwwcip.rus.uni-stuttgart.de/~mas20122/hshift.htm
This is a good and detailed page.

Ingemars Hemsida:
http://w1.415.telia.com/~u41500035/vaxel.html
This page is unfortunately in swedish only, but he uses a much simplier
method. Here are the links to the wiring for the shifter and the Basic
Stamp2:

http://w1.415.telia.com/~u41500035/spaken.html
http://w1.415.telia.com/~u41500035/vaxelsch.html

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Dave

By going from fourth or fifth gear to second for instance,  you eliminate
many hazards. To name but a few advantages.......

1. Whilst braking, you stand far greater chance of locking up when the
clutch pedal is on the floor. This is especially true when there is diesel/
oil/ water etc on the surface. By eliminating gear changes you get more
stability. It also allows the hands to remain on the wheel for longer
periods of time and hence more control.

2. Clutch wear is reduced dramatically. It costs about 20 for a set of
brake pads!

3. The old chestnut that engine braking helps to slow you is not true unless
you have in excess of 300BHP pulling the flywheel back. This is in any case,
negated by any declutching. Try it. do 30 mph in 4th and then come off the
gas and change into 3rd without braking. The retardation is hardly going to
put teardrops on the windscreen.

Mark

True I guess

Can't argue this on a road car, but on the track, who cares

Uhm, try downchanging to 1st and see if you think the same

Personally I drive a RWD car, and as in all roadcars, the brake bias
doesn't let the rear wheels do much braking, but by downchanging at a
point where my revs will go to approx mah HP in the lower gear, I can
sometimes "lock" (meaning that they spin slower than they actually
should according to roadspeed, they still turn of course) the rears if
I'm under heavy braking, and the increased rear wheel braking will most
certainly shorten my braking distance, would be different in a FWD car
of course

This is not something I recommend for road use or in slippery conditions
btw, better kept for track use, the rear end sometimes will swap ends on
you :-)

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(uncle) Goy

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Let me give one disadvantage, Mark. You do this at highway speed, in
the rain or on a slick surface, and you may slide or spin off the road.

You know that, right? More importantly, your -students- know that,
don't they?

Not true at all. Read on..

Try 4th -> 3rd  at 65 mph and see if you get any braking, even if you have
a 50hp engine, such as a VW, etc..

Clue... you WILL get lots of braking.

FWIW, engine braking has -nothing- to do with HP. It has to do with
gear ratios, compression ratios, general engine friction and flywheel
weight for the most part.

Mark, you, as a 'professional' driving instructor are not -really- teaching
people this stuff are you? I hope not, because you could get them killed.

--
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FWIW, engine braking IS measured in horsepower, just look at the specs for any
commercial truck engine.  Getting a truck stopped is much harder than getting a
car stopped because of the weight involved. (guess that's obvious, duh)  Truck
engine manufacturers scream about this measurement almost as loudly as they do
for torque and horsepower.  A truck engine optimized for braking will have
about 2/3 the braking power as acceleration power.  A car engine is probably
about 1/3.  Compare these numbers to the easy 1000 horsepower the average road
car brakes can produce and you'll see why the effect is minor on overall
braking.

Don McCorkle
Libertarian Motorsports

The original 'professional' instructor claimed there would be little to
no effect from shifting down, unless you had over 300hp, but you
snipped that. He claimed that it is a good idea to shift down from
5th-2nd, since the effect would be negligible. I pointed out that
his recommendation would not be a good idea on slick surfaces, at
highway speeds.

Do you agree with him?

So you believe, as the original poster (which you totally snipped) that
unless you have over 300hp the braking from shifting down will be
negligible?

Tell us, and please don't continue to snip the context from the thread.
Thanks.

Trucks? Yawn..

[shrug]

Kewl.

Hey Don, what happens when you slam the shifter from 5th to
2nd, at 65mph, on a wet highway, in a 50hp Volkswagen?

Now Don, please attempt to answer the questions I have asked and
try to avoid snipping the context from the thread. Thanks again.

BTW, I don't know about (or care about) trucks, but I do know a
little about cars.
--
* rrevved at mindspring dot com  
* http://www.cabal.net
* http://www.sputum.com

I'm a road driver in the UK. I was taught by a professional driving
instructor. (Notice no quotes round that, Ed). He taught me to shift from
4th to 2nd as matter of course.

But not going down the highway at 65, instead of using the brakes, you do it
when you're going to slow down to a speed that suits 2nd gear.

Suppose you're approaching a turn (left in the UK, like a right turn in the
US), you slow down, you start changing gear - you don't go 5-4-3-2- turn.
You don't have to, 'cos you're SLOWING DOWN, you go 5-2-turn.

I've been doing that for 20 years, no problems - and the car has never, ever
slipped doing it.

Oh, yeah and sometimes it rains in the UK, so I've done even on slippery
roads (sometimes I'm so daring I scare myself)

Andy

In any case, in a recent British F3 race Kristian Kolby complained he was
losing time because he was having to go through the gearbox when braking
instead of missing gears as he normally did.

M

Well if we are talking about sequential downchanges, you are missing the
point.

Mark