Originally Posted by CivicSiRacer
Everytime you shift you are wasting 1/2-1 second. If you upshift from 1-2 then 2-1 then back to 1-2 you just wasted 1.5-3 seconds.
Leaving it in 2nd gear is better actually. ONly at REAL tight courses do you ever have to downshift to 1st and it ACTUALLY helps. Leaving it in 2nd also makes your car accelerate smoother AND brake smoother.
When you downshift to 1st it upsets the balance of the car - which sucks for a FWD car, and when you accelerate in 1st out of a corner you will always power understeer.
I kept this in mind this weekend and it helped a TON. All day today I was in second gear...so much smoother, right hand is able to steer and not on shifter. Needless to say I won my bump class today and indexed higher than an ES car with a driver that is apparently pretty good. People gasped when they saw he lost. So thanks for the tip. :bigok: