Can't downshift to first

We had one in NE PA at the Wyoming Valley Mall (in the Sears side) that was so tight that I could drive the entire course in first gear in my Charger 2.2 (with 3.90:1 gearing) without breaking 5200 rpm at any piint on the course.

Moparman wrote: We had one in NE PA at the Wyoming Valley Mall (in the Sears side) that was so tight that I could drive the entire course in first gear in my Charger 2.2 (with 3.90:1 gearing) without breaking 5200 rpm at any piint on the course.

Scary that I drove through there on 11/15 so many times during law school visits home that I know exactly there that is, and I've never lived within 200 miles of there...

All the autocrosses I've ever done are primarily first gear...The fastest I typically get up to is 80kph (2nd gear redline), some of the really powerful cars might touch 90-100...high speeds scare lawyers, organizers, track owners and in some cases parents.

Are you running much shorter than stock tires? Reason I ask, that can change the ratio gaps and thus the RPM the box is turning at a given speed.

For instance, the RX7 box in my car has a BIG jump from 1st to 2nd, compounded by the 3:909 gear and real short tires. It's tough to get over 10-15 MPH in 1st, no kidding I usually shift up to 2nd 20 feet past the start lights because by that time the engine is turning stupid RPM. So it's extremely rare that I ever get the chance to downshift and even rarer that it does me any good. In just about every instance it has cost me time and I go back to leaving it in 2nd.

I have never perfected the double clutch method, naw that has nothing to do with me being just basically lazy.

I can run up to almost 30 mph in first in my Neon.

37 mph in my 05 Neon (3.55 trans) at the 6750 rev limiter. Somewhere around 36 mph in my 98 (3.93) at 7100 rev limit.

I think you should evaluate why you're downshifting into 1st, and what it's doing. For me, even an underpowered Neon with a Quaife had more than enough torque to spin race tires at nearly any rpm. Accelerating out of a corner following a 1st gear downshift usually resulted in so much wheelspin that I was faster just keeping it in 2nd (verified during instruction at an EVO school).

On my bike I just stay on the throttle when I shift and it prevent the engine from lugging the transmission. I tried it on the pickup and it seemed to help. I'm gonna practice more double clutch shifting compared to staying on the throttle shifting and see which is smoother. I can't do heal toe b/c my pickups pedals won't allow it and I don't want an inch block on one of my pedals around town.