Steve O
05-19-2008, 09:09 AM
Ok, I know this was a heated topic before, but I wanted to revisit it with new information...physical testing.
After some intense testing with the autoclutch on our car, it is by far the best feature on our car this year. Shifting is seamless and fast, don't have to worry about matching revs, and, unlike a fews expectations, it does NOT freewheel when you let off the gas, it is pretty close to stock engine resistance...whether not that is important though is a debate for another day. Experienced drivers do not fumble when they get in, and inexperienced drivers have a much smaller learning curve.
In addition to the autoclutch we have a hand clutch on the shifter that can override the autoclutch for launch control, donuts, smoke shows, or whatever else you may need to override the engagement of the autoclutch for. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
Here is a list of pros and cons so far.
Pros:
-seamless,very easy shifting
-no third pedal cluttering the floor
-the car is extremely easy to sit in and feels comfortable driving balls to the wall with minimal testing/experience.
-Offers the ability (with manufacturer approval) to operate one gear too high (i.e. you should be in 2nd but are in 3rd)without excessive wear to clutch, and keeping the motor from bogging. This means less required shifting. Note: Manf states that typically this setup will actually help preserve the clutch over stock providing you setup the parameters correct and don't operate more than one gear from where you should be, we will put this to the test and eventually update you on whether or not clutch wear seems excessive.
-easy install only required changing the steel clutch plates and center.
Cons:
-Since it shifts so easily and always downshifts at "neutral revs" or close to it (to eliminate hopping on downshift it varies your engine resistance) it is sometimes difficult to tell if you've shifted and what gear you've ended up in until you punch the gas. This clears up with getting used to it. Car could still benefit from installing a gear indicator.
-being that it was $600 we only have one for now and if we have to swap to our backup motor we don't have the autoclutch in it, unless we happen to have the problem at a time where we have more than a few minutes to swap motor...the clutch could be switched over in probably 20 minutes. We do have the hand clutch though so it wouldn't put us dead in the water.
-dyno tuning is a little difficult because its hard to load the engine in a reasonable gear to do so...normally you start in like 3rd or 4th to give yourself enough resolution on the aquired data, but since it slips, you have to check 2 things: A) that you not smoking your clutch from it slipping B) that your perception of the loading effects are correct. To fix B we would go down a couple gears and do a low resolution run occasionally to actually feel what the motor feels like in different throttle positions with full, non-slipped, load. Overall not difficult to overcome but definitely requires a couple extra steps over stock clutch setup.
Steve O
Hartford Motorsports
After some intense testing with the autoclutch on our car, it is by far the best feature on our car this year. Shifting is seamless and fast, don't have to worry about matching revs, and, unlike a fews expectations, it does NOT freewheel when you let off the gas, it is pretty close to stock engine resistance...whether not that is important though is a debate for another day. Experienced drivers do not fumble when they get in, and inexperienced drivers have a much smaller learning curve.
In addition to the autoclutch we have a hand clutch on the shifter that can override the autoclutch for launch control, donuts, smoke shows, or whatever else you may need to override the engagement of the autoclutch for. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
Here is a list of pros and cons so far.
Pros:
-seamless,very easy shifting
-no third pedal cluttering the floor
-the car is extremely easy to sit in and feels comfortable driving balls to the wall with minimal testing/experience.
-Offers the ability (with manufacturer approval) to operate one gear too high (i.e. you should be in 2nd but are in 3rd)without excessive wear to clutch, and keeping the motor from bogging. This means less required shifting. Note: Manf states that typically this setup will actually help preserve the clutch over stock providing you setup the parameters correct and don't operate more than one gear from where you should be, we will put this to the test and eventually update you on whether or not clutch wear seems excessive.
-easy install only required changing the steel clutch plates and center.
Cons:
-Since it shifts so easily and always downshifts at "neutral revs" or close to it (to eliminate hopping on downshift it varies your engine resistance) it is sometimes difficult to tell if you've shifted and what gear you've ended up in until you punch the gas. This clears up with getting used to it. Car could still benefit from installing a gear indicator.
-being that it was $600 we only have one for now and if we have to swap to our backup motor we don't have the autoclutch in it, unless we happen to have the problem at a time where we have more than a few minutes to swap motor...the clutch could be switched over in probably 20 minutes. We do have the hand clutch though so it wouldn't put us dead in the water.
-dyno tuning is a little difficult because its hard to load the engine in a reasonable gear to do so...normally you start in like 3rd or 4th to give yourself enough resolution on the aquired data, but since it slips, you have to check 2 things: A) that you not smoking your clutch from it slipping B) that your perception of the loading effects are correct. To fix B we would go down a couple gears and do a low resolution run occasionally to actually feel what the motor feels like in different throttle positions with full, non-slipped, load. Overall not difficult to overcome but definitely requires a couple extra steps over stock clutch setup.
Steve O
Hartford Motorsports