was watching WRC yesterday and realized that 80% of the cars had electronic shifts / auto gear boxes.

saw Citron when carlo sianz was drivign it , he had a manual gear shifter but he didnt touched it. all you can see was there was a slight movement at the time of gear change in the shifter but thats all.

Now i was wondering we always say manual good , auto bad , but in wrc where every single second counts why use electronic shifters.?????


any ideas guys ????

u sure it aint just a short throw ??

i heard they are manuals but can be used as an auto - no clutch sorta thing

i will try and find info on them

Now i was wondering we always say manual good , auto bad , but in wrc where every single second counts why use electronic shifters.?????


If they did use electronic shifting you'll probably find it's not a normal tiptronic box you'd find on the magnas etc. It'll be a highly refined unit that's probably more like a manual with an electronic shift.

Yeah, they will be better. There are timtronic types of tannys around that can shift as quick as 10 milliseconds. You'll also find the gears are of a different design. Ours are cut in a way and have syncromesh to allow for easier, smoother changes. They used to have dog boxes where I think they were a square cut which would be crunched in but as they were good drivers, (maybe this part of the skill is now non-existent?), they were better suited.

From what I read, don't they use manuals with clutch, but sometimes they just don't clutch it in order to keep the revs in synchro with the car..I am just quoting from what I read.. I might have missed a few points on that.. but it's just a general vague memory... :D

if I am correct it works on a souped up version of the ferrari paddle shift idea, clutchless manual with electronic changes.

if ur interested one of the big jap performance parts companies make a sequential shifter converter that electronically controls the clutch and shifts like a tiptronic. can't remember which one it was tho... think it was GReady, Apexi or HKS....


Hey found it http://www.takakaira.com/performance/main.html goto-> Ikeya Formula

I know for a fact that there was another 1 but i can't find it... ohh well enjoy


Tim

I feel I should step in here and clarify some things:

there are two types of rally car - Group N, and WRC. Group N cars have a normal clutch/manual assembly almost identical to the Evo/STi. WRC cars however use an advanced manual system capable of changing gears withing 500th of a second in pinpoint accuracy. I am not sure however if a cluth is involved, or if it is electronic.

Most WRC cars do however have a back up plan should the computer running the gear changes fail. This involves flicking a switch on the console which enables the handbrake to be used as a conventional manual with the clutch where it should be :D .

thanks for the info guys , as i heard the commentator saying that these new electronic shifters reduces the time of gear changing.

yep... the electronic shifter boxes in the WRC cars are totally different to the tiptronic boxs in the magna's.... (as has been said)

the main difference being that the WRC are a manual gearbox with computers controlling all the gears changes...

and the magna's(and falcon, liberty, 6 etc) are just electronically controlled auto boxes!

The SMG from BMW is a manual box setup like WRC, as is the formula one boxes (i think)

The Taka Kaira box that was posted is an old idea as well, its a mechnical setup which simulates a sequential box, they're pretty sweet!! but not new!!!
a company in Oz has been making these for the old Aussie 4 speed for ages
http://renagate.com/

oh, and the last thing... i'm doing all the research for making my manual into a electrically automated one for my Final year elec eng project... the biggest problem so far is controlling the clutch, its a bit of a bitch to make smooth!!