The first post is good as it explain to people on how to drive better.

Too many hot dogs out on the track can cause acidents.

Not fun when they spin out in front of you.

Good thing I'm in the Red group now.

 

Each time you switch gear you lose time. I learned that in autox. Sometimes we perceived that dropping a gear will help in increasing velocity, well it is perceived velocity thanks to engine sound. If you look at the speedo (as an experimentation), you will be surprised that there aren't much in terms of velocity increase at those moments.
Also for amateurs, changing gears during mid-turn can upset the car's balance as well resulting in herky-jerky motion.

 

Well it seems there are a few things that feel natural and 'right' to me that ARE actually right. (Barring other traffic, etc to be safe) I don't shifted in the corners that do I take, i grab the gear I want just before or just after I begin breaking, and hold it through the corner. There is a fantastic interchange near where I live that is completely non-standard, and includes a 2 different 2 lane ramps, one with an uphill right that switches to a sweeping increasing radius left, then back to the right, still increasing the radius. The other ramp is an uphill right, decreasing radius, followed by a downhill tight constant radius, about 300 total degrees of turn, with a quick right as it levels out and opens up.

Both ramps are long enough that I have been able to get a good feel for the balance of various cars, how they react on lifting, different apexes, etc... as they are often completely void of other traffic.

I really want to do it right though, and get track time instead. Thanks for the tips, I will definately look into it.

 

Just a suggestion to think about. Ideally you want to keep the car ''settled" and not use gears for breaking. Downshifts are to get the right gear for the corner exit.
Take a look at the nasaproracing.com site HPDE/open page-there are some great articles, including one on heel and toe technique.

 

+1,000,000

If the RX-8 has a weak link it's definitely the gearbox. Letting off the clutch too early or abruptly on downshifts puts a lot of stress on the gearbox and will lead to a broken gearbox. Another thing to keep in mind is that the RX-8 gearbox doesn't like to have gears skipped on downshifts (not good for the synchros) make sure your footwork is able to keep up with the braking on the car - which is not that easy a thing to do!

 

I agree with your opinion on the synchros ... the gearbox doesn't like to be rushed, and skipping gears going up is definately a nono. I haven't had a chance to blow my gearbox yet though.