AC CLASSIC Fat-Alfie Championship, Round 5 of 6 - Battenbergring Tue 19th December 2023

[JamKart22]

Just tried the Escort with paddle and auto blip, It make the car smother and easier to drive plus left foot braking makes throttle to brake transition smother and faster. I could also change gear in places i wouldn't with h shifter. A good example is the village, i can be way mother through there due to the guaranteed smooth downshift plus i can keep hold of the wheel giving me more control.

So with all of that i think h shifter will be a little slower over a lap and most of it is due to the confidence it gives you when braking, upshifts are the only place it could loose a very small amount of time time compared to a WOT gear change.

Damm, don't say you went even faster?

 

[Twoddle]

i didn't do a fast lap as the car felt different in single player for some reason but i think it would be a little faster but not much at all.

 

[gearwhine]

I have to agree with Laurent and Jason.
Emersion for sure but overiding everything is the fact that it is a sim. Paddles have no place on old cars. They were never an option in the day. People missed gears, locked up rear ends etc. If i want to drive an Escort with paddles i will drive an arcade game in my opinion. And no, it is not quicker for all the reasons that have been said and probably a little slower at times when a hand has to leave the wheel. Never mind the false shifts etc.
Overall, it is whatever you want it to be. if it is a tool to be quicker and that is all that matters take the paddles. If on the other hand you value trying to be connected to reality then you have no option.
P.S. how can the RSS 1970 V8 F1 not be driven with a H pattern shifter?
Just my personal opinion.

 

[H_Belane]

Hi Colin, here is my opinion:

I also use the H-shifter with clutch pedal. I'm slower with it than with the paddle shifters. I think the reason for me is the movements when changing gears, changing feet on the pedals, driving 90 percent with one arm. These are all fractions of a second, but they add up. And in this sport, fractions of a second are crucial, as we all know.

But I would never do it any other way again. It's just too much fun. It just feels like you're driving your own car. And you can't abuse that like you do here in sim racing.

 

[Mikke73]

I have to agree with Laurent and Jason.
Emersion for sure but overiding everything is the fact that it is a sim. Paddles have no place on old cars. They were never an option in the day. People missed gears, locked up rear ends etc. If i want to drive an Escort with paddles i will drive an arcade game in my opinion. And no, it is not quicker for all the reasons that have been said and probably a little slower at times when a hand has to leave the wheel. Never mind the false shifts etc.
Overall, it is whatever you want it to be. if it is a tool to be quicker and that is all that matters take the paddles. If on the other hand you value trying to be connected to reality then you have no option.
P.S. how can the RSS 1970 V8 F1 not be driven with a H pattern shifter?
Just my personal opinion.

Just remember, that not all of us have a setup that has a place to install a H pattern shifter.

For me paddles are not a tool to be quicker, they are quite simply the only option for me. Should I not drive vintage cars, then?

 

[JamKart22]

I also don't have the setup for a H shifter so I'm happy with paddles atm.

FYI, I switched to Jason's gearing, watched a few onboards and Richard gave me a motec file to look at and I've knocked a second off my PB. On to Fonteny...

 

[stigs2cousin]

OK,

one last "Klugscheisser" ( Knowitall) remark:

if you do -Pattern in a sim, do you really want to convince me that you push the clutch all the way in and always hit the "sweetspot" when HnT ing?

Because it would be rather difficult to convince me that 60´s "engine management" and syncro mesh would allow "flat foot shifting" more than twice without grenading gearbox and/or engine.

I know the blackbox on my Play Car can be programmed for flat foot shifting with a gear dependent rev limiter and can also do autoblip to avoid HeelnToe.

I did not get both because I want this thing to be my "forever Play Car" and dont plan on swapping out engine or gearbox (though 10k€ for both is a bargain in the sportscar world.)

So in the end it´s a Sim and everybody has to decide for himself how much realism he wants.

( I console myself with the sequentiial shifter in the MixerCup because the ND2 actually has a sequential gearbox I think it´s even a Dog Box)

 

[gearwhine]

Just remember, that not all of us have a setup that has a place to install a H pattern shifter.

For me paddles are not a tool to be quicker, they are quite simply the only option for me. Should I not drive vintage cars, then?

No Mika, both you and Colin should be banned from driving vintage cars
We all have different rigs and setups so i of course get your point Mika. I feel we are all talking about personal feelings and in no way does it affect anything at the end of the day.