Well I think that when they’re drafting behind another car they may be in top gear and shifting down definitely helps to accelerate, just not maintain a certain speed.
Driving in top gear at 105 mph. I’m gonna need to really give it the beans if I have any hope to pass them. I increase throttle for the down shift, pop the clutch, increase throttle just a little more, pull too hard on the shifter and jam it into second. I slam on the gas but there’s a hard lurch, the tires chirp in agony, I weave around trying to control my car, and a rod launches from my engine.
Just when it seems like I’ll never recover, I grit my teeth, hunker down over the steering wheel with white knuckles, grip the shifter knob, and slam on the gas. My car makes a sound like a lawnmower misfiring. I engage my NOS and burst into flames then explode. Guess I won’t be back for the sequel, but I’ll be in the one after that.
You assume wrong, rpm correlates directly with road speed, so if you’re going a certain speed in a certain gear you’ll be at the same rpm, drafting or not.
What drafting allows you to do is use less throttle to maintain the speed (or go faster with the same throttle position).
Nothing to do with gears. When you’re drafting behind an opponent you can accelerate slightly faster than them because you have less wind resistance. You can also reach a higher top speed before the wind resistance is too much for your engine to overcome. Building up enough speed in the draft can let you make an overtake or get alongside before the next corner.
Whether it is actually an effective way to pass depends on the type of car and track. It’s an important part of many types of racing but totally ineffective in others.
I know about wind resistance lol. I’m talking about the fact that some extra acceleration can be achieved by lowering the gear. When you overtake someone in your own car yourself (or if you ride a bike it’s more noticeable when you draft behind) you will notice that acceleration is easier if you lower your gear. That’s because you have more torque / angular momentum in a lower gear. Of course that means that you also start your acceleration while still drafting, like you mentioned, but that isn’t the entire effect. Whether that effect is actually strong enough to overtake their opponent is another thing, depending on the car and speed at the time.
some extra acceleration can be achieved by lowering the gear
The only thing that can be achieved by downshifting if you’re already at top speed for a particular gear, is making the gearbox shit itself loudly and most likely cease normal operation. Or maybe making the engine stall, which would be the better outcome here.
To downshift safely you need to lower the speed, since the same speed corresponds to higher RPMs at lower gears. The same speed that you’re trying to build in the first place. Definitely no one is doing this ridiculous nonsense in racing.
Nothing. That’s the whole point of the topic. It’s all nonsense.
Stuff like that doesn’t happen in real racing. In real racing you usually pass someone by pressuring them to make a mistake or forcing them to make an opening in a corner. Some motor sports have boost mechanics like DRS or electric boost and stuff but those are limited to specific areas with specific rules on their use. It’s not the winning strategy usually.
On the contrary, it happens all the time. In car racing, but also in the TdF for example.
DRS is mostly a F1 thing, and doesn’t have that much to do with what’s being discussed here, because it makes a physical change to the car itself. And of course if you get to turn on a second engine that’s something else as well.
There’s also tracks which doesn’t let you maintain top speed. But the car in front can still keep blocking unless it’s a wide track (so basically some off-road racing I think)
They shift gear and suddenly the car lurches forward… Were they in the wrong gear all along?
Well I think that when they’re drafting behind another car they may be in top gear and shifting down definitely helps to accelerate, just not maintain a certain speed.
Driving in top gear at 105 mph. I’m gonna need to really give it the beans if I have any hope to pass them. I increase throttle for the down shift, pop the clutch, increase throttle just a little more, pull too hard on the shifter and jam it into second. I slam on the gas but there’s a hard lurch, the tires chirp in agony, I weave around trying to control my car, and a rod launches from my engine.
Just when it seems like I’ll never recover, I grit my teeth, hunker down over the steering wheel with white knuckles, grip the shifter knob, and slam on the gas. My car makes a sound like a lawnmower misfiring. I engage my NOS and burst into flames then explode. Guess I won’t be back for the sequel, but I’ll be in the one after that.
That works well in real life when youre in top gear at 2-3k RPM and downshift and accelerate through 5-7k RPM.
In the movies theyre racing already and should be at high RPM basically the entire time, so if they downshift then they would just red line it lol
I assume that drafting allows them to drive a lower rpm/torque than the front guy, so the car still has some extra for the overtake
You assume wrong, rpm correlates directly with road speed, so if you’re going a certain speed in a certain gear you’ll be at the same rpm, drafting or not.
What drafting allows you to do is use less throttle to maintain the speed (or go faster with the same throttle position).
Right, so what is it that makes them be able to accelerate past their opponent? More room for acceleration within the same gear?
Nothing to do with gears. When you’re drafting behind an opponent you can accelerate slightly faster than them because you have less wind resistance. You can also reach a higher top speed before the wind resistance is too much for your engine to overcome. Building up enough speed in the draft can let you make an overtake or get alongside before the next corner.
Whether it is actually an effective way to pass depends on the type of car and track. It’s an important part of many types of racing but totally ineffective in others.
I know about wind resistance lol. I’m talking about the fact that some extra acceleration can be achieved by lowering the gear. When you overtake someone in your own car yourself (or if you ride a bike it’s more noticeable when you draft behind) you will notice that acceleration is easier if you lower your gear. That’s because you have more torque / angular momentum in a lower gear. Of course that means that you also start your acceleration while still drafting, like you mentioned, but that isn’t the entire effect. Whether that effect is actually strong enough to overtake their opponent is another thing, depending on the car and speed at the time.
The only thing that can be achieved by downshifting if you’re already at top speed for a particular gear, is making the gearbox shit itself loudly and most likely cease normal operation. Or maybe making the engine stall, which would be the better outcome here.
To downshift safely you need to lower the speed, since the same speed corresponds to higher RPMs at lower gears. The same speed that you’re trying to build in the first place. Definitely no one is doing this ridiculous nonsense in racing.
Nothing. That’s the whole point of the topic. It’s all nonsense.
Stuff like that doesn’t happen in real racing. In real racing you usually pass someone by pressuring them to make a mistake or forcing them to make an opening in a corner. Some motor sports have boost mechanics like DRS or electric boost and stuff but those are limited to specific areas with specific rules on their use. It’s not the winning strategy usually.
Drafting is a huge part of most motorsports (f1 included) in real life. It just doesn’t look like the movies.
On the contrary, it happens all the time. In car racing, but also in the TdF for example.
DRS is mostly a F1 thing, and doesn’t have that much to do with what’s being discussed here, because it makes a physical change to the car itself. And of course if you get to turn on a second engine that’s something else as well.
There’s also tracks which doesn’t let you maintain top speed. But the car in front can still keep blocking unless it’s a wide track (so basically some off-road racing I think)
This is really a metaphor for life.
Change gear and disappear