I know this may be the wrong place to ask this question. But honestly (and I know this may be slightly embarrassing for me), I need to know what "short shifting" is. I've asked a few other communities and they cant seem to fully describe it to me.

When Montoya took the checkered flag at Infinion. His crew told him to short shift to conserve fuel. He responded "I DONT KNOW HOW?"

I've also heard the term before when Terry Labonte tried to win the same race a year before Montoya by pitting very early and only once.

What exactly IS short shifting and how does it exactly conserve fuel? Does other series (and disciplines) use the same technique? Does this technique even exist (my friend speculated that the commentaries were making up their own term for "conserving fuel")

Shifting before the ideal shift point. For example shifting at 4000 rpm instead of 7000 rpm. Obviously the car transfers less power to the road, but you conserve fuel due to not reaching higher rpm's.

That's how I drive in LFS when I'm fueled for 5 laps and the race goes for 7

Yes as DaveWS said it is just shifting up sooner, in lower rpm.
Usually when you hear about short shifting it is all about 300-500-1000rpm lower than the normal shifting point (it depends on how wide is the effective rpm range of your engine)… that will do the trick for fuel economy or maybe will help you keep the engine cooler and it will not hurt the performance that much

Yep short shifting isn't using up all the available revs in a certain gear.

Quote from lizardfolk :

When Montoya took the checkered flag at Infinion. His crew told him to short shift to conserve fuel. He responded "I DONT KNOW HOW?"

And he was once hailed as the biggest talent in F1... Ironic, isn't it?

Quote from bbman :

And he was once hailed as the biggest talent in F1... Ironic, isn't it?

Shift happens

Quote from lizardfolk :

When Montoya took the checkered flag at Infinion. His crew told him to short shift to conserve fuel. He responded "I DONT KNOW HOW?"

Well it's hardly a terribly technical concept to understand is it? :doh:

Ah, now you have yet another reason to make fun of JPM.

Juan-Pablo, pass me that screwdriver over there.

I DON'T KNOW HOW?

Another reason to short shift is mechanical issues. I had a clutch going bad this past summer at Watkins Glen. I was trying to push too many revs through a stock clutch. After a couple laps, enough heat had built up so that it would slip over 6500 rpm. That's not so good when my engine setup makes power past 7500. Upon tearing the thing apart, I found that the clutch fingers were twisted and at different heights. I can't wait to go back next summer.

As far as how short shifting saves fuel. Consider two Nascar stock cars. One shifted at 9000 rpms, another at 8000. Each engine has 4 explosions per crankshaft revolution (4 cycle process, each cylinder fires every other up stroke). First car, by way of running fewer average rpms, will have fewer power strokes over the course of a lap.

JPM will learn stuff like this over time. He IS a world class driver. He's doing a good job of proving the legitimacy of Nascar, though. I'd like to see Schumi come over and prove that he is just as good as the legendary drives of the old days that would run all the big races. Hell, I'll even accept a run in the 24hr Daytona race.

M. Schumacher, B. Said, S. Bourdais, T. Stewart Four skilled racers, four unique characters. Hey, it could happen!

Quote from PAracer :

Another reason to short shift is mechanical issues. I had a clutch going bad this past summer at Watkins Glen. I was trying to push too many revs through a stock clutch. After a couple laps, enough heat had built up so that it would slip over 6500 rpm. That's not so good when my engine setup makes power past 7500. Upon tearing the thing apart, I found that the clutch fingers were twisted and at different heights. I can't wait to go back next summer.

As far as how short shifting saves fuel. Consider two Nascar stock cars. One shifted at 9000 rpms, another at 8000. Each engine has 4 explosions per crankshaft revolution (4 cycle process, each cylinder fires every other up stroke). First car, by way of running fewer average rpms, will have fewer power strokes over the course of a lap.

Thxs very much BTW what were you driving? I'm going racing asap (after high school and while i'm in college)

Quote from PAracer :

JPM will learn stuff like this over time. He IS a world class driver. He's doing a good job of proving the legitimacy of Nascar, though. I'd like to see Schumi come over and prove that he is just as good as the legendary drives of the old days that would run all the big races. Hell, I'll even accept a run in the 24hr Daytona race.

True, and Villeneuve, Carpentier and Ambrose are doing that as well. I find it quite odd the see Montoya and Villeneuve run at the back for a good majority of the 2007 season. I mean, I knew that NASCAR wasn't a push over. But I didn't expect someone like Villeneuve to struggle so bad. Hopefully he'll stay.

If Schumacher joins NASCAR it'll be a very interesting day for NASCAR. I'm not sure if he'll do well because I dont know how well he knows how to draft effectively in a 20+ car pack. I'll predict a top 20 finish but anything beyond 10th is pushing it...but then again, he IS Michael Schumacher.

Quote from PAracer :

M. Schumacher, B. Said, S. Bourdais, T. Stewart Four skilled racers, four unique characters. Hey, it could happen!

I prefer Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson. Atleast they are good sports unlike Stewart.

You could also short-shift as a method of traction control.

I run HPDE events in a street legal Taurus SHO. Track events like the ones that I attend are the main income source for most tracks. Most track have at least one event scheduled per week. http://www.screaminsho.com/What_is_ScreaminSHO.html It drives a lot like an FXO with slicks. Pretty much point and shoot.


I welcome the influx of foreign talent. Everyone should expect at least a couple years of training before having a realistic chance of championship.

Speaking of one-off Nascar appearances. Remember back in the early nineties when Little Al ran Daytona. All was going fine untill he got in front of Dale Earnhardt. That was a good day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UXn5lJYsw0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuuxe4Wnk_w (the races in this one spawned the concept of roof flaps)

Quote from PAracer :

I run HPDE events in a street legal Taurus SHO. Track events like the ones that I attend are the main income source for most tracks. Most track have at least one event scheduled per week. http://www.screaminsho.com/What_is_ScreaminSHO.html It drives a lot like an FXO with slicks. Pretty much point and shoot.


I welcome the influx of foreign talent. Everyone should expect at least a couple years of training before having a realistic chance of championship.

Speaking of one-off Nascar appearances. Remember back in the early nineties when Little Al ran Daytona. All was going fine untill he got in front of Dale Earnhardt. That was a good day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UXn5lJYsw0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuuxe4Wnk_w (the races in this one spawned the concept of roof flaps)

Oh yaaa that was when Kyle still had that insane bum style hair LOL. I like it how Gordon had that ridiculous mustache and ah Chad Little, Dick Trickle, Hut Stricklen and Wally Dallenbach...good old days LOL

On powerfull cars and certain corners it can pay off to short shift; not for fuel use reasons.

Exiting a long corner can be benificial to do 'one gear too high' to avoid having to shift up halfway in the corner exit. The same situation can happen when there is a crest you go over or in general things are downhill. Often, the increased smoothness this gives you during acceleration gives you a speed advantage, even though you might have a bit more power at your disposal if you used a lower gear.

Short shifting can be an important tool for learning smooth driving; you'd be surprised how quick one can be even when half the time you think you should drop a gear. Short shifting calms the car down, and you don't want too many attitude changes.

It is actually one of the areas where often a simracer differs from a real driver; the overdriving we can get away with in a sim isn't so easy in real life, physically and wear/tear wise.

Quote from Niels Heusinkveld :

On powerfull cars and certain corners it can pay off to short shift; not for fuel use reasons.

Exiting a long corner can be benificial to do 'one gear too high' to avoid having to shift up halfway in the corner exit. The same situation can happen when there is a crest you go over or in general things are downhill. Often, the increased smoothness this gives you during acceleration gives you a speed advantage, even though you might have a bit more power at your disposal if you used a lower gear.

Short shifting can be an important tool for learning smooth driving; you'd be surprised how quick one can be even when half the time you think you should drop a gear. Short shifting calms the car down, and you don't want too many attitude changes.

It is actually one of the areas where often a simracer differs from a real driver; the overdriving we can get away with in a sim isn't so easy in real life, physically and wear/tear wise.

Exactly. I do this all the time. Before the uphill esses at the Glen or VIR, I will upshift so that I can run through the turns in one gear. Otherwise I have a choice. Shift at an apex, or in transition:twirl:. Neither too attractive.