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      05-07-2012, 11:29 AM   #1
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Open Track Day in 3rd gear

I recently went to my first open track event. I was able to run the whole track in 3rd gear, never had to downshift to 2nd or upshift to 4th. On the back straight I would get up to about 6200rpms. I put about 80 miles on the car at that event. Am I in any way harming the car by running it that hard in 3rd gear only? I'm also running a cobb OTS map, if that matters.
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      05-07-2012, 11:43 AM   #2
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As long as you are not hitting the rev limiter you're OK. There are quite a few tracks out there that can be entirely run in 3rd gear. I'm not sure where you were running but I'm assuming there were not a lot of long straights or tight turns/switchbacks that allow for high speeds or require slow speeds for turning?
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      05-07-2012, 12:05 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ESC OFF View Post
As long as you are not hitting the rev limiter you're OK. There are quite a few tracks out there that can be entirely run in 3rd gear. I'm not sure where you were running but I'm assuming there were not a lot of long straights or tight turns/switchbacks that allow for high speeds or require slow speeds for turning?
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As noted in many reviews the large amounts of torque available in the low RPM range is one of the best attributes of our N54.
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      05-22-2012, 06:04 PM   #4
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Which track did you go to? Lime Rock? Watkins?
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      05-22-2012, 06:36 PM   #5
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I dont see anything wrong with running in 3rd gear, I think you will just end up putting a bit more wear on other items such as brakes. But if it worked great, that low end torque is a great thing to have.
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      05-22-2012, 10:03 PM   #6
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Just did a lapping day myself, luckily my instructor also has a 1M and he said only use 3 and 4 on the track (get up to about 220km/hr on the straights), seemed to be fine even with some tight corners if you keep the speed up through them, with the ass end out
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