Superformance GT40 questions... need help :)

Doug S.

The protoplasm may be 72, but the spirit is 32!
Lifetime Supporter
But to me, the most important single aspect is simple packaging. Having the engine between the driver and the gearbox is a bloody nuisance. Putting the shifter in the sill allows a much less tortured path for the shift linkage. RHD cars are right-hand shift; if one was to build a LHD racing car, the shifter would logically be in the left sill. And that would just be, well, beyond weird. :laugh:

Interesting thought, Mike! I'm intrigued by the thought of paddle shifters on a 40.....ought to eliminate all that angsts once and for all :idea: .

I wonder if anyone is marketing/working on an aftermarket system for these applications?

Cheers from Doug!!
 

Jim Rosenthal

Supporter
Right... cable shift is not as good as rod shifting, IMHE. Interestingly, the ZF, which was first used in GT40s, in some ways is better adapted to the Pantera positioning where the transaxle is inverted from where it is in a GT40. I don't know if Panteras are rod shifting; I think they are.
 

Ron Earp

Admin
1) European race tracks run clockwise, so RHD puts the driver on the inside of the majority of the turns, a good thing

Are most all tracks "we're" interested in running here in the US clockwise as well?

VIR, CMP, RA, RRR, Lime Rock, Summit - all of these road race tracks near me are clockwise. I think the road courses in CA are probably the same.

NASCAR / Ovals / Rovals are counterclockwise.

I think your (3) is probably the primary reason. (2) is so varied it isn't a factor.
 

Ron McCall

Supporter
Are most all tracks "we're" interested in running here in the US clockwise as well?

VIR, CMP, RA, RRR, Lime Rock, Summit - all of these road race tracks near me are clockwise. I think the road courses in CA are probably the same.

NASCAR / Ovals / Rovals are counterclockwise.

I think your (3) is probably the primary reason. (2) is so varied it isn't a factor.


Laguna Seca is run Counter clockwise.
 

Seymour Snerd

Lifetime Supporter
Right... cable shift is not as good as rod shifting, IMHE. .

There are exceptions:

  1. Acura/Honda NSX: cable shift, superb.
  2. Lotus Europa rod shift, horrible unless extremely carefully set up, then mediocre at best.
  3. Lamborghini Miura: rod shift, reputedly horrible, but given the drivetrain layout it's understandable.
 
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Jim Rosenthal

Supporter
Figures that if anyone would get it right, it would be Honda....I had a Ferrari Mondial with cable shift. It was crap, basically. And second gear was unusable until the gearbox warmed up, which took at least twenty or thirty minutes. After forty years of building high-performance cars, that was the best they could do....
 
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