I was at NJMP Lightning earlier this month for a two day HPD event. Met a couple of drivers along the way and this one guy had mentioned to me that on the straight away he would not shift to 5th cause he was advised not to do so. He was driving a very sweet t-top 300z. His reasoning was that his transmission wouldn't be able to take it and could crack on him and that this might apply to all cars not just his. Coming off the big bowl in 3rd gear at a steady 75mph I found that I reached turn 1 faster by going from 4th to 5th gear and not just staying in 4th gear all through the straight away. Have you guys heard anything like this before about not using 5th gear at the track?

 

5th gear just puts a lot of load on the motor. I personally don't do 5th gear pulls in my Evo. I go 1st to top of 4th. My buddy blew his 2.3 stroker doing a 5th gear pull I dunno y

 

Have you been to NJMP?...That's odd.

 

We're not talking about 5th gear pulls, we're talking about shifting to 5th after topping out 4th. Big difference.

 

Correct. What's your take or experience on this topic?

 

I don't need 5th gear on the track I frequent the most, so my input is limited at best. But in my opinion I don't see a problem with using 5th after topping out 4th from an engine health point of view. As for the transmission, I did hear once that high rpm shifts to 5th were hard on the synchros, but I don't have a source for that so take it with a grain of salt.

In short, if I was at a track that required the use of 5th gear, I wouldn't shy away from it.

 

My local track requires that I go to 5th twice... so I do it. I don't see any reason not to if you actually need to.

 

Loading up 5th gear at low rpm is likely going to lead to lolz.

Shifting from 4th to 5th at proper load and rpm will not damage anything. It is a high load gear due to its length and is an overdrive gear. But, I cant understand anything going wrong at speed in the upper rpm range in 5th gear. Look at all the cars doing 1/2 mile or full mile runs. You better believe theyre not pedalling it in 4th gear afraid to shift to 5th.

 

I hit 5th gear 3 times at Road Atlanta in one lap. The only issue is my syncros are starting to grind in 5th. Granny shifting into 5th solves the problem. FYI I'm in a 5 speed RS.

 

So if you are not willing to go in to 5th because you are affraid to stress your tranny, why are you doing hpde in the first place ?

You are willing to redline 4th, or basically slow down just to avoid the 5th. Hmmmmm me thinks you should be doing autoX. You wont get out of 2nd

There is a lot of stress on every aspect of the car while racing. If it breaks, its part of the game, you fix it and get back. If you want to take it easy, just save youself $ and do autoX.

I bet that guy in 300z was overtaken on straight multiple times lolz

 

That could be a known weakness in the 300, just like the six speed in the IX MR for road racing. I go into 5th on a couple tracks down here in the TX region, no worries at all. Also remember that your evo is MUCH more stout than that Z, these are racing bred cars.

 

Never heard that before and I've been to NJMP plenty of times. Some cars actually have longer gearing, which may be why the guy stayed in fourth. My younger brother with a 240sx stays in fourth. From my experience and deing in other Evos, we hit fourth out of the bulb, and I short shift to 5th...short as in 5.5-6k rpm.

Watch some of Honda-guys videos from Lightning for good reference.

 

You better stay away from Road Anerica. You will top out 5th gear a few times. Lol. And that is hitting about 7800 rpm in 4th just to crest the hill on the front straight before shifting.

 

Are you still on the factory rev limiter?

 

I shift to 5th a lot. I do run a bit lower boost level in 5th to keep less load on the motor. Nice and easy shifts will keep your trans happy. Pretend that shifter is a toothpick and you'll be just fine.