Geartronics - introduction

For more than a decade, professional race and rally teams have understood the
advantages of using sequential transmissions over conventional 'H' pattern gearboxes.
This technology is now filtering down to the lower levels of the sport now that the major
gearbox constructors are offering sequential gearchange at an affordable price.

Sequential gearchanging is nothing new of course, motorcycles have always used
sequential gearboxes because of the ability to change gear with a single foot
movement. The advantage in a race or rally car is not just that the action of changing
gear is simpler, but it's also considerably faster and there's very little chance of
'missing' a gear. Sequential gearchanging also lends itself to semi-automatic 'paddle
shifting' where the driver makes the gear change by activating steering wheel mounted
switches for either 'up' or 'down', often dispensing with the manual stick altogether.

While sequential gearboxes have undoubted advantages, they also have their
drawbacks. The most common one becomes apparent if the driver makes a mistake in
a corner and loses an unexpected amount of speed or, worse still, spins the car.
Under these circumstances the driver can find that he is in a totally unsuitable gear for
this unexpected condition. To find the correct gear means going through each of the
other gears in turn, unlike a conventional 'H' pattern gearbox where the driver has
random access to any gear. In this situation it's quite likely that a sequential
transmission will actually be a hinderance. Added to this, in the heat of the moment, the
driver may lose count of the gears and not know for sure which gear has been
selected.

This is where Geartronics can help you. Our display unit will reliably tell the driver which
gear is selected in an instant. Information that the professional teams often value
above everything else - just take a look at any modern 'works' rallycar to see which is
the most prominent instrument on the dashboard!

One of the greatest advantages of a sequential gearbox is the ability to change gear
without use of the clutch. This is possible bacause sequential boxes almost always
use dog engagement rather than the more usual syncromesh that is used on road
cars. By changing gear without the clutch, the shifts are considerably quicker, and it
becomes much easier to automate the shift process by use of an electro-mechanical
system. Geartronics has developed a sophisticated semi-auto shift system that can be
fitted to most sequential gearboxes. Click here for more details.

If the full paddleshift system is out of your budget, or your race series doesn't permit
its use, then we can offer our 'flatshift' system. This system retains the driver operated
manual shift but provides an automatic engine cut to allow full-throttle clutchless
shifting. The system uses fully closed-loop control electronics which means that the
engine power is only interrupted for the absolute minimum, leading to faster and
smoother and more reliable gear shifting.