More hillclimb records fall.
The British Hillclimb Championship returned to the Channel Islands this month, and two outright hill records were set by Geartronics' customers Trevor Willis & Martin Groves. Trevor, in his Powertec OMS stopped the clocks at 37.88 seconds to set a new record for the Bouley Bay (Jersey) course, followed two days later by the Val des Terre (Guernsey) record falling to Martin Groves in his Gould GR55 with a time of 27.61 seconds.
Willis then went on to prove it was no fluke by claiming both run-offs at the Wiscombe Park course, ahead of considerably more powerful machinery. Oliver Tomlin (another Geartronics customer) also took a well-earned 3rd place in the first run-off at Wiscombe.
Harewood hillclimb record falls.
Martin Groves in his Gould GR55 sets a new Harewood Hillclimb record with a time of 49.13 seconds! The first runoff of the day saw him beat the previous record time (set by Scott Moran) by 0.06 seconds. Martin also went on to win the second runoff to go home with a maximum 20 points from the meeting. At the half way stage in the championship, Martin now leads by 3 points from Scott Moran in his similar Gould GR61X. No fewer than seven of the top12 cars in the first runoff at Harewood (including Martin) were using Geartronics paddleshift, proving once again that our system is the one chosen by winners!
Simon Marsh takes a class win in his new Hayabusa powered ADR3
Congratulations to Simon Marsh for taking his ADR3 to a maiden class win at Prescott Hillclimb. ADR built the car as a multi-dicipline machine so that it could compete in various forms of motorsport, including: hillclimbing, sprinting and circuit racing. Simon's car is fitted with a Hayabusa engine (mounted longitudinally), and it's gearbox is operated by a Geartronics closed-loop semi-automatic shift system.We've been successfully fitting our closed-loop system to the 'Busa motor for several years. Others are now trying to copy, but despite their clever marketing names, they are quite simply years behind! Geartronics were the first to develop a modification to allow the use of a proper rotary position sensor on the gearbox selector drum. This rotary sensor is the is the cornerstone of any reliable shift system, as it allows our intelligent GCU to precisely measure the position of the dogs in the gearbox. Other systems using linear sensors on the shift lever only offer a partial solution to the complex task of making a shift system work reliably and consistently. So, if you want the very best in intelligent shift systems, then you need look no further!
June 2010
Hillclimb paddleshift system is significantly lighter than solenoid systems...
This month, we want to counter some mis-information that is being put around by one of our competitors. Contrary to their repeated claims, our pneumatic system is considerably lighter than any electric solenoid system that we are aware of. A complete "hillclimb system" from Geartronics, including all shift hardware, paddles, typical wiring harness and air hose set, weighs in at approximately 3.5Kg. By comparison, a well-known competitors solenoid system weighs OVER 4.5Kg! Not only that, but the bulk of the weight is made up by the solenoid actuator, so you don't even get the choice of where to mount it! As well as the clear weight advantage, our pneumatic system offers many other real benefits over electric solenoids as can be seen here.
Also this month, we are very pleased to announce that Geartronics have been chosen to supply the shift system for a new Britcar contender, in the form of an Aquila CR1 sportscar.
This fabulous looking car is sure to take the Britcar series by storm and is likely to break the dominance of the Moslers. The car is powered by a Chevvy LS7 engine
under the control of a MoTeC M800 management system, driving through a Hewland NLT gearbox. An initial shakedown of the car proved very encouraging; the shift system working very well with the aid of the M800 DBW throttle blipping.
Click on the image for a high-resolution version.
May 2010
Busy busy busy!
There's been so much going on lately that it's difficult to know where to start, but first take a look at our updated gallery page where you can see some of our latest installations.
Our main behind-the-scenes efforts this month have been concentrated on software development. Not content with already having the most sophisticated and reliable shift strategy on the market, we've been busy working on another new software update, and we're pleased to announce that version 40 is now available. This latest update includes an enhanced upshift strategy to ensure that all upshifts are performed as fast as possible without any time-consuming delays waiting for the current gear to disengage. We're confident that no other comparably priced (and some more expensive) systems on the market have such a strategy.
Please note: our paddleshift software updates are available free of charge, but only to existing customers who have purchased the system. Many of the features of our software have recently been copied by one unscrupulous competitor, and whilst we should be flattered, we would prefer if they try to work it out for themselves!
We've also noticed this month some hilarious photographs on a competitors website. One of which shows an electric solenoid installation on a Sadev ST75 transaxle, along with some proud wordage about bespoke development bla bla bla... Well, if I were the customer, I wouldn't exactly be over the moon about hanging a several kilogram solenoid off the back of my gearbox, and having to modify my wishbone mounts to accommodate it! They should have come to Geartronics - we've been fitting our system to the ST75 gearbox for more than two years, and our actuator fits neatly between the wishbone mounts without any problems. Furthermore, it weighs just 300 grams and, unlike a solenoid, it won't suffer a drop in performance as the temperature rises!
April 2010
Paddleshift system now available for Porsche 996 & 997 GT3 RSR
We are pleased to announce that we are now in the position to offer a complete shift system for the Porsche GT3 RSR.
The Porsche Motorsport (Holinger) gearbox responds very well to semi-auto operation, and we're confident that our shift system will not only increase performance, but will also significantly reduce gearbox wear.
Getting the shift system to work in conjunction with the Porsche/Bosch ECU took more than a bit of thought, but the results are well worthwhile.
March 2010
Paddleshift system now available for Clubmans 'proto' series.
Some time ago we were approached by Paul Gibson, a Clubmans Series competitor, with a view to fitting our paddleshift system to his Elite IL200 gearboxes.
We were well aware that other suppliers had tried, but failed miserably in their attempts to get this box to work reliably with semi-auto operation. So, we said to Paul that we would like to get one of his gearboxes on the bench to conduct some tests. It very quickly became clear that the shift mechanism was totally unsuitable for paddleshift operation because of the design of the barrel detent. Not wishing to give up on the idea, we worked with both Paul and Elite Transmissions in order to come up with a solution. After taking our advice, Elite re-designed the mechanism to provide a much more positive detent. A new gearbox was duly delivered and the results were dramatic. A prototype actuator bracket was hastily made and we soon had our system reliably going up and down the box, with shift times in the order of 40-50ms. Hat's off to Elite for proving once again that they are up there with the best when it comes to customer service!Anyway, the result of the efforts were a race win first time out of the box! Not a bad achievement, considering that we had no time to track test prior to the race. Setup was limited to entering more or less default values into our GCU and running through the box several times with the wheels off the ground.
Proof, if ever it were needed, that a closed-loop system is essential if you are to achieve reliable results. Even with default settings, our GCU was able to determine the critical timings on the fly, without having to resort to time consuming and often damaging setup procedures.
Also this month, we've discovered that one paddleshift supplier at the bottom end of the market is using the term "military specification" with reference to their wiring looms. In itself, the term "military specification" is utterly meaningless unless accompanied by the actual specification number, for example: MIL-W-22759/32 (which incidentally is the airframe wire we use for our paddleshift system).
By using vague terms such as MIL-spec, some companies are attempting to impart the belief that their looms are of a superior quality. The truth is that the military have a specification for almost everything, so the MIL spec materials that some companies are claiming to use may only be of the specification required to hook-up a panel meter,
and may not be the appropriate specification for a race car loom that's expected to perform reliably at high temperatures.
We've had a good look at one of these so-called MIL-spec looms, and it was constructed using cheap nylon braided sleeving, spade terminals and bullet connectors. It was certainly far from what you would expect, given the military specification claims.
All Geartronics supplied paddleshift looms use the highest quality materials, including Raycham spec55 wire, DR25 sleeving and moulded/glued joints. Our looms, as well as being light weight, will perform reliably at temperatures in excess of 150 deg C. On high-end applications we also use Deutsch Autosport connectors for ultimate reliability.
February 2010
Launch of the new professional level GCU is getting closer...
Software development of the next generation GCU is now well under way. The new hardware was successfully demonstrated at the recent Autosports exhibition, running the existing software. We are now concentrating our efforts on adding the CAN functionality, which will allow easier and more sophisticated communication with professional engine ECU's and data loggers.
Building on the success of the original GCU, the new unit is aimed more towards the professional open-wheel and LMP sportscar market. It's also ideally suited to single make championships, of which we gained considerable experience during the 2008 Euroseries3000. We will of course still be offering the first generation unit to those customers who are working within tighter budgets.
The new GCU features a 6x faster processor, increased data-logging capacity, 2 x CAN2.0B interfaces, a billet machined aluminium housing and the all-important Deutsch Autosport connectors for the ultimate in reliability. We also have spare input & output capacity that will allow the addition of clutch control and traction control at a later date.
January 2010
Thank you - the show was a great success!
We would like to say a very big thank you to all who came to visit us at the Autosports Exhibition, and to apologise to those who couldn't get near the stand! We were acutely aware that many people wanted to come and speak to us, but we were so busy with enquiries that unfortunately not everyone got the chance.
Judging by the amount of interest at the show, we look like having a very busy 2010. This year we will be building upon the success of 2009 and will be introducing another new product, and hopefully taking the gear-shifting market to a new level of excellence...