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Pulling out of NASA 2010. I feel a little frustrated and somewhat disappointed. I have always heard how NASA TT can be fair to some and unfair to others. There is no one set of rules that will really make everyone happy. And today, I tasted the unfairness. The pinch of injustice if you will. Speaking to Greg (NASA TT director) about my Steptronic transmission, he pointed out that since BMW didn't offer this transmission as a standard equipment, I have to take +6 points for it. The +6 is a combination of these two: 29) Upgrade number of forward gears in transmission or altered gear ratios +3 After 2001, all E46s that come with so called automatic transmission will be equipped with a semi-manual shifting mechanism. This falls under (30) as shown above. To be honest, I reluctantly concur with the advantageous stance of having a electronic shifting feature. This is the +/- you see near the shift gate. It makes you think you're in control of the gear for what really is an automatic transmission with a torque convertor. Sure there is the shorter interaction time vs actually pulling your hand away from the steering wheel, left foot in the clutch and shifting with your right hand on the gear knob. I get it. However, we all know that Steptronic transmission has a delay in shifting between gears. This is a well known fact. This is also why dual clutch transmissions were introduced. But what's with (29)? According to Greg, my Steptronic transmission may have different gear ratios compared to a manual transsmission. But fact is all BMW (and possibly all other marquees) with a automatic transmission WILL HAVE DIFFERENT GEAR RATIOS compared to a manual transmission. Interestingly enough, Greg said a former Z3 competitor had a transmission in which he took points for (30) but not (29). He was able to prove that the gears in his Steptronic was the same as the manual transmission. That driver lied. Let me dissect this for you. Z3 that has a Steptronic transmission existed from 2001 to early 2002.
Turning our attention to Z3 equivalent manual transmission offered in the same year.
So there you have it. That Z3 should have taken an extra +3 points as well. MPH vs RPM for Steptronic and Manual BMW? But is taking that +3 points for (29) even justified? So Steptronic has different gear ratios compared to its manual transmission counterpart. The question is how does having different gear ratios be an advantage to me? This is one question that Greg unfortunately has yet to confirm. For an illustation, I plotted the 3rd and 4th gear of my steptronic and its manual equivalency:
As you can see, there is no clear speed advantage for the above gears for each manual and Steptronic. Are all Electronically Controlled Transmissions the same? Apparently yes according to NASA. In seeking advice on the NASAforums.com, while some reckoned I should not be penalized for the +3 points, others simply dismissed it as a 'too bad' of a situation. A situation in which if you are subjected to the points and you're not gaining any advantage, then it's somehow your fault for not getting the right car to compete. What I didn't understand is while they lumped all electronically controlled transmissions into the same group, NASA TT did not lump all DOT R-comps into the same group. As of 2010 rules, Nitto NT-01 gets +7, Kumho V710 + 10 and Hankook Z214 gets +13. But all 3 tires fall under DOT-approved R-comp. Why make that distinction between tires and not between various forms of electronically controlled transmissions? Electronically controlled transmissions include:
The only electronically controlled transmissions that still use torque convertors are 1. and 2. as above. There is a clear advantage with 3. and 4. over 1. and 2. Those are newer and more race-ready technologies for gear shifting. Moreover, transmissions for 3. and 4. have better shifting times compared to 1. and 2. An important detail that NASA TT apparently has neglected. My gripe is that NASA TT rules lumped 1., 2., 3. and 4. all together as one category. I am hoping NASA will review this for 2011. Given that I maybe the only NASA TT competitor using a Steptronic type of transmission, I need to get my voice heard. Now what? Competing in NASA TTC just doesn't make sense since I am the only starter for this year. Meaning, there is only me in this class. Getting a first place every time seems a bit of an insult. I was told I could add balast to go back to TTD. Guess what? I need to add at least 160lbs. That's right. Given that I drive my track car to/from the track venue, I have to carry bar bells that sum up to 160lbs. So I have decided to take a break from NASA for the rest of the year. And perhaps go back to just lapping days.
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