Fastest way to shift?

[AzulShiva]

So I got a clutch and an H-Shifter and I'm very confused as to how this is supposed to work. I've never ridden a car in my life, but I did grew up on motorbikes. Shifting without engaging the clutch comes naturally to me. Upshifts are apparently faster with the H-Shifter than with the Paddles but only as fast as you can engage and disengage the clutch.

So I'm guessing the fastest way to upshift is with the clutch and the fastest way to downshift is with left foot braking and throttle blipping without the clutch as you are faster through a corner using left foot braking. How are the pros doing it in AC/iRacing?

Also shouldn't you benefit from a very short clutch travel? Like setting the "From - To" option to 0-10% or less? It seems like it would decrease shift time and permanently increase acceleration.

 

[BrightCandle]

Depends on the car and sim. Some cars require quite long periods with the clutch in both directions like the older cars. There are transition vehicles that have dogboxes and can be safely shifted with rev matching, sometimes in only one direction. Typically I haven't noticed much of a need to blend the clutch in gradually when changing gears, quick transitions and the 10% or even in iRacing having it on a button is often quickest.

The one circumstance that 10% is suboptimal is at the start, you can gradually bring in power using the clutch at the start with a wider window and you can thus rev the engine in a higher band of power and torque and avoid bogging down. Typically most people do this with the throttle and it depends on the car and game.

I don't think there is any one strategy so I typically leave my clutch at the 50% point which is a happy medium between control for blending in and quick shifting. Games really handle this differently, Raceroom is brutal for missed shifts whereas AC is quite forgiving.