My '11 MCS was an absolute blast at the BMW CCA event at Summit Point last weekend. Passing and staying in front of much more powerful cars made me like the little MCS even more than before.

However, while out on the track I was unable to downshift from 3rd to 2nd in a fairly mild (for track speeds) right-hander. But once I rolled back to the pits I could shift into 2nd no problem. I've never experienced this on the street. My guess is that some rubber mount was shifting under the load of cornering and not allowing things to line up properly in order to execute the shift.

Has anyone else experienced or know about this? I searched, but couldn't find anything. Thanks.

 

hi,i track my coupe.please get yourself a lower engine mount insert from waymotorworks and this problem should go away

 

Been meaning to get one of those! I'll give it a shot. Probably my next purchase. There was no grinding - the shifter just wouldn't go into 2nd.

 

Don't force it into the gear. Shift first to neutral then nudge it with an open palm into gear.

 

Thanks. I was being gentle and just gave up. 3rd ended up being a better choice anyway once I figured out how to keep my speed up for that corner.

 

You will eventually need 2nd gear in one of the tracks so you should figure out your solution to this problem.

This is quite a common issue we see at the track. Smooth shifting using the h gates properly solves many of these problems.

 

Thanks. I'd be interested to try your suggestion and be more methodical about that shift next time out. No doubt my technique could be improved. I don't think there's a slower corner anywhere else though and, as I improve (and eventually move to stickier tires), that gear will become obsolete for any tracks around here.

I wonder if that lower engine mount insert suggested above would have any effect since it looks like my issue is caused by side loads. A solid mount may be the ticket, but I don't want a lot of additional NVH right now. I'm taking her to At Speed Motorworks in Hanover, MD today, so we'll see if they have any insight.

 

When you take a ride on the track with an instructor, ask them to demonstrate how they shift w/o issues.

I think the lower engine mounts are good to improve clutch feel. Not sure about wether they help with shifting in this case.

 

I had the same problem at HPDE's and track events as well. slinger688 is absolutely right, at least that is what worked for me. I was always trying to pound or bang the shifter into second gear, once I realized that if I was "gentle" and nudged it into gear, it went in every time.

 

I figured it out. Sort of. For some reason, sometimes I'm able to move the shifter lever WAY to the left as if I were about to shift into reverse. In my limited experimenting with this, I think other times I'm locked out from going that far. So, at the track what I was actually doing was going too far to the left and was of course unable to get to 2nd.

 

This is what happens when you are hurried. And you have to learn to use the neutral position in the h pattern which is the default position. Shifts must be smooth with a open palm and should not be forced.

Eventually after some seat time and lots of practice, it should be better.

 

I've been practicing and I like that open-hand technique for the 3rd to 2nd downshift. While cornering and trying to brace myself it helps me ease it into that gear.

 

Next try to put the gear into neutral with a quick pause then shift into your gear from there. Neutral is always your default or reference point and it just takes milli-seconds longer but there is still no issue to shift while rev matching or heel toe.