After using an electronic shifter for the last couple of seasons we opted to change to an ‘air-shift’ system which, as with everything else would be controlled by the ECU.
Being short of space to fit an air pumps, combined with the power they use and wanting to keep weight to a minimum, we opted to use a small lightweight Air Bottle instead. Even so in order to check for fit we chose to 3D print both the bottle and actuator from CAD data supplied by the manufacturers.
Mounting the actuator at 90˚ to the gear selector arm proved simple enough, the bottle along with the regulator and yet more sensors fitted with just a few mm’s to spare – for extra safety we wanted this to be mounted inside the rear chassis rails.
As with everything else the Air-Shifter was to be controlled by the ECU/Dash something best left to the experts…so once again over to Greg at RRR for set-up. The result has proved better than expected, 1st is a simple pull on ‘up’ paddle, neutral is found by pressing a button on the steering wheel, flat shift cut and down change ‘blip’ sorted and just for safety 1st gear can only be selected when the clutch level is pulled.
Having worked almost perfectly since our first outing it seems that the air shifter is considerably more gentle on the gearbox when changing gear, being ‘squeezed’ into gear rather than being slammed!
After months of work it was finally time to see if the whole project had been worth it.
So with engine starting (ish), the oil system working, the gear shift system full with 3,500 psi of air it was time for an early morning visit to JamSport’s rolling-road and time for Sam from Mana Performance to do his thing.
