2 step time !

I will throw in my .02 to help the guys following along that want learn and UNDERSTAND what to do.

The first thing to remember when using a stick is there are very few of us. The last people you want to ask what to do with a stick car is the guys running slush boxes. The two do not relate. To pick an RPM for a torque converter car, you go by stall speed.

As to a stick, the general rule of thumb is 2/3 of your engine speed is the STARTING POINT to set the 2 step. If you are shifting at 6000, you would start at 4000 on the chip and TUNE it from there. But it's not that simple. Starting Line Ratio plays a big factor in getting the car moving. Flywheel weight and the total mass of the clutch system plays a part. More mass means the higher you go on the chip, the harder you hit the tire. You want the 2 step to help control how much load the tires see at launch.

That also includes using shock settings (which is why anything less that a double adjustable shock on both ends of the car is a crap shoot) to control axle movement and front suspension seperation and how fast it separates.

Then there is the clutch itself. If you have a nonadjustable clutch, well, it's about the same as having a carb that you can't change the jets. Or the idle speed. If the clutch goes from a gap of the industry standard .060 to clamped and LOCKED UP when the pedal is out, you have effectively put all that load on the engine, and the tires. This means you may have to use the 2 step to band aid a poor clutch that is not tuneable. That's why one size doesn't fit all.

As to why you put the switch on the pedal, it's simple really. You cannot allow the engine to see load while it is on the 2 step. You want engine RPM going up the instant you start to move your foot. If you set the 2 step to stay on as the clutch comes out, you are loading the engine while it is still being controlled by the 2 step. You cannot time your thumb to match your foot and get it right once, if ever. You cannot load the engine and let it miss on random cylinders. I can tell you from personal experience this will break parts and can break your engine. I have watched a customer kill engine after engine after engine. Upon autopsy, it looked like it was getting killed in high gear (blown gas 5 speed car that eventually set the BB/A National record and he won the World Finals in 2005 or 2006 IIRC) so he continued to work on high gear. In the end, it was his setting of the 2 step and not getting it off the 2 step before the clutch loaded the engine. We caught it adjusting the clutch one night in his shop after work. I could hear the switch clicking long after the pedal was off the stop. After a long, heated discussion I told him he was killing his stuff right at the tree, not in high gear. After some more discussion, sketching on a pad, looking at th pedal and the switch, he called one of his buddies who had been his friend for decades. It was Frank Iaconio. After a 20 minute lecture as to why my customer was wrong, we spent the rest of the night correcting the switch to make it let go of the engine as soon as he wiggled his foot.

Then the process of tuning started all over again. That little correction changed the tune up. He had to change the shock settings. He changed first gear in the Lenco to get a higher SLR. But eventually he set and reset the National record.

This is all to show that the 2 step is a very cool tuning tool. But it is not on an island. One change to the 2 step causes changes to be made in suspension. Changes to be made in clutch, which is why an adjustable clutch is so important.

I'll finish with Starting Line Ratio because it is SO overlooked in stick cars. A SLR of less than 11.5 is not good. It means you probably need a steel flywheel to get the car moving, considering we are talking about low 9 second STICK cars all the way to the 12's. A steel FW takes more time to rev up, which means you need to RAISE THE RPM, which in turn, hits the tires harder. Now you have to tune the shocks. Slow the extension down on both ends of the car. It is a process. If you get the SLR over 12, you can use an aluminum FW, which will rev faster, hit the tires softer. You can chip the engine down and let it eat. I know guys running Stock Eliminator who have a SLR of over 18!!!!!!!!! They understand you have to get the car to move.

You can also use the 2 step to control traction. If the track is slick you can adjust the 2 step. If the track is biting like you are on cogs, you can use the 2 step to reduce ET.

Hope this helps the few stick guys interested in learning, who are willing to test and who are open to understanding why some of us ***** the loudest when guys don't buy double adjustable shocks, or think a nonadjustable clutch is good enough, when in reality, it is as useless as an unadjustable carb, or a distributor that you couldn't manipulate the timing curve.

It's all about the package. I realize most guys are into setting National Records, running on an index and things like that. I think some guys buy parts just so they can start threads on the interwebs or think it's cool to stand in the pits and tell everyone what they have.

Learn all you can about how the clutch/2 step/suspension/shocks and tune up all fit together. They are separate systems, but just like the lungs are not the heart, they both affect each other.