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Wow, what a thing! Hasn't this thread gotten a bit heated.
Can I let you guys in on a little secret? An M3 needs to be taken by the scruff of it's neck & thrashed like there's no tomorrow. If you don't do this, you will not extract the maximum performance from it.
It's not like a turbo car where you can afford to granny shift short of the redline, & the wave of midrange torque will make up for your lazy driving.
No, sir-ree Bawb. You need to rev an M3 to the limiter & snap it as darn quick as you can & keep it up there & on the boil gear after gear. That's why a DCT has such an advantage over a manual even given 2 drivers that can row like champions.
Now take 2 average drivers and the gap widens somewhat. Then add a 600hp supercharged manual M3 into the mix. Then add a driver that has been driving DCT for the last few years & give him a 600hp manual M3.
Besides the shifts being slow, there's the added drama of wheelspin between the shifts now. And if you rev a few hundred rpm short of redline you lose a heck of a lot of acceleration. And this accumulates over a couple of gears.
No offense, Per maybe I reading this wrong, but I think you still need to get accustomed to the new car 1stly, & the new power 2ndly. A driver can make or brake a car's performance. You get some guys that are like caged tigers. Then you get some guys that are laid back, and inevitably start the race having to play catch up.
Looks like Big Tom, was the former. He was ready to pounce come the last cone & get a jump into the lead. But Per, pretty please do me a favour next time. Do not start in 2nd. EVER! If you have to bounce the limiter in 1st then so be it. I will never go rolling in 2nd gear with a big turbo car. That's playing right into their hands. They can go into whatever gear they want. 2nd probably suits their powerband better anyway.
But an M3 needs to get into the powerband, and you have to engage 1st gear. 50km/h in 1st is perfect. Should be around 7000rpm. I know it's a short stint into 2nd. And maybe you will light up the rears when you shift. But you can control that & from that point on you are in the powerband. To labour way out of powerband for an eternity, is a far far worse situation to be in. Especially against big turbo Porshes that will climb onto boost mid-gear & leave you gasping for air & looking at your rev counter laboriously climbing past 4000rpm while they have boosted 2nd gear & are into boost in 3rd before you have gone halfway through 2nd.
Trust me on this, charger or not, an M3's weapon is revs. Use it. Rolling at 3000rpm (especially if the other car jumps you), will paint a wrong picture of your performance. After all the cars you are racing are not exactly push-overs. You first have to catch up to them, before you can pass them. And with the acceleration advantage they have at the start, it's leaving too much to do.
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