I would say that's probably not typical for most autocross courses. I've run courses where I've hit the rev limiter in 2nd gear -- with my particular setup, that's 67 MPH. Most of the WDCR SCCA courses, I'm shifting to 2nd before the first major course element.

The only time I've run a course in 1st gear the entire way was one of the two courses at the Atlanta ProSolo in 2004. I did not hit the rev limiter at all. That was the slowest of my 12 runs, and it wasn't even close (it was a 36.911, the next slowest was a 35.788). To be fair, the conditions there were horrendous, with standing water all over the courses...

 

I launch in 1st, then upshift to 2nd at the first straight that is longer than about 20 paces. I _never_ downshift until I cross the finish lights. It's a torquey motor and even in 2nd the front LSD fires you out of corners pretty well. The argument about downshifting to 1st has been going on for ages, but I find that I'm always faster if I try not to upset the car right before turn in.

2nd gear carries the evo past 60 mph and it's pretty rare that you find a section of an autocross course that requires more speed than that. So I don't really use third either.

d

 

I had driver's school with a regional champ this spring. His advice on shifting: don't, each shift costs you at least 0.1sec and that's if you're staying in the sweet spot of the RPM band. If you've shifiting to a place where the engine maybe has to catch up a little, then you lose even more. Stay in 2nd.
I learned that the hard way this weekend when we had a section that I was bumping the limiter in 2nd and would try for 3rd... and then back to 2nd less than 2 seconds later. My last run I stayed in 2nd and shaved 1.4 seconds off of my previous best time.
Part of the problem is, you're not used to shifting under these conditions. You're adding a lot of steering input, thinking ahead to the next gate or whatever, and now you're adding the mental strain of up and down shifting. You only have the one hand to steer since you're using the other to shift. You can't left foot brake because your foot is on the clutch. In your evo you probably have to respool the turbo some.

keep practicing

 

I just haven't run a course where I could even make good use of 2nd for more than a split second...the turns have been too soon and too tight with no actual straightaways. The few times I shifted to 2nd, the "straightaways" were not actually straight, but rather long sections with offset gates throughout that didn't allow you to go in a straight line, but did allow for some acceleration. It just sounds like my courses have just been shorter and/or much tighter with more turns, because if I had stayed in 2nd through all of that, I would have never been in boost. My results speak for themselves, as I was 5th in the aforementioned course, and the next closest Evo was 2s slower. I will be seeing my 3rd course in 2 Saturdays, and it's supposed to be more wide open, so maybe I'll experience being in 2nd all the time for once.

 

on an autoX, its not just about the gearing.. its about quick change in direction to get on power earlier.....i dont think it is necessary to downshift ever for our evos.... i think the problem is you plowed into that sharp turn, dropping ur rpm too low... now if u can tune in more oversteer and/or adjust your driving, you can get a quick turn-ins to keep up ur momentum and hence your RPM