Sim Racing H-Pattern Shifter Support
Posted: 19 Jul 2023, 08:48
I'm currently working on my 8HP swap and since before I started, I was thinking about a DBW/CAN H-pattern Shifter to work with the Turbolamik TCU and the 8HP.
Something similar to the Koenigsegg CC850 shifter. The ability to change between manual and automatic on the fly. For a racecar, this is unnecessary and possibly even worse than a simple DCT shifter or a pedal shifter. But for a streetcar, I see this as an absolute game changer if implemented correctly.
A clutch pedal has proven to be functional, Zeroto60 has also developed a clutch emulator that would work perfect for this. However, I can see someone using an H-pattern shifter without a clutch pedal simply because they can with this transmission and TCU.
Looking at sim racing shifters, there are plenty that could potentially work. The Simagic DS-8X Shifter seems to be the closest thing to what the CC850 has with the bonus of using all 8 gears and a sequential mode for racing. It works through USB and possibly CAN but I can't verify that. All I can find is that there is a CAN Hub that Simagic has for its peripherals so there is a good chance the shifter does use CAN as well.
Since the current software does not support this natively, it might be possible to wire the shifter as a program selector with each gear position as program mode. So 1st gear would be P1, 2nd is P2,... I haven't tried the TCU yet on my project but hopefully the program maps switch fast enough between gear changes.
However, we are only limited to 8 maps and with neutral and reverse, that only gives us 6 gears to work with and no way to map a fully automatic/sequential mode. Maybe we can use an analog signal for neutral and reverse and then use the last 2 maps for a sequential/auto mode.
I don't see why this wouldn't be possible, the shifter is relatively inexpensive and I'm willing to ship one to Turbolamik if they're willing to make it work.
Otherwise, If someone can figure out a way to fully utilize the shifter through CAN BUS with the current software, let me know. I might get the DS-8X and mess with it myself once my swap is done and functional.
Something similar to the Koenigsegg CC850 shifter. The ability to change between manual and automatic on the fly. For a racecar, this is unnecessary and possibly even worse than a simple DCT shifter or a pedal shifter. But for a streetcar, I see this as an absolute game changer if implemented correctly.
A clutch pedal has proven to be functional, Zeroto60 has also developed a clutch emulator that would work perfect for this. However, I can see someone using an H-pattern shifter without a clutch pedal simply because they can with this transmission and TCU.
Looking at sim racing shifters, there are plenty that could potentially work. The Simagic DS-8X Shifter seems to be the closest thing to what the CC850 has with the bonus of using all 8 gears and a sequential mode for racing. It works through USB and possibly CAN but I can't verify that. All I can find is that there is a CAN Hub that Simagic has for its peripherals so there is a good chance the shifter does use CAN as well.
Since the current software does not support this natively, it might be possible to wire the shifter as a program selector with each gear position as program mode. So 1st gear would be P1, 2nd is P2,... I haven't tried the TCU yet on my project but hopefully the program maps switch fast enough between gear changes.
However, we are only limited to 8 maps and with neutral and reverse, that only gives us 6 gears to work with and no way to map a fully automatic/sequential mode. Maybe we can use an analog signal for neutral and reverse and then use the last 2 maps for a sequential/auto mode.
I don't see why this wouldn't be possible, the shifter is relatively inexpensive and I'm willing to ship one to Turbolamik if they're willing to make it work.
Otherwise, If someone can figure out a way to fully utilize the shifter through CAN BUS with the current software, let me know. I might get the DS-8X and mess with it myself once my swap is done and functional.