Tim,

Yes it was a little sweeping, I have run the car with a gear cut and without, without the gearcut the change is still slick, as you say a little lift (and you'd hardly notice) just to de-torque the engine to change...all the gearcut strategies are a very similar, there are advantages though to moving towards paddle shift (as i'm developing at the min) as with the flat shift the cut durations are fixed whereas with a paddle shift you can create an intelligent input that can react to changes in things like tyres, surface and grip level....

Straight cut gears are noisier than helical typically they also typically have bigger teeth and less of them which makes them more durable for competition use. Helical gears are in generally stronger and cut with an offset opposing tooth pattern which typically runs quieter than straight cut gears. The real advantage to helical gears is the offset pattern which will pull the gears together when in rotation and under load which removes stress from the bearings on the shaft, in every day street use gives a quiet & reliable service to the gearbox...