What is an air shifter and how do they work?

Air-shifters use high-pressure air from a storage bottle to shift the gears of a vehicle when triggered by a button controlled by the driver. Special sequential transmissions are used for air-shifter applications. At the instant of the shift, power to the engine is also cut so that the clutch is not required.

Air-shifters operate more quickly and positively than you can using your arm (car) or foot (motorcycle). They are used almost exclusively for racing applications where saving a few milliseconds can be the difference between a win and a loss, and where a missed shift can result in a $pectacular engine di$a$ter. Imagine the brief but intense experience of sitting straddled on top of a disintegrating 1000+HP pro-stock motorcycle engine, running wide open in neutral, while traveling at 150mph...