question about launching?

ok.. i was wondering how you would launch ur car safely and with the greatest effect.. my friend told me that u have to hold ur clutch and rev ur engine to like 5.5 rpm and drop the clutch.. but i heard if u do that all it dus is spin out ur tires so they make tire marks on the ground. my other friend has an automatic and wat he dus is put the gear into D1 and holds break and revs engine to 4 and lets go of the car and as soon as he dus he switches to D3. i want to learn how to do a proper launch for a maual car...

lol funny, i wanna learn the same thing :D

fo sho launching is a good thing to learn ahah anyone out tehre with n e suggestions?

you want to start as fast as you can without spinning the tires. A little spin is not bad. With AWD you may have to slip the clutch a little to prevent bogging. Experiment and find out what works best for you.

Takes alot of practice. First off, I am assuming that you have a vr4 with allwheel drive. Do alot of practice runs to see what rpms you break lose at. In my vr4, when I launch at 5000rpms and dump the clutch my tires only chirp for a split second, they definantly don't spin and leave marks. The ideal launch is finding the highest rpms you can launch at without spinning your tires too much. So just practice timing it. Push in the clutch, put stick in first, rev engine consistently to desired rpms, simultaneously release clutch completely and floor it. Also, when you are taking the rpms over 2500, you want to dump the clutch(release completely), do not let it out slowly, otherwise you will burn up your clutch. its not good for your clutch and it smells really bad.
What I did, was started lauching at 3000, then each time, I would add another 500rpms. between 4500 and 5500rpms my tires broke loose. With the AWD, you can get some pretty sick launches. So find you're ideal rpms for your car. Also, at a track you want to have all of that be second nature so you can focus on timing your starts with the lights and having good reaction times.

nicceee thanks that helped alot

nicceee thanks that helped alot

one more question.. .after you release ur clutch do you floor ur car then?

oNe more question.. my friend said taht when ur launching, all that matters is torque and tahts why all those muscle cars goto the quarter mile places. i was wondering what exactly dus a torque converter do and can it fit in the vr-4?

o yea is the converter for automatic or manual?

1. you should be dumping the clutch and flooring it at the same time.

2. he says torque is what matters because that is what pushes your car, and you into the back of your seat.

3. Those "muscle cars" aren't the only ones going to the track...vr4s have over 300ft/lbs of torque

4. A torque converter takes the place of a clutch in an automatic car, in a manual, when you press in the clutch, the engine can continue to turn while the wheels and tranny gears don't. Similarly, a torque converter is the part that allows automatic cars to come to a stop without stalling, it lets the engine rotate somewhat independently of the tranny. If you want a fuller explanation of how one works, check out howstuffworks.com or something like that.

5. All vr4s are manual, so no, you wouldn't put one in.

niceee cant wait till i get a vr-4 sounds like loads of fun =-) i have a beamer rite now leased so its no fun ahaha

i got my best launch from a 6000 rpm dump, it vary's sometimes i go 5500 and others 6grand but thats about as far as i go, your tires are not gonna spin unless there bald as all hell, or its raining outside other wise if your stock you won't spin, maybe just a little tad bit but nothings wrong with that. you won't get a good launch with anything under 4 grand.

He's right, i only said start low, so that he could feel the difference and build his way up, it helped me learn. Yet I still havn't launched from 6k yet, hmm...

My tires suck

I have the 96' base and i really need to practice this. I havent been dumping my clutch, i have been getting that bad smell of burning clutch. I just got new yokos on my car so they should be good. Any recomendations for the launch with the base?

go to an empty road and just practice, launching depends on too many things.

I recently burned out my clutch, which only prompted me to learn the right way.... With lots of practice. Now i think i've almost got the hang of it, at least i'm not getting the smell. Now I find myself being really careful w/ the clutch, ESPECIALLY on the launches.

sooooooo careful now... cost $800.00 but i got a lighter flywheel!!!

i got my best launch from a 6000 rpm dump, it vary's sometimes i go 5500 and others 6grand but thats about as far as i go, your tires are not gonna spin unless there bald as all hell, or its raining outside other wise if your stock you won't spin, maybe just a little tad bit but nothings wrong with that. you won't get a good launch with anything under 4 grand.

LOL dont want to start that over agian. But u just have to see what works for you. Some people can lauch at 5000rpm and have a good launch as for me i just stick to 3000-3500 rpm range. You just gotta know how to use a clutch really good if ur slipping it. If u release to early u bog down to much if u hold it to long ur burning ur clutch. Takes alot of practice.

My launch is better around 5k, but if i keep it under 4k on the lauch, im faster through the rest of the gears. When I launch at 5k i spin the clutch too much and heat it up causing it to slip when I shift into 2nd and 3rd.

when ur launching, do you rev in N or do you put it in gear and then rev? Is it rev and then gear or what im so confused?

when ur launching, do you rev in N or do you put it in gear and then rev? Is it rev and then gear or what im so confused?


Thier's two things u can do. But the main thing is ALWAYS REV IN GEAR. You can rev then dump the clutch or you can rev and slip the clutch. You have to see what works for you. I perfer slipping the clutch rather than dumping it.

wat do you mean by slipping the clutch?

Letting it out slower, rather than just dumping it. This allows you to control the amount of power to the ground a bit more if you are letting it out slowly. With a slower release of power to the ground, the tires grip quicker and you launch the fastest. The only problem is that you can burn out your clutch if you let it out too slowly when mid-high rpms, so if you are smelling the clutch burning, then you are taking too long. The vr4s have AWD, so it is possible for us to dump the clutch at 5-6k rpms and just chirp our tires, traction isn't a big issue for us. But if you have FWD or RWD, slipping the clutch might work better for you.

also watch out i have a 91 sl and i was just messin around and i dumped the clutch at around 5 grand and i ended up blowin a huge hole in my exhaust lol..to make things worse this was the very first night i got my car. im guessing that part of my exhaust was rusted to begin with but still u should be careful when droppin it from such high rpm's...maybe its less wear with the awd on the exhaust but i dont know.