Automotive Forums .com - the leading automotive community online! Automotive Forums .com - the leading automotive community online!
Automotive Forums .com - the leading automotive community online! 
-
Latest | 0 Rplys
Go Back   Automotive Forums .com Car Chat > Racing > Street Racing
Reply Show Printable Version Show Printable Version | Email this Page Email this Page | Subscription Subscribe to this Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 02-26-2002, 09:09 PM   #1
lanceh007
AF Newbie
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 21
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Question How do I launch an automatic?

Hey, I was wondering how I should launch my automatic, (like they do in drag racing, or in the fast and the furious, like the very last drag race, with the black car, before the light turns green, both engines get very loud, and then take off very quickly.
To do a manual I know you somehow use the clutch, but how would I go about doing that on an automatic? I've tried holding the brakes and bringing up the rpms, but then the back wheels just start spinning, and I just sit there. Should I put it in neutral then raise the rpms and put it in first? I also tried that too, and it sounded pretty funny and jerked very hard. And also, how much should I bring up the rpms? I'm getting a new engine put in my car in a couple of weeks. It's going to be a 383 with over 550hp. Thanks for the help.
__________________
1981 Chevy Corvette (383ci with 550hp)

lanceh007 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2002, 09:20 PM   #2
fastrThanU
AF Enthusiast
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: boston, Massachusetts
Posts: 209
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
it's called a brake stand..... you take your right foot and press the gas while also taking your left foot and pressing the brake enough so that the car will not move foreward. bring the rpms to about 2500rpms, or enough so that when you release the gas, your motor doesn't bog, and you scoot off the line with just a slight chirp of the tires. that's about it. i'd manually shift the automatic through low, 2, and then into drive to hold it high enough into the power band.

whatever you do, DO NOT do what is known as a "neutral drop" that's where you rev the motor up in neutral, and drop it into drive to launch.... you'll drop that tranny onto the pavement lickity split, buddy.

good luck, and remember- launching a car is an art.... it takes a lot of practice. most importantly, learn to feel what the car wants you to do, as they each have their quirks.
__________________

11.67@117
"plaster your ass to the back glass"
.... put yer motor where yer mouth is.....
fastrThanU is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2002, 09:28 PM   #3
lanceh007
AF Newbie
Thread starter
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 21
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
hey, thanks for the tip, but now I have a few other questions...
When I let go of the brake, how much gas should I give it? Should I floor it immedeantly, or do I just ease on it, and how quickly? I was also wondering if I were to shift it manually from first to third, can I hurt the engine or transmission any, and if not, should I ease off the gas before I shift, or just throw it up into the next gear while flooring it? Thanks for the help!
__________________
1981 Chevy Corvette (383ci with 550hp)

lanceh007 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-26-2002, 11:17 PM   #4
fastrThanU
AF Enthusiast
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: boston, Massachusetts
Posts: 209
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
you should keep the throttle at the position that it is in. let the tires hook up, and go foreward. as the car comes off the line, and as the front end starts to settle down, nail the gas. if you floor the gas when you release the brake, all you're gonna do is sit and burn up your tires. you want to get the car to launch right in the area between bog and spin. how you shift depends on your transmission. experiment, and see what works best, and gives you the quickest, firmest shifts with the least amount of part-throttle or no-throttle time.
__________________

11.67@117
"plaster your ass to the back glass"
.... put yer motor where yer mouth is.....
fastrThanU is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2002, 03:34 PM   #5
student_anonymous
AF Enthusiast
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 311
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
FASTER THEN YOU!!

Nicely put!! I have a quick question about the neutral to drive thing.
I did that coming out of Fast and Furious just to see what would happen, and the car clunked and then started to move.......how come the
tranny didn't break??

You may need more deatils and such, but i just figured i'd ask.
Post a reply in one of my threads if you have an answer, i've got a few of them out now.

Thanks man, and nice lookin Chevelle!! :sun:
__________________
EVER SEE A FAMILY SEDAN TAKE A 5 LITRE MUSTANG? I HAVE!

Not Your Regular SSEi ...

1. Rebuilt, finely tuned engine.
2. Custom exhaust, similar to flowmaster
3. Matching intercooler
4. Re-calibrated s/c and transmission to match the above mods
5. Port polish and custom headers
6. Itchy right foot

Dynojet: 298hp, 306 ft/lbs torque (at tires)
0-60: 5.479 seconds
1/4 Mile: est 13.4 seconds (hoping!)
student_anonymous is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2002, 03:36 PM   #6
student_anonymous
AF Enthusiast
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 311
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Dude asking the question:

Just so you know, with a manual, you put the clutch in, and hit the gas to about 1500 to 2500 rpms. Then when you want to go, let the clutch out and like FASTER THEN YOU said, hold that gas pedal steady until after the tire spin or you'll burn out.

That's all there is to it.
__________________
EVER SEE A FAMILY SEDAN TAKE A 5 LITRE MUSTANG? I HAVE!

Not Your Regular SSEi ...

1. Rebuilt, finely tuned engine.
2. Custom exhaust, similar to flowmaster
3. Matching intercooler
4. Re-calibrated s/c and transmission to match the above mods
5. Port polish and custom headers
6. Itchy right foot

Dynojet: 298hp, 306 ft/lbs torque (at tires)
0-60: 5.479 seconds
1/4 Mile: est 13.4 seconds (hoping!)
student_anonymous is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2002, 05:28 PM   #7
fastrThanU
AF Enthusiast
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: boston, Massachusetts
Posts: 209
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
student- it usually takes more than one time to blow up a tranny from neutral drops... it will happen though if you continue doing it. way back in high school, i knew this jerk-off with an '87 5.0. he'd be runnin around revvin the thing, doing neutral drops, and all kinds of stupid crap. the thing lasted a couple months (maybe 3 at the most) before the tranny blew and he blew a head gasket... the thing was still sitting in his driveway last time i checked, and he had a new one that he was thrashing into the ground
__________________

11.67@117
"plaster your ass to the back glass"
.... put yer motor where yer mouth is.....
fastrThanU is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2002, 05:58 PM   #8
NSX-R-SSJ20K
AF Fanatic
 
NSX-R-SSJ20K's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,440
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to NSX-R-SSJ20K
brake torque to 2500 rpm that what i do

altho that does tend to mess up you engine sometimes
__________________
Qualified Automotive Engineer
NSX-R-SSJ20K is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2002, 06:35 PM   #9
flylwsi
AF Fanatic
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: cleveland, Ohio
Posts: 4,347
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to flylwsi
nice blanket statement.
that tends to mess up your engine sometimes.
actually, it wont, it would wear your tq converter quicker, but not much else.
flylwsi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2002, 11:02 PM   #10
lanceh007
AF Newbie
Thread starter
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 21
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Well, I got to thinking today...and I realized that 550hp is a lot for this car. The transmission (witch I think is a 400, but it could be a 350, I'll find out tommorow), the driveshaft, rear axle, and practically everything else in the car is probably not made to handle that much power. I was wondering if anyone knew if the new engine could it damage any parts in the car if I just step on the gas?
I've also seen some people, in much heavier cars, with a bit less horsepower do wheelies....so if they could do it, I don't see why mine could not. My dad said it would probably break the transmission before it did one, but if it were to, how much might I expect the front end to lift off the ground, and when it landed, could it damage anything? Practically everything is stock except a new suspension system (nothing fancy), and some good shocks. I'm not going to install wheelie bars, so if it will do a wheelie, then I'll just have to let off the gas a bit.
I'm also planning on taking it down to the drag strip, and full out racing it every once in a while. I was wondering if there is much potential for anything to happen to the parts in the car, or the engine, especially while flooring it. I'm getting a heavy duty flywheel put in, so that might help a bit, but how often to engines blow or throw a rod or anything?
I would appreciate all your help. I really just want to know how far I can push it, without having to really worry about it, mostly because I drive it every day, and it's my only ride.
__________________
1981 Chevy Corvette (383ci with 550hp)

lanceh007 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2002, 06:12 AM   #11
slammed
AF Newbie
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: brisbane
Posts: 1
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Hey welcome to the 'vette community!! I gotta '75 stingray which is still going under some fixing after getting rearended by a drunk last winter. I drive a manual and do stupid things all the time but if ur driving an automatic with 550 hp, there is no reason to even care about peeling ur tires like in fast+fur. All that stuff is for show anyway and will maybe cut ur time a bit but not by much... Just floor it baby!! Maybe u won't get the cool smoke and smell of the tires but u'll definately burn many many people. If u do want to do silly stuff I suggest looking into converting ur manual into an automatic. Alright, hope u have fun with ur car!!!!!!
slammed is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2002, 09:49 PM   #12
crazyjaen
AF Newbie
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 8
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to crazyjaen
Post

Do not try to do a wheelie, man. if you do one most likely you will break the axels. Follow what fasterthanu said. I know from experience my friend drive a lightning and its going well into the 12's now. The first run we had we just held the brake then revved it to 1600 RPM and floored it and man he was spinning his wheels all over the place. no traction whatsoever. The best way is just to hold the break rev it till low 1000's then when u feel the wheels grip good floor it works all the time.:ylsuper
crazyjaen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2002, 09:52 PM   #13
crazyjaen
AF Newbie
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 8
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to crazyjaen
Angry

oh yea i forgot one more thing, leave the tranny in drive dont drop it to first or second gear. You will be going so fast u will most likely not shift right and either loose time or just watch the tranny fall apart behind you.
crazyjaen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2002, 01:50 PM   #14
student_anonymous
AF Enthusiast
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 311
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I disagree with the last comment here.

Power shifting is an excellent way to race, i do it about 67% of my races, and i kick some serious ass doing so. The drive thing is really
only for guys that don't know how high they can rev their engines, or if they don't have an RPM guage.

The power shifting saves a precious few seconds, and you can ride the gears high and when you pop them into the next the car kicks and you get another 10-15 mph in less then a second. Not to mention you pull
all the power out of the car you can when you shift that way.

The only thing to be carefull of is that you don't hit it hard in 1 or L as
if the car has a good torque to power ratio you'll just sit still and the tires will spin.

That's all from my experiences.
__________________
EVER SEE A FAMILY SEDAN TAKE A 5 LITRE MUSTANG? I HAVE!

Not Your Regular SSEi ...

1. Rebuilt, finely tuned engine.
2. Custom exhaust, similar to flowmaster
3. Matching intercooler
4. Re-calibrated s/c and transmission to match the above mods
5. Port polish and custom headers
6. Itchy right foot

Dynojet: 298hp, 306 ft/lbs torque (at tires)
0-60: 5.479 seconds
1/4 Mile: est 13.4 seconds (hoping!)
student_anonymous is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2002, 09:22 PM   #15
crazyjaen105
AF Newbie
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 6
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
lanceh007. I just dont put it on 1st gear cuz a smaller gear makes a higher RPM which means blown motor. If you do shift properly you actually loose a lot of time just shifting and you lose a lot of power since the RPM actually go down more if you do it manually. If you let the comp do it the shift will be a lot faster. The greatest benefit is that usually you get much better grip than you do with regular drive. But I mean the best way is to try both ways and see which way you like better its really just personal preference.
crazyjaen105 is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
FS: **$30 Shipped** 1995 Eclipse Turbo Automatic Transmission Motor Mount thakid22 Classifieds 0 12-17-2010 05:32 AM

Reply

POST REPLY TO THIS THREAD

Go Back   Automotive Forums .com Car Chat > Racing > Street Racing

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:47 PM.

Community Participation Guidelines | How to use your User Control Panel

Powered by: vBulletin | Copyright Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
 
 
no new posts