help

hey...i was wonderin if ne one could help me out with my driving. i have a 97 vtech prelude(stock right now) and i race it every now and then but i really dont know how to drive...im only 16 and its the first car ive had that is capable of being raced. the main thing i need help with is getting out of the hole faster...i get smoked out of the hole every time(its an automatic by the way). i heard someone in another thread say somthin about launching in vtech but i dont see how u could do that without spinning alot. a little help would be greatly appreciated.

vtech? now how does that work :rolleyes:

basically..u dont get all ur power until u hit around 5000 rpms. at least thats the way i understood it.

I hate to burst your bubble, but VTEC is basically designed for the engine to run more efficient and in some ways help you achieve better gas mileage.

For launches, because you have an automatic, you're best off leaving it in drive, then hold down the brake with your left foot, and give a little gas with the right foot until you feel your car tense up. When the race starts let off the brake and give full gas. Might wanna practice on your street or something to get the hang of it. Watch your tachometer when you do it so that you can get a feel of what the max rpm is before your tires lose grip. I've never raced in a front wheel drive car so that method might not be as good.

I wholly condone street racing of any kind; just helping you out in the case that you do a few 1/4 runs at a CLOSED track.

ALSO, do NOT do the method of revving it up in neutral then dropping it into drive. It's a great way to kill a $3000 tranny. :D

i think the reason that it is more efficient is bc it doesnt use the engines full power until it reaches 5000 rpms.......

by the way thanks for the help...i already knew how to power brake tho...i just heard someone say "he didnt even start in out in vtech" and i thought he meant starting in really high rpms.

hey, not flaming u at all, but i thought u should know, there is no such thing as VTECH, in a honda. wut u do have is VTEC. NO "H". heh, jus thought i'd help u out before someone told u in a rude way.

o, so u kno, don't launch in VTEC, if u do, u'll spin....and spin...and spin. that guy was...well...off. ur VTEC doesn't ADD power, but it can feel that way. (i've posted this before, i kno, but this is easier for this guy to read), basically wut VTEC does for u is at high RPM, honda's really lack power. so it jus keeps ur power-band more even. this is for DOHC VTEC, like urs. the SOHC VTEC, isn't going to feel the same. now, a lot of people are going to try to tell u it is, but sit in ur car, then sit in a 96 EX civic. keep up the good work w/ ur car, wut are ur 1st mods going to be?

VTECH is actually a childrens learning toy company. Bty, to say you condone something means you put your seal of approval basically. If you want him to only do it at a closed track, you do not condone it. Also, if you just nail the gas as you let off the brake, its like dumping the clutch without feathering it. Bring the rpm up till you spin, and just before that point is where you want to launch at, and gas it as fast as you can without wheel spin. It will take some practice but youll get it.


VTEC isnt just good for economy, its something farrari and ford and many other car manufactures have used. It changes your timing curve to help keep you in your powerband as long as possable, basically its like normal driving, and alot of pep when you need it.

hey thanks for all the help...stupid honda...confusing me with all the bad spelling. my first mods are gonna be intake, header, exhaust but first i think im gonna fix the dings in the side(they were there when i bought it). i dont really know what im gonna do after all that though.

Shit man, thats a pretty nice starter car....I just bought a 98 lude myself. I am now going to have to work the rest of my asolescent life, but you only live once so I might as well have a tight ass car! I think that im goin for the exhaust first then intake, but thats just me. Not that anyone cares.......

:D nice to find a domestic driver who actually enjoys what VTEC does for Honda, an other manufacters (not saying he's the only one who does). i don't see how so many ppl have been told that it is simply a way to get better gas milage. cuz if i jus rolled at over 53k RPM (VTEC set there), then i'd get hardly any gas mileage. so that arguement makes little sense. FOR EVERYONE WHO HASN'T RIDDEN IN A DOHC VTEC: go sit in one w/ a good driver an have him run up the RPM (no its not gonna have the power of most american cars), but u should feel a little kick at the top end.


o...VTEC, u should buy a new ecu for ur car. rite now ur governor is gonna set u a top speed of 113, which is pretty nice if u don't go that fast, (which u won't in a 1/4 mile) but still, w/ intake header exhaust set-up, it would help everything mesh better. (bad way of saying that).

i dont think my car has a governor on it..ive gotten up to 135 once. but im pretty sure thats all it has.

C and D tested it out on a 97, it cut off at 140 and i've been up to 125.......