How to Perform a Manual Burnout
If you’ve always wondered how to do a brake-stand burnout with a manual transmission, there’s no better time to learn.
A well-executed burnout is a beautiful thing. Properly performed, a burnout will shock and awe with roaring engine noise and billowing clouds of white smoke.
Although most often performed as a crowd-pleasing tactic at car shows and cruise-ins, burnouts do serve an important purpose for drag racing. The friction caused by the tires spinning against the pavement warms them up and removes debris, allowing them to “stick” to the road surface better. That can grant a superior launch. Since a drag race only lasts a few seconds, a great launch makes a huge difference in elapsed time.
Performing a brake-stand burnout in a car with an automatic transmission is easy. With your left foot on the brake, you apply throttle with your right foot and let your tires do the talking. However, it’s a little bit more involved for manual transmission owners, as this video from Engineering Explained demonstrates.
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While the car used for demonstration purposes is a bright yellow Honda S2000, any rear-wheel drive, manual Mercedes-Benz will do the trick. With the car in first gear and the clutch pedal depressed, rev the engine, holding it steady at high RPM. Quickly let off the clutch and depress the brake.
If you’ve done this correctly, your tires will begin to spin and produce huge clouds of white smoke, people will clap and cheer, girls will swoon, and other drivers will be impressed by your superior skills and machinery… or something like that.
Hopefully, when it’s all over, the faint, pungent odor you’re smelling is rubber and not clutch friction material. Everyone needs to learn how to perform a righteous burnout — it’s like an unwritten law among car enthusiasts. Hopefully, this video has taught you how with a bare minimum of tire replacement, traffic tickets, and Cars & Coffee ejections.
Have you performed a burnout in your Mercedes-Benz? What’s your secret?
