I am curious what each of you have found to be the best technique when performing a hard, full power street launch from zero mph to whatever speed is desired?

I asked because, I had gotten my stop watch to time a baseline 0-60mph run before doing some things to the car. I never had traction issues at the track but on cold tires launching from dry cold pavement with no rubber laid down, I found that with ESP off, the car would blow the tires away in 1st then shift to 2nd and bog before picking up steam in 2nd. With ESP one it would slow the car considerably.

If I took off with less than full throttle for a split second to get the car rolling before applying full power, then even with ESP off the wheel spin was minimal and the 0-60 time dropped from ~6.28 sec to 5.35 sec. After new plugs and filters, the best time dropped to 5.16 sec. Still when launching from cold tires & cold pavement, a heavy foot leaves a impressive streak of rubber but also is about 1 sec slower than a more conservative take-off. Is there a better way? I don't race on the street but when I see a Hybrid car beside me I like to show em what they are missing, lol

Irish

 

Well you got to just practice launching basically and get it down..

with esp on its going to stop you and theres no point with it on.

I launch by turning esp off , left foot on brake and right on gas
and I get it to 1500rpms-2000 and just let go of the brake and easy press the gas and then full throttle . Just keep practicing and you will get it down.

oh yeah nd obv its in 1st and s mode lol.

 

1. ESP off
2. Downshift to 1st.
3. Foot to the floor and watch out!

 

watch out, no traction

 

You're using a stopwatch?
Quickest way I've found to launch from a stop (ESP off) is to ease into 3/4 throttle in 1st and then pin it. You'll still spin but it won't kill your momentum or RPMs like it does if you just floor it from a stop.
And as others have mentioned, practice makes perfect. Tires, temp, road surface, and conditions make a big difference as well of course.

 

Do you take off in first and manually shift or let it shift for you from first?

 

let it shift for you

 

I got my 12.9 run taking off in D w/ esp off. I wonder if taking off in 1st w/ esp off would help? Hmmm

 

i bought an accelerometer last week and I've been playing around with my launch. best i got so far was a 4.89, which i thought was really good. i was in W mode and Drive,with foot on brake and some gas.

 

Impressive! "W" starts off in 2nd gear, correct? Might not be a bad idea to cut down on spinning at launch.

 

Full power?

 

I've been playing with it when I have the chance, following a tune-up with new plugs, wires, filters. When I first started this thread, we were having ambient temps in the high teens to about 22 deg F. My Pirelli PZero-Nero's did not hook too good like that without first lighting them up.

Yesterday, I tried again with warmer temps in the mid 40's with better results albeit somewhat variable depending on how aggressive I was off the line.

1st run::: 5.43sec (bogged 2nd after blowing away 1st)
2nd run::: 5.19 sec
3rd run::: 5.87 sec (lots of wheelspin)
4th run::: 5.03 sec
5th run::: 4.51 sec
6th run::: 5.03 sec

In general, it seemed to get better as I got more heat in the tires and depending on the condition of the pavement. Plus these were all in different random spots. The first run was slightly uphill and the 4th was slightly downhill (that helped, lol) but the others were level ground. What felt like the best run, was not timed as it was from a slight <5mph roll, which would not count anyway. The best run was kinda flukey cause it just hooked really hard. I was not believing it until I ran the next one going the opposite direction which was a 5.03. I think it would

The reason I was asking is that if you happen to roll up to a stop light beside of say a Charger SRT-8 (while touring in Tijuana of course), your not going to have the luxury of a burnout before the light turns green, lol.

I am finding that it is very very up to the driver and the pavement as to how hard you can go. Best results were in S-mode, in Drive, ESP off and hold brake and raise rpms to ~1500 and then roll into it slow for the first half car length and then pin it. I am pretty happy with the last 3 runs but really need a better timing method to tell more. There is a big difference compared to just flooring it on cod tires/pavement as that do not work at all unless you just want to blow smoke from under the fender wells.

 

Best thing you can do to sort your launches is get new tyres

 

OK Steve mate, would you like to elaborate on that comment? I have new Max Traction Pirellis now, so there is no lack of tread. Do you mean better tires? Short of drag radials what might be a better "New" Tire choice that you have tried? I am not that impressed with the Pirellis anyway. I have had better luck with the cheaper Bridgestone-Fusion ZRi's. They hooked better wet or dry than the Pirellis do. But I will likely keep them this winter and wear them out practicing my cold tire take-offs, lol.

Still, I recall a recommendation in another thread to use Bridgestone Potenza RE050A PP's. That sounded promising but I am all ears if you have had good luck with other specific tires. Thanks!

Irish

 

 

Yes that would be me that prasies recomends and SWEARS by the Bridgestone 050 PP's. They are great road race tires as well.

My best using a G-tech, is a 4.70. Of course dry, semi hot pavement. As the guys say above practice practice practice.

See yeah

PS: A stop watch is NEVER going to be very acurate my friend, buy a g-tech from summit or tirerack, as they are only around $200

Tell the misses its a Christmas present for yourself

 

or if you have an iPhone, get the "Dynolicious Applicaton" It gives pretty accurate times using the accelerometer in the phone for $13.

 

Thanks MRAMG1. I remembered your earlier posts on the tires in another thread and have the Bridgestones on my got to get list for next spring before a track day. I was thinking about getting the G-tech for my son for Christmas. The stopwatch is a pretty inaccurate approach. Even if you ran 10 runs exactly the same, they would all be timed different.

I did not know the I-phone had a timing function, that is cool.

Just getting some heat in the tires makes a big difference but that is not possible in those improtmtu Mexicali drag races down the Guadalupe highway. My best times were always after doing 2 or 3 runs in quick succession.

Has anybody had better luck shifting in manual from 1st to 2nd or will it self shift no matter what? I have not tried that yet. I figured it would upshift no matter what I did if it hit redline but might enable me to feather the throttle a little to hook and then manually shift it. My guess is that it would still be slower due to wheelspin unless the initial launch is gentle.

 

On a cool day my Beltimer with a 2.0 60ft, 0-60 4.6 sec, 13.0@109mph on flat pavement. Its very close with real drag times.

 

what do you guys suggest is the best rpm to build up to when launching?

 

i think 1700-2000 rpms. wells thats what ive had good luck with it.

 

Hey Irish,
curious as to what mods do you have or are your running stock?
Otherwise, looks like you're really enjoying car's preformance!!