dwei42

Was wondering if any of you know the optimum RPM at which to drop the clutch to produce the best acceleration. I've had no luck trying to launch this car so far.

If I rev at 3500 RPM and drop the clutch, the car peels out and burns all of 1st gear...I don't start going anywhere until I shift to 2nd. If I drop it at around 2500 rpm the car almost stalls...

Have any of you tried launching? Any luck? Whats the optimum RPM? If no one had any luck then I guess this car is just not meant to be launched...

Ynot

Up in 5280 feet altitude, I've noticed it's best launch at close to 3000rpm. but I'm not sure about at sea level where a minivan feels like it's superfast.

slktyperice

I usually launch around 3500-4000 and feather the clutch a bit to avoid wheelspin when I'm serious about beating someone off the line. Since 1st gear is very short, there's obviously way too much torque for the tires to handle if you drop the clutch. I'd practice using medium to hard feathering of the clutch to complement your personal driving style. If you have aftermarket wheels with good 265 width tires, you could probably use less feathering.

dwei42

slktyperice:

Can you please elaborate what you mean by feathering the clutch?

I'm not familiar with the term.

Thanks!

Ynot

Quick and simple answer: Feathering is letting go of of the clutch slowly as opposed to dumping the clutch, letting go completely, feathering allow your tires to grip. Dumping would cause it to burn-out, no grip as you've mentioned. Up here in altitude where we lose up to 30% horsepower, dumping the clutch at 2900 rpm seems to work fine. YMMV

slktyperice

Losing that much hp, that means any Forced Induction solution would do wonders up in Colorado. You could almost double the boost of the Kleeman SC and still not blow your engine/transmission since it's producing less HP at the crank while bone stock.

Yes, feathering the clutch is holding it in the middle between fully gripping and off. It's quite an art, you'll have to practice it a lot. I'm sure you subconsciously do it when you're stopped uphill on a steep hill and you're not pressing on the brake.

Ynot

You guys don't know how lucky you are, I rented a minivan in Colorado, drove to SoCal and by the time I was there, I thought someone had swap the engine, it felt like a ferrari more than a minivan. FI cars don't lose as much horses up here. NA cars really suffer. You probably don't want to double your boost if you are going to keep it longterm, but yes that's a possibility.