¼ mile launch advice
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 527
Likes: 1
From: South Florida
'10 Panamera S, '06 AMG CLS55, '07 Miata MX5, '02 MB SPRINTER, '99 Spec Miata Race Car (2X)
¼ mile launch advice
Hi all
Heading to Moroso tonight. Ran for the first time last year, at this time and just did the stomp approach, running 12.5’s at 114mph.
Now want to try and improve my times with the feed-in approach. My beast is still bog standard. Any and all advice greatly appreciated.
I presume preload to about 1500-1800 RPM’s and roll off the line, feed in till the rear has set, and then floor it.
Are most of you running ESP on or off? Are any of you shifting manually with buttons or are you all in S mode?
How many of you drive through the water and do a burnout before your run? How many do not do a burnout?
I am running PS-2’s. Will inflate rears to 25psi , and fronts to 45psi, unless someone has a better proposition.
How much gas do you reccomend in the tank?
I look forward to reading your advice and comments
In anticipation
Siswati
Heading to Moroso tonight. Ran for the first time last year, at this time and just did the stomp approach, running 12.5’s at 114mph.
Now want to try and improve my times with the feed-in approach. My beast is still bog standard. Any and all advice greatly appreciated.
I presume preload to about 1500-1800 RPM’s and roll off the line, feed in till the rear has set, and then floor it.
Are most of you running ESP on or off? Are any of you shifting manually with buttons or are you all in S mode?
How many of you drive through the water and do a burnout before your run? How many do not do a burnout?
I am running PS-2’s. Will inflate rears to 25psi , and fronts to 45psi, unless someone has a better proposition.
How much gas do you reccomend in the tank?
I look forward to reading your advice and comments
In anticipation
Siswati
Member
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
From: Chicago
2001 E55
Originally Posted by siswati
Hi all
Heading to Moroso tonight. Ran for the first time last year, at this time and just did the stomp approach, running 12.5’s at 114mph.
Now want to try and improve my times with the feed-in approach. My beast is still bog standard. Any and all advice greatly appreciated.
I presume preload to about 1500-1800 RPM’s and roll off the line, feed in till the rear has set, and then floor it.
Heading to Moroso tonight. Ran for the first time last year, at this time and just did the stomp approach, running 12.5’s at 114mph.
Now want to try and improve my times with the feed-in approach. My beast is still bog standard. Any and all advice greatly appreciated.
I presume preload to about 1500-1800 RPM’s and roll off the line, feed in till the rear has set, and then floor it.
Originally Posted by siswati
Are most of you running ESP on or off? Are any of you shifting manually with buttons or are you all in S mode?
Originally Posted by siswati
How many of you drive through the water and do a burnout before your run? How many do not do a burnout?
Originally Posted by siswati
I am running PS-2’s. Will inflate rears to 25psi , and fronts to 45psi, unless someone has a better proposition.
Originally Posted by siswati
How much gas do you reccomend in the tank?
Give the car at least 20 minutes if not longer between runs to cool down - engine off, hood up. Even the naturally aspirated E55's like mine suffer from heat soak if you don't give them a break.
Super Member
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 763
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From: Maryland
07 S65
Preload as much as your tires will stand but with PS2's you're probably better off just feathering it off the line with little preload. You'll need more air in the rears than 25psi. The 18" PS2's sidewall is too stiff to run that low of pressure. You will be using the outer edge of the tire and nothing in the middle if you run them that low. You will probably have to go up to about 30-32psi. Inflate the fronts to 48-50psi. I know that's a lot but it's not going to hurt. Keep ESP on. WIth the PS2's and cooler weather don't bother trying it with out ESP. I run a lot softer tire and I can't launch the car any better with ESP off. Stay out of the water and run with as little of gas in the tank as possible. Have fun and I hope you beat your old times. Good luck!
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 7,092
Likes: 13
From: Salt Lake City (but not Morm)
2003 E55 & 2014 GL550
Here it is....straight from the fastest stock E55 in the US's mouth. 11.84
(sidenote, elevation plays a MONSTER part in these cars....even if you are at 800-1000ft, don't expect housclass times my Benz brotha....)
launch...easy...by brother did it on his second try...
esp off...do burnout
esp back on
powerbrake to 1100
from 1200 to full throttle about 1 second...dont' flat foot it...that's how i got that 1.99
rear tires at 25 psi.
hrp is a killer track...i was the first one down the track with the 11.84...they vht'd the track then they draged it...as the night goes on, the track goes away...street tires kill the starting line.
john
(sidenote, elevation plays a MONSTER part in these cars....even if you are at 800-1000ft, don't expect housclass times my Benz brotha....)
launch...easy...by brother did it on his second try...
esp off...do burnout
esp back on
powerbrake to 1100
from 1200 to full throttle about 1 second...dont' flat foot it...that's how i got that 1.99
rear tires at 25 psi.
hrp is a killer track...i was the first one down the track with the 11.84...they vht'd the track then they draged it...as the night goes on, the track goes away...street tires kill the starting line.
john
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,288
Likes: 3
From: Frederick, MD
'72 Suburban
Here's how I've done it on my bone stock (including Conti tires) E55:
- ESP off
- tranny S mode
- manually downshift to first gear before launch
- let tranny upshift
- full tank of gas
- stock pressure up front/28psi in the rears
I do a short scrub of the tires to clean them off, just get the rocks and dirt and **** off. Roll up to the line and put the tranny in first gear. Light the stage bulbs. Now, the launch technique really depends on track prep - I don't preload and bring the revs up at all - if it's my first pass, I will just roll into the gas and see how the track hooks. You need to get to WOT in first gear as quickly as possible without blowing the tires away. If I hooked up, I get more aggressive with the throttle. I have been to a track that allowed me to absolutely flat foot it right off the line and run a couple of 1.77 60' times, dead hooking.
Good luck and remember to have fun
- ESP off
- tranny S mode
- manually downshift to first gear before launch
- let tranny upshift
- full tank of gas
- stock pressure up front/28psi in the rears
I do a short scrub of the tires to clean them off, just get the rocks and dirt and **** off. Roll up to the line and put the tranny in first gear. Light the stage bulbs. Now, the launch technique really depends on track prep - I don't preload and bring the revs up at all - if it's my first pass, I will just roll into the gas and see how the track hooks. You need to get to WOT in first gear as quickly as possible without blowing the tires away. If I hooked up, I get more aggressive with the throttle. I have been to a track that allowed me to absolutely flat foot it right off the line and run a couple of 1.77 60' times, dead hooking.
Good luck and remember to have fun
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 334
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From: So. Cal.
2004 E55 Evosport I & II; VRP H/E
Originally Posted by Jakpro1
esp off...do burnout
esp back on
powerbrake to 1100
from 1200 to full throttle about 1 second...dont' flat foot it...that's how i got that 1.99
rear tires at 25 psi.
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 527
Likes: 1
From: South Florida
'10 Panamera S, '06 AMG CLS55, '07 Miata MX5, '02 MB SPRINTER, '99 Spec Miata Race Car (2X)
This is good stuff guys - great that there are so many different approaches - and yup I will be experimenting. Really appreciate the response so far
Anyone with other advice?
Siswati
Anyone with other advice?
Siswati
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,288
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From: Frederick, MD
'72 Suburban
Originally Posted by lbE55
This has worked best for me; except for what WayneE mentioned, sometimes I do better without powerbraking. My best 60' time is 1.87 on PS2s. Try different things and find out what works best for you.
IMO, unless you have a 3000+ rpm stall speed in your converter and a MONSTER cooler, you're just putting a bunch of heat into the tranny by loading up the converter at the line.
With all the tq in the E55, you can flash the converter higher by just hitting it from idle, rather than trying to push against it at the line. And for the modded cars, it will flash higher the more tq you throw at it. For example (making up these #s), a stock car may flash to 1400 with 516 ftlbs... but a pulley/ecu car with 575ft-lbs will see 1800-1900 from the stock converter.
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Super Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 577
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From: South Florida
2007 S65, 2005 Nissan Armada
I agree with Wayne regarding gas, the more weight you can put over the rear wheels the better. When I have 4 people in the car the rears don't spin, when its just me they love to spin. The extra weight might make the car marginally slower, but by getting the power down soon you'll more than make up for it. These cars have enough torque where a few extra lbs won't make that big of a difference. IMHO
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1,197
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W221 S65 AMG
Setup: Stock + BFGs + 104 octane + 2K Density elevation + 32 psi (dumb)
What did/didn't work.
run #1
early at track with good VHT
1.84 12.2@114
5 sec burn out
ESP off entire time
stomp it from idle
run #2
2.3 short time 12.7@114
massive burn-out 30 seconds out using the water
ESP off entire time
stomp it from 1100rpms brake boosting
came out sideways for 30 feet until I hooked up late
32 psi
from the results of others you can see neither are optimal, one just much worse than the other....104 octane useless IMHO
What did/didn't work.
run #1
early at track with good VHT
1.84 12.2@114
5 sec burn out
ESP off entire time
stomp it from idle
run #2
2.3 short time 12.7@114
massive burn-out 30 seconds out using the water
ESP off entire time
stomp it from 1100rpms brake boosting
came out sideways for 30 feet until I hooked up late
32 psi
from the results of others you can see neither are optimal, one just much worse than the other....104 octane useless IMHO
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 527
Likes: 1
From: South Florida
'10 Panamera S, '06 AMG CLS55, '07 Miata MX5, '02 MB SPRINTER, '99 Spec Miata Race Car (2X)
Hey Jak
youre safe dude - see my post on last nights attempt at https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...46#post1383746
Many thanks to all of you who posted your launch advice - I used it ALL - some worked for me and some didint, but I am improving (just a little) thanks to your help!
This is a really great board! No doubt about that!
Siwati
youre safe dude - see my post on last nights attempt at https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...46#post1383746
Many thanks to all of you who posted your launch advice - I used it ALL - some worked for me and some didint, but I am improving (just a little) thanks to your help!
This is a really great board! No doubt about that!
Siwati
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,288
Likes: 3
From: Frederick, MD
'72 Suburban
e55 baller... where did you go? Are you running BFG DRs on stock 18s?
Next trip, start at 18psi hot (I'm assuming you drive to the track on your DRs). If you dead hook, you should be running in the mid-low 1.6x 60' range if you're aggressive enough with the throttle. If you spin, drop 1psi per pass, down to around 13-14psi.
Next trip, start at 18psi hot (I'm assuming you drive to the track on your DRs). If you dead hook, you should be running in the mid-low 1.6x 60' range if you're aggressive enough with the throttle. If you spin, drop 1psi per pass, down to around 13-14psi.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 7,092
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From: Salt Lake City (but not Morm)
2003 E55 & 2014 GL550
12.3......that's great!!!
Sounded like a blast. Must be fun going with other guys. Nothing like going to your local track and being the ONLY luxury car there......little weird.
Sounded like a blast. Must be fun going with other guys. Nothing like going to your local track and being the ONLY luxury car there......little weird.
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 527
Likes: 1
From: South Florida
'10 Panamera S, '06 AMG CLS55, '07 Miata MX5, '02 MB SPRINTER, '99 Spec Miata Race Car (2X)
Hey Pas
I ran the whole night with my fuel tank at around 5/8ths full. Next time I will run around 1/4 and see what happens.
A cold front is moving into FLL as I type, but it looks a though it will warm up before Wednesday, the 2nd last track day of the year. Hopefully it will linger a bit and I might get a chance to run with cold crisp air
Siswati
I ran the whole night with my fuel tank at around 5/8ths full. Next time I will run around 1/4 and see what happens.
A cold front is moving into FLL as I type, but it looks a though it will warm up before Wednesday, the 2nd last track day of the year. Hopefully it will linger a bit and I might get a chance to run with cold crisp air
Siswati
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,764
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From: El Paso, TX
'03 G500, '13 G63, '17 GLS63,
Elevation does seem to be a *****. I'm around 4k ft and my best so far on BFG DR's is only a 12.75, with very good conditions (well, for 4k feet) 
Don't even ask about my times w/ the stock Contis.
My car felt way stronger when I first picked it up in Houston, 800 miles east and closer to sea level.
Don't even ask about my times w/ the stock Contis.
My car felt way stronger when I first picked it up in Houston, 800 miles east and closer to sea level.
Last edited by medici78; Dec 12, 2005 at 02:34 PM.
