3800 Launching
- Thread starter FilsGTP
- Start date
i say the simple stuff...
-Heat on (or at least no air conditioning)
-Traction control system OFF
-Windows UP
-move seat as far forward as u feel comfortable (more forward = better)
-stereo OFF
-TAKE OUT YOUR SUBS PHIL
If you are planning at a track.
-Brake torque to 1,800rpm... (msg me on aim if u dont know what that is)
-do not just mash the pedal
-if racing at a track -> take out drivers side head light.
I leave it up to the rest of the guys to add stuff.
-Heat on (or at least no air conditioning)
-Traction control system OFF
-Windows UP
-move seat as far forward as u feel comfortable (more forward = better)
-stereo OFF
-TAKE OUT YOUR SUBS PHIL
If you are planning at a track.-Brake torque to 1,800rpm... (msg me on aim if u dont know what that is)
-do not just mash the pedal
-if racing at a track -> take out drivers side head light.
I leave it up to the rest of the guys to add stuff.
When you take off you could raise your RPM's to 2000 or 2500 however all you do is spin the hell out of your wheels. Well personally I've hit 2.0 sixty foots on street tires and not reving my engine before. It just depends what track you go to. You need to come out with me and street race that way you could learn to launch. In springtime we'll all get together and race so trust us when we say you will learn to launch great.
Leo
Leo
well.. i've only launched my GP twice at the track... but my first time was the best..
2.1 60' on the stock 17" rims and tires
I basically just rolled into it... as soon as the 2nd yellow hit I started going (left off idle), rolled into it for a split second at about 50% throttle then gave it WOT
2nd launch wasn't too great... mashed the gas off the line and got a wonderful 2.4 60'
now in the TA... as long as the tracks prepped well I brake torque to 2500-3000 and go ... good for low 1.7 60' on a 17" Nitto...
2.1 60' on the stock 17" rims and tires
I basically just rolled into it... as soon as the 2nd yellow hit I started going (left off idle), rolled into it for a split second at about 50% throttle then gave it WOT
2nd launch wasn't too great... mashed the gas off the line and got a wonderful 2.4 60'
now in the TA... as long as the tracks prepped well I brake torque to 2500-3000 and go ... good for low 1.7 60' on a 17" Nitto...
from ZZP
What I would like to discuss though is how to achieve great times with a typical stock setup. Most people don’t have all the above things so they are whom I’m addressing with this information. Here it is:
MAKE SURE that you have the proper amount of air in your tires for drag racing. You wouldn’t autocross with a nearly flat tire so why try and drag race with full pressure? Some people will rationalize this saying that they want to know how their car performs with no track preps. BAD IDEA and here’s why: On the street the pavement is rough and there are lots of small bumps for the treads in your tires to catch to gain you traction so even while spinning you get a lot of friction to move forward. On the track there is no rough surface, instead you have a ‘sticky’ surface that grips the tires very well but only until you break lose. Once you start spinning on the track you lose any sort or traction and the surface becomes very slick. Check out the drag racing tips for proper tire inflation pressures.
Do a burnout. This is extremely important. If you have slicks or drag radials you need to heat the crap out of them. This is the only way to get them nice and sticky. I’m talking about 20 seconds or more here folks. Smoke should pour off of each tire before they’re ready. If you have street tires it’s a different game. Here you want a clean fresh rubber surface but not much heat in the tire. Drive around the water box, do about 3 very short burnouts in the section between the water box and the staging, just enough to clean the tires.
Another aspect that we now need to address is rear tire pressure. Having the rear tires inflated to high pressures reduces rolling resistance. Before the days of ‘skinnies’ drag racers used to inflate their tires to 80psi or more! This is way over recommended but definitely helps reduce rolling resistance and increase mph. While these guys did this for their front tires we do it on our rears, as they are the non-driven wheels. Having the rears inflated to high pressures also reduces the tires tendency to squash under load and will help keep some weight on the front during launching.
There is one problem with inflating rears though and that is the fact that when you do a burnout you need to set the parking brake to keep from moving forward. This means that the rear tires need to hold the car in one spot and with the reduced contact patch of a highly inflated tire this can be a problem. To deal with this I usually arrive to the track with my rears set to 45 (rated max) and lower them a little if I can’t stand still in the water box. Keep in mind that with street tires this isn’t so much of an issue so keep the pressure high!
At the starting line make sure you stage very shallow. You have a few inches of play with the lights and you want to just barely trip the second light. The reason for this is that you get a running start so to speak in your launch and since you are going to be gentle with the throttle you need every inch you can get.
After you stage and both lights turn yellow you are going to do a brake stand while waiting for the lights to come down. Lightly load the transmission and hold the engine rpm around 1800. On the LAST YELLOW you go. If you wait to see the green light you are way too late. This is one of the most common mistakes that our members make and it results in terrible reaction times. The reaction time does not affect your ET but it’s still a good idea to practice for bracket racing.
Ease the pedal down taking about 1 full second to reach WOT. This is the part that you will need to get a lot of practice with. You will need to get a feel for how fast to sink the pedal. Start on the conservative side and get more and more aggressive until you start to spin the tires on launches. When you break the tires lose ease up on the gas and then get back into in when the car hooks up again. Seems like a lot to do but eventually by following these steps you will get very good at ‘feeling’ the car.
What I would like to discuss though is how to achieve great times with a typical stock setup. Most people don’t have all the above things so they are whom I’m addressing with this information. Here it is:
MAKE SURE that you have the proper amount of air in your tires for drag racing. You wouldn’t autocross with a nearly flat tire so why try and drag race with full pressure? Some people will rationalize this saying that they want to know how their car performs with no track preps. BAD IDEA and here’s why: On the street the pavement is rough and there are lots of small bumps for the treads in your tires to catch to gain you traction so even while spinning you get a lot of friction to move forward. On the track there is no rough surface, instead you have a ‘sticky’ surface that grips the tires very well but only until you break lose. Once you start spinning on the track you lose any sort or traction and the surface becomes very slick. Check out the drag racing tips for proper tire inflation pressures.
Do a burnout. This is extremely important. If you have slicks or drag radials you need to heat the crap out of them. This is the only way to get them nice and sticky. I’m talking about 20 seconds or more here folks. Smoke should pour off of each tire before they’re ready. If you have street tires it’s a different game. Here you want a clean fresh rubber surface but not much heat in the tire. Drive around the water box, do about 3 very short burnouts in the section between the water box and the staging, just enough to clean the tires.
Another aspect that we now need to address is rear tire pressure. Having the rear tires inflated to high pressures reduces rolling resistance. Before the days of ‘skinnies’ drag racers used to inflate their tires to 80psi or more! This is way over recommended but definitely helps reduce rolling resistance and increase mph. While these guys did this for their front tires we do it on our rears, as they are the non-driven wheels. Having the rears inflated to high pressures also reduces the tires tendency to squash under load and will help keep some weight on the front during launching.
There is one problem with inflating rears though and that is the fact that when you do a burnout you need to set the parking brake to keep from moving forward. This means that the rear tires need to hold the car in one spot and with the reduced contact patch of a highly inflated tire this can be a problem. To deal with this I usually arrive to the track with my rears set to 45 (rated max) and lower them a little if I can’t stand still in the water box. Keep in mind that with street tires this isn’t so much of an issue so keep the pressure high!
At the starting line make sure you stage very shallow. You have a few inches of play with the lights and you want to just barely trip the second light. The reason for this is that you get a running start so to speak in your launch and since you are going to be gentle with the throttle you need every inch you can get.
After you stage and both lights turn yellow you are going to do a brake stand while waiting for the lights to come down. Lightly load the transmission and hold the engine rpm around 1800. On the LAST YELLOW you go. If you wait to see the green light you are way too late. This is one of the most common mistakes that our members make and it results in terrible reaction times. The reaction time does not affect your ET but it’s still a good idea to practice for bracket racing.
Ease the pedal down taking about 1 full second to reach WOT. This is the part that you will need to get a lot of practice with. You will need to get a feel for how fast to sink the pedal. Start on the conservative side and get more and more aggressive until you start to spin the tires on launches. When you break the tires lose ease up on the gas and then get back into in when the car hooks up again. Seems like a lot to do but eventually by following these steps you will get very good at ‘feeling’ the car.
You mean trac control still kinda works even though the button is pressed to shut it off?
For my GT, L36 on street tires, I brake torque to 2000-2500rpm and wait .75 seconds to let the tires grip and then floor it right away. Since the GTP's have more power, you need to brake torque at a lesser speed so you don't spin the tires too far.
Only real "tip" is to practice a lot. Unfortunately, the more you practice, the more of a chance you have being seen by cops.
For my GT, L36 on street tires, I brake torque to 2000-2500rpm and wait .75 seconds to let the tires grip and then floor it right away. Since the GTP's have more power, you need to brake torque at a lesser speed so you don't spin the tires too far.
Only real "tip" is to practice a lot. Unfortunately, the more you practice, the more of a chance you have being seen by cops.
From what I have been told, even when turning it off with the button the sensors are still there to be able to control the ABS so basicaly it still compensates in the computer when the wheels are spinning. By pulling the plug both traction control and the ABS is lost meaning there is no way any data can be sent to the computer to compensate. That is the theory I believe. It has worked great for me so far.
brake tq is when you give the car some throttle, so some tq builds up, but you are holding the brake, so you are not moving, once you let off the brake, you have instant power. I was never good at this method....never praticed it too much. I usually launch from idle.
and i usually pull fuse #28 from under the hood, that also disables ABS, and TCS.
and i usually pull fuse #28 from under the hood, that also disables ABS, and TCS.
I'll try to explain it a little better.
1. Press the brake pedal down pretty hard with your LEFT foot. You don't have to do it really hard, but just enough to keep your car from moving.
2. Apply the gas (right foot, obviously) to whatever RPM you want to launch at. After tests, I have concluded that my GT wont rev past 3000rpm, even after its all the way to the floor. Usually a launch is between 1800-2300rpm.
note, don't hold down the brake torque for too long. This causes a TON of stress on the whole drivetrain, and heat builds up quick.
3. Launch: Release the brake pedal quickly and keep your gas pedal foot in the same position as the launch, then accelerate progressively. This is where the practice is. Floor it too quick, you can break loose and have absolutely no traction. Floor it too slow, well, you get a bad launch and your reaction time and whole ET are effected. You want it so your tires are just barely gripping with the power you're feeding them.
did i do ok?
1. Press the brake pedal down pretty hard with your LEFT foot. You don't have to do it really hard, but just enough to keep your car from moving.
2. Apply the gas (right foot, obviously) to whatever RPM you want to launch at. After tests, I have concluded that my GT wont rev past 3000rpm, even after its all the way to the floor. Usually a launch is between 1800-2300rpm.
note, don't hold down the brake torque for too long. This causes a TON of stress on the whole drivetrain, and heat builds up quick.
3. Launch: Release the brake pedal quickly and keep your gas pedal foot in the same position as the launch, then accelerate progressively. This is where the practice is. Floor it too quick, you can break loose and have absolutely no traction. Floor it too slow, well, you get a bad launch and your reaction time and whole ET are effected. You want it so your tires are just barely gripping with the power you're feeding them.
did i do ok?
Basically it depends on all conditioning factors. The colder the road surphase, the less traction you will get, so:
a = heat up tires more
b = take a bit longer from launch to get to WOT to reduce chances of breaking loose.
The hotter the surphase is:
a = try to keep your car as cool as possible before the run.
b = keep your tires clean, lower your pressures a bit.
c = you can mash on the gas sooner, but be careful not to break loose
d = you will feel more of a hook up upon leaving the light
e = you can rev higher on your break torque and still hook up = better grab off the light = lower 60' times = better e/t
a = heat up tires more
b = take a bit longer from launch to get to WOT to reduce chances of breaking loose.
The hotter the surphase is:
a = try to keep your car as cool as possible before the run.
b = keep your tires clean, lower your pressures a bit.
c = you can mash on the gas sooner, but be careful not to break loose
d = you will feel more of a hook up upon leaving the light
e = you can rev higher on your break torque and still hook up = better grab off the light = lower 60' times = better e/t
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