How do i launch my AWD [Merged 6-7]

[Spoolin4Ever]

"I try and ease it out of the hole and sacrifice my 60-ft times to keep the car together," he says. I asked him if he ever just drops the clutch, and he replied with an emphatic "No." So far, his method seems to be working, with no reliability problems to speak of.

-John Shephard

http://www.turbomagazine.com/features/0203tur_darkstar/index.html

 

[BIGLOU107]

do the 2G gst's launch good and about how many lengths will a gsx pull away from a gst both stock on a launch?

 

[gurmanator]

the awd of course...If you cant get a car to hook up then you have lost.I pull 3 or 4 car lengths on my launch...thats how I beat thoes mustang clowns.

 

[v8killar]

If you can drive and launch the FWD correctly without roasting your tires hold on cause they'll take off.

 

[K_Hill]

Come on now think about it FWD vs AWD.. Not going to be much of a race if the FWD doesn't have traction.

It all depends on the drivers also.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

This has already been discussed, And locked every time.

 

[endlessMyk]

Yeah, if you read the VFAQ there's a section in it about "launching" the FWD... it takes some skill I guess. The AWD will definitly hook up for you more though. You might wanna try using the search for all the questions you're posting. If tuners is good for anything its the tech articles and guides.

 

[Silverstrocker]

gst from a roll : gsx from a launch

But either way they both beat those mustang clowns

 

[micus]

hey so basically i have no idea how to do launches properly, what ive been doing is just revving it to 4000 rpm and litterally dumping the clutch, the car like jolts forward hard but then dies, is there a better rpm to be launching at cause i know awd dsms are animals off the line, but i dont know how to drive mine.. haha should i be say revving to 5k and letting the clutch out slower or just.... i dno any advice is apreciated.

 

[robs90tsi]

4500 RPM's, and ya, kinda feather the clutch out, dont just dump it, get the pedal to just before the clutch would grab, and on green kinda just let your foot up fast enough to launch, but slow enough to where your not just basically dumping the clutch, I hope that makes sense, you gotta just get the hang of it, practice if you can afford to do that to your car, just dumping the clutch is asking for something to break, hell lauching all together a bunch of times is asking for something to break, so just remember that.

 

[vintagemuscle]

many people go about it different but whatever you do try not to just dump the clutch. it is very hard on your drivetrain and you will end up breaking something. i would say try about 4500 rpm and quickly ease the clutch out and try to keep the rpm's over 4000rpm throughout the launch. this seems to work well but others may say different.

 

[turbotalon_]

I'm not sure what RPM but what you want to do is slip the clutch till you feel the car wanting to move this is when the gear mat up to each other and then you just elt it out the rest of the way and gas it. If you don't let the gears touch then you can destroy your whole tranny.

 

[micus]

hey thanks guys, hmm yeah ill try the higher rpm and letting the clutch down further before i let it out all the way,

 

[AWD_Launch]

On a stock clutch my best launches were around 5K give or take a few hundred, let the clutch out slowly till you feel the car move, at that moment give it all the throttle and let the clutch out decently quick (rpms should never fall below 4.5K), on a stock car I was pulling low 1.9's and high 1.8's 60'. That is pretty damn good on a stock car, look at the 60' times for people around stock and most are in the upper 1.9's-2.0's

 

[Rex2342]

My best 60' was a 1.5 with an ACT 2600. I just tach it up to 5.5k and slip it out. I've tried dumping it but that just led to another bad tranny.

 

[Jingx284]

Yeah, i can never gather enough guts to just dump the clutch. I slip and i still get kinda scared.

 

[nightracer91]

Go to www.vfaq.com and do some research. They answer most of your questions. Even how to launch an AWD.

 

[90AWDTalon]

I'm having some issues launching my car this year. Last year I was able to get 1.65 60' with a good launch, average was 1.7, with a worst of 1.8xx. This year the best I've done is 1.75, with most comming in at 1.8-1.9 with even a couple of 2.0xx.

This year I'm using a 2 step at 5500 rpm at about half throttle I slip the clutch out, holset hx35 @ 30psi. Last year I used an evoIII 16g @ 25psi, and I would get on the throttle at the first yellow and slip out the clutch at the last yellow, this would put the launch rpms at about 5700-5800 rpms. Both this year and last year I'm using a spec stage 3 clutch, it is the old style 4 puck carbon pad material. It is now about 2.5 years old and has about 15,000-20,000 miles on it, and a ton of aggressive launches.

At the first two race's this year I was spinning my tires off the line pretty bad. It felt like the rears spun more than the fronts as the ass end would try to come around. So tonight I thought I'd soften my rear shocks to allow more weight to transfer to the rear and hopefully not spin the tires off the line as much. Well it worked too good, as I was bogging now instead of spinning the tires. I had a different chip with the 2 step set for 5750. I swapped this in and the launch felt ok, it didn't feel like the tires spun, but I also didn't feel the pull in my guts like I did with good launches last year. But the problem was by the time I shifted into 2nd gear my clutch was slipping very badly, I tried feathering the throttle to find some grip, but there was none.

I then reinstalled the original 5500 rpms chip and tried another run. It bogged again just like before. I then stiffed my rear shock back up to hopefully get rid of the bog. I went back to spinning my tires. By the last run I spun very hard off the line and then I think the clutch was slipping the rest of the run, this is when I got my worst ever 2.046 60ft time.

Two questions:
1)Am I expecting too much from my clutch? Torque capacity for this clutch is suppossed to be 415ft/lb's, I'm flowing enough for 470ft/lb's at the flywheel.
Or is the clutch worn out? If I do need a new clutch I'm thinking about going with the spec stage 3+, I've been extrealy happy with the stage 3 and the 3+ is suppossed to have a higher torque capacity.

2)How do I launch with this big turbo? The evoIII was easy but I just cant seem to get the hang of this one. I know I should be getting atleast 1.6 60ft times if I can figure out how to not bog or excessively spin the tires.

 

[CanadianTSi]

Sounds like your clutch is starting to give up the fight...

I aslo find it alot tricker to launch on a bigger turbo.

The one thing you didn't mention is Tire Pressure, drop it down some and see it it gets better/worse and then make adjustments from there.

 

[90AWDTalon]

Sounds like your clutch is starting to give up the fight...

I aslo find it alot tricker to launch on a bigger turbo.

The one thing you didn't mention is Tire Pressure, drop it down some and see it it gets better/worse and then make adjustments from there.

Unfortunately I cant drop the pressures too low. I'm doing 1/8 mile drags, and we use the front straight of a 5/8 oval. There is only a short braking zone before going into the turn, and with low pressures it can get alittle hairy if you stay in the throttle a little too long. I tried this the first time out, started at 34psi and kept lowering each run. At 28psi I stayed in the throttle a tad too long and when I hit the corner the car didn't want to turn and the tires were badly rolling over. I'm running 225/40/18 azenis rt615. I also do alot of autoX in both this car and a miata I have setup for sts2, I went with the same tires for the miata, 205/50/15, and while researching read a tire test article that found the azenis rt615 loose a tremendous amount of lateral grip when pressures are dropped below 34psi. When I autoX the talon I run 245/45/17 victoracers, I've been thinking about trying them. But I'm worried that the gearing and weight hit, very heavy tire wheel combo, I'll take wont make up the additional grip.

I've been debating all morning about going out and dropping the tranny and taking a look at the clutch. I'm leaning toward either worn out or not enough capacity, buts its alot of work if its not the problem though. Plus if I have to buy a clutch there goes the money I was going to start saving for fp2 cams, but with a bad clutch it doesn't matter what cams I have. The biggest bummer will be the amount of time this is going to take. I'll have to order a clutch, get the flywheel resurfaced, put everything back together and break in the new clutch. Probaly take 1 1/2 - 2 weeks. We share the track with drifters so seat time is pretty limited. Starting next friday for the next 3 fridays in a row it is drags only.

Any ways any body else have any thing to add?

 

[90AWDTalon]

I pulled the tranny and the clutch is toast. Worn past the rivets, the pressure plate has a grove worn in it, a ton of heat checking, and a crap load of small cracks. The flywheel has quite a bit of heat checking but as far as I could tell it was still flat and no cracks. I'll pull it off and get it resurfaced and checked out to be sure.

So I need a clutch, I'm thinking about the spec stage 3+. I was pretty happy with the stage 3 I currently. I also found a kit on horsepower freaks, anyone have any experience with it? http://www.horsepowerfreaks.com/pri...lywheels/Clutch_Kits/part/Bronze_-_Mitsubishi

Heres some pics.

 

[90AWDTalon]

I just ordered the bronze horsepower freaks kit with an act 2600 pressure plate. Hopefully this will sorve at least some of the problems I've been having with the launch.

 

[2gdanny]

hey every one so i hit atco last tusday may 22 it was kinda hot out but not that bad..it was my first time everrrrr at the track and with awd so not much experiance here ..
i still tryd my best wich i wasnt happy with,,with all my mods and a dyno sheet off 348hp and my best time was a 14.0 at 92mph
all my launches i can say they sukedd and all i wanted was some tips on how to launch an awd if there are any secrets i have the dsm link and i was hitting the 2 step at 4000rpms so i rased it up to 5000rpms i was kinda dumping the clutch to ,,, any help with be great thanks every one

danny..

 

[edenTSI]

what do you mean your launches werent that great? you werent grabbing, you were losing control or it just didn't launch with alot of power?

 

[2gdanny]

it was launching with power but i think i was letting go off the clutch to fast and it would bug out really hard and would lose so much time i was spining tires 1 or 2 times.