I Think we should have one of these in each of our Motorsports forums So I'm going to start one here and hopefully someone will sticky it.I'm going to start off with some launching Techniques, someone could add tips on how to keep the car straighter when the power kicks in and avoid lane-hopping and planting yourself into a wall.

LaunchingObviously, to make your car go fast, you have to be able to make it take off from a standing start, right? There are two techniques, auto and manual. Auto's easier; Manual's harder but faster. Go figure.

AutoAutomatic transmission starts are very easy. Pull up at the lights, and concentrate on the timing. Be in Drive, and as the lights go down the tree, push the brake flat to the floor with your left foot and the accelerator flat to the floor with your right foot. The revs will go up and the car will complain loudly. Watch the lights very carefully, and right before the light turns green, slide your foot sideways off the brake and let it spring out (just don't redlight). The car will suddenly throw itself forward, and you back into your seat, and the rest of the race is simple...keep your foot flat to the floor. The important thing in this is really timing, if you can count down to when the light is going to turn green, that's an advantage. Try to jump the light by about 1/2 a second if you can accurately pick when it will turn green. &If your car has power brakes, you could apply the brake-torquing technique even better. At the starting line, shift your auto gearbox into neutral and floor the brake pedal with your left foot. Rev the engine once and quickly get off the throttle. You will feel the brake pedal sink further to the floor. This greatly increases the braking force. Now shift back into gear. You will now be able to rev up the engine even higher against the torque converter.

ManualManual starts are truly fun things. Depending on how powerful your car is, you'll have to change this number, but be in 1st at about 2400 to 2800 rpm. Keep the revs there, and slowly pull the clutch out to the friction point. Once it starts to get there, and you start to move forward, put the clutch in bit and put the heel of your right foot onto the brake, like you were going to do a burnout. Once again, bring the clutch back out to the friction point, so you can feel the revs drop 'cause the car wants to move. Bring them back up again with the accelerator, and keep the clutch just at the beginning of the friction point. How much you want to bring the clutch out all depends on how much power you want to be released when you take off. When the light is going green, floor the accelerator and bring the clutch out very quickly. By doing this, you've got the maximum amount of power down as quick as possible. It may take a few tries to get used to this technique, but it's the fastest, so practise it well. Remember that if your wheels spin, then that's time that you spent without your maximum acceleration, so the revs have been too high. Try it again and take the revs down. If you're starting in the wet, remember that it's slick, so bring the clutch out slowly so you don't spin the back tires. Most people just drop the clutch and floor the accelerator and spin aimlessly through 1st and 2nd gears, which is fun, but not good for racing.

http://www.modernracer.com/tip....htmlh ... -id-5.html

Gear ChangesAutomatic doesn't actually have gears, but it's a common practise to use the restrictor as a gear stick. Don't do this! The only thing it will do is hold the gear past redline which will only do harm. Just let the auto box do it's work. Manual gear changes are a different matter altogether. Grab the gear stick either on the top or about half way up the lever, depending on how tall your stick is. Kick the clutch in to the floor right before the tachometer (revs indicator) reaches the redline, and as it passes the friction point on the way in, pull the stick out of 1st and slam it into 2nd. The clutch should already be on the way out by the time it starts to enter 2nd gear. For more powerful cars, like dedicated sports cars or V8's, quickly take your foot off the accelerator for that split-second that the clutch is in, or you'll spin aimlessly when you hit 2nd. Do the same for changing up to 3rd, 4th and 5th.

This was meant for fast launches in general so if there is anything you want to disagree with just let me know and I'll modify it, or you can make your own post in here. Let's get some more pointers going.
Modified by PantherRacer at 1:13 PM 5/28/2006

good write up...a lot of useful information

That was really helpful and cleared things up about Auto I have always had manual trans and i dislike auto don no why lol i just bought a daily driver solara (which i might not keep since its auto n FF) but was at good price n its really nice inside.

91 240sx KATAe86aw112000 Solara

mmmm wierd.......on my S13 i never use the BRAKE....(MT).....all i use is the clutch.....i dont pop it out......just maintain the REVS at a certain point (usually 4k, got all bolt ons, stage 3 clutch)....i dont touch the brake at all, and i dont spin like a mothofo.....i only use that when i want to do a burnout and stay in my place.....other than that you dont need to touch the brake at all on the MT.......either ways each there own, you must find you own way to launch......

As far as the auto trans is concerned, there is a big advantage to it. Especially if you're bracket racing, the auto trans is the way to go for consistency. If you use a trans - brake and the right tranny you can actually get a better launch than w/ a MT. With some throttle valve adjustment and (in the hands of a good transmission tech) some minimal machining of the apply pistons you can take a shift kit and add extra friction disks to it as long as you don't go too far on the machining and compromise the integrity of the trans. More frictions means the tranny will hold more power. Using the shifter stick on an auto to manually shift gears (as long as you use a shift light and don't overrev so as not to damage the trans when using manual shifting,known as manual valve) will raise main-line-pressure which will hold even more power and will launch harder. As far as the actual shifting, late and firm is the way to go. This is acheived via the trans build that I described. The late, firm shift allows you to use more of the engines' RPM band effectively and while late sounds bad,the RPM use is good. The firm aspect of the shift means that once it does shift,it shifts incredibly quickly.

Obviously my experience in drag racing is w/ auto. I would greatly appreciate more elaboration on driving techniques for the manual trans.

Thanks much.
Modified by inquisitorof240 at 6:15 PM 8/2/2006