Should I be scared of launch control?

[Steve Dallas]

I tested out Launch Control at the track. I didn't get wheel hop, but the tires still did roast for a bit by dumping the clutch at 4000rpm.

I am more of a road driver, but I had fun drag racing this summer. I do, however, suck at reaction times, usually getting a .300ish R/T. I had one run with a .052, but that was out of 30 or so total runs. As I and others have said...drag racing with a manual is much harder than with an automatic. I did get better over the season though...it's tough to time the clutch release to the lights and still not roast the tires when all the nannies are off. At least, with street tires, that was the case. I may be getting Drag Radials for next year, but I may also do Autocross instead. We'll see.

[Shift]

Originally Posted by 2010 Bumblebee

I updated my previous post to reflect that and added a video to the post explaining launch control for the people who don't know what it is.

Thanks, very informative

[SSE 4 2SS]

Originally Posted by Steve Dallas

I tested out Launch Control at the track. I didn't get wheel hop, but the tires still did roast for a bit by dumping the clutch at 4000rpm.

I am more of a road driver, but I had fun drag racing this summer. I do, however, suck at reaction times, usually getting a .300ish R/T. I had one run with a .052, but that was out of 30 or so total runs. As I and others have said...drag racing with a manual is much harder than with an automatic. I did get better over the season though...it's tough to time the clutch release to the lights and still not roast the tires when all the nannies are off. At least, with street tires, that was the case. I may be getting Drag Radials for next year, but I may also do Autocross instead. We'll see.

Steve,

For a novice racer, consistent .300 reaction times are actually quite good... I have and have seen many others struggle mightily to consistently get down into the .3 to .2 reaction times... The manual does create quite a few challenges getting off the line...

I was told initially that our tires do not like smoldering burnouts, but have since proven that wrong... I rev it, drop the clutch, and quickly get on the brakes just enough to keep it from rolling forward...and at the same time keep it from bouncing off the rev limiter... As it starts pushing the car forward, I ease off the brakes and listen for the loud screech and the lunge of the car... Thats when I know they are ready...

I stage and go... I actually practiced sitting in a parking lot... looking out the windshield and reving it until I thought it was at the RPM I wanted to launch at and then looked at the tach... I got to be pretty dang close... within two or three hundred RPM's... Now, I go to the track, and I can concentrate on the lights without having to look at the tach... and my reaction times are much quicker and more consistent...I've also practiced launching and if the tires start spinning, riding the clutch a little rather than letting off the gas... It keeps the revs up... Not a lot of clutch slipping but some...

I actually got off the line door handle to door handle with a few automatics... that was awesome, mostly due to with the exception of one car that had an amazing driver, and a transmission tune, my LS3 would run off and leave them on the top end... so, getting off the line with them meant it was over... and before any flaming begins... this is only related to stock Camaros...

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by SSE 4 2SS

Steve,

For a novice racer, consistent .300 reaction times are actually quite good... I have and have seen many others struggle mightily to consistently get down into the .3 to .2 reaction times... The manual does create quite a few challenges getting off the line...

I was told initially that our tires do not like smoldering burnouts, but have since proven that wrong... I rev it, drop the clutch, and quickly get on the brakes just enough to keep it from rolling forward...and at the same time keep it from bouncing off the rev limiter... As it starts pushing the car forward, I ease off the brakes and listen for the loud screech and the lunge of the car... Thats when I know they are ready...

I stage and go... I actually practiced sitting in a parking lot... looking out the windshield and reving it until I thought it was at the RPM I wanted to launch at and then looked at the tach... I got to be pretty dang close... within two or three hundred RPM's... Now, I go to the track, and I can concentrate on the lights without having to look at the tach... and my reaction times are much quicker and more consistent...I've also practiced launching and if the tires start spinning, riding the clutch a little rather than letting off the gas... It keeps the revs up... Not a lot of clutch slipping but some...

I actually got off the line door handle to door handle with a few automatics... that was awesome, mostly due to with the exception of one car that had an amazing driver, and a transmission tune, my LS3 would run off and leave them on the top end... so, getting off the line with them meant it was over... and before any flaming begins... this is only related to stock Camaros...

I don't do burnouts at all, one to save the tires a little and two I was told with street tires it wouldn't help.

My fastest time was a 13.607 this year. I'm a big guy so I figure my weight adds a good tenth or two.

The biggest challange for me was not roasting the tires. Since I was doing bracket racing, the later part of the season was more for becoming consistent, which I managed doing pretty well compared to early in the season. So I was taking off like I would on the street, flooring it after I was rolling. Not a fast run, but more consistent.

[2010 Bumblebee]

Originally Posted by SSE 4 2SS

I was told initially that our tires do not like smoldering burnouts, but have since proven that wrong...

I've notice this too. Do a regular burnout as a test somewhere, not a brake stand, and the second burnout will be shorter. Also if you touch the tires they get very sticky, and you will see little pebbles stuck to the tires.

Originally Posted by Steve Dallas

I don't do burnouts at all, one to save the tires a little and two I was told with street tires it wouldn't help.

My fastest time was a 13.607 this year. I'm a big guy so I figure my weight adds a good tenth or two.

I'm not going to telling anyone to do burnouts with their $40k car, but the perrelli's do get more sticky after a burnout. The key is not to burn too long and waste $$.

You go around the water back up and the punch it going forward. Then stage. If you do a real burnout the tires will get more sticky.

Another trick is to lower your rear tire pressure down to 20 psi.

I got my best times with the traction control on and my tires at 20 psi . 13.300 @106

[Bee]

Going back to the OP...I own #1026 off the line and yes, I was extremely nervous the first time using launch mode. I thought about it for months until one day I drove to an old industrial park to try it out....and guess what?! Nothing broke and it was actually quite exciting yet nerve racking all at the same time. What ultimately made me decide was a) if GM didn't want us using it they would have left that feature out and b) if something is going to break, might as well break it while the car is still under warranty.

Since then, I have used it at the track a few times and although it might be true that you won't get as fast of times using it, one thing I noticed right away is that the car was a lot more consistent…which is what you really need to be successful in bracketing racing.

[Ivas]

Turning ALL the traction stuff off is best. To do so one must press the traction control button, it's just in front of the stick shift, and HOLD IT DOWN six to eight seconds until you see BOTH traction icons appear in the dash board display. This presupposes that you are doing this with the car running. It must be repeated if you turn off the engine; it resets to the traction controls to "ON".