Launching tips?
 

I am finding the ms3 pretty hard to launch with any consistency. My car at the moment is stock besides a MM. While out tonite on the street I did about 5-7 launches from various rpms and found them all to give different results each time.

I launched from 2k, 2200, 2500, 2750 ish, and 3000. On the stock car 2500 and under seemed to just bog most of the time, but there were times where I did get a fair launch. On the 2700 and 3k launches, I would either spin like hell or bog. The way i was launching was I would hold the rpm at whatever I felt was best and slip the clutch right to its catch point untill the tires caught traction. I tired flooring it right after I slipped the clutch and also just holding the gas steady through the whole clutch slip. I was not able to alter the wheel spin in anyway after the first split second of slipping the clutch no matter what i did with the throttle.

Am I doing something wrong to be getting such diffrent results each time? The same rpm I would bog while the next attempt would be one hell of a spin through first. Any help/tips? The car usually runs the cobb intake aswell but I have it off for a dealership visit.

Well i sit between 1850 and 1900 heel and toe on the brake and gas... Soon as i want to take off, i squeeze the throttle while rolling out of the clutch. While im doing this, i twist my right foot from a 45 degree angle to a 9- degree angle and mash it... hooks and moves everytime.

Will try a method like yours. You have a lot more mods than me I am sure?


Anyways, when launching at a set rpm, you guys dont hold that launch rpm until you hook, you actually increase throttle? I think I may be slipping too long, I slip the clutch until I actually hook up most of the time.

get a N2MB W0T box and 2 step controller. finishing up the install as we speak in PA then heading back to NY already got some vids and datalogging and once they get vendor status it'll be good to go

Should I be increasing throttle as I let off the clutch or holding the throttle steady?

Basically, I let up to the catch point while holding the rpm and let it slip for about 1 second until I hook. I simply let the clutch out once I hook, I do not gradually let it out after the initial slip.

do what u do from a stop light....except faster

makes sense, will try tonite...

chris always says it best!

And they work! Launches are getting better and I feel that I may have been bogging randomly due to slipping the clutch too long.

as you guys add power and remain on street tires the last thing ure going to want to do is rev to a certain rpm. Im pretty much launching off idle and getting 2.0-2.1 everytime

Cool, I'm gonna try this on my way home from work today.

I am having trouble with wheel spin on the street. I am running an intake, su MM, and falken azenis. I have been launching from 2500 slipping the clutch quickly like laloosh suggested and it is better, but I sometimes still bog and sometimes I just spin spin spin.

What I am doing is letting out the clutch from 2500 and pushing in the gas gradually but quickly until floored. I spin at 4000 or so and above in 1st and around 4700 and above in second. Should I not be going WOT? I have had little luck stopping wheel spin with throttle control after the initial launch and it seems like I either get the right launch rpm for the surface I am on or I dont. There doesnt seem to be any inbetween.

Should I be trying to lift off the gas in 1 and second gear or should I simply spin though? If I do need to control the throttle, I am not sure how, should I simply let off the gas half way or feather it back and forth? If 0-60 is any indication of how I am doing, a *good launch* seems to be about 5.9 seconds for me, and I know thats not good enough!

Im lost!

This is for the OP...are you trying to launch with TC on?? I've been in and drove tru-boosts car and the turbo spools so fast that if you launch that high and stay in it, you just roast the tires.... i drove his car when it was stock, not with all the mods... IDK but couldnt that be the problem since he never mentions if its on or not..??

They are off, my problem is I am unable to control wheel spin during the launch as well as after

Stop launching at an rpm and slipping the clutch. Do what laloosh said from idle and quickly. Control wheelspin with the throttle modulating it.

I dont reallyhave the power to launch off of idle. I have tried it several times lately and the car just bogs after a quick chirp.

i can launch a stock civic of idle....hold the clutch so it doesnt bog
There should be any chirping, if there is, ure letting go of the clutch to fast

I tried, I am stilling bogging, I cant drive.


I went to the track tonite for the first time. I ran probably 12-15 times!

It sucked. My 60's were all over the place but I did manage to grab 2.3s after awhile. My shifting sucked, I guess I couldnt take the heat. I ran a 14.5 best with an intake/mm. Traps were 97 and 98 thoughout the night, most runs were 14.8 or so and I grinded gears 6 times! I just couldnt get it down.

I eventually let my tires down to about 20 psi and no matter what I launched at, I would bog atleast some. I launched from 2500-3000 several diffrent times with the same crappy results. This is in the south and it was 85, I rememer seeing dashhawk readings of iat and boos temps int he 130's and over while getting ready to stage. A horrible night.

The grinds were not bad and our tranny seems sturdy, hopefully we can take a few grinds.

I will disagree here, historically the fastest launches involve some clutch slip and wheel spin. I think that people have over estimated where it is on this car be because its a import. This car has more in common with a mustang that a civic. Keep it low, but slip the clutch a bit or you will bog, spin the tires a bit or you will bog. Too much and you will sit a the line with a very impressive waste of tires. Its like any other car. It takes some practice. I think with the right launch we can see much better 1/4s. Not many people take this car seriously so we havent seen alot of pro drivers in the seat. Ideally however both wheel and clutch slip is ideal for the perfect launch. If you master this tell me how.

Grind 6 times :omfg:? Sounds like you need the driver mod. No offense .

or an automatic....:pat:

with slicks u want to spin out hte hole a lil. Once your pushing some power with plenty of mods, if the first thing u do is spin a lil coming off the line, your run is over cause it will just light up through 2nd into 3rd

Spin out of the hole a little bit with slicks? Huh? This is what you do on a fwd or something? What psi are you running slicks at?

fwd is different. If u dont spin out the hole a lil ure going to bog. If u try to rev it higher and launch harder your going to spin through 1st.

fuckin fwd...

yea the whole weight transfer short gearing thing blows lol.
We had truboost and driver try slicks...bot got 1.8s and complained about spinning with slicks

1.8 60s? I figured they had enough power for 1.6's. I guess its the weight xfer or lack of weight xfer.

we need traction bars and bump stops with adjustable ride height on all four. Jack the rear up and put the spring bump stop in the coils, lower the front as much as it will go withour rubbing. Put the frotn suspension on full soft, rear on full stiff and we should be getting 1.6s

Hell i nailed a 1.90 on a 170whp sentra on drag radias by doing the above

What do you guys consider a good 60' time?

Id be happy with 1.6's but i would expect 1.46's once i hit high 300's, low 400hp

1.46 LMAO wrong car kevin. If anybody get a 1.6 with the ms3, thats a fucken accomplishment and half

Yea well, i have high expectations obviously! lol. First time ive had a fwd import! What happened to that mysterious PTP tractions bars?

2 weeks.......

LMAO

Cool, ill order us a couple of sets than :fing02:

My best 60ft was a 2.07 - Done this by slipping the clutch really quick at about 2500rpms while modulationg throttle to limit wheelspin. - Mods are: Cobb SRI, SU MM, TWM SS//Bushings & 225/40/18 street tires (Parada spec 2's) - Oh and I lowered the front tires to 28PSI - Ended up running a 13.97@99.92

Yeah, I never grind, I guess I was just nervous or trying to shift too fast. I am scared of shifting too fast, I dont want to hurt anything, but when I am not under pressure I shift fine imo. I dont know what was up, but I kept grinding! I think I shouyld have been slipping the clutch more to avoid bogging as I was bogging leaving at 3k. Tires eventually went down to 20 psi which didnt make a diffrence, but I didnt seem to wheelhop anymore. Should I avoid wot in 1st and 2nd?


Think I did any damage? Most of them were into shitty 3rd, can seems fine. Some numbers...


rt - 800
60' - 2.293
330 - 6.334
1/8 - 9.536
mph --77.08
1000 - 12.258
1/4 - 14.568
mph - 97.76

Meder - 14.5 @ 97-98 isn't exactly horrible for a stock MS3. Just practice you'll get better - There are many varibles that come into play here so a few tenths of a sec isn't anything to be too concerned about. Oh and I think 20 psi might have been a bit low. If it makes you feel any better I've grinded gears in this car more than I like to think about and it still runs like a dream (knocks on wood) - Being in a race against the clock can be a bit stressful at times and shit happens.

Wellt he heatsoak and all was pretty bad, so no I do not think its horrible, but thats one 14.5 out of 15 runs.

Well, it's a tricky car to master. 14.5 is better than I could achieve for a while until I got really comfortable with the car. My best time stock was only 14.3 @99.81 and I ran a lot of mid - high 14's. Next time you go to the track try to time it where you aren't waiting in the staging lanes forever. That heat soak does zap a good amount of power out of this car for sure. If you can't, bring a bag of ice and set it on the intercooler between runs.

Found a loose clamp on the intake, loose enough that I could slide it around easy. I dont think I tightened it at all, it was that loose. Hopefully that is why I sucked!

Mang, I sucked anyway.

That could have very well been the issue.

After a 2nd trip to the track I came back with the same results. Flat shifting all gears I pulled a 14.6. My best 60's were 2.9xx. It was 98 outside based off of the amp temp sensor and I had to sit around waiting behind a bunch of bikes before i got to run most of my runs. The car felt like a dog the whole day. On the way home when it was in the high 70's the car felt so much stronger.

I think a proper launch and some better temps will help me out here a lot. I noticed what i feel was boost cut on the interstate. When wot in 6th at about 3500 ish till 4000+ or so, the car seemed to dumb power and stutter a split second as if it dropped all boost. I heard a small pss(i think) and the power was back right after. There was minimal knock the whole dashhawk run, under 1 and .1 or .2 over at times for a split second which is pretty normal for my car down here in the summer.

What was this? Was this boost cut? I only have an intake, i am positive i didnt have huge knock, is this something causes by the heat?

I have had that in 6th gear at 3k when going WOT, It has happened to me 5 times or so in a year, the car sounds like an F1 car going through the pits on the limiter (horrible sound) But it does not throw any codes. You can also experience it at 35-40mph in 4th on an uphill under WOT (it's definitely related to the load on the engine)

hmm, I would think it would be fine at 3500+ which is when I started...

I experience the same issue as well with only an intake.. It's like the car loses all power for a split sec and picks right back up. - No codes or anything and it doesn't happen all the time, normally only when it's running really strong.

After month of driving the car and a few more strip visits I am able to get consistent low 2.2 60's. I am on stock tires/suspension. My question is, can I pull more out of my stock tire setup?

I usually launch around 2.2-2.5 depending on what mods I have on for the event. I slip the clutch till it catches and from there continue the let the clutch out while adding throttle when I feel like the car can take more without spinning too much. If I feel the car start to spin I hold the clutch still and play with the throttle till I feel I am once again ready to increase throttle. Sometimes I can slip the clutch most of 1st gear if I wanted to based off the above method. Other times I am just dead on and the car rockets with no issues.

Is there anything I may be able to add to this to get under 2.2 60's? Is this the basic idea, launch at so and so rpm, feather clutch/throttle as needed based off of wheelspin?

I am no professional Driver but i have to say that i have noticed in this car that "the certain RPM thing doesnt work for me" I am running a CP-E CAI a forge Bypass and COBB shift weight. What i typically do is i will reve the car from ideal to about 2000 or so mulitple times normally. I start doing this once i am staged. I take off when the third light hits not the green one but the third amber. I am pretty much popping the clutch when i do this because i persoanally hate slipping a clutch I cant stand thinking of what it is doing to my car. Anyway using the method described above i usually spin a little bit and catch traction at about 3200 through first bark into second and scream through the rest. I am getting an average 2.0 to 2.1 60ft on stock suspension and tire set up and am running about a 14.0 to 14.2 at about 100 to 101. Also what are you shifting at on the top end. This car in my trim loses power bad over 6100 so i tend to shift 5800 to 6000 for every gear. It is all the little things when it comes to the straight line. Give it a shot and let me know. Thats just my two cents but i would give it a try.:beerchug:

I'd rather slip some than drop the clutch, dropping is going to be more abusive im sure. The rpms vary depending on the day, its always different. Simply dropping the clutch and flooring it you're getting sub 2.1 60's consistently? Are you getting wheel hop or anything at all?


My experience has been with many different setups as far as shifting.

Stock was about 5500, intake/midpipe I was running 5700-5800 which seemed best. I now feel as if I can run it till about 6200 ish based off of the charts I am seeing and what I am feeling with my intake/mp/ap set up. I have not been the the track with the ap yet, so its hard to say. Power does feel good till redline, but it does drop off somewhere near 6200 ish slightly from what I can feel. Some of my fastest traps speeds with the intake/mp setup have come from shifting at 6k though, yet slower ets.

Yeah this car is a tricky one and it takes some getting used to for sure. I love it though it is nice to have a challenge. I had a camaro previously and i could drop the clutch in that thing at 4000 RPM with slicks and launch like a bat out of hell everytime i like the challenge and want to see what i can do with this car. I plan on breaking in to 1.9 to 1.8's with drag radials this summer but i guess we will have to wait. Keep up the hard work and stay consistant. Keep us updated though and good luck.

we can tell you what to do and not to do but it comes down to practice.

I slip the clutch and get on the gas as im coming off the line<<<<<<(this part is hard to explain, you just gota get used to doing it and youll get it) slip it too much and you will smell the mistake, not enough slip and youll spin in one spot. then I half throttle shift 1-3.

And are you doing all your runs with the traction off?

sometimes i launch off idle. ill tap tap the gas then lauch on one of the taps at like 2k. I found that a little wheelspin is good but if you spin all the way through first you most likely will fail on shifting to second.

imo shifting at idle is the best way to avoid wheelspin. Slipping the clutch works to but you gotta be spot on with this car. Its like the car needs perfect shifting or it bitches at you.

launch from 2nd at 5k and hope something doesn't break, haha