RE: Autocross launch - is it abusing the car?

["Glenn Wasserman" <glennwa@domain.elided>]

Resending due to only one response - anyone else care to weigh in?
What's the "best" way to launch for lap times? How about the
"friendliest" launch for the drivetrain?

Thanks
-Glenn

-----Original Message-----
From: Glenn Wasserman [mailto:glennwa@domain.elided]
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 1:17 PM
To: alfa@domain.elided
Subject: Autocross launch - is it abusing the car?

I have a question regarding launching the car from a stop at autocross
events. It's been said many times the fastest way to launch the car is
to rev to a critical level of RPMs (say, 3000) and release the clutch
quickly - i.e., slide the foot sideways off the pedal, suddenly.



I believe the idea is that the best launch will involve a hint of
wheelspin, and then a "hooking up" as the car slingshots away. After the
launch the throttle is applied to accelerate accordingly.



Assuming the above is the quickest launch (and I believe it is), I'm
wondering how hard this is on the car - including the clutch,
driveshaft, etc. (What autocrossing does to the tires is obvious!)



I had always thought this was a bad thing for the clutch, but then
again, there's no slipping of the clutch involved - and therefore should
be minimal wear, right?



Wouldn't the engine mounts, trans mount, driveshaft support, and other
components take the brunt of wear on a launch?



If I thought I were doing serious damage, I would tend to launch more
gently, sacrificing a few tenths.



Thanks

-Glenn



'93 Spider Veloce

'94 164Q
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided