Off The Line. Tire Spin or Grip?

2352 Views 6 Replies 3 Participants Last post by brink, Sep 12, 2004

SmokingTires

Discussion Starter · Sep 11, 2004

Since doing Auto-X events, I have been trying out a few different things off the line. So far I have found two options.

1) Floor it and spin the tires a little.
or
2) Quick accel allowing the tires to grip followed by full throttle

However I haven't really been able to tell which is giving me a quicker launch. I am wondering what other people use for their launch off the line?

(Keep in mind this is not drag. I am not going to do a burnout to warm my tires.)

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brink

· #2 · Sep 12, 2004

I typically skip just a little bit to warm them up some, but I never floor it. Typically I let the clutch out around 3k or so, any higher and I spin or squeal the clutch.

I can't remember, are you auto or stick?

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Flashmn

· #3 · Sep 12, 2004

Tires spinning always gives you a worse start, having them gain traction is the fastest way to accelerate.

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SmokingTires

Discussion Starter · #4 · Sep 12, 2004

I'm running an Auto. If I floor it, I tend to spin them for a second or two. But I haven't tried with the new tires on yet. So I'm not sure if they will even spin. These things have crazy traction.

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Flashmn

· #5 · Sep 12, 2004

Even the second or two would make you slower compared a car that didnt spin its tires.

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brink

· #6 · Sep 12, 2004

I guess the key would be do you spin then start moving, or do you spin as you're moving. If the former you should be fine. If the latter, it'll be slower.

So, I'lll just think out loud here:
First, I'm assuming the timer starts when you cross the start line, not when you hit the gas or when you're flagged to go... So, basically the issue is to hit the starting light at the highest velocity, because that represents a chunk of time...
You're going to attain the highest acceleration by moving forward at the limit of the tires grip -- threshold acceleration if you will

If you're spinning your tires as you move forward, you've obviously exceded the limits of the grip given how your car unloads the front end, the tire's quality, etc. Moving forward with the tires spinning is essentially wasted energy because the tires are basically hopping very quickly and you only get a millisecond of traction to move you forward.

So, I'm thinking the only benefit you'd get from spinning is more diagnostic -- finding the slip point of your particular tires. Or if it's a cold day and you know that you have no traction, using brief slip to warm up the rubber. (which is what I was referring to in my first reply. My car feels like it accelerates faster if I skip just a little at the start before moving).

Or, you could look at it as finding the slip point, then breathe off the throttle to just under, because anyless input should get you moving at under the tire slip point.

Does that make sense?

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brink

· #7 · Sep 12, 2004

Oh, and one thing that occurs to me that's tangential and kind of interpreted from reading "Going Faster", you could think of the start line as part of a straight before a corner. So, given that, you want to optimize for your entry speed at the very first corner off the line. If you've got a tight hairpin as your corner 1 on the course, it may make sense to use moderate acceleration in order to set yourself up for the correct entry speed and attitude at the first turn, rather than go balls to the wall then do mad braking. Depends on the straight off the line, though. The question is, do you think you'll have opportunity to brake coming into turn 1 given your start acceleration?

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