Ok, I was practicing how to launch last night. I rev up to about 4.5K and feather the clutch. Wow... right off the line the engine rev up and the car was not accelerating, tires didn't lose traction and I realized I must have burning my clutch (or something), anyway, I let go the gas pretty quick (around 5-6K) and still I got some pretty bad smell from the engine.

Can some please explain exactly what happened, what did i do wrong and how to prevent this happened again? (Did I rev up too high?)

This is the first time something like this happened and I am just a bit worry about my car too. Did I really damage the clutch/flywheel or anything?

many thanks!!

 

God, I love the smell of friction-roasted organics in the morning.

 

Been there, done that. I've done it with two out of the four clutches I've used. Both times for me I though I was doing a burnout. I had R compound stickies on the front and the parking brake pulled. I didn't drop the clutch fast enough and the tires never broke traction. I saw smoke come from under the front of the car so I thought it was okay until I smelled it.

It might not be a big deal right away unless your clutch was already on it's way out. I did it on my current clutch when it was still pretty new. I just had my engine pulled and clutch inspected and put back in the way it was. I wouldn't worry too much, but then again mine's a Clutchmasters stage 3. Don't know if that would make a major difference. Hrm.

Oh yeah, if you want a good launch don't feather the clutch. I've never had a good time trying to feather the clutch. The last time I tried drag racing feathering did nothing but overheat my clutch. As soon as I stopped trying to feather my time dropped from a 15.4 to a 14.8. That was from dropping at around 6k. Wheelspin can be your friend.


[Modified by B18C5, 8:12 AM 10/10/2001]