Best advice is to relax and don’t expect great times your first few times out
I’m not expecting much the first couple runs. I just want to get down the track and have a decent 1-2 shifts, which I’m very capable of doing. Maybe if things are going well I’ll experiment with not using launch assist.
use launch assist…and if you cut a 1.89 or better sixty foot time, stock with it (or just know that it is working well with your track and if you can’t beat it on your own, going with LA us going to be solid.
it is not designed to make you a star and it won’t adapt to the conditions like Ferrari launch assist does (it learns)…but it should make you solid.
what track are you going to?
Use the LA, don’t listen to any of the asshats on Audizine that think it launches at 5500RPMs or you slipping the clutch is going to be any easier on it. I pulled very consistent 60’ with LA and I won’t go without it I was 1.78-1.82 all night, except for the one time I left my traction control on…lol
New England Dragway in Epping, NH.
I’ve launched with traction control on once… never again haha. You’re probably right that I should just not fuck around with not using LA. Before I had the tune and my stock clutch was healthy I messed around quite a bit with launching the car. I would get a good deal of wheel spin but once it hooked up the car would take off HARD. I’m sure this led to the demise of the stock clutch but that’s kind of what I wanted anyway. It made it 73k. With the new clutch, my butt dyno is telling me it’s hooking up much better. I’m curious what I can do without it but if my 60’ times are good why fix it if it ain’t broke.
nobody is saying not to launch it on your own. If you’re really really good at it, and have a JHM clutch/flywheel you have the potential, with your other power mods, to cut a 1.75 60 foot. It’s just tough to get it perfect and to get the stars to align.
Launch assist should be able to deliver a 1.85 or so 60 foot time…and that’s pretty awesome. Try it both ways. Maybe launch it from around 3500 RPM (sidestep) normally and if you spin too much dial back the RPMs. If you bog, crank it up to maybe 3800 or so. I wouldn’t go too far though…the car doesn’t seem to be any faster when you do that.
If you’re not well into the 1.8 range I don’t think there’s any point in DIY launching…just use launch assist. Try both ways, and see what’s working best.
My best B7 S4 launch assist time was 1.82 seconds, for the record, and I never got near that on my own in that car. I was always launching at 3200-3400 RPM. Car needed more RPMs, but on stock clutch I didn’t want to chance it frankly.
Do you guys have any recommendations for a NHRA certified helmet that wont break the bank? My snowmobile helmet isn’t NHRA approved anymore.
Down here the track isnt worried if its NHRA cert helmet just if it has a newer SNELL rating.
I don’t recall it needing to be NHRA cert. just whatever the current DOT or Snell rating is. My helmet is an open faced one that I got for $90 because it was an open item. Inspector never questions it.
You guys should get a kick out of this…our track allows guys to wear there military issues Kevlar helmets. I mean Jacksonville, NC only exists because othe Marine Corps but it is not safe IMHO…although it is very comical to see. I’m not sure what ET they draw the line at, but most guys with legit cars have helmets…they also have a helmet lending lane which is fucking gross!
The OP started a thread on hitting the strip BEFORE going…and that’s a no-no, but on this site, it may not be too bad as it’s a small group and lots of good help can be offered.
HOWEVER…he also started a ‘going to the dragstrip’ thread on audizine as well. So the jinx is on lol. Nobody does well when they pre-announce they’re hitting the strip 
Except for V8RyanS4 and I…lol his first fucking pass was his 12.83, then he couldn’t touch it. But that was less about us and more about the kid with the UNI tune. I kept my 12s night on the down low until I actually went and ran like I wanted to.
No one on AZ even cares about “real” performance…just dynos and exhaust drone, half of them prolly Googled “what is the 1/4 mile” after he started his thread.
oh man the exhaust drone thread is brutal
Not because the guy hates drone…I do too.
No the fucking moron responses that are helping nothing…and then there’s an idiot with a B8 S4 talking about B8 exhaust options…and nobody notices!!!
That guy is going to end up changing his exhaust and wasting money because he listened to the retards
Haha your probably right. AZ is pretty much useless. The only good thing to come out of that thread is I might be able to help out a new local S4 owner not get raked over the coals from the stealership… After I posted I realized no one runs really well their first time, besides V8RyanS4. Didn’t he run with some 19" boat anchors too? Anyway, like is said its going to be a learning experience, which is why I didn’t post up any crazy expectations.
lots of guys do well their first time. It’s just funny that people end up building up expectations and if they go and only get 3 passes in…one of which is viciously heat soaked…one of which they botch the launch…and one of which they miss a shift…they end up coming home with their tail between their legs because they have no good results and are really forced to post them.
My first time I went 13.36 @ 106 with piggies/tune/catback (that time was my first of 10 passes that day, right after I arrived and went through tech, for reference to your ‘cooling down’ question).
Then I got LW rotors and dialed in my launching skills a bit more (but still was only high 1.8-low1.9) and went 13.21 a few weeks later.
Then I got 2.5" catless downpipes over the winter as well as launch assist, and went 12.99 @ 107.
In my Rs4, I went 13.1 the first trip out…bone stock. Couldn’t launch it better than 1.91 60’
Then in cooler temps I went 12.94…still bone stock. Same shitty launch results.
Then in good temps a few months later, I went 12.75 @ 108.3 still bone stock. I drastically improved the launch technique, and had 1.82-1.83 60 foot times pretty consistently.
So dialing in your techniques, as well as hitting it up a couple of times to get nice conditions, is important. My times varied by 4 tenths, just from conditions and launching. Of course my MPH didn’t vary much…which is why we like to see those timeslips. I have since gone 12.8 and 12.9 a few more times in the summer. I bet I can squeak an even lower 12.7 out of my car…or maybe even a 12.6 if I throw in some higher octane fuel. Guess we’ll fine out this weekend if there’s any more in it. Would be nice to have a faster stock record than the frigging B8 S4 lol. That car is a nightmare to chase down. Such a flamingly fast platform.
NHRA approved tracks are supposed to require a helmet with Snell 2005 rating or newer. Open faced is legal as long as you don’t run 9.99 or faster. 
Welp, that didn’t go as well as I would have liked, but it was still a blast. The best I ran was 13.76 @ 101.65. I didn’t get there until about 8:15 after sitting in Boston traffic for 2 fucking hours and was only able to get 4 runs in. Here come the excuses haha ;D My buddy that was meeting me up there ditched at the last second so I didn’t have a safe spot to leave my spare, tools, and cooler with 15lbs of ice. My launches, using LA, sucked all 4 times. Twice it bogged a little (see video) and twice there was too much wheel spin. On my third run, the shift nob slid off the shifter on my 1-2 shift. That was an adventure. In general the car just felt slower than normal. Oh well. There’s definitely some room for improvement.
This run was 13.89 @ 100.37
http://youtu.be/R4sy2K1P5uA?hd=1
post up those 60’ times man…or the slips if you have them, then Saki can see where you are leaving time on the table, he loves that shit and he is really good at it. From the video it don’t look like you were holding the LA too long…but your shift could have been a little faster. Also, what RPM are you shifting at?
Just stick with it, good times will come when you get more comfortable out there.
Don’t lose heart my man, there’s a first time for everything. The main thing is to have fun and not put too much pressure on yourself. The quick times will follow. The classic was saki in April who came to Cayuga to “hang out and take pics” and ended up leaving with the stock RS4 record. LOL.
Car #417
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/s527/jimmys4/S4/10-5timeslip_zps665df64a.jpg
Thanks for the encouragement guys. I will be heading back up there before the track closes down. Next time a little more prepared. This was my worst 60’ of the night but my best overall run. I’ve never had so much wheel spin using launch assist, the car actually got a little sideways outta the gate. In all but my last run, I sat in the staging lanes for at least 25 minutes so I’m sure heat soak was affecting power some. I was shifting at just below 7k on 1-2 and 6500 for the rest.