Let it hold for 1-2 second, then dump it as fast as you can
do that and you will bog, like joe did in his video last week. He blamed his snow tires in his thread, but it’s cuz he held too long.
Once it holds the limiter, go. Don’t wait. Half a second and go. Just enough to make sure it’s ‘activated’ otherwise you’re just launching at 5000 RPM…which should kill a stock clutch and on a good clutch may just blow the tires loose, defeating the purpose.
- turn off ESP
- clutch down
- 1st gear engaged
- mat the gas pedal till the revs hit 5500 ish and hold
- release the clutch INSTANTLY in a swift motion…do not slip…do not ease off the clutch. Sidestep it. Get RIGHT off it.
- keep the steering wheel pointing your car straight as it may spin and get a little sideways if it loses traction
- change gears at around 6500-6800 RPM…it comes up quick
I was one of the beta cars and made all of the mistakes in testing so you guys don’t have to. i.e. holding too long…releasing the clutch gradually etc. Follow those 7 steps and it should work well.
NOTE - it is not adaptive…i.e. it doesn’t learn the road conditions. It will suck some places where you have tons of traction (bog) and it will blow the tires loose in a blaze of glory when it’s ice cold and there is limited traction. Do not expect this to make you into cabracco85. It is meant to be a foolproof way to get a decent launch out of your car but you may need to abandon it and work on your own launch techniques.
What RPM is recommended to shift into 2nd for best 1/4 mile time?
can our clutches handle those repeated dumps?? (to a certain extent of course…)
6500 is key for n/a from what ive read
yes
you’re not launching from 5500 rpm.
the tuner set it so that you could launch on your own (manually) from 2000…3000…4000…5000…whatever you want really. Only if you rev it past 5500 RPM will it ‘turn on’ launch assist, then activate the program that runs once you let the clutch off. The car actually launches from somewhere around 3000 RPM. If he set it so that the secondary rev limiter kicked in and activated right when you got to somewhere around 3000 rpm where it actually launches you from, people would complain that they
a) can’t rev their cars to satisfy their many fans (91GL)
and
b) can’t launch manually from any rpm higher than the launch assist activation point
So he set it at 5500 (somewhere nobody in their right mind should EVER want to launch from) and once you let off the clutch, the car drops revs to the program’s directed RPM level, and off you go.
Try to film your speedo while launching the car (just tape a phone or point and shoot camera in video mode to the wheel) and do a launch. Then watch…revs drop down right when you let off the clutch.
Lok. All of my launches at the strip were using about 1 second hold then dump. I’m tellin you it’s these big honkin snow tires.
Don’t forget to remove the owners manual as well. It will fly out, hit you in the leg and land at your feet almost every time you launch.
Also, if you’ve got a JHM IM you make want to consider shifting higher than 6500 for everything but the 1-2 shift. 1st gear is so quick that I doubt anything higher than 6500 would make a difference, but the IM really helps the car up top in 2-6. This is just my opinion. Someone with more knowledge may have better advice.
running first gear a bit past 6500 is ok for everyone…not because it makes little difference, but because the car is still accelerating well at the top of 1st
I used to go 1st to like 7000 or just under…and the rest at 6500 or so.
yep, an owner’s manual flying around while you’re trying to press the clutch and gas does not go well. I finally threw my book in the glove compartment so mine would stop flying out.
The only thing that sucks about launch assist is it’s not really good for spontaneous moments, like when a random dude at a stoplight wants to go. Unless you sit at the red light revving at 5500 rpm you will most likely not be prepared and just have to do a regular launch without it.
Can anyone confirm if it works well at the strip, or is it best to try out different rpm points due to the difference in traction?
imagine the noise of a jerk in a b6 holdong it at 5500 just waiting for someone to jump lol
I used it once at a light and it scared the fuck out of a friend of mine in his m3 beside me. He didn’t know what the fuck had happened.
Ya, with a nice cat back you can scare the shit out of people. I scared the hell out of two of my buddies sitting behind me in an LT1 Camaro…they had no clue what it was at first.
I used to use the WAP-WAP-WAP! Noise to scare people all the time… Full 2.5 catless is pretty seriously loud. I caught a buddy walking across the street at a crosswalk and he didn’t see me sitting there…so I hit the LA rev limiter and he near shit his pants, doubling over and almost dropping a few bottles of booze he had just bought as gifts lol
I think the most important thing that needs to be re-said is your not dropping the clutch at 5500. When your activating the JHM LA and you let go of the clutch the ECU picks up the rest and your not 100% WOT. The ECU takes over and moves the throttle to the proper amount. From there the car scoots out.
Good to know. I was under the impression that since the revs hit 5,500 before you see the needle stick, that is where JHM was launching the car from. I am glad to read that it actually drops the RPMS down as you let the clutch out.
But the question is - How can the stock clutches handle this? My stock clutch is at 49,000 miles and I don’t want to replace the clutch/flywheel anytime soon.
I just hit 70k on the stock clutch. I’ve done 30+ launches (since 45k when I got the car) and it has shown no signs of failure yet. I’m on the opposite end though and wouldn’t mind it failing so I can get a LWFW and stage IV clutch. How long your clutch lasts really depends on your driving style and how much you beat on it.
The JHM LA doesn’t just dump the throttle 100% and hope it holds. It won’t open up the throttle until the clutch has completely grabbed. This doesn’t mean that you don’t need an aftermarket clutch, because it’s still pretty hard on it, but it can take a ton of abuse. B7’s should be able to take tons of repeated launches with no issues, as sakimano and jimS4 have done, but for the B6, I would be worried about the DMFW separating
Even with launch assist getting a good launch depends the road conditions. I’ve done a few launches where I was either just spinning the rear tires or doing alot of corrective steering right into 2nd gear.
yup…I mentioned above that its not adaptive…its just a decent safety net for bad launchers like me. I struggled to get 1.8 60 foot times before LA but got like 7 out of 10 with it. Best was 1.82 but mostly around 1.86 to 1.87
you may need to abandon it depending on conditions