S3 Launch Control Question

[midgaar]

I figured I'd ask before I experimented and hurt my car. How long can you hold a launch before releasing the brake? For instance, I'm at a red light and ready the launch control once the opposite light starts turning red only to get a green arrow first. Could the launch be held through the green arrow?

Thanks!

[phillyquattro]

I figured I'd ask before I experimented and hurt my car. How long can you hold a launch before releasing the brake? For instance, I'm at a red light and ready the launch control once the opposite light starts turning red only to get a green arrow first. Could the launch be held through the green arrow?

Thanks!

Do you really need to be using launch control from a red light? Living your life a quarter mile at a time up there in WI?

[Benji00]

Do you really need to be using launch control from a red light? Living your life a quarter mile at a time up there in WI?

Spit a little coffee out.

OP - yea I wouldn't sit there and hold it for 20 seconds at 4k RPMs.....a few seconds is probably fine. Work on the timing brotha

[midgaar]

Not normally, just once. A WRX with some young kids pulled up next to me reving and acting like...well kids. I couldn't resists and tried to time a launch, even though I miss timed it and let the revs go cause I was scared to hold them over a few seconds, I still beat the WRX just mashing the gas.

But that made me wonder, how long car the car safely hold revs? Is it like a MT where you could hold the revs forever if you wanted? Or is all that power sitting on the transmission/brakes?

[S3Danny]

If your foot is on the brake then it's not engaging the clutch. You can sit there and bang on the soft limiter of the launch control all day if you want.

[Benji00]

If your foot is on the brake then it's not engaging the clutch. You can sit there and bang on the soft limiter of the launch control all day if you want.

Is that true? And I ask that with sincere intrigue. It doesn't seem like holding the car at 3-4k RPM for an extended period of time would be a great idea. I guess I'm speaking in terms of the engine and not the tranny.

[m3th0d79]

In my experience it will only hold for a couple of seconds so you can not just sit there bouncing off the rev limiter

[DarkSideGTI]

My car seems to launch harder if I let go of the brake right as I hit the limiter rather than sit on it for a second or two.

[midgaar]

I have the opposite experience. If I hold the launch a few seconds until the boost gauge fills, I launch harder.

[14S4GWM]

Not normally, just once. A WRX with some young kids pulled up next to me reving and acting like...well kids. I couldn't resists and tried to time a launch, even though I miss timed it and let the revs go cause I was scared to hold them over a few seconds, I still beat the WRX just mashing the gas.

But that made me wonder, how long car the car safely hold revs? Is it like a MT where you could hold the revs forever if you wanted? Or is all that power sitting on the transmission/brakes?

The right WRX will smoke you. Watch out.

[S3Danny]

Is that true? And I ask that with sincere intrigue. It doesn't seem like holding the car at 3-4k RPM for an extended period of time would be a great idea. I guess I'm speaking in terms of the engine and not the tranny.

If you go down the interstate at 80mph, you'll be turning 3,000 RPM in 6th gear and that's under load. You could sit in your driveway with your foot on the floor in neutral and you aren't going to hurt anything.

[midgaar]

Are you sure you're in neutral when the brake is applied? When I plant the gas you can feel the car jerk forward ever so slightly and take a lower stance. Like there's power only being held in place by the brakes...

[midgaar]

The right WRX will smoke you. Watch out.

I think our definitions of "smoke you" may be different. I have a hard time believing a WRX will ever "smoke" a S3. The S3 can lose, sure, but not be smoked...

[HurrayFive]

You could sit and hold full boost and bounce off the limiter with LC and it's not any different than cruising at the same engine speed under load, which happens pretty frequently - the difference being the clutch is not allowing the transmission to engage which means engine load is even lower than when cruising. Your engine will be fine.

That said, these cars are not a super big fan of back-to-back launches with LC. Back when I was only Stage 1, me and a buddy were playing around, he was in his S4, lined up and did a LC run, then cruised for a minute or two and circled back to the same spot to do another run...I was able to get LC started, I was waiting for him to get his LC going, and after about 3-5 seconds of bouncing off the limiter my car fell out of LC and lit up the driver info screen with "REVISE DRIVING STYLE - TRANSMISSION OVERHEAT WARNING" and the car sat in limp mode for about 30 seconds before the message went away.

This was only the 2nd attempt on an ~80 degree day and I had cruised for a solid couple minutes after the first run to get back to the spot where we started. Granted the car had significantly more torque than stock even with Stage 1, but something to keep in mind when using LC :)

[14S4GWM]

I think our definitions of "smoke you" may be different. I have a hard time believing a WRX will ever "smoke" a S3. The S3 can lose, sure, but not be smoked...

A built motor sti or wrx will smoke you plain and simple. They are good sleepers too. And it's about 500 lbs lighter.

[midgaar]

A built motor sti or wrx will smoke you plain and simple. They are good sleepers too. And it's about 500 lbs lighter.

That's a whole different ball game though. In that case ANY car could smoke a S3... but that's pretty rare, especially here in Wisconsin.

[14S4GWM]

That's a whole different ball game though. In that case ANY car could smoke a S3... but that's pretty rare, especially here in Wisconsin.

Yeah but the new motor in the wrx with a few bolt ons and tune are pushing 330 to the wheels and you would never know it.

[HurrayFive]

Yeah but the new motor in the wrx with a few bolt ons and tune are pushing 330 to the wheels and you would never know it.

Think he's comparing stock to stock is all. The S3 puts down upwards of 350 WHP & WTQ with the same modifications (tune, intake, downpipe), and both cars are within 150lbs of each other (~3300lbs to ~3450lbs according to each model's spec sheet). My car looks 100% bone stock on the outside...it is not that :)

[14S4GWM]

I'm in an S4 and that's the wieght I was thinking of when responding. I was simly saying he was making it sound like the wrx is a slouch with some young kids. Those cars are cheap and don't take much to smoke an S3 or 4 for that matter. Just saying keep your eye out when trying to run with one. No big deal.

[phillyquattro]

I'm in an S4 and that's the wieght I was thinking of when responding. I was simly saying he was making it sound like the wrx is a slouch with some young kids. Those cars are cheap and don't take much to smoke an S3 or 4 for that matter. Just saying keep your eye out when trying to run with one. No big deal.

A stock S3 will beat a stock STI in a drag. That being said, unless you're at a track...who cares. Street racing is dumb. Plain and simple.

[HurrayFive]

I'm in an S4 and that's the wieght I was thinking of when responding. I was simly saying he was making it sound like the wrx is a slouch with some young kids. Those cars are cheap and don't take much to smoke an S3 or 4 for that matter. Just saying keep your eye out when trying to run with one. No big deal.

Fa sho. My tuning shop was putting the finishing touches on a 600+ HP (it was finishing on the dyno while I was there, the sound was incredible) motor and big turbo swap on what looked like a '14 WRX, the guy actually came to pick it up an hour or so later while I was still waiting on my car. Other than the wheels and a big ass set of brakes out front, the car looked like any other WRX, nothing fancy about it at all...and it's capable of wrecking just about anything that rolls past.

[14S4GWM]

A stock S3 will beat a stock STI in a drag. That being said, unless you're at a track...who cares. Street racing is dumb. Plain and simple.

You're cool. I'm not the one racing on the street and I don't do it either. The OP is the one talking about street racing. Stock S3 is underrated and stock STI is overrated with numbers. Yes it's proven, you are right.

[S3Danny]

Neither the S3 or WRX/STi are cars of choice for any street racing other than random stop light competitions.

[14S4GWM]

Neither the S3 or WRX/STi are cars of choice for any street racing other than random stop light competitions.

Isn't that what street racing pretty much is? Whether it be a red light or back road.

[S3Danny]

Isn't that what street racing pretty much is? Whether it be a red light or back road.

Maybe to some folks.

Most street racing I know is fairly organized. Shut down back roads after midnight, VHT and torches, the whole works. Don't bother showing up with less than 1,000 hp or so

[midgaar]

I'm in an S4 and that's the wieght I was thinking of when responding. I was simly saying he was making it sound like the wrx is a slouch with some young kids. Those cars are cheap and don't take much to smoke an S3 or 4 for that matter. Just saying keep your eye out when trying to run with one. No big deal.

I wasn't saying a WRX was a slouch by any means, I know they are fast. It was the fact that it was a fast car with younger kids in it reving their engine at me that pulled me into a "red light race" with them. This was a 0-60 on a 45mph posted so no need for any street racing is bad comments. We are getting a little off topic here, the point of the post is how long can the car hold at 4000rpm in launch control? It doesn't really matter where or why, just how long?

[drzero6]

You can keep the revs as long as you want

as for waiting vs launching .... there are two factors 1. boost has to be filled 2. let go at the highest RPM range before the needle goes down again

as for WRX.. it is slower even the STI.... there is a couple of youtube videos reviewing our cars on track and straight line against STIs and EVO

I have made a post on different launch modes, I recommend launching in M mode since it will rev higher

[drzero6]

found one that races all at once:




see my channel drzero6 for more videos