A member recently discussed burning out his clutch at an autocross. Go here: https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...6151#post866151.

Don't know how he launched, but apparently there are at least three ways we launch the S2k, and perhaps more than that.

1) For fasted possible launch (ie., a drag race type start), you drop the clutch at 7k or above to prevent bog after tires hook up. I think all agree that this is an abuse of the drive train and particularly so if you are SCed.

2) For non-hurried launch, you feather the clutch at say . . . 4k or less.

3) For fastest launch w/o dropping the clutch at 7k, you rev as high as you dare and "rapidly" release the clutch.

Surely, some of our better drivers do it in other ways.

So - how do YOU launch and why?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Pixsurguy
[B]A member recently discussed burning out his clutch at an autocross.

 

I take mine up To 6000 and then drop I am a little different i have the supercharger installed

it is still hard as hell to launch it

parker

 

I sidestep at 7k.

yellow2000 - do you have any pics of your carbon fiber S kit?

Thanks,
Aaron

 

nevermind. I looked at your website more closely.

 

When you say that you are confused, all I can say is that we belong to the same club.

The guys who "drop" the clutch simply let their foot slide off the fully depressed clutch pedal and let it fly up. Hard to imagine a better way to shock the hell out of the drive train.

When I say "rapidly", I mean just that. While at say . . . 5k rpm, I let out the clutch far more quickly than a normal one, but not as rapidly as is the case with a full side-slip of the foot. Biggest problem with this technique is that if you do it too fast, there's not a lot of diff. between it and a drop, with the attendant risk to the drive train. Too slow and it is same as feathering, with the result of massive clutch slippage and maybe glaze, depending on the rpms at the time and how fast you stop it.

Let's face it. Our S2k is not a drag car and it is very difficult consistently to get a fast launch w/o bogging badly just after the tires hook up. At least that is so if you don't want to drop the clutch.

 

If I get a super-strong clutch and only RAPIDLY, not DROP the clutch for drag races, will the new clutch stilll cause a lot of stress on the drivetrain and cause broken diffs, axels, gears etc... Thats what I plan on doing if it doesn't cause any damage to the drivetrain cause I really don't feel comfortable dropping the clutch with the stock rear-end anymore. If I get a really strong clutch, I could just slip it for every race. So any consequences to this?

 

I'm probably not the guy to respond to this, because I don't really have enough knowledge on the matter. However, I'll tell you what I did and why.

I bought a Star clutch disk and supposedly "light weight" pressure plate. Can't recall for sure but think that the disk is a Stage II, which claims to be better able to stick to the flywheel and last longer. The pressure plate, which is really just a reworked Honda OEM unit (as is the case w/ all of the available aftermarket units, I think), is supposed to be 30% stronger in terms of clamping power. The clutch/PP are being installed right now, as I write this. I had a problem w/ my fifth gear seizing and dealer is fixing that under warranty. Figured he could not charge me too much to install clutch/PP while tranny out anyway.

My reasoning was that since I'm never going to launch at 7000 or above by side slipping ("dropping") the clutch, I wanted to be able to do it at maybe 5k rpm w/ an aggresive uplift on the clutch pedal WITHOUT having the clutch slip so badly as to burn it.

I don't have the guts to really punish my drive train and am hoping for a middle ground success by going this route. I have no idea if I'll achieve the intended result, but I'll see soon.
I still don't expect to be able to generate a lot of wheel spin with this method, but I ought to improve my launches somewhat. There are too many guys on this board who have pretty well demonstrated that the fastest launch is w/ a 7k or above clutch drop so I don't think that even w/ the new clutch that I'll match them.

As to damage to the drive train, I guess you pays your money and you takes your chances, as they say. Obviously, the greater the shock to the drive train the greater the chance of damage. That a stronger clutch will reduce slippage can only magnify the shock, so looks like such a clutch and a 7k drop is a sure fire receipe for disaster.

 

Thanks Pixsurguy! That really helped me.

 

Some good info here. Bump.