Going to my first autox event in about a month. Only question is, what is the highest rpm you should launch the car? Ive never launched it in fear of the diff breaking. Or is launching all together a bad idea?

 

I dont launch at auto-xs...try 3-4k and slip the clutch.

 

so at 3k rpm dont dump the clutch but let it out quickly after you pause at the sweet spot?

 

Correct.

There is little to no gains of doing anything more than that.

 

like this...
https://vimeo.com/43781827
https://vimeo.com/40435055

this is not enough wheel spin...
https://vimeo.com/40414490

The last two videos are from the same event between me and my co-driver. My co-driver was leaving .2-.3ths at the first 100 yards or so according to the datalogger. He bogged the car out of vtec and left some time. I dont know what RPM I launch at but launch the car high enough to spin the tires and feather the throttle enough to keep the car in vtec but not spin the tires to hard. I've got over 500 autox launches on the car atleast.


PS- not launching enough to get alittle wheel spin is how people leave time at the start and break diffs. I've yet to see a diff break but I have seen two axles break on long term autox s2000s.

 

Hopefully you'll have an AutoX course that has a sharp turn between the stage and the timing start, making launching the car unnecessary. If not, don't do it if you're concerned about hurting the diff/axles. Just get going normally and have some fun. If you really get into it, then you can start chasing those .1s of a second.

 

I was also concerned about launching my AP2 since I was going to do auto x for the first time this summer. I'd rather not though :/

 

Making the wheels spin gave my best time of the day at my last autocross. Spin the wheels or not at all, no in between.

 

What is the in between of spinning and not spinning?

OP: There is no set in stone way to launch the car properly because it will change over the course of the day, from run to run, not to mention every day and surface will be different. A general rule of thumb for any launch situation is a light bit of spin to maintain RPM without boiling the tires.

 

^ exactly what I said..