Launch control on a road car? Bit naff or best thing ever...

[PhillipM]

Damnit, I've only just got this and now they're out of fashion?

[C.A.R.]

I see it as a bit of a necessary evil.

Manufacturers sell cars based on performance criteria, such as quarter miles, top speeds and acceleration times. The performance of modern cars and their complexity means that the most consistent and effective way of maximising these figures is by installing launch control.

It's like that thread the other day, people now proclaiming that the 911 Turbo S has surpassed the GTR because it won a drag race by a car length or so. These people completely oblivious to the fact that the Porsche cost some 80% more to buy than the Nissan!

But by getting that 'edge' and having people aware and talking about their product, I'm sure Porsche will attract more customer interest
, even if this performance is totally irrelevant after the sale has taken place.

[Osinjak]

I used it quite a lot in my old A3 3.2 V6 thing, quite enjoyed it really. I now have it on my 335d which doesn't really feel the same in that LC on a diesel is just a bit odd.

[ORD]

I had it on my Cayman and used it once. I don't see the point, really - why would I want to put that stress on components when a rolling start and then mashing the throttle gives you same feeling of acceleration? Even worse in most cars that have it and don't have strong enough parts to cope with it. Apparently, the PDK box will perfectly happily take dozens of LC starts, but I think most cars give up on life if you actually use the system.

The weird thing is that people happily give autos full throttle from a standstill but would never do that in a manual car. I know that I have not once dumped the clutch from a standing start at 4000 revs. 3000 maybe, and only then in slow cars and because I needed the acceleration for some reason (pulling onto a dual carriageway, for example).

[anonymous-user]

At PoP last year, missed this years, the sporting bear charity was offering charity rides and the chap who was running a ST2 R35 made a point of launching every customer on the private strip leading to the main road .... The week before he burnt the clutch out ...

Good fun though.

[CorvetteConvert]

It reminds me of the 0-60 times quoted by Mitsubishi for the Evos MK8 FQ400 and the MK9 FQ360 i owned. 3.5 seconds and 4.1 seconds respectively.
I know of 3 people who destroyed their transmissions on the 400 side-stepping the clutch with 5,000 rpm on the clock and relying on the 4wd and the various diffs to sort out traction, attempting to replicate that 3.5 second time.
2 of them were refused new parts under warranty as the company inspected the damage and said it was not fair wear and tear. £6,000 each it cost to fix.

[pimpchez]

Had it dialled (3100rpm) in at one point on my old mps. Activated as a subaru lined up at the lights , turbo lasted all of about 300m after the launch .

[kambites]

I've never seen the point myself but as long as people are taking any notice of standing acceleration figures, manufacturers will fit it.

[chibbard]

kambites said:

I've never seen the point myself but as long as people are taking any notice of standing acceleration figures, manufacturers will fit it.

I suspect the real "point of it" is more for the manufacturer to interrogate how many times it's been used to "assist" in their warranty claim pay out or not.

[sjg]

As said, it's no extra electronics on most modern cars, it's just putting together data from existing sensors and taking over the drive-by-wire throttle to use it to best effect.

It's of no use in everyday driving but quite amusing when you're in the middle of nowhere with a long straight road at your disposal.

[ORD]

chibbard said:

I suspect the real "point of it" is more for the manufacturer to interrogate how many times it's been used to "assist" in their warranty claim pay out or not.

I think they would struggle to blame a failure on the use of a system that is provided precisely for the purpose in question, unless they write into the terms that the system is just there for show!

[burningdinos]

Matt Harper said:

Scat Pack? Scat? - yes - unfortunate name, derived historically from.........

www.scatenterprises.com

However, it's somewhat more purposeful than it sounds.

When I read "Scat" that was only one thing that popped into my head.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/y6oXW_YiV6g

I know the way out

[PhantomPH]

Test drove the new RS3 a few weeks ago and used launch control a couple of times on a private estate near where I work. It was utterly hilarious and quite addictive fun, but it did leave me questioning when I would ever use it again other than when showing a friend just how much of a giggle it was.

I assume that since it's a manufacturer-fitted option, it shouldn't wear out any components, even if you use it every day.

[crispyshark]

Have it mapped on the Scooby with it bouncing at 5,500rpm…..would I use it? No…..I like my clutch. Sounds good when you give it a little rev’ing action when parked up…..That’s the 5 year old in me though!

Edited by crispyshark on Monday 12th October 16:38

[Krikkit]

ORD said:

chibbard said:

I suspect the real "point of it" is more for the manufacturer to interrogate how many times it's been used to "assist" in their warranty claim pay out or not.

I think they would struggle to blame a failure on the use of a system that is provided precisely for the purpose in question, unless they write into the terms that the system is just there for show!

It's usually a feature which is a deliberate exclusion beyond a set number of uses (some just exclude it, I seem to remember Ferrari did on the 599 for example)

[MrBarry123]

I've never used it in mine and probably never will - pointless therefore to me.

[PunterCam]

A complete waste of effort and money for me. I'm 31 now, and I've never done a "drop the clutch" style start - it doesn't interest me in the slightest. It's only for dick waving surely, there's no fun to be had from it.

I'd much rather see proper 0-60 times in car reviews, although I understand that's harder to achieve now, what with everyone driving automatics (while pretending it's sporty). You could get a sense for a cars traction with old 0-60 times, which was at least useful..

[R8VXF]

Used it a couple of times on the road, and 10 times in one day at Thunder Road. Oh yeah, it is also a manual

Bloody good fun and really pins you to the seat

[br d]

Tried it on an M3 years ago, just once because I think 3 or 4 times would trash the clutch.
Had it on a few cars since but never used it because of the same issue. The car I have now has it and apparently you can do it as many times as you like with no problem (wet clutch?), might try it soon somewhere quiet because it ought to be pretty dramatic.

[gweaver]

burningdinos said:

When I read "Scat" that was only one thing that popped into my head.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/y6oXW_YiV6g

I know the way out

This version is a bit more PH(2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05YJZN3ZknY

Launch control is of course completely frivolous. Line-lock I can understand, but the only possible justification for launch control must be repeatable 0-60 times. I think manufacturers are crazy to a) expose this to customers and b) reject warranty claims when they break their cars whilst using it.
It's not as though 0-60 times are that useful these days anyway, since so many cars limit torque in 1st/2nd to save the gearbox. What happened to 30-70 times?