What on earth is the purpose of launch control??

[RDMcG]

For some time I have wonder about this...have had the feature on cars since 2006.

Assuming street cars, not dragsters, I cannot figure this out.

I tried it at full abuse level on a Porsche Turbo S at Porsche track event ,,,both feet down, rev the hell out the the car, chug, chug,,,WAAAAH.....out of there with your face pasted back.


Strangely..I had the feature much earlier on an E63 M6 and never used it. I thought about how to take off from a traffic light....plan the timing of the green...set the damn thing up...rev..rev...GREEN.....Rubber streaks and the entire world thinking..what a moron in a BMW......BMW...moron..BMW.....

I never used LC on that car.


Now I have it on some current cars. Again, never used.

Are there any circumstances beyond dragstrips where people have used LC????...........

[Globs]

RDMcG said:

Are there any circumstances beyond dragstrips where people have used LC????...........

Oh yes, when reviewing a car on Top Gear.

[RDMcG]

Globs said:

Oh yes, when reviewing a car on Top Gear.

Of course...I do a lot of that on my celebrity appearances...of course...
I
am
the
Sti.....

[Pothole]

Just willy waving, surely?

[RDMcG]

Pothole said:

Just willy waving, surely?

Possibly so,,but can you imagine doing this at a traffic light and looking ..umm..cool?.... or just an idiot?

[Pothole]

RDMcG said:

Pothole said:

Just willy waving, surely?

Possibly so,,but can you imagine doing this at a traffic light and looking ..umm..cool?.... or just an idiot?

I ride a 1050cc bike. I'm not bothered about/by launch control on a car.

[RDMcG]

Of course.on a bike its immediate. Launch control is a planned thing so makes zero sense to me.Maybe I am missing something. When I tried it at a Porsche demo it felt very hard on the car and I had a 'so what?' feeling. Certainly impressive acceleration..but...so what?

[Pothole]

RDMcG said:

Of course.on a bike its immediate. Launch control is a planned thing so makes zero sense to me.Maybe I am missing something. When I tried it at a Porsche demo it felt very hard on the car and I had a 'so what?' feeling. Certainly impressive acceleration..but...so what?

I was just waving my own there!

[Debaser]

Pretty certain it's to help the press easily achieve claimed acceleration times.

[Oilchange]

It's mainly, I think, so that the manufacturer can quote a 0-60 time on their spec sheet..
It's all very 'Top Trumps' but we're mostly big kids at heart and the marketing machine sees it.

[Animal]

Debaser said:

Pretty certain it's to help the press easily achieve claimed acceleration times.

I suspect it's there so that owners can achieve claimed acceleration times! Would I use it? Sure, but not in my own car.

[kambites]

Oilchange said:

It's mainly, I think, so that the manufacturer can quote a 0-60 time on their spec sheet..

For whatever reason, many people seem to care about 0-60 times and launch control systems can significantly improve them.

[psi310398]

Selling cars to mugs who walk into a dealer to buy something else sober and sensible?

When I was trying my Panamera S out, the vendor used it from the lights on the King's Road .

I bought the car, and have never used the feature since...

Peter

[Willy Nilly]

Pothole said:

Just willy waving, surely?

[anonymous-user]

Fun

[spookly]

I have it on my car. Used it once somewhere quiet just to try it out. Never used it since.

[TonyG2003]

I have it on one of my cars too. Never used it. Car is damn quick enough off the mark without it. Maybe if I was at something like Bruntingthorpe I would give it go.

[SirSquidalot]

Only useful if you do sprint type events or drag racing. Other than that it's just a marketing gimmick.

[Ahbefive]

I used it on Santa Pod and it was fun. Wouldn't use it on the road but I have no problem with it being there for if I wanted it. Just another string to a cars bow.

[cobra kid]

Willy Nilly said:

Pothole said:

Just willy waving, surely?

Nicely done.