Should a performance car wheelspin?

[thinfourth2]

Okay should a performance car spin its wheels if you give it full throttle from idle in first gear going in a straight line on dry tarmac?

I say No

My caterham won't spin its wheels on dry tarmac in a straight line unless you dump the clutch where as my old ford solcus will due to FWD, crap tyres and lack of trick diff.

[ShadownINja]

"Should"? Doesn't that depend on the choice of tyres and torque available?

[halo34]

Dont get the question sorry...

Too many variables to answer it properly.

If the question was do you want wheel spin when driving a fast car, my answer would be only when I want it and I would prefer traction over spin if trying to get away fast.

However a proper performance car with ooodles of power is always likely to overcome its traction - be it tyres or systems.

[Defcon5]

You should be able to, but it shouldnt do it regardless of input

[thinfourth2]

ShadownINja said:

"Should"? Doesn't that depend on the choice of tyres and torque available?

Which is the point of the question

[halo34]

thinfourth2 said:

ShadownINja said:

"Should"? Doesn't that depend on the choice of tyres and torque available?

Which is the point of the question

If I had a performance car and I didnt get a little spin I would feel cheated to be honest, the point of having something powerful to me is having to drive the damn thing properly.

[thinfourth2]

doogz said:

thinfourth2 said:

Okay should a performance car spin its wheels if you give it full throttle from idle in first gear going in a straight line on dry tarmac?

I say No

My caterham won't spin its wheels on dry tarmac in a straight line unless you dump the clutch where as my old ford solcus will due to FWD, crap tyres and lack of trick diff.

You've just said 'No, it shouldn't' then went on to tell us your Caterham does?

I think you'll find most performance cars, with manual boxes anyway, will spin their wheels if you give it full throttle in first. It just depends on how you control the clutch.

if i am trickling along in first with my foot off the clutch and i boot it then it won't spin its wheels

If i rev the engine and then dump the clutch it will wheel spin

Almost any car will wheelspin in you rev it and dump the clutch

[Whitean3]

I guess I'm not trying hard enough, or value my clutch too much, but I've not managed to spin the wheels from a standing start in wet or dry (snow doesn't count!). But maybe that's because I have a 4wd 911 with mahoosive tyres and amazing traction

[thinfourth2]

doogz said:

[quote=thinfourth2
Almost any car will wheelspin in you rev it and dump the clutch

Sooo, haven't you just answered your question?

Not if you understand the question as i am talking about on the throttle not being a hooligan

[halo34]

I must be thick because I just dont get this and its giving me a headache now.

A powerful car - take one Monaro - start moving then floor it you are going to spin the wheels, some people will want that some wont.

To get a performance car with NO spin at all is going to take some serious tyres, serious traction control and all sorts of gubbins to keep it sensible. The result would be rather boring I suspect for me, but some others like the 911 indicated above it makes an amazing driving experience.

Its down the preference.

Edited by halo34 on Thursday 28th October 11:25

[anonymous-user]

doogz said:

It just depends on how you control the clutch.

You can spin the wheels of ANYTHING by dropping the clutch. Surely the OP means gear selected, clutch FULLY UP then FLOOR it?

[otolith]

More traction is good. More power is good. For any given level of traction, being able to spin the wheels is good. For any given level of power, being able to spin the wheels is bad.

Opportunities to increase traction are limited. Opportunities to increase power are much less limited.

[halo34]

Dave_ST220 said:

doogz said:

It just depends on how you control the clutch.

You can spin the wheels of ANYTHING by dropping the clutch. Surely the OP means gear selected, clutch FULLY UP then FLOOR it?

In which case its back to preference - do you want to feel the pooowaaah or take off in a controlled fashion, answer is most likely both depending on how I feel that day as a driver.

[ShadownINja]

thinfourth2 said:

ShadownINja said:

"Should"? Doesn't that depend on the choice of tyres and torque available?

Which is the point of the question

But "should" could mean it's something it must do. Can it? Well, that depends on how much you give it. Even F1 cars wheelspin if they don't use TC/launch control.

Edit: ah ha... proper performance cars should wheelspin as there should be too much power and thus controlling the spin is a matter of skill... which is what I loved about my old TVR.

Edited by ShadownINja on Thursday 28th October 11:27

[kambites]

I don't think it really matters, to be honest.

[MrPickle]

When launching from a standing start in any car, I was always led to believe that a little bit of wheel spin was good as it takes some of the torque stress away from the gearbox,driveshafts etc.

Anyway.. Wheelspins are big and clever. Even my 8 year old knows that