Took my '06 STi to Commerce. A booooo 13.6 at 98mph. Stag1 catless mid pipe and light pulley. The reason I ran so slow was my launch. What happend? Everytime I launch, the car doesnt grip and wheel hops (i think ) It felt like the car was bouncing. It was awful ! Nothing broke though. On my old EVO I would launch at 5,500rpm and it went !!!!!!! pulling a 13.0 back in 2004. Wats wrong with the launch on the STi. I need pointers bad..... 1st Launch was at 4,500rpm BOTH RUNS DCCD-MANUAL 2nd Launch was at 5,500rpm My wife ran a 13.9 on a STOCK Mustang GT. And she can run side by side with me on 3rd-4th gear pulls. I am very disapointed on the STi right now. I know its not made for 1/4 miles, but neither is the EVO and that beast launched awsome.... :wtc: HELP with ideas please.
In order to get a GOOD launch... you have to slip the clutch. The clutch is the weakest link in the drivetrain since all four contact patches stick. EVOs are different, because they are a little more front wheel biased, so they can spin a little.
Thanks for the input. I will try slipping the clutch a little bit next time. But 3rd-4th gear pulls with wife's '07 Mustang GT with just intake charger disapointed me being side by side on my STi. If my STi was bone stock she would have killed me, or if we put 3:73 gears on her's, she would walk me.
Yeah like other said...dumping is bad. I'm not surprised about the mustang GT in the top end, they have more power to the wheels. But if you get your launch down they won't stand a chance in the 1/4.
Yeah but I was under the impression that the evo didn't really either. And I think "If my STi was bone stock she would have killed me" is a little of an overstatement.
well i heard commerce is a slow track (slicker than snot)..i've never been. i have an 05' STi w/ tbe and ecutek. personally, i dumped the clutch at around 5k, and it chirped then grabbed quick on the silverdollar track down in Reynolds, Ga. My best was a 13.0xx. This was all in Auto DCCD..I never used manual. This sounds like it was your first time running? If so, you'll get better as you go. Get engine mang't too eventually.
Thanks for your input. The EVO's were running high 12's. There was one STi running 12's, but most other STi's were in the mid 13's. Man....I came from an EVO to the STI. I like both, but the EVO's are better for launching it seems to me.
give it time man. when i first got my SRT-4 back in 03', i was frustrated on how it launched but with a lil help of motor mounts, and getting used to the car, it got better. you'll learn the STi, like how you had to with your EVO.
We probably have about 300 launches or so on our stock STi, and found that the best way to get it off the line is to flutter the clutch just below redline, and dump it. With the fluttering, it will build a little bit of boost. This is with r-compounds, so if you are on street tires, you might be able to dump it lower. Just make sure that you get all 4 wheels to spin to reduce wear on the clutch/stress on the drivetrain. When we started launching it, we were launching it lower, with worse results, but I talked to a national champ autocrosser, who told us this method, which lets him get pretty consistent 1.6-1.7 60ft times from his stock sti on r-comps. -- Brian
There's a couple people on IWSTI saying to lower your tire pressures to around 24 or so to help with the launch. To me this would give you better traction and be a bad thing.. Don't you want wheel spin? Any thoughts on this???
Better traction is a good thing, you just have to dump the clutch at a high enough rpm to break all four wheels free on the launch, and then it will hook up and go. -- Brian
yeah but with awd it can be a bad thing. If you don't have enough power break all 4 wheels loose enough to take some of the force of clutch dumpage then your tranny is getting a lot of strain. This is probably not an issue with an STi because the power is there.
That and the 6MT is INVINCIBLE. It wont break. Lower the tires to 24, and go at it again. Also, remember that the EVO is a 5MT (unless you had an MR)...a 5MT would be faster than a 6 in the 1/4 due to less shifting. A 4EAT is even faster.
You guys are a great help. THANKS for the input. I tried launching again and it feels like the rear wheels are hoping along with some clunck, clunck sound from the rear. what is this? It doesnt sound good. Man, I'm so disapointed. I almost want to trade my car. I enjoy going to Commerce all the time, but with my car launching like this, it really sucks and I dont want to go back to the track. I know the wrx's and sti's are autocross cars and not drag cars, but man, the EVO's were hitting 12's with no problems. There were STi's w/Stage 2 running mid 13's, thats slower than magazine specs on stock STi's. I ran 13.9 (Stock spec.) on wife's Mustang GT(stock). Now thats a good feeling. At least I did what mags. are saying it will do. Shall I trade for a Mustang ? hnoes: I am so torn guys ! Nitro...Nice meeting you too !
I mean if you want a car that's better in the 1/4, yeah maybe you should trade it in for something else. I think it's kind of ridiculous though that you are completely giving up on the STi just because it takes a different technique than the evo that your used to. You can launch a subaru, it just takes practice.
Edited Haha, misinterpretted which part I was right about. Hope you enjoy the new ride! For the 1/4 I'm sure you will.
last year, my STi was stock (besides a catback) and i ran a 13.4 (IIRC) at commerce... i had a decent launch but had one bad shift... could have got it down a little more if i got more than 2 runs in... a lot of factors change from time to time... i mean u could have had a bad tank of gas and the ECU pulled back the timing advance multiplier which it hasn't recovered from yet