Maybe its just me, but I can't seem to get any wheelspin on my A4. I'm turning the traction control off (I've done that and went into competitive driving mode), and punch it, and it just seems sluggish as hell off the line, then it picks up and goes (not very impressive at all). I've got the 3.something GM "performance" rear end, and I've even tried putting it into first, and I have the same problem (I usually leave it in 3rd).

Any ideas? Is there something I need to do with the brakes to light 'em up? Let me know what works for you so I can look :cool: smokin my brand new yokos!!! :cheers:

:seeya Jeff

 

The performance gear would be the 3.15's. I assume you just want to do a street burnout? TC off, Hold the brakes on semi-firm, punch it and you should get imediate spin...let off the brakes and fly. AH may affect it, since I don't have AH I'm not sure.

A few mods and all you gotta do is punch it! Tire spin is to easy and a problem with the mods.

 

Jeff.....with the 3.15 gears you shouldn't have any problems. Try this: turn T/C off, put your left foot on the brake and gradually apply pressure to the gas pedal to bring the RPM's up ( you should feel the rear tires starting to breaking loose). At this point you should now see smoke coming off the rear tires. When you think you have enough smoke............take your foot off the brake and you should take off like a bat out a Hell!

 

Thanks, I'll try out both of those methods on my lunch hour and let you know how it goes... this should be fun :D

:seeya Jeff

 

You didn't mention what year your C5 is. Model years late 98 through 2000 had the Generation 1 Active Handling. If you have Generation 1 Active Handling, you cannot powerbrake, even with Traction Control turned off. The engine will just continue downpowering, the further you depress the accelerator, while still stepping on the brake. You must turn off both Traction Control AND Active Handling in order to powerbrake a Generation 1 Active Handling car. By the way...Active Handling was an option on late 1998 to 2000 Corvetees. A car in this age range may or may not have the Active Handling feature.
2001 and 2002 C5's come with Generation 2 Active Handling as standard equipment. With Generation 2, you can powerbrake after turning off Traction Control and leaving Active Handling engaged. Actually, a better system as it continues to help you out if you get into trouble roaring away.:)
By the way, my 2000 A4 C5 really spins off the line (fries 'em...not chirps 'em) without powerbraking. The tires still look like new so it's not because of lack of tread. I don't do it very often, but it sure is fun when I do.:D When my car was new, it wouldn't do that. I had the same issue spinning the tires as you do. Now, with 13K miles on it, it's like a different car. My mods are minimal: Blackwing, WCC Powerduct and coupler, X-pipe and A&A exhaust mod. Maybe working in concert with a broken-in engine...anyway, it sure goes like he!! compared to when it was brand new.
Ed


[Modified by C5XTASY, 10:38 AM 12/14/2001]

 

Mine is a '99 with AH, and it only has one button to control both Traction control and Active Handling (DIC reads 'AH/TC - ON' and 'AH/TC - OFF') I have just over 55k miles on her (the vette is my daily driver), so I'm thinking maybe I need to change spark plugs or something to that extent... its probably time to take her to the shop :(

A frind of mine too me for a ride in his '94 notsoslowmaro (383 LT1 stroker), and when he punched it in 1st the tires just lit up, no powerbraking at all... but then again, he's got quite a bit more power than my stock 'vette.. maybe its time to get that 396... (donations? :D )

:seeya Jeff

 

If you hold the button down for about 5 seconds (you must be stopped, on a Generation 1 car, when the five seconds time out) Competitive Driving will come up on yout DIC. That indicates Traction Control is off, but Active Handling is still watching over you.:) Just pushing the button and releasing immediately, will disengage both Traction Control and Active Handling.
Ed

 

Put the back wheels in water. I could never do a good burnout, thats the reason I installed a line lock. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=158220




[Modified by wallstAL, 9:20 AM 12/14/2001]

 

Sounds like you should get yourself a super yank 3500 torque converter. I bet you would get lots of smokin wheels then! At least that is what I have heard from others. :yesnod:

 

Must be having fun on his lunch hour :lol:

 

C5XTASY: I usually stay Competitive Driving mode unless it's raining, but it still lags when I get on it - but not the same kind of lag when the traction control backs off the throttle. Its almost like it doesn't have any "punch" when I jump on it... but thanks for the tip :yesnod:

wallstAL: A line lock might be in my future pretty soon - I'm sure that will save my rear brakes from all that power breaking! Thanks :cheers:

SR1654: hmm, I haven't even thought about that... I'll have to do some reading and see if I can squeeze that in my 2002 budget! Thanks! :cheers:

Mag Red Monster: Yup, your technique works! :cheers: Although at first I was putting a little too much pressure on the brakes and the motor grumbled a bit, but after a few trys I got em smokin :yesnod: I'll probably stick on a line lock until I can get some serious power, that way I can smoke em every time! :cool: All I worry about with this is burning up the rear brakes... have you had any problems with that? Thanks again for the tip! :cheers:

 

:cheers:

 

You should have no problems with the back brakes as you only have to brake for a moment to get them spinning. We have been a IHRA/NHRA raceing family for some time & power brake a number of cars.

BTW, what plugs do you have? TR55's helped mine over the stock platinums w/a few puks missing.

Magred: You can lightém up w/out powerbrakeing can't you? :D Smok'em!

 

hmm, whatever plugs the General puts in em is what I got.. I'm pretty sure they need to be changed, so I think I'll take that on over the weekend. Might change the wires while I'm at it

I tried your burnout technique but I couldn't get the timing down - all I did was lurch forward or get off the brakes too early. I'm going to go practice tonight, but do you have any more pointers? What RPM should I get off the brakes, or how long should I wait to get off em after I punch it?

Thanks,

:seeya Jeff

 

You DEFINATLY need the plugs! Look closely at the ones that are removed...on the bottom electrode are tiny puc's I bet you have a few missing causeing low RPM power loss & missfires throughout the rpm range.

I hold the brakes on medium to hard pressure, bring the gas up till they spin, and then floor it & let off brakes at the same time. It sounds like you have learned the proper drag strip launch though with what your saying! It gives you a better ET.

Good Luck! :cheers:

 

Looks like you got the hang of it!
After almost 2 years of this:

No brake issues........Burn on brother!

 

It's mod time :smash:

 

I've read that the Super Yank seems to be better for the guys with 3.42's and the Yank C-5 Super Street 3200 Converter is better for the guys with 3.15's. The Super Street 3200 has a 2.1 STR and the Super Yank 3500 has a 1.65 STR which, my from understanding, makes the SY3500 compliment the 3.42's nicely. That lower STR on the SY3500 may not compliment the 3.15's as nicely since there won't be as much torque multipcation right when taking off.

There's also the Yank C-5 3000 that has a STR of 2.0 which helps give more out of the hole grunt. Not as much as the SS3200 but more than the SY3500. My understanding is those higher STR's make it so the torque gets multiplied more at stall so hence you'll get more torque going to the wheels and get them to lite up easier. If I am correct the 2.0 STR (stall torque ratio) means that at stall if there is 100 lbs of torque coming out of the motor that 200 lbs of torque will be going into the tranny input shaft.

I'm by no means a torque converter expert. Just relaying on my understanding and hoping that if I am incorrect somebody will correct me. Hopefully in the near future here I'll be speaking from experience in this area and will be better able to relay on information about it. Got the 6 speed in my T/A now so I get to deal with a clutch rather than a torque converter. I have ridden in a car with a (Camaro) with what I think was a ST3300 (2.5 STR) and even with the 2.73's in back in was impressive how much pull that conveter added!

Hope this info helps!

Ted

 

Oh and Jeff. One quick tip for you.

When you are standing on the brakes doing a burnout with an auto trannied car you might want to pull the shifter down into 1.

If you leave it in 3rd once you hit the top of first it will shift into 2nd and so on and so forth. It depends if you want it to shift into 2nd or not. Thought I'd point this out.

I don't know, will the C5's with 3.15's pull 2nd gear in a burnout? I haven't done one in a C5 so I wouldn't know. I think it would but that's only a guess.

Ted