so, i'm to union grove dragstrip tonight. i have an automatic. how does the launch control work & what does it do?

 

It allows you to have one foot mashed on the brake, the other mashed on the gas pedal. Essentially, it is a built-in stall converter that holds the RPM's at around 3500. Unfortunatley, I find it useless with street tires. You can also turn the whole system off by holding down the button for about 10 seconds. You will need to do this if you ever DYNO the car.

 

thanks for the quik reply, but i've never heard of holding in the button for 10 seconds will turn off the system for dyno'ing.
has anyone out there heard of this or actually done it?

 

Same here. I've heard about (and tried) removing the "T/C" i.e. ABS fuses when doing a dyno run... it 'kinda worked but I could tell that there was more left in the car when I had it dynoed...

 

TCS = Traction Control... Uses the anti-lock braking system and engine power managment to keep the drive wheels from spinning on acceleration in low traction conditions.

ESC = Electronic Stability Control (Stabilitrak)... Uses the anti-lock braking system and engine power managment to help keep control of the moving vehicle in skid/loss of control situations

The T/C button on the dash board:

Normal operation: TCS on and ESC on.
Push once... TCS off, ESC on.
Push twice... Competitive mode
Push three times... Back to Normal Operation... TCS on, ESC on.
Push and hold for 5 to 10 seconds: TCS off and ESC off.

 

Union Grove, WI? You'll have to let me know how you did at the strip. I ran my Eldo there several years back and had a blast! I have always wanted to run my SS but haven't got there yet. I am about 50 miles north of there, so maybe sometime we could meet up and run there! It would be fun to have a GTG at the Grove with any other members here... Maybe next summer?

 

Here's a vid of a guy explaining the basic principle behind the Launch Control feature. This is done in an '08 Cobalt 5-speed but you'll get the general idea

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISPnUlcWOcU

 

I have run at Union Grove several times and it is really fun. The only problem is if its busy or a lot of people wreck you may only get in 2-3 passes in a night. If you get lucky and everyone stays off the walls and it is not to crowded you can get in 20-30 passes if you hot lap. I posted about open fun racing a few months back and nobody showed any interest. Lets try and get a little G2G for the spring scheduled.

andyb don't forget to post up your slips and times. It is a blast at the track. Good luck!


SPPD

 

well, my 1st run was a 15.7 at 89 mph. 60 ft time was 2.5.
2nd run was 15.5. no tire slip at all.
also, only 10 lbs of boost?
3 & 4 runs were bad as there was a lot of tire spin & i saw 15 lbs of boost.
i dropped the left tire to 22 psi, & got no tire slip & ran a best of 15.1 at 90mph & 60 ft dropped to 2.2
i was very happy on the way home - car is stock - auto trans
next year i will get the stage kit.

 

Thnk of what 23 pounds of boost will do. Stage 1 is the way to go.