2017~2024 First automatic. Failure to launch well.

CX_MCHNE

CX_MCHNE

Thread Necromancer
:
CA
:
2019 GTR
Sadly, I never learned to drive an automatic. Any tips for being quick off the line w/ a GT-R?

What I've tried:
  1. Brake to a stop
  2. Switch to sport mode (tach just hangs there limp at 600-800)
  3. Switch on auto hold
  4. Hover my foot over the gas pedal
  5. When the light turns green, immediately fully depress the gas pedal
Seems to take a long time (1 to 2 seconds?) before any real power is engaged.
  • Should I try holding it at 2500 and dropping from neutral to drive?
  • Is there a trick, like turning off traction control, to tell the transmission I want to launch the thing?
  • Is there a way to use the manual gear selector stick for quick starts?
  • Should I pull the flappy little plastic parking break switch into the mix?
  • In my last turbo, holding revs up while stopped didn't seem to build much boost; should I be doing that?


I'm worried I'm going to burn up the clutch or break something if I just start trying stuff. Thanks for any advice!
 
CX_MCHNE said:
Sadly, I never learned to drive an automatic. Any tips for being quick off the line w/ a GT-R?

[*]Should I try holding it at 2500 and dropping from neutral to drive?
THIS >>
I'm worried I'm going to burn up the clutch or break something if I just start trying stuff. Thanks for any advice!
Click to expand...

My only advice is don't do that. Best way I know to fry your transmission. Don't ask me how my teen aged self found out.

Remember, they're called slush boxes with good reason.

Why do you need a faster launch? Are you drag racing?

This may be the first time I ever heard anyone say they never learned to drive an automatic!
 
I think what you want to do is brake boost. Basically you press the brake with one foot, apply throttle with the other to get it to 2000 or so RPM. Then let off the brake when you want to launch.
 
shadonoz said:
Why do you need a faster launch?
Click to expand...
Good question. I don't know. I can tell it comes from somewhere deep, but I have no idea why it's there. I wish it weren't.

sm1ke said:
I think what you want to do is brake boost. Basically you press the brake with one foot, apply throttle with the other to get it to 2000 or so RPM. Then let off the brake when you want to launch.
Click to expand...
dwill said:
You might want to disable the TCS too.
Click to expand...
Cool, thanks guys! Will give these a go.
 
CX_MCHNE said:
Good question. I don't know. I can tell it comes from somewhere deep, but I have no idea why it's there. I wish it weren't.
Click to expand...
Ah, a man after my own heart.

sm1ke said:
I think what you want to do is brake boost. Basically you press the brake with one foot, apply throttle with the other to get it to 2000 or so RPM. Then let off the brake when you want to launch.
Click to expand...

That's also known as torque braking. I wouldn't recommend that if you want your torque converter to last. Once in awhile may not hurt it, but too often surely will.

One thing I have noticed is that if you STOMP on it, you do not get the best jump. A more gradual application of the throttle that goes all the way to the floor [but no more than about a second] gets me moving better.
 
Is it a lease, or do you own it?
Here's how:
just kidding (naughty)
 
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It's a turbo car. It's also got a torque converter that is 100% about efficiency. I'm sorry to say, it's just going to be soft AF off the line.
 
shadonoz said:
That's also known as torque braking. I wouldn't recommend that if you want your torque converter to last.
Click to expand...
Unobtanium said:
It's a turbo car. It's also got a torque converter that is 100% about efficiency. I'm sorry to say, it's just going to be soft AF off the line.
Click to expand...

Awww, no secret giddy-up mode? I was promised zoom zoom. But I guess I wasn't really expecting to be able to drive it like a race car. Oh, parents of the world, why don't more of you appreciate the splendor of heel-toeing to the grocery store and back! Woe!

Thanks for the hard truth, guys. Guess my driving will be a little less obnoxious from here out.
 
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I literally clenched my teeth reading this entire thread.. At one point I think I clenched my chest.. I thought it was my heart giving out.

I .. I can hear the clunking of this transmission already.. that horrible clunk just as it gives out and screams out in a death rattle.
 
OP, Buy the product called Pedal Commander and report back to us lol. Hey they've got a money back guarantee.
 
Unobtanium said:
It's a turbo car. It's also got a torque converter that is 100% about efficiency. I'm sorry to say, it's just going to be soft AF off the line.
Click to expand...

This is true. That said, if you get better tires and the Pedal Commander or Sprint Booster, you won't have to brake boost/torque brake, and you'll get the feeling you're after.
 
sm1ke said:
This is true. That said, if you get better tires and the Pedal Commander or Sprint Booster, you won't have to brake boost/torque brake, and you'll get the feeling you're after.
Click to expand...

Nothing is going to build boost any faster. That said, I do think Mazda tuned a ton of torque management into this car.
 
Unobtanium said:
Nothing is going to build boost any faster. That said, I do think Mazda tuned a ton of torque management into this car.
Click to expand...

None of those things are meant to build boost faster. The Pedal Commander and Sprint Booster do the same thing, which is open the throttle body faster than the drive-by-wire system would usually allow. Rather than try to explain it, here's a couple of videos.



Skip to 4:44.


Skip to 7:20.
 
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CX_MCHNE said:
I was promised zoom zoom.
Click to expand...

Didn't you get the memo? Mazda is all about "Feel Alive" now. (rofl)

I'll say this. I was absolutely shocked at how bad the off the line acceleration was in the 2019 GT loaner I had a couple weeks ago. Given time it might have improved after learning my driving style. I don't know. My 2014 by comparison is pretty much instantaneous and in the off-the-line performance aspect, the feeling was night and day between the two cars for me.

Those were both NA 2.5L though. Can't speak for the turbo.
 
sm1ke said:
None of those things are meant to build boost faster. The Pedal Commander and Sprint Booster do the same thing, which is open the throttle body faster than the drive-by-wire system would usually allow. Rather than try to explain it, here's a couple of videos.
Click to expand...

Not build boost faster but rather trick your brain into thinking you're getting off the line faster yet 0-60 is the same. OP probably wants that.

OR

Orange Virus Tune.
 
CX-5um said:
Not build boost faster but rather trick your brain into thinking you're getting off the line faster yet 0-60 is the same. OP probably wants that.

OR

Orange Virus Tune.
Click to expand...

You didn't watch the videos, did you?
 
sm1ke said:
You didn't watch the videos, did you?
Click to expand...

It's just physics. You're dealing with a very low rpm/tight stall converter + a 4-cylinder turbo vehicle. Nothing is going to make it HIT off the line. This is why all of the 4-cylinder crossovers that are supposed to be super fun have a launch control system that allows them to bypass said constraints.

This is a Macan without launch control:

This is a Macan WITH launch control:
 
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