Launch control, what a JOKE..

[Dennis Macho]

I tried it out for the first time yesterday. I was in Sport mode , traction control off. Left foot on brake , pedal to the floor. It swept to 2000 RPM then dropped to 1400 RPM after a split second. foot off the brake, It had worse turbo lag then if I stabbed it off of a Idle.. the delay was very noticeable. Am I missing something here ???? what did I do wrong. Yes I did have the feature of shutting off the motor at a stop off. GT1 AWD

 

[Never thought]

That doesn’t sound right at all. Was the gas pedal to the floor while you were holding down the break?

 

[eflyguy]

Did you just turn off ESC, or put in mode 2 per the instructions? Did you see the "Launch Control Ready" message before removing your foot from the brake?

 

[Randal]

Sounds like it was a driver error....

 

[Ucinn]

Nope, that's what it does. Launch control is very disappointing at least in the AWD version anyway. I think that's where we lose out to a RWD possibly?

 

[Kamauxx]

OP you did something wrong. If the RPMs dropped it's because one of the nannies were still activated.

Put the car in sport
Push the TC button
Hold the TC button for 3 seconds
Left foot on brake right on accelarator

When you hear a ding and see "launch control ready" dump the brake.

If you don't/didn't get the LC ready ding and icon you did it wrong.



(Unless it's an issue with AWD GTs)

 

[KLR STINGER]

Launch control on AWD is definitely not effective for maximum acceleration. The torque management intervenes big time and the spends a half second slowly rolling the car before torque comes on. I find better results with off idle launch with tip in then matting it. Gets away much cleaner. I'll try and get some data from the dragy on different launch techniques this weekend.

 

[Ucinn]

Mine didn't drop to 1400, but the AWD is a dog off the line.. they probably nannied the thing to protect the front drive components since there's a 100K warranty on them... It is disappointing from a dig to say the least. From a 20 roll it's still a rocketship.

 

[MerlintheMad]

"Off the line" is just show off stuff. The real performance is rolling along and then pushing the pedal to the floor. Heh! you don't even need to do that to get your eyeballs pressing back in their sockets and blood in your brain to the back of your skull. If you don't brace for it, the acceleration can make you dizzy. This is as Ucinn says, from c. 20 mph rolling start. I did this a little while ago: watched for the light (clear sailing ahead), pressed the accelerator and then went all the way: press, roll forward briskly, then DOWN: like a kick in the butt. Holy crap! I was scaling back from over 80 in what felt like no time at all. Very unscientific, I admit. But there is nothing JOKE about how this car accelerates when moving.

 

[Kamauxx]

"Off the line" is just show off stuff.

Lmao! Dude what are you even talking about?! I literally

 

[DaJackson]

I think that's where we lose out to a RWD possibly?

It’s due to the added weight and drivetrain loss of an AWD system. The only way to overcome that disadvantage is for the RWD to lose traction but the AWD have it.

 

[Kamauxx]

Mine didn't drop to 1400, but the AWD is a dog off the line.. they probably nannied the thing to protect the front drive components since there's a 100K warranty on them... It is disappointing from a dig to say the least. From a 20 roll it's still a rocketship.

I didn't consider the differences between RWD and AWD. Of course if OP can confirm if he heard the ding and saw LC ready icon we can know for certain what his situation is.

Speaking strictly of RWD when LC works it will leave you with the feeling of going downhill on a rollercoaster. I've posted before about how it makes me carsick whenever I use it a few times consecutively. My wife and kids love it though.

 

[eflyguy]

Both AWD, plenty more examples out there..

 

[MerlintheMad]

Lmao! Dude what are you even talking about?! I literally

I know, I laughed composing that. But it's true. Drag racing is just showing off. Some of God's children are not into showing off, ... much.

 

[Kamauxx]

I know, I laughed composing that. But it's true. Drag racing is just showing off. Some of God's children are not into showing off, ... much.

You're going to get struck by lightning.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I'm definitely not part of this crowd. I'll move off to one side to keep all you all safe.

 

[eflyguy]

My daughter and I can't wait to get this out to the strip!

 

[sym]

I'm just going to copy-paste what I said from another discussion on this

With or without launch control I've found the car shifting into second too early. If you ease into the throttle (still quickly, but not pedal to the floor quickly), you get a lot more out of first gear.

Or at least that's what I think is happening. I have the AWD version and I feel like it accelerates more quickly this way.

I've had it completely stumble after the brake is let loose during the launch sequence. It seems to take an eternity to start accelerating and it doesn't even feel like you're accelerating quickly.

There's a thread that discusses this on another section of the forum. It might have to do with the spark plugs, or the torque limiter, or the 'learning transmission'.

 

[Kamauxx]

I'm just going to copy-paste what I said from another discussion on this

What you describe sounds like the TC intervening not spark plug issues.

Maybe all of the AWD guys should open a claim with Kia. Of enough people complain they may issue a bulletin to fix whatever is causing the issues.

 

[daver913]

At the strip, will you have time to push the button for 3 seconds and initiate the launch control after you stage?

Can you pre-stage, push the T/C button, then creep up to stage without disabling the launch? Been a many years since I've raced at the strip, but this has me wondering...? I need to play around with this.