So I've never been one for burnouts and as such would not have a clue how to do one.. Now the other day we were discussing ideal launches for drag racing as I plan on taking my magna to the motor plex some time..

I decided to take advantage of having the space to practice warming my tyres up so I didn't look like an idiot at the drags, pulled up the handbrake, uped the revs, and dumped the clutch. All went well for a few seconds, I redlined and did a really fast shift into 2nd, where the clutch slipped like crazy.

I wasnt game enough to have another attempt at this after having recently spent 2k on the clutch and flywheel... What was I doing wrong?

For one, if your goal was to do a burnout, you should be starting in second, above the peak torque line (4500rpm or higher) and NOT shifting at all, as this will produce a sudden shock and stress, possibly breaking things.

If your handbrake was on, and you shifted - that's why it slipped.

Next up, what kind of clutch do you have, and how much power are you making?

Aah righto! Making 190kw, 420nm, upgraded to an Exedy 240mm HD clutch and 380 flywheel to keep up so it should have no issues at all as long as I'm doing everything right.

Peak torque is at about 3k

If you have room to practise:

Burnout - Start in second gear with the handbrake on, drop the clutch at approx 5000rpm, release handbrake after 2 seconds and allow the car to creep forward, when you lose momentum slowly back off and roll up to what would be the start line.

Launching - Launch at approx 3000rpm with enough clutch slip as to not bog down, or break traction (this takes a lot of practise)

Shifting - Extend your shift out of first by approx 500rpm (ie. if you usually shift at 6000, shift at 6500 out of first) - This will aid traction. Powershifting is not essential, however you must maintain throttle during your shifts, this means while you may not have to be at WOT while shifting, your throttle should still be open (be it 50%, 70%, 80%).

Tyre Pressures - Run at minimum half your normal tyre pressure while on the track, allowing sidewall flex will aid traction. On high-profile tyres as low as 15psi can be used, on low-profile I wouldn't go below 30psi. Try to get some wide 16s for the front while racing.

Nice info, I've been dabbling with tyre pressures a bit recently, I found a really high pressure like 46 psi for the back tyres and 32 up front seems to give pretty decent take off traction.

I've seen a lot of threads that mention WOT but I've for no idea what it means.

I'll give the 2nd gear thing a try next time I e got the opportunity to do so!

Nice info, I've been dabbling with tyre pressures a bit recently, I found a really high pressure like 46 psi for the back tyres and 32 up front seems to give pretty decent take off traction.

I've seen a lot of threads that mention WOT but I've for no idea what it means.

I'll give the 2nd gear thing a try next time I e got the opportunity to do so!


Wide Open Throttle.

WOT = Wide Open Throttle. Shifting with WOT is called powershifting (clutch in, gear up, clutch out - without throttle adjustment), it will jump the car forward on every shift, but if you shift too slowly you're going to hit the limiter. Historically this was much worse and dangerous when cars did not have rev limiters, but its a bit safer with modern cars.

And then if you're dean you will be on your fifth diff and twelfth set of driveshafts simply by powershifting

Ahem? Personally I've broken one diff (axle tramping not powershifting), and one CV (when my wheel bearing collapsed). So get back in your corner you little bitch.

Just pulled out of a side street to be greeted by clutch slip and insane clutch smell.... Wtffff this clutch has been in the car for like 2 months...

Is there anything that might cause slip? Pedal has free play, fluid is fine. Wouldn't surprise me if the moron that charged me 14 hours to fit it stuffed up.

something is wrong there my clutch has around 70,000kms on it and smokes up in 2nd all the time i have no issues at the drags bagging them up in 2nd providing there is enough water down

IMO: at the drags, do a tiny burnout to clean the tyres of water and debris, but anything else is overkill.
Unless of course you're running drag slicks - in that case, getting some heat into them would be a good thing.

Otherwise a burnout is just for show and if you need your clutch & tyres to last, then just weigh up the cost vs benefit to yourself :)


As for your slipping - it could be that the flywheel & clutch aren't happy friends any longer - your burnout may have glazed the surfaces and now they can't grip very well.
I'd suggest the next few thousand kms be gentle driving, avoiding all clutch slip. Hopefully the will wear through the glaze and things will improve.
I once ran a ceramic clutch in a car (like a brass-button clutch) unfortunately my mechanic (MRT) didn't know that the flywheel should be heat treated to withstand the ceramic.
The whole setup cost about $1500, lasted 5,000kms and cost over $2k to replace with standard items on a public holiday interstate.

Does the Magna manual gearbox have an adjustment on a cable ? In my case I was able to adjust the clutch to keep the car running for the last 1000kms of my trip before it failed completely.

Cheers! Oggy.

I'm fairly sure the clutch you're using is the same as the one used on the Legnum/Galant VR4 (6A13TT) so you should not have any problems there. I would suggest physically checking the clutch pedal adjustment to make sure it has freeplay. Sometimes these require adjustment soon after the clutch is first installed.

Response to Oggy: There is no cable, it uses a hydraulic setup with an adjustment of freeplay available on the pedal.

I've got about 10mm free play as per mits recommendation of 6-12mm. The glazing between the flywheel and he clutch would make sense.

If it does it again I'll be getting concerned, but I know if I take it to the mech who fitted it he will just give me 50 reasons why it isn't their fault, as they always do.