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Dig and drag strip launches...

VeeDubBoss420

New member
Location
Rochester NY
So I took my 15 GTI 6MT to the strip a few days ago for the first time since I've owned it. Roughly °60f at the track, and the strip was well warmed up by the time we had arrived. Mods include: Neuspeed discharge pipe with turbo muffler delete, CTS throttle pipe, CTS Inlet Elbow, Golf R IC, and DV+ with 225/40R18 BFG Sport Comp II's. Running 93 pump gas.

With that said, my question is this: do you guys have any tips for launching these cars without inducing wheel hop and not allowing the ecu to limit torque through 1st and 2nd?

I couldn't for the life of me get a decent jump off the line. If I went higher RPM (3k+) it would hop hard, and when it hooked going into 2nd I could feel the torque being held back a bit. If I went lower RPM (~2k, highest 'low' attempt was 2500ish) it would instantly bog down, and then brake loose around 3-3.5 when boost hit, but 2nd pulled much harder. Shift point was the same, roughly 5.25. Esc was turned off (button pressed and held).

My times were 15.66, 15.33, 15.14, 15.11, and 14.97 with 60ft times of 2.96, 2.68, 2.66, 2.52, and 2.41 respectively. These are not in chronological order, but the fastest and slowest runs we're about 50 minutes apart.

So... Any of you dragsters have any hints or tips for me? I'd like to get as close to 14.5 as I can with my set-up, and I know it's capable of it. I'm still on a stock clutch, but hoping to upgrade next spring.
 

MeltedSolid

Autocross Newbie
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'15 Golf, e36 328i
Sounds like you're having problems with the GTI's notoriously over intrusive traction control and torque limiter. Are you seeing the traction control light flash even though you have traction control all the way off? Even if you aren't you should find someone with vagcom or buy an OBDEleven and disable "starting vibration reduction" and fully defeat the traction control. I can't remember where the threads about them are, but if you google it you should find them. Aside from that, it sounds like the track wasn't prepped very well if you were spinning in 1st. With an untuned GTI on a well prepped track you should be able to use full throttle in 1st without breaking the tires loose, but only just.
 

RacingManiac

Drag Race Newbie
Location
MI
I had to learn to slip the clutch a bit on this car to get the TC not cut power and induce worse wheelhop. I used to run Hondas in ProSolo(autoX with a drag racing start) and they just need to give lots of rev and side step the clutch, this car doesn't like that....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOVflMWdcOc

This is stock mounts, stock power, stock suspenion on 200TW tires. Normally it runs about 2.3-2.4s 60ft on good ProSolo launches(70f, non-prepped surface)
 

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
At the track I remove the green 40 amp fuse from the fuse box under the hood. Our TC works off the Abs sensors, so with the Abs disabled there's zero interruption.

Disclaimer: the airbag light will also come on with this fuse out, so I suggest waiting till you're at the track to pull it, then replace before driving home. All faults clear after the fuse is replaced and you drive about 50ft
 

Trancebolt

Ready to race!
Location
California
mine has 2 stage traction in a gti. it may make more difference in an R to do it, but pressing and holding are different Indeed.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 

ECS Tuning

Go Kart Champion
Location
Wadsworth, OH
Vee Dub;

Saw your post and the stock mounts are good to hold your motor/trans in place but they do nothing for traction.
ECS Tuning offers a complete kit just for your car. This will eliminate your hop and your times will drop big time ( Lower ET ).
Here is the link to the kit that ECS Tuning sells: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-parts/ecs-performance-drivetrain-mount-kit/016372ecs0102kt/?utm_source=golfmk7&utm_medium=forum&utm_campaign=chuck_10_31_2017

This will harness the maximum engine control, we've paired our ECS Pendulum Mount with our 70A Durometer ECS Performance Engine and Transmission Mounts. Factory engine and transmission mounts were designed to facilitate comfort with little focus on performance. When combined with commonly worn bushings, this makes replacing, while upgrading your mounts an absolute must when making more power! Two vertically captured 70A Durometer Polyurethane Bushings, encapsulated between three 6061-T6 Billet Machined Aluminum bodies, help to keep the driveline locked in place.

Hope this helps

Chuck
 

OBP

Go Kart Newbie
Location
ChiRaq
What were your trap speeds? Really curious as to how the bolt-ons helped/hurt wth the stock tune.

I took the wife's GTi last week to get a baseline. Her car is stock tuned, the airbox mod, and the starting vibration changed.

Traps were high 97mph to mid 98 mph. All ETs were 14.7x to 14.9x sec. Best 60' time was 2.4x, with most being in the high 2.5x range.

Traction was terrible despite the amount of VHT applied by the starting box. (Temps were 45°). The moment the car passed the tree, the tires would light up, so I had to peddle first for every run. When it shifted into 2nd, the tires would break traction a second time. The conditions were definitely not wrong-wheel-drive friendly. I think the car had 99 mph traps in her if I didn't have to peddle all through first.
 
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