Launch Control
 

I know Porsches are renowned for on-track reliability, and generally being overbuilt. So doing a few Launch Control runs in our Turbo shouldn't be a big deal. And yet... it seems on its face to be a little abusive. So we've held to rolling-start 5-to-whatever fun runs in this area.

However, we bought Sport Chrono for several reasons. One of those was Launch Control. Just haven't had the balls to stomp the left and right pedals together yet.

Anyone care to post their thoughts on this? Are we wimpy? Who's done the deed and wants to share?

BONUS: Hardly new, but still one of our favorite Grand Tour bits: https://www.thesun.co.uk/video/motor...ated-on-a-car/

I've launched my turbo 5 or 6 times. I did wait til it had 1500 miles on it. But, I am not the least bit uncomfortable launching it. Never had any issues - and it makes for great fun with passengers (wife doesnt like it, but kiddos do..)

Don't over think it. Unlike some other manufactures, Porsche does not count how many times you use launch control. LC is fun but at least in my area it's hard to find a place to use it.

Just make sure the the engine is warmed up, then you're good to go. I did several launch's at PEC in a Macan Turbo with the performance package. The vehicle only had 220 miles on it when we started the session.

For what it is worth, I have a buddy with a 991 Turbo who has probably done over 100 launches and is still going strong.

The Porsches launch control is one of the best and easiest to use. I've done countless launches in my PTT and I haven't held back in the CTT. Have fun with it.

Awesome. Thanks for the advice, everybody. We'll do it this weekend! :burnout:

I was at the Porsche Track Experience in Birmingham early this year where part of the class was to launch a 911 TTS. That thing got launched probably 70 times over the course of the afternoon. I don’t remember the odo mileage but it was not very high.

I was back last week and tracked the same TTS and I doubt they replaced the transmission in the interim..

I was at a track day a few years ago and was sent there by a dealer invite. They had set up a track in the parking lot of the wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia where the Sixers and flyers play. They first let us drive the new at the time Boxers and Macans. All cars were dual clutch autos. After we tossed the cars around the instructors joined the two tracks that they had laid out and put us the customers in the cars for a few hot laps!!
Holly S----t is all i can say! They drifted the cars and used Launch control over and over again i couldn't believe the abuse these cars could endure! When finished I asked the instructors what maintenance they perform on the cars after and his reply nothing but new tires and maybe brakes if needed! This is nothing to these cars he told me they are made to withstand this and more! :bowdown:

I'll just leave this here. 5 years ago

Whoa. Hadn't seen that video. You just blew my mind. Thanks! :eek:

True story: Before we'd settled on S versus Turbo, our SA took us for separate hairy rides in a showroom 2018 911 Turbo. He included three or four Launch Control runs for each of us -- on a car with less than 50 miles on the odo. He told a story about how Porsche engineers did 100 consecutive Launch Controls on a 2016 911 Turbo, and drove the thing right back to the test center for disassembly and analysis. Nothing broken; no unexpected wear. The car just took it.

I left thinking he was a nice guy, but a guy who was also full of crap in his storytelling. Two years have passed, and as I learn more about these cars, the more I realize he was telling the truth. Amazing.

Conversely, I remember when the Nisssan GT-R came out and littered transmission and differential parts everywhere the first time people used its version of launch control -- even voiding the warranty.

Porsche truly has some amazing engineers.

How about that badass Stage 3 Audi of yours? Do you use Audi's launch control system at the track? I think I asked before, and I seem to remember you telling me the car takes those launches like it was nothing.

The S6/7 uses a dual-clutch DL501 trans, whereas the A6/7 and RS6/7 use a single clutch ZF (like the Cayenne), no idea why Audi did this. So launch control in my car is a different experience than your typical sedan in that it holds revs at 5k RPM and effectively dumps the clutches (real launch control). The DL501 is certainly overbuilt for its manufacturer claim of 450 ft/lb..I'm running 750+ ft/lbs through it all day with zero slip. Point being, using launch control at stage 3 levels just absolutely lights up the tires. Imagine dumping 750+ ft/lbs on the clutches all at once.

So I launch my car more like a single clutch ZF trans where I load the launch without activating LC. If LC is activated, the car will stay stationary and load revs up to 5k before releasing the brake (car will not surge forward as revs build). Using the loaded launch method, the car wants to push forward when loading the revs as the clutches are not disengaged. So left foot on the brake, right foot easing slowly into the gas, release brake around 2.5k rpm and floor the gas. Dragy documented 0-60 in 2.7x with a passenger, and a 1.57 60' at the track using this method. No point in putting the drivetrain through hell if the car is capable of those numbers without LC. But yes, the car will take that style of launch all damn day.

The ZF in the Cayenne is insanely strong. In addition to it's strength, it uses a loaded launch method rather than a true launch control, free-revving method, which will allow for amazing longevity and limited wear on the drivetrain. Translation, launch the **** out of your car, as much as you'd like, and it'll be absolutely fine. It's a Porsche

PTS, you're exactly right about the loaded Launch Control versus unloaded in dual clutch-type cars. Didn't realize that until...

I took our Turbo out to a quiet place not far from our home and let 'er rip late this week after a visit to the dentist. Sort of a reward for being a good boy -- no gold star or sucker for an old guy, so let's pound the hell out of a $150K Porsche.

Sport Chrono to Sport Plus; left foot moderately hard on brake; right foot to the floor; revs to 2500ish; car heels back like a cat ready to pounce; activation message on rightmost dash display about a second later; remove foot from go-pedal and bam! It's like being shot out of a cannon, but with no drama. Just a rush of sound and acceleration in a perfectly straight line for as long as you care to keep your license.

Grinned and laughed like a 16-year-old boy on his first drive alone. Stopped. Did it again. Then again. Then AGAIN. I'm hooked on Porsche crack!

Runs were to 80 to 100 mph, then a massive clamp on the PCCBs, which registered zero fade. Pedal stayed high and rock-hard, also like a 16-year-old... never mind.

Launched that SOB seven times in a row. It felt like it could've done 70, or 700. You guys are exactly right about Porsche engineering and quality when it comes to the mechanical bits. I've never owned a car that felt so built. It's a damned brick house!

Will the electronic gremlins and other knick-knacks bring down our opinion of the car over time? Maybe. Who knows. But I don't doubt for a second how overbuilt the Cayenne is mechanically.

What I do doubt are Porsche factory horsepower / torque numbers for the Turbo. Based on piggy 2.5-ton weight, barn-door aerodynamics, acceleration, published quarter-mile times / trap speed, various online calculators, and just my SOTP, the 4.0L TT is probably right at 600 horsepower at the flywheel. I'd love to see a side-by-side with the Urus -- slower no doubt, but by marginal numbers.

Thanks again, folks. Next week we're out to the same spot to show the wife. She's chomping at the bit. :evilgrin:

Awesome! it really is good, clean, safe fun. The car is super stable and controlled under launch.

Both the wife and I went to PEC LA for a 1.5 hour performance driving lesson in the 911 GTS a year ago. Did the launch control a few times. After a few I started to feel disoriented, as it hits hard. Met her after our sessions and she said " I think I need to use the bathroom... and maybe throw up"
I could never be a race car driver.

This is hilarious! PEC LA is awesome!

Very cool.

Now, go order some new tires. lol