E46 Fanatics Forum banner

What is the best way to lauch the car with steptronic?

3K views 29 replies 20 participants last post by  ll87 
#1 ·
I tried a few different ways, but it seem very slow compare to my 98 Accord V6. It seem pretty quick in 2 and 3 gear on the freeway though. Any suggestion?
 
#2 ·
Launching 330i step

- Press and hold the DSC button till the traction is off 100% (you see that little traction light and yellow 'BRAKE' light

- Press the break and launch at 2K rpm and enjoy the show :thumbup:

Offcourse you can lauch at higher rpm, but there will be too much wheel spin.

AzHiRoller said:
I tried a few different ways, but it seem very slow compare to my 98 Accord V6. It seem pretty quick in 2 and 3 gear on the freeway though. Any suggestion?
 
#3 ·
AzHiRoller said:
I tried a few different ways, but it seem very slow compare to my 98 Accord V6. It seem pretty quick in 2 and 3 gear on the freeway though. Any suggestion?
You're accord has more power and is a V6 vs a straight 6.. different feel... also, gearing is different.... also.. the accord is lighter i believe..

as for launching a step.. the best way is to just put it in D and press the gas as quickly as possible to the floor, without actually flooring it.. confusing huh?

brake torque launching is bad.. don't do it... you'll burn out yoru torque converter and then your 325 will feel slower than a toyota echo.... if you really want to launch an auto.. you can get an auto tranny designed for drag racing.. guy i know had one in his turbo T/A.. it just has a delay and doesnt engage until a certain rpm..
 
#6 ·
Iniquity said:
You're accord has more power and is a V6 vs a straight 6.. different feel... also, gearing is different.... also.. the accord is lighter i believe..

as for launching a step.. the best way is to just put it in D and press the gas as quickly as possible to the floor, without actually flooring it.. confusing huh?

brake torque launching is bad.. don't do it... you'll burn out yoru torque converter and then your 325 will feel slower than a toyota echo.... if you really want to launch an auto.. you can get an auto tranny designed for drag racing.. guy i know had one in his turbo T/A.. it just has a delay and doesnt engage until a certain rpm..
The Accord is actually a few hundreds lb. heavier. I still can't believe that the steptronic is useless for lauching. As for lauching with D, it has a pretty good jump for me. But I can't get it pull faster than the Accord. Damn, I should of gotted the 330CI.
 
#7 ·
eee4666 said:
^^^im still confused by this? are you talkiing about flooring it, but dont click the stepdown? can you explain a little more? :hmm:
Ok lets say your at a complete stop; you pop it into step and your in 1st gear...Soon as you decide to take off let go of the brake and push the pedal down quickly to the floor but dont jam on it. Do this and shift @ as high an RPM as step will let you go, I dunno if you can redline in steptronic. You should launch pretty good if you do it correctly. :thumbup: You should experiment and see for yourself the best way to launch. Its more feeling than thinking.
 
#8 ·
i use the steptronic in my 325i , I can't figure out what's better, sometimes ill use the shifter and go from 1st into 2nd, but sometimes when im in auto, Ill floor it in 2nd, and it will shift into 1st, pick up really fast, then hit 2nd. I think the latter is actually faster, shifting back to first after nudging forward in 2nd. Not sure though, how does DSC apply?
 
#9 ·
1. DSC OFF (hold dsc for 5-10 seconds until the brake light is orange)
2. Place car into either Sports Mode or Manual Mode.
3. Place foot on brake, just enough so the car isn't rolling
4. Quickly slam your foot down on the accelerator while releasing the brake at the same time, make sure you are depressing the gas pedal to the kick-down point
5. Don't bother shifting if in M-Mode, it will shift at the latest possible time for you
6. Enjoy
 
#11 ·
Cecil328i said:
its virtually useless to shift the automatic from 1st to 2nd. most of the times you will hit it too late and you will doubleshift it into 3rd.
Yeah that was my problem at first so i stuck from launching in 2nd, but if you manage to hit at the right time you'll notice a little more juice, or I just like hearing my engine redline... :dunno:
 
#12 ·
AzHiRoller said:
The Accord is actually a few hundreds lb. heavier. I still can't believe that the steptronic is useless for lauching. As for lauching with D, it has a pretty good jump for me. But I can't get it pull faster than the Accord. Damn, I should of gotted the 330CI.
It's not that the step is useless, it's just that letting the ecu do the shifting for you is better.. it'll do it more precisely.. you can use the step.. but if you time your self doing 0-60 launches using both the step and auto modes.. i'm pretty sure you'll always be slower.. you can also get tranny software which makes the shifting more aggressive..

anyway, an auto is never good for launching.. good for rush hour traffic and weekend cruises.. steps are also pretty good for autox too... i've seen guys with autos/steps score damn good times.. better than me.. but that's not saying much..
 
#13 ·
So, there are two votes to not floor it past kick-down, and one vote for using kick-down. Some actually say starting out in 2nd is better. Seems everyone agrees to not do torque-braking. And I think one method was to not do the pedal-to-the-metal, but gradually depress the accelerator.

What is the logic in NOT just doing the pedal-to-the-metal past the kick-down point :dunno: That's what I do and would really want to know why other methods would be better. Starting out in 2nd and letting it down-shift to 1st seems like it would take way too long.
 
#17 ·
AzHiRoller said:
I tried a few different ways, but it seem very slow compare to my 98 Accord V6. It seem pretty quick in 2 and 3 gear on the freeway though. Any suggestion?
The 2.5L automatic is a “leisurely” car; there is no other way to put it. You can try some break torque this, DSC that, and etc. But you aren't going to feel that nice launch you would get from a manual, or a 3.0L automatic.

Your best bet to improve your launch to the point that would satisfy you (98’ Accord V6 level) is to have your computer retuned for a more aggressive shift characteristic or even better, regear your final drive. Unfortunately you will have to pay more at the pump if you do that.
 
#18 ·
I tried something different recently

What is the logic in NOT just doing the pedal-to-the-metal past the kick-down point :dunno: That's what I do and would really want to know why other methods would be better. Starting out in 2nd and letting it down-shift to 1st seems like it would take way too long.[/QUOTE]

Ok I was going to start a thread like this but decided I would search first. I haven't spent alot of time trying to figure it out yet but there is a local track around here that I might give it a shot at. If you have noticed when driving in Step your car will sometimes shift for you if your rpm's are too high or if your rpm's are too low, I use it to go down steep grades and to climb, and found it shifted from 2nd to 3rd at max rpm (stock software). Anyway.... I tried this recently, I turned off my DSC like they mentioned, put it in step mode from dead stop, (made sure the step was in 1st too because it will let you start in 2nd). Mashed the gas while releasing the brake and wouldn't ya know it the thing took off and shifted at max RPM (yes while in step) through each gear. I ran out of room where I was about half way through 3rd but it pulled excellent and shifted so smooth too. If you try it I would love to hear how it goes. :thumbup:
 
#19 ·
why would you be launching in an step anyway? if you wanted to launch and race you should have bought a manual. :dunno:
 
#20 ·
neo_328ci said:
why would you be launching in an step anyway? if you wanted to launch and race you should have bought a manual. :dunno:

Actually, automatics can be great for the drag strip. I would challenge most people to be their automatic counter parts in sports cars. BMWs seem to be the exception, the automatics shift quite slowly (at least the 330i does).

Launching - Torque braking will give you the best results. No, it's not good for the car, but I dont think you will be doing it very often. Keep it in D, slam the accelerator and hold it down. You dont really need to worry about tire spin in a 330, and a little is actually good to get the rpms up. And step is basically useless for launching, more for cornering.
 
#21 ·
I don't really race but it is nice to see what it can do up against other cars. When it comes to racing yes Manual is the way to go but for the most part the majority of manual drivers on the street can't shift very well when it comes to racing they either shift too fast, too slow, or mess up with the clutch. I am going to try a bit more with the Step shifting vs the put it in Drive. I still would like to hear from others who have raced with their steps and what problems or benefits they have found.
 
#24 ·
jeffreyslc said:
So, there are two votes to not floor it past kick-down, and one vote for using kick-down. Some actually say starting out in 2nd is better. Seems everyone agrees to not do torque-braking. And I think one method was to not do the pedal-to-the-metal, but gradually depress the accelerator.

What is the logic in NOT just doing the pedal-to-the-metal past the kick-down point :dunno: That's what I do and would really want to know why other methods would be better. Starting out in 2nd and letting it down-shift to 1st seems like it would take way too long.
You want to go past the kickdown, especially if you're in "D" and auto mode. The reason for this is to ensure that you're definitely at the lowest gear possible (i.e. 1st)


blech.. was going to try to explain why you wouldnt' want to floor it and would rather press the gas quickly.. had like a paragraph and was getting no where.. not sure how to explain it concisely.... uhm.. an analogy would be something like "impedance matching" in engineering design.. uhm.. that would take a while to explain too.. you can probably search and read up on it.. think of the throttle body opening as being the component that needs to be "matched"
 
#26 ·
MY experience:

1) DSC fully off
2) STEP in M mode and in 1st
3) Torque brake to ~2.5k
4) Release brake pedal, drepress accelerator to WOT past kickdown

- The car will start in 1st and automatically shift into 2nd a redline, then 3rd, etc...
- There will be some tire spin, but very minor.
- In gear, STEP does not allow the engine to overrev and will shift gears at redline when in Manual mode even of you don't.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top