scionkid wrote:OTOH, the friction point, the point where the engine grabs the transmission, doesn't care for the motion of the car nor change much over the life of the vehicle. IMO, that's the point when extra power should be applied because that extra power goes toward moving the vehicle instead of just spinning the engine for nothing.
But spinning it for how long? A quarter of a second maybe? Not going to use much gas in that time. Seems to me that the extra time it would take to launch this way would add more to the overall time the engine was running.
But this has nothing to do with the real reason that I do not recommend the friction point method or the catch point method to new drivers. In fact the reason has nothing to do with the mechanics of the car at all and everything to do with the way that human beings learn to do physical tasks.
The way to learn to do a physical task is to isolate one movement and practice it over and over again until it becomes second nature. The isolation is key, because it allows the learner to focus and to really feel and absorb what is going on. Without that isolation, learning takes longer and often does not really sink in or lead to good technique.
This is why music teachers force their students to play scales and five-finger exercises: they are isolating the motions that are essential to good techniques and there the foundation of real musicianship. Learning to drive is not different. Clutch control is the foundation and you need to study and master that motion in isolation if you are to perfect it.
The reason for doing no-gas starts is precisely to isolate the motion of the clutch from all other motions so that you can really learn it. By eliminating the possibility of using the gas to compensate for mistakes with the clutch, they force the driver to learn good clutch control.
The reason for giving gas first and holding it while you let out the clutch is the same: to isolate the clutch motion, both so that you can launch reliably while you are learning by focusing on that one motion, and so that you learn that one motion well by isolating it from the rest.
Once good clutch control is mastered, simultaneous movements of the gas and clutch to further optimize the speed and smoothness of the launch will follow naturally. But the clutch control will always be better is the motion is learned in isolation.
Just some guy on the Internet. Heed with care.
it always moves ITS A ZONE ITS A ZONE ITS A ZONE!!!
