[11Series]

"repeatable" "safe" and "a few times a year" is a tough call, because it takes practice and repetition to do solid launches safely and reapeatedly.

The safest way is to let your clutch up just short of engaging, then smoothly start putting on the gas. When rpm's are in the 1800-2200 range, smoothly start letting out the clutch and smoothly keep pushing the gas pedal to the floor. Match the speed you let out the clutch with the speed you put down the gas so that the RPM's don't drop below whatever your safe number is, like 2700 rpm. For most folks this is fairly easy to learn, and doesn't take practice. But it doesn't really "launch".


Another launch technique that takes more practice to be safe and repeatable goes like this:

1) Heel/toe the brake and gas. With the brake firmly applied, put the gas pedal down just enough to hit 3,200 rpm.

2) Smoothly let out the clutch while SLIGHTLY adding more gas as the clutch engages and the rpm's start to drop. You still aren't moving at this point. The point of this is to build boost. If you've got an accurate boost gauge, you can watch your boost gauge along with your tach to determine how fast you work your pedals.

3) Release the brake and push the gas to the floor in one motion when RPM's drop to around 2,700 rpm. At the same time, smoothly let the clutch out past the engagement point. Clutch release needs to be quick enough to chirp the tires, but not a complete dump.

This all has to happen pretty quickly. You can't sit there with the engine reving, or with the clutch slipping. How safe it is depends upon how much practice you need to do it right every time. Obviously, like everything on blogs, this is all at your own risk. Don't blame anyone if it doesn't work out well.

If you want to play with faster launch techniques, it might actually be safer for your car if you do it a couple of times a month to keep in practice, instead of a couple of times a year.