the only thing i have drivin is a stick and im getting a auto 240sx so whats the best way to start a race off with an automatic?
Hold the ebrake and get some rpms and then drop it or keep the car in neutral, get rpms and then put in drive?

 

neither, you get a manual! and no, you don't hold the e-brake with a rear wheel drive car because the e-brake locks up the rear tires, so they will not spin, you hold down the brake pedal and work the gas.

dropping it from n to d is called a neutral drop which will drastically shorted the life of your tranny. the only hope for an auto is something called a transbrake. i'm not exactely sure what it is but they mention it on pinks alot when they are negotiating.

inshort, pass on the auto and try to find a manual.

 

get a trans brake instead

 

Yea just hold the brake pedal down and work the gas like the other guy said.

 

what is a trans break?

 

From my understanding, It basically just locks the tranny from moving while you get your revs up and usually just push a button and it releases the lock and you go.

 

that sounds about right, but it is only really good for drag racing, most people want a 240sx for drifting. but there was a great 240sx on pinks with a corvette ls1 engine.

 

To launch in an automatic car it can be stock. I think this "transbrake" people are referring to is just the name of the method. When you hold the gas and the brake at the same time you are using whats called the torque converter. You will notice your car want to lunge forward. I remember in my honda accord with the L4 the damn thing had no low end at all so that was pretty much the only way to make the tires squeal if i ever wanted to do a burnout. Im pretty sure that your torque converter has a limit it wont go past, probably between 2600-3200 rpms.

PS im not sure at all if this is 100% correct but i do still remember some of autoshop
oh and if youre talkin about drag racing(which seems to be the case) i know that tons of people use automatic transmissions but they are racing transmissions and there is no "Drive" gear/setting

 

Alright so all the way to TC Freak wanted to know . Hold down the brake and gas pedal at the same time correct? It is safe to do such a thing? Will it damage any interior braking? just curious thanks! im just wondering so i'll do it myself also.

 

Well in high school we had an autoshop car sponsored by race legal and they basically launched it like that thousands of times doing 1/8th mile drag runs.
so i think its ok, hopefully someone around here whos a mechanic can give you a definent answer

 

bump

 

From what I know...

A transbrake sits behind the transmission and, when it is on, it holds the dirveshaft when the engine is being revved. While the engine builds RPM the torque converter is being pushed to its stall point. And the driveshaft is not spinning because the transbrake is on, therefore the car is not moving.

If you are dragging (which is where trans brakes are usually used) when the tree goes green, you take off the trans brake with a button, and simultaneously mash the gas pedal. So the driveshaft is now free to spin.

All of this (torque converter/transbrake) is so the engine is sitting in it's torque curve when you need to launch.

I might have missed some things, let me know if I did...