used to torque launch my rdx sometimes, like once a month. but when i did it i used to do it like 6-7 times in a row driving with friends. It was in some countryside highways here in canada where no living things are around for 100miles so it wasn't unsafe (at least for others). So i havent done it for a while when s1 here told me it could damage my torque converter? but i read somewhere the RDX has an ATF cooler and is equipped with high-performance torque converter due to its turbo engine and low end torque performance. i cant find the link but ill post it as soon as i do. so having done this dozens of time with no damage so far is it safe to say it is ok to do it once every month??

 

How do you 'torque launch'? And what is the result when you do it?

 

Holding the car steady with your left foot on the brake in gear, bring revs up, slide off the brake, shoot forward.

That would damage your torque converter if done enough. Think about it. One end is spinning at (I'm guessing) 4500 rpm, the other end is spinning at 0. You can't just do that very often and get away with it. I'm guessing it will severely shorten the life of your torque converter.

 

Prolly have to change the tranny fluid more often and maybe also change the type fluid to a high performance type or something!

 

Uh, no.... not interested in the potential damage for no reason.


???

 

^^ guess you dont race eh

 

done it on my 05 tsx atleast 60 or 70 times at the race track.within a 2 year span still runs strong. 70K in mileage changed the atf fluid and filter last year didnt see any metal fragments in it

some people say its bad and yet i have yet to hear someone say when they have done it that there tranny broke cause of it.. most people i know who have done it a few times with no issues.. not saying do it on a daily basis but i think a few times isnt going to kill it

 

I used to do it alot more in my 97 prelude but I broke something inside and I was getting a slipping clutch feeling similar to a manual tranny, the car would stop sending power to the ground and required a tranny overhaul(converted to 5speed w/ LSD). It too was a sequential shift mechanisim like that of the RDX, the tranny cost alot to fix, keep that in mind. I know the RDX has a beefy transmission but personal experience tells me that I'd never do it again because my wallet is so empty.

 

power brake = torque launch = brake/torque launch and is bad for a Automatic tranny. NHRA guys use heavier-duty stuff than we have in our tranny and rebuild tranniesand engines race after race.

The idea is match the stall speed of the torque converter to the braking force. Once the lights go green lift off the brake and mash the Accelerator. And is the only reason my Prelude's transmission failed and cost thousands of dollars to be fixed. It's bad stuff. Learn that from my mistake.

To help you understand, inversely, it's the same as driving into a parking spot and slamming the RDX in Park while moving. It won't drop the tranny on the ground but damage is done over time by the repeatitive abuse.

Check out
http://www.modernracer.com/tips/drag...echniques.html

 

Didn't the prelude have a bad transmision? I'm pretty sure the 2000-2001 and the sh model were problamatic. Also the stall speed of the rdx is 2500rpm not 4500. So not much difference going on. I know of the mechanical stresses it places on the torque convertor. But in the rdx I heard there is a ATF cooler and it has a different torque convertor than all the other acuras. So am I correct to guess that the rdx has got to be the safest car to torque launch in Acura lineup? Also I just do this once or twice a month max.

 

I guess you can guess

 

A+, I'll MORE THAN AGREE with you, the Prelude's AT is pure unadulterated hellish steaming fowl rainbow-colored sheep defecation that honda engineers should have left well-enough-alone (I think that they had porcshe envy, and in haste devolped this abortion of a transmission. lol) Seriously, some preludes make it to 150k mine was dead at 76k, while I was young and dumb. I bought it at around 47k.

SH's are all 5 speed's BTW, I know you meant SS for Sequential Sport Shift, so moving on.

This is a universal AT problem for any car. AT's die from chunks and fragments of valves, gears, and bands floating around in the fluid.

LOL, okay, the prelude AT has a ATF Cooler as well. Honda integrated it into the Prelude's radiator. When I chose to go with a Fluidyne radiator I had to get an Aftermarket ATF cooler which was bigger and better. By virtue of what you have said the ATF cooler is a saving grace, preludes had them too, they still fail. Take it for what it's worth.

The ATF cooler keeps the fluid cool hense the name. AT 101: As stress on the tranny builds(i.e: towin') the parts build heat and so does the fluid, and the fluid that is moving around in the AT dissipates that heat through the ATF radiator/cooler. ATF once it gets to a certain temperature it gets really thick and you need to keep it cool to ensure extended operation, this is where the cooler comes into play. There is no performance or safety gained by a ATF Cooler for what you are doing.

It's kinda like having a bandaid ready to go when you pick a swordfight with a samurai.

Also, the Stall speed of the torque converter doesn't make any difference or safer. It really does not matter, 1500-7200 RPM. Stall speed is the RPM range in which the Torq-conv translates power to the wheels, simply put. So that means you are taking kenetic enregy making it store it/ potential energy, and dropping it on the transmission somewhere around 200 lb/ft torque. (@ the flywheel, not @ the wheels) Are you sure that the valves and bands that are in there under this kind of stress won't warp(rhetorical)? Another way to look at it, there are parts bolted inside that engine that are tightened to way less than that. Plus, quote myself again, Pro-drag NHRA AT teams tear their engines down every drag race and rebuild trannies (using "that money stuff" and sponser parts.) because it's like metal spaghetti-o's inside their trannies afterword.

Dealers need your business keep that in mind. Sales monkeys don't get the mechanical physics stuff, talk to the Master mechanic see what he says, any different than me, I'd find a new dealer. By making a compairison with the Prelude's AT that the AT's fail when torq-brakin' my friends.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. There is no safest car to do a torque launch. It's all good, I had the same questions when I was young and new to this too.

 

wow that post scared me a bit, not of my behavior or the car's but of the technicians from acura. my lease will be over soon and i am planning to keep it for 20k

 

so honda preludes auto/man are both unreliable? you wouldn't recommend buying one?

 

LMAO, did anyone else understand my post any differently??? C'mon it's not the service techs' fault. You can't be for real,lol.

"I read about the evils of crack... so I gave up reading."-not sure who.

Read this link:
http://www.vtec.net/articles/view-ar...icle_id=687615


Max tow capacity(funny):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyXgMal3C1U

 

1. Well I'd say Honda America is definitely dodging a recall on Auto preludes, but manuals are the one definitely sought after by enthusiasts and tuners alike.

2. It was voted best sports car under $30,000 for years until dethroned by Toyota Celica for 30k, about 1999-2000ish I might be wrong with the years. (the C&D thing needs research.)

Yeah I'd recommend a Prelude, M/T only.

BTW, I wanna keep this on track. It's your thread but I don't wanna goof it up with everyone fighting over sports cars in the RDX forum.

 

PS: It was not a toyota Celica but it was dethroned in 1999.

My bad.

 

lol haha i had seen that video before epic fail

 

One of the car magazines recommends you hold it at around 3,000 rpm before releasing the brake and flooring the throttle.

 

You race your RDX? How's that workin' for ya?

Car magazine recommends fucking up your tranny? Surely it was AAMCO quarterly.

 

^ Never really lost, but I choose them wisely . I like surprising people who think that they can just breeze by an suv

 

Haha, agreed.

 

It is so great when they don't know what an RDX can really do

 

Soo....? I surprised that no one has said anything about the fact that this is how the car was built, with the ability to "torque launch" as you call it. "Launch control" is what I have often heard it called by different manufactures (ie Nissan).

This is a feature on some of the higher performance vehicles that do not have a clutch but that have turbos. There have been reports of this not working and it toasting the transmission but nothing that I have heard of on the RDX. The problem people are having with it are on the higher HP cars that are all wheel drive with a mismatch on launch control and transmission (as in the launch control is set to allow for 4k of rev at launch and the transmission can only hold 3.5k)

The 2k that the RDX launches at is perfectly fine, honda has if dialed. For the people that are going to pick this apart... dont launch your car (its fine if you do not want to take advantage of a performance mod that Acura threw in for free, lol) but for the people that do have at it! I personally think its cool that RDX is one of only a few cars to come with this feature stock!

 

The RDX does not have launch control