CVT Drag Racing Technique

[AmSoFat]

Hey guys!

Just saw this post in another lancer forum was wondering if anyone has tried it?

"We learned to manipulate the CVT to extract what little power the engine offers by first engaging the manual mode until the engine reached redline (at about 45 mph), then popped it over into "Drive" to take advantage of the CVT's ability to maintain near-redline for the remainder of the acceleration run. This is because the CVT's manual mode uses more advantageous gearing (from a standstill) than Drive does. Left in Drive, the engine doesn't reach redline until almost 75 mph, and all acceleration times increase by at least one second across the board. We "gamed" it in a way most people never would. This engine revs smoothly, but sounds positively horrible and all the racket comes through the firewall."

or does anyone has their own technique to get most out of the CVT?

[ReaperX22]

I went to the strip once. Ran both times with just my foot down with CVT holding maybe 2-3k revs with my foot on the break. I find Gear 1 in Manual kicks a lot harder than CVT from a standstill, but anytime after this I find the Manual Mode to be slower. The car is designed to run CVT, so short of that kick off, it's generally not really great to run in manual mode IMO. (Also I believe requires more frequent transmission oil changes).

I find a small rolling start/out from a corner CVT is also alright.

Generally getting the car tuned (after a catback exhaust, HFC, panel filter/RA snorkel) 'most' of the CVT start lag is removed, making the car feel more responsive (though not a whole lot 'faster' in kw terms).

[AmSoFat]

Saw a video of a guy using this technique and he manage to get 0-100km/h in 7.8sec. Not sure if he had any mods on the car.

I am looking to get the car tuned and some mods but just afraid that it will mess with my warranty.

What mods do you recommend that mess with the dealers warranty?

[Braydoz]

I'm not sure I'd ever take my little Lancer to the strip. The idea of being chopped by Turbo S15s, Rexes, EVOs and V8s isn't that appealing

I do notice it "launches" a lot harder in manual mode, but I've never tried flicking it over into Drive under acceleration. Might have to give it a go and see.

Mods will help of course. Although I do wonder, of those who have done the Panel Filter+Snorkel+Merlin Tune upgrade, what sort of kw gains and gains in driveability/performance do you see?

[ReaperX22]

Generally any 'MOD' voids warranty for that section of the car. I.e. if you change your suspension (I have BC BR coilovers) and my car suddenly has issues with handling or anything to do with my suspension, if I take that to a dealer/mitsu they'd laugh at me when I try to claim warranty.

But if you do a panel filter RA snorkel, take it in for warranty for something to do with your air conditioning, it won't affect anything. The part replaced has to be linked to the cause of the fault for your warranty to be void.

Generally for NA, Catback (no larger than 2.5"), High flow cat, panel filter + snorkel + tune takes the stock 78-80~kw CVT to around 95-100kw flat.

But on an NA it's less about the numbers, more about the feel. The CVT has horrible lag when accelerating. Generally a tune will fix this (mostly). It will also give you better economy if tuned for 98, as the default map is very rich. Also the throttle response will be much better through the entire RPM range.

Generally the MAX you'd do on an NA is headers (supercircuit 4-2-1), full exhaust including HFC (but even a catback is enough IMO), panel filter/snorkel and a tune. Anymore (like cams, anything like that) won't really be worth it.

I'm going to try the Gear 1 manual shift til I hit 60-70km then drop into drive next time and see how I go. XD

PS: going to the drag is about your car, and your car alone. Even if you miss the green light or go before your time is based on when YOU leave, not when the lights go. As it counts your reaction time/60 foot. Both runs I did I vs'd a 400+ kw skyline that did 11s. I didn't care. I went for me and for fun. Plus the SSS pulsars (older models) ran 2 seconds slower than me, so I felt better .

[SAM-24A]

Mods will help of course. Although I do wonder, of those who have done the Panel Filter+Snorkel+Merlin Tune upgrade,

what sort of kw gains and gains in driveability/performance do you see?

Read here.
Forum: 2008+ N A Performance:
Thread Link: NA Dyno Readings

[Ray]

SERIOUSLY? Brake Boosting a CVT?; "Ran both times with just my foot down with CVT holding maybe 2-3k revs with my foot on the break." ? Thats fujed up - YOU gna BUST SOME SHIT UP!
CVTs are not meant to be brake boosted. Its not a twin clutch and unless u have a gts model lancer, u dont even get the transmission cooler.
I find "double throttling" helps: Trick is to hit gas pedal twice in close succession before taking off.
- Hit on the gas 95% - 90% (not full flat to the floor) for like a sec/ split second and then let go and hit the throttle again but to the floor and accelerate. Try this driving off the line, or during a roll. If during a roll, the intial pedal push 95% shud be held for a sec longer and then let go and flat footed afterwards. as during driving car needs a split second longer for the cvt to react and get tricked into holding a lower gear ratio

[Braydoz]

YOU gna BUST SOME SHIT UP!

Nah nah, it's all good mah' dawg

Anyway, it's not something I personally do often at all. If you go doing it at every set of lights, then yeah you're gonna wear out your tranny real quick, just like any other car. Brake boosting in any car aint' exactly great for longevity
In regards to the double tap technique you mentioned, wouldn't the car jump of the line with the first touch of the throttle?

Generally for NA, Catback (no larger than 2.5"), High flow cat, panel filter + snorkel + tune takes the stock 78-80~kw CVT to around 95-100kw flat.

But on an NA it's less about the numbers, more about the feel. The CVT has horrible lag when accelerating. Generally a tune will fix this (mostly). It will also give you better economy if tuned for 98, as the default map is very rich. Also the throttle response will be much better through the entire RPM range.

Generally the MAX you'd do on an NA is headers (supercircuit 4-2-1), full exhaust including HFC (but even a catback is enough IMO), panel filter/snorkel and a tune.

How much difference does a catback system generally make?
If I were to grab a hi-flow cat & do a muffler delete would there be much difference between that & a full catback system? The stock exhaust is 2 1/8 at the midpipe is it not?
Would the 1.25cm between that and a 2.5inch catback be that noticeable if you eliminated the bottlenecks at the cat and muffler?
I'd honestly prefer to not touch the exhaust at all, I don't like the idea of a 4cyl CVT being real loud and gawdy, but if it improves driveablity and performance, I'm willing to sacrifice.

Plus the SSS pulsars (older models) ran 2 seconds slower than me, so I felt better

What times did you run and trap speed?