Technical Side -Stepping the Clutch

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There ya go...No more red light starts!

 

I always thought side stepping the clutch was not a very smart way to do it and my reaction time was always quick enough I didn't need to do stupid things that would cost me money I couldn't afford!

 

Side stepping the clutch looks cool, but if you're drag racing it's better to feed the clutch...

 

I don't know what the big deal is .... back in the day that's just the way you launched your car Street or strip hell all this BS about oh I have herd about it but I have never tried it just talking about don't give you the thrill of actually doing it.....what are you scared of ....just go out and do it ..sure every body has a story about the big race but I learned a long time back the guys that talk and tell the big race stories are usually nobody the one to watch out for is the guy that has nothing to say stands back and listens but look out because that's the guy that's going to kick your ass in a race and not even talk about it.... I can say I have raced cars on the street and the strip and won several times and lost several times and have some trophies from some of my side stepping power shifting high revving launch's to prove it... Not bragging just telling.....it's more fun to try it and live it than just think about it and talk about it...these parts are from a 55 Chevy old ex strip car put on the street parts are from three different events first was broken axle,hard side stepping launch power shift to second that was that and that was pulling out of a gas station and the pump dude yelled get on it...well I did...#2 exploded the rear end ..A friend Stopped buy one night very late or very early morning asked if I would take his friend for a ride ..OK fired it up uncapped fender well headers and all headed for the hiway pulled out on to the road started to bring it up buddy held cop brought the Rev's back down and coasted passed the cop told my buddy tell me when he's around the corner..he said he's gone I stopped then hammered it hard side stepping launch powered to second oh ya...most everything went right out the back of the housing the other part of that cap come out went into the floor right under my buddies ass he was sitting on the rear floor, no back seat, and that was that #3 engine parts launched car hard...you know the rest ..hit second normal fashion clutch came apart well ..no rev limiter telltale said 8200......and that was that...and never broke a transmission ....now doesn't that all sound like alot of fun.....it was....just saying...

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Really? Hmmm..With the tires they had back then?
Still never saw anybody do it, but still hearing about it . Even on 12-10-17

 

This was like ten years ago I had sticky street & strip tires on it and if your wanting to actually see someone doing it ...well you kind have to get off your computer or what ever your on and go ride with someone that does it ..., I mean WTF.....come on over I will take you for a ride on my lawn tractor and side step power shift the hell out of it ...shit I would even pop wheelies for you....

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No thanks. I'll go to a real race track and see if I see any real Racers that win doing it.

 

What the hell Mark...you start a thread ,you ask about a subject your curious about guys guys respond with there experiences and views on the subject and then you basically call us liers and cut guys down ... I don't understand... I was just saying if you want to know about something then go out out and experience it for your self then you have your answer if you wanted to actually see it done then you should have stated that and start a thread saying I am curious about sidestepping the clutch will some one show me how it's done....at least a guy would know that your wanting to see it done and not just here about it...sorry for wasting your time ... I hope you find what your looking for....because it really is a rush to do it and sure it is hard on your equipment ... anyway life goes on....

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Stude Dude , I asked how it was done in my first post, and how it could be used to win races. Still lookin'. LOL
No side steppin' here @ 1:03

 

Told ya this story before , i'll try again --- Side stepped ( side SLIDE ) the clutch foot and boiled the treaded street tires from a stop light , smoked em through the intersection fishtailing slightly to the right (the rear tail moving right),
and went right past a Chula Vista Police car(officer) as we were eyeball to eyeball (his were the size of teacup saucers)
knowing FULL well I was gonna get stopped I pulled into the corner gas station and so did he, I jumped out acting scared ( an award winning act ) and said to him " did you see that" the throttle stuck and wow I got it to stop.
He said in an almost believing way ah sure kid, Fuel Injected '55 (NO HOOD hinges upright and springs holding them there) and said ya better get it fixed or someone might get hurt next time, I said yes sir
THE end
IT was about 1967 er68.

 

Back in the day I had a blown small block Chevy in my '56 with a Muncie 4 speed and a 12 bolt rear end and M&H slicks.
It ran pretty good so I thought I would do a burnout in front of Blair's speed shop in Pasadena.
I stopped. Set the line lock. Put it in 4th gear. revved it too 6,000 and side stepped the clutch and put the pedal to the floor.
The smoke was incredible!!! Then I realized I fried the clutch. Oops!

 

Lmao, he knew!!

I was just a kid and cruising thru the park and just barked the tires off the stop sign and barked them again in second, No burn outs that day. The park ranger was hiding in the woods and pulls me over. I started apologizing as he was walking up to the car. I told him that my foot had been slipping off the clutch all day because of the brand new boots I had on. And I did have brand spanking new boots on out of the box for an hour and about 20 steps on the pavement.

He says "sure you do" I got out of the car and showed him my boots. The ranger said "well, I'd scuff them up. Matter of fact I'd do it right now." I said "yes sir, I'll take a little walk". So while I'm doing shuffle scuff the ranger pull up alongside and says "that's good, next time we will talk about how your other slipped down on the gas pedal" as he drove away.

 

You know it's gonna be good when their smil'n before the burn out is done!

 

But it's true Ranger Smith, my foot really did slip off the pedal!

 

Side-stepping the clutch is an evolutionary dead end. Those who do it become extinct.
In any case, there's no one technique that works for all set ups and situations. Whether you're in a race or doing a smoke show, it all about traction. In one case you want traction but in the other you don't. Side-stepping the clutch just adds another variable and doesn't help reaction time in the least. In racing, smoothness net you wins, even if the "smoothness" take place in micro seconds. Explosions belong on the battlefield, not the track or street.

 

If you take the engine torque x the first gear ratio X the rear gear ratio ,,,,
Rough it conservatively on a mild build - 300x3x3 what's that ? 2700
Side stepping the clutch is real similar to pounding the parts in your drive line with 2700lb sledge hammer at full swing.

500x3x4.11 and you're going to break something

 

I dug out this old book and found a pretty good piece they did on driving techniques for quarter-mile drags the drivers they interviewed are top drivers of the day and big time winner's it is real interesting the things that work for there own driving style's and yes it explains speed shifting and heel and toe and they are all definitely winner's driving real drag cars on real tracks and really winning importing the first couple of driver's there are 4or5 more interviews, four more pages, if interested I can post them also...sorry it's not showing anything really but it's some good info on how it's done and how to win doing it....not all of them do it but they also explain why ,how, and when they do and don't...Mark now you got me still looking.... Humor....

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Thanks. Interesting stuff.
Those guys were good back then ,with what they had to work with.
Today's 4 speed drivers have reaction timers, electronic rev controllers, on board computers that can compare the engine RPM to the trans input speed, driveshaft speed indicating tire spin, clutchless transmissions for the gear change...on and on.

 

My car doesn't hook up well because of the smallish tires and lots of power. I just accept that the sixty foot times are nothing to brag about and run them down on the big end. More fun anyway.

 

Here's a "Psi" graph of sidestepped hydraulic throwout bearing pressures, taken while testing one of my ClutchTamer installs. This system had -4 lines and in spite of being hydraulic, the sidestep release was pretty close to instant..

 

Isn’t everything done with computers now a days? Data loggers etc? The guys in the 60’s were the pioneers. My dad had a 68 383 roadrunner that he bought brand new and immediately took to the track. He side stepped the clutch, power shifted, wound it to red line...you name it. It never broke. In 69, he traded his roadrunner for a 69 Hemi roadrunner. Did the same thing and it never broke either(good thing cause he wouldn’t have been able to afford the repair bill!!!) I love listening to my dad’s stories of racing.

Parts aren’t built like they used to be and nowadays they break.

 

I hope he side stepped the clutch at about 1500. Red Lines weren't known for great traction, plus the tracks weren't sprayed with VHT from end to end back then, either.

 

There's plenty of stories about broken parts. I'd bet the ratio is 1000:1. Maybe even higher.

 

1965.......I was 17 and driving my new [to me] 40 ford home. Had a 39 transmission in it with a stock 85HP flathead. I thought I'd swing by my girlfriend's apartment and roast the tires across the intersection below her 2nd floor apartment window . Stopped, wound up that flathead and sidstepped the clutch. I must have gotten at least 3 inches of rubber before something in the trans blew. I limped my new 40 home in 2nd and 3rd.
Worse part is when I got home my dad [drunk] reminded me I already had 4 cars on his property and I had to give the 40 back....shit.

 

I've seen some hard side stepped launches not sure how necessary they were but cars ran quick and held together. The thinking has changed quite a bit with the same crowd and now I have a few friends now who are running nitrous jets in their hydraulic clutch lines as a changeable orifice to help with launch/clutch release control. It was explained to me that the intention is not to slip the clutch as much as keep from seeing a spike from the force from being released all at once. Works rather well when dialed in correctly.

 

Actually, you asked how it was done and if it improved on your reaction time. Nothing about winning races. Winning races wasn't added until after you received several replies.

I'm sorry you missed out on the fun of just abusing your car for no earthly advantage. Not many had drag racing wins on their mind when they got their first stick, for most it was all about being able to spin or smoke the tires. Gene

 

Yes sir---- it wasn't for the aforementioned car but a different one that I carried a complete driveshaft -n- tools in the trunk ( a 55 chevy of course ) .... untill I got traction bars (Chenoweth out in el cajon I think) made em -n- I welded them to the housing. That and some deeper gears stopped the joint destruction. Only to take the NEW breaking point to the next weakest link (the clutch).
Later on They fabbed me a straight tube front axle , I had it chromed it was .250 wall thickness, i think.

 

Ya sure got that RIGHT, Gene...lol

 

I know this isn't a big horsepower machine but I've been side stepping the clutch for the last 400 runs, both prepped tracks and basic ones like this. Only broken 1 diff in that time. I'm the one in the HA/GR closest to the screen.