I Did a Really Stupid Thing

[Dcarpen3]

So I was working on a few quick launches the other night in an industrial part of town and was so focused on turning the nannies off, getting lined up and making sure the road was clear of any other drivers, I didn't realize I was still in 3rd gear instead of 1st when I came to a stop. I know, it's the dumbest thing and I've been driving manuals for a long time and it should just be automatic on my part but I wasn't focused on that.

Anyway, I launched it in 3rd gear at about 3800 or 4000 RPM. Of course it bogged down and I immediately knew what I'd done and pushed in the clutch pedal. I'm on street tires so not a ton of grip but when I began the launch, the car barely moved. No tire spin, and no alarming noises or catastrophic failures resulted, but (and I may just be paranoid) it seems like my exhaust note is a bit muddy and not as crisp in the days since. Guages are all reading the same, shifts the same, etc. I know this is hard on the transmission and clutch assembly but what about the engine's rotating assemblies? Is it possible I tweaked or damaged something there? I'm gonna do some data logging and send it to the tuner to see if he can rule out stuff like clogged cats or some type of fuel or ignition issue. Any thoughts on the matter would be welcome.

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[Adam the Lighting Guy]

The clutch would (should) have been your only victim as I see it.

 

[WItoTX]

The clutch would (should) have been your only victim as I see it.

OP, you didn't like that clutch anyways, right?

 

[Oakley]

please accept my sincere condolences, sir.

 

[LCK22GT]

I've mistakenly started from a stop in third a couple times, at normal revs though. I didn't even re-clutch it, just babied it up to speed. No issues.

 

[Dcarpen3]

OP, you didn't like that clutch anyways, right?

It certainly doesn't like me right now! I think It'll be okay. I've been driving it for a few days now without any noticeable issues. The exhaust note in the higher RPMs does sound a bit off lately but I'll get that figured out soon. Actually hoping cats are clogged so I can justify some headers.

 

[Crew4991]

I am sure everything is fine. That’s just your "I messed up" inner monologue spiraling because you feel bad. At most, you just gave your clutch some trauma, nothing a little denial can’t fix!

 

[Unbridled5.0]

I've mistakenly started from a stop in third a couple times, at normal revs though. I didn't even re-clutch it, just babied it up to speed. No issues.

Yep. Easy to do with an MGW.

 

[junits15]

The exhaust note in the higher RPMs does sound a bit off lately but I'll get that figured out soon. Actually hoping cats are clogged so I can justify some headers.

Personally I'd just ignore this, there's no way a bad launch is going to change your exhaust note. Your engine can handle this scenario, the clutch is the only thing that would change.

 

[Dcarpen3]

Personally I'd just ignore this, there's no way a bad launch is going to change your exhaust note. Your engine can handle this scenario, the clutch is the only thing that would change.

Thanks for the reassurance. I wasn't sure if it would or wouldn't hurt anything internally, and thought that would be an unlikely scenario, but figured I'd ask. Thanks again for everyone's input and help.

 

[junits15]

Thanks for the reassurance. I wasn't sure if it would or wouldn't hurt anything internally, and thought that would be an unlikely scenario, but figured I'd ask. Thanks again for everyone's input and help.

You’re all good, if your clutch is holding strong you’re good

You can do a lot of launches before stuff starts to break

 

[NightmareMoon]

My dad slipped my clutch for a mile straight. He’s old and turns out he’s forgotten how to work three pedals correctly. Took him like 5 minutes to go a mile because he was just crawling.

Car stank of clutch for more than a week after but it held fine after and lasted for thousands of miles before I swapped out the entire drivetrain for other reasons

 

[DrZed]

I am sure everything is fine. That’s just your "I messed up" inner monologue spiraling because you feel bad. At most, you just gave your clutch some trauma, nothing a little denial can’t fix!

If I recall correctly when I read the book "Iron Fist Lead Foot" when the Terminator Mustang was being developed, engineers put the front of the car against a wall and revved it to 4000 RPM and dumped the clutch, immediately stalling the car. They did this 100 times to validate the clutch durability.

I wouldn't feel so bad... .

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