Piston Slap: Two Turbos And One Lead Foot

Sajeev Mehta
by Sajeev Mehta

Fast Driver writes:

I used to be a major hooligan, taking cloverleaf offramps every morning at speed in my E46 3 Series with tires squealing and occasional stability control intervention. I also enjoyed revving the German machinery to about 3500 rpms and dropping the clutch for a warp speed launch. After 20 or so launches like that with the car, nothing broke, fell off, or otherwise malfunctioned. It’s like the car was made for that kind of abuse.


My latest question related to my 2009 335i sedan with auto trans. When I give it full throttle from a dead stop, the stability light goes crazy and the car seems to be moving slowly. Is this because if it were to unleash 300 ft.. lbs. to the tires the car would be sitting there spinning its wheels mercilessly and for an eternity? Theoretically, what would happen if I activated the DTC (first level) and tried this?

Would it allow the tires to spin freely before launch or would it give me a nice “chirp” and faster launch compared to when all stability/traction controls are active as described above? I know the simple answer is “try it” but these runflats are something like $1,200 a set and my wife would not approve.

Another question is what would likely happen if I turned off all stability/traction controls (second level; everything off) and floored it from a dead stop. Would the tires spin until RPMs reached 3500 and then the tires would hook up (in a cloud of very expensive tire smoke)? Maybe the answer again is “try it” but with no kind of safety net and the risk of getting arrested along with serious mechanical abuse, I am not inclined to.

My final question relates to the real power of the twin turbo motor. Automobile magazine and others have dynoed this engine and surmise that it is making more than the rated 300 hp and 300 ft lbs given that it can get to 60 mph in 4.8 (3560 lbs. curb weight) and do the quarter mile in 13.5. I know that the engine is tremendously powerful. I can spin the tires (as indicated by the blinking stability control light on the dash) in first, second, and sometimes when downshifting into third, which makes me assume that there’s more than the rated horsepower or torque there.

What do you think? Thanks!

Sajeev Replies:

Just in case it isn’t common knowledge, we’re talking about holeshot techniques this time ‘round on Piston Slap. Question is, do you want to make a scene and hear the noise Hollywood style, or beat the clock by pushing your skills to the limit? Because launching is a technique best served with 20+ practice runs in a race setting where you can monitor your 60-foot elapsed times.

Which is a real nice way of saying that you need to get your car on a drag strip. So do it already!

You won’t waste your tires once you learn that spinning wheels equals slow elapsed times. Get the lead out of your shoes and start practicing your launch technique without traction control assists. You are better than the electronic nannies, unless you own a SL65 Black Series with insane torque on a tight suspension. With practice, it will come.

To your second question, yes the 335i’s are underrated from the factory. And they respond quite well to ECU modifications, just like any other modern vehicle with hairdryers in the exhaust (i.e. Turbocharger). If you go the tuning route, the stock runflat tires will be even more of a joke: you’ll need summer tires with normal sidewalls. Not only are they faster and quieter, I suspect you and your wife will appreciate the price advantage too.

(Send your queries to mehta@ttac.com)

Sajeev Mehta
Sajeev Mehta

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  • Guyincognito Guyincognito on Jan 13, 2010

    Get new wheels and tires and hoon the crap out of it! I'd recommend the DFORCE LTW5 wheels, forged, 17lbs & like $250 each. For the cost of a set of crappy run flats you can have wheels and Dirrezza Star Spec summer tires. My GF just got a 335i aut0 (it was better than not getting a 335i) and I don't imagine I will ever drive it with the traction control on or without burning out on my set of summer wheels and tires.

  • Carve Carve on Jan 14, 2010

    I'm also a 335i driver. Any dirty road surface or bump will send the stability control (DSC) on, killing your power. It's very sensitive. At the strip, I was able to get a 13.6 @ 105 mph quarter mile (at high altitude- about one mile) by going from DSC to DTC, which allows for quite a bit of spin. That was my first ever time at a drag strip. I also have a JB+ piggyback, which normally I keep turned down pretty far or remove altogether for durability reasons, but turn it up at the strip. Great device- I recommend it as the best bang for buck and easiest to remove mod out there. I think I could shave more time off by practicing an unassisted launch, and by getting rid of those terrible RFTs. I think I'll get some Hankook Ventus Evos when I get the snow tires off. For a good launch, make sure it's clean, smooth pavement. Put it in DS, go to DTC or no traction control at all, brake torque to about 1800-2000 rpm (depends on traction), and let off the brake and floor it, possibly easing into flooring it if traction is weak. The 335i automatic makes about 3,700 lb ft at the wheels in first gear from 2000-5000 rpm, making assumptions for driveline loss, but NOT considering torque amplification from the torque converter, or considering that the power is likely underated.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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