How to Jump?

[Rudukai13]

I can't see myself needing this information any time in the near future if ever, but just out of pure curiosity I thought I would ask. From those who have done it before, how do you jump an Impreza without completely destroying it or yourself? If you could break it up into take-off, flight, and landing, that would be awesome. Thanks!

[Dino]

If you could break it up into take-off, flight, and landing, that would be awesome. Thanks!

Floor-it, pray, cheer.

[lorenkb]

Step 0: Don't jump your car.

Takeoff: Use the go pedal. Not sure about when/if to lift off the gas on the jump.

In Flight: If you find yourself jumping stupidly long distances you can influence nose up/down with the gas/brakes. Gas is more nose up, brakes is more nose down. Just like jumping an RC car, except the repair bill is an order of magnitude higher when you crash.

Landing: Clutch in before you touch. Just in case you missed that the first time, CLUTCH IN! Makes for happy diffs/transmissions/wallets.

[kahunaking]

I was flying down my buddys private farm road and he "forgot" to tell me that there was a cattle crossing thing at the end and we got a little bit of air and basicly I just coasted into it with the clutch in and nothing bad happened exept for the muffler got a little banged up and a tire came off the bead.

[Rudukai13]

nothing bad happened exept for the muffler got a little banged up and a tire came off the bead.

If that's "nothing bad" I don't think I'll be trying this any time soon...

[BlackParis]

loren kb nailed it..

but its, also not as effective as it is on an rc car ;)

though i have also never done a "spectacular" jump.. my longest jump so far was 50 ft distance about 8ft high.. in a vw.. o and it died after that...

best my subaru ever did, was on pavement @ about 75mph, over some railroad tracks, about 4 ft high, for 30 ft, nosed heavy though, there was a lip @ the peak... i never let go of the gas... No noticed damage, though, yes frame did scrape...

[lminette]

When I jumped mine I just hauled ass towards the jumps and hit em one after the other. I was doin about 50-55 hit one landed, hit another landed. I did the same circle about 4-5 times all without issue. I didn't put my clutch in or anyhing upon landing as far as I can recall, and my car is just fine!

[newbie101]

kind of like a dirt bike... try to stay on the gas all the way off the jump then while in the air if u are nose diving u can panic rev and it will level u out a little bit and if u are back heavy u can brake check and that will throw u forward... but i doubt that u will be airborne that long to do that so just keep a steady speed of of the jump and don't let off the gas while ur tires are on the ground unless u want to nose dive

[rollo]

Is it the wheels or the rotational inertia of the engine which is supposed to be changing your in-flight attitude? Cos what with Subarus being longitudinal, you'd think revving the engine would twist it (if anything). And if it's the wheels, then you'd need to be in gear, clutch out, at least in the air. But four wheels at each corner doesn't seem like it'd have the same effect..

I think Bobby hit on a good point there - what you do on the ramp/takeoff is probably a lot more important than what you do in the air.

Also I'm not 100% convinced about the absolute necessity of clutching in when you touch down - you just need to make sure that the wheel speed and ground speed is close (i.e. lay off the throttle while you're airborne). Of course clutching in the least risky way to do it.

It also depends a lot on the jump, cos there are different kinds - some kick you up suddenly, meaning you come down harder, some are more like a gentle hill that flattens out on top and you just keep going and come down on the other side, some are more like a hill that drops away, etc etc. A long low jump should do less damage than a short high one.

I think we've had this discussion before though, and it's all theoretical unless you've actually had your car in the air often enough and for long enough to have experience of all this. Sooo.. Marvin, your thoughts? :D

[Rudukai13]

I've played with RC trucks enough to know that the attitude adjustment comes from the rotational force of the wheels. Given that the tires on an RC truck are about 1/4 of the mass of the truck though, it would be much more pronounced with the RC truck then with an Impreza. I would guess that if your jump was long enough that you had time to correct altitude enough to where it would make a difference in the landing, you are probably jumping the car too far.

As an example for atitude adjustment with RC trucks, take a look at the following video. This is a very pronounced example of how the rotational force of the wheels can carry the truck through the jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgzsrXvk2bk

[WRXCMM]

^^^lol yeah we need Marvin.

there are bumps and there are crests; crest > bumps

but if i remember correctly Colin touched this subject in one of the driving interviews (video posted here in another thread can't find right now)
you kinda have to guess the final grade of the vertical curve of the jump so you can match it (landing on all fours)

if the grade is lets say 20% (you would drop 20ft for every 100ft distance) you want to be nose heavy so at the last min on take off you let off the gas making you nose heavy thus leveling you.

if the grade is 2-5% then you just go flat out pedal to the metal so to speak.

anyother scenario you would adjust how much you let off the throdle or how much you puch it.

disclaimer: dirtyimpreza.com or any member here in does not incourage this or any stunt mentioned in this forum. leave this to the pros (Marvin), do this at your own risk.:nono8)

[I Like It Sideways]

Rollo - it's the tires that affect the pitch of the car.

[Gravel Crew Rally Team]

You guys are funny. First and fore most. Before you attempt to jumo your car!!!! Please use common sense and have a properly built vehicle ie suspension, roll cage, helmet and friends with you just in case.
Jumping a car is going to be relative to the circumstance you put yourself into first.
For instance, if I was going to build a jump compared to a jump in the middle of a rally stage.
I have never built a jump for my car. But we will usethe infamous DC Sports car ad (Rim of the World Rally 2006) for an example, because that was a "man made jump."
I walked up and down the whole length of the jump, bottom of the take off all the way to the bottom of the landing. I stepped off the launch and then the table top and them the landing. Both the take off and landing were really close in step off, and the table top was about 45ft. And then I stepped off the runway and imagined how fast to go. First instinct was at least 2nd gear, but not sure if I should grab 3rd or not. Watched quite a few cars go, listened to how many gears they grabbed and then listened to what they did on the take off and while in the air. No one cleared it. So I knew in my head I did not want to come up short, so I said to myself top of second without hitting the limiter, it is good to have a programmable shiftlight for that kind of stuff and it came in hady for sure. I also knew to wait for my car to be in the air before I let off of the gas and I also knew that as soon as I land to hit the gas.
2 things can happen if I did something wron on the take off. lifting too early would allow the nose of the car to dive and end up "nosing into the jump" and possibly lose speed and not clear it. Staying on the gas too long could cause me to lift the front end too much and wheely down the landing and possibly land with the gas on thus desroying tranny parts and maybe more.
Because the take off and landing had a similar angles to them I was confident that my car would pitch correctly to land on all 4 wheels at the same time. Did I know that for sure? Hell no I didn't, but I had a gut feeling that it would work.
Now for the jumps in the middle of stages. Same theory applies as far as throttle control approaching the jump and finishing the jump. Now the difference is the approach angle you have to that jump. Some are into a corner, in the middle, exiting. Some are steep and will kick you high, some are shallow and you will fly further. Some are under 20mph and some are 75+ mph. Jumps in the middle of the stage are very hard to judge. The only advice I have for them is to use past experience on that stage a make good judgement. Stage jumping is a whole different beast all together.
Hope that helps a bit, sorry its a long response but you should get a better idea. PLEASE BE SAFE WHEN JUMPING OUR BACKS DONT LIKE IT