ok so today i backed out into the road from a gas station clutched it reved the car to abou 4500 or so and let the clutch go failrly quickly.. i didnt completely dump it but i did want to smoke some tires as i havent done that yet in this car... anywas i did this and the car sat still and reved to the red line... the clutch slipped terribly.. once i clutched it again though still at a high RPM abou 3500 it screeched a little and took off in a hurry not slipping anymore even when i speed shifted it into second.. i noticed my traction control was on... could this be the culprit of my stalling in the road trying to launch hard..??

Hi,

Ummm sounds like your clutch might be a little poorly. As far as I know below ~30mph the traction control system applies the breaks to the spinning wheel, thus stopping it spinning. Above 30mph it does a similar thing but also reduces the power being produced by the engine. In my experience the system works fairly well when no trying too hard. When you try really hard you spin both the front wheels enthusiastically then it makes you look like an **** when it cuts the power and you judder along for a second or so then picks up again. In first I have never had the situation you have described. To see if it is you could try it again with the traction control off. Mine is a 2002 model so it could be that more recent models work differently, however, I would be surprised if Volvo would introduce a system which would kill the clutch rather than the tyres.

Hope this helps!

JGG

turn off traction control. jolly is correct in that the traction control uses the brakes to slow the spinning tires. with it off, it should produce a good burnout. of course, with you slipping the clutch like that, you'll need one soon. but at least the clutch went to that great transmission in the sky doing a good deed. :grin: