In the Ray FF1600, the adjustable Dual Clutch setting decides your standing start: too soft and the clutch slips — the car accelerates slower than it could; too aggressive and the engine is pulled down toward a stall. We measured over a hundred clutch-drop launches to identify the fastest value, how conditions move it, and a simple RPM check to find the right value on any track. This is a work in progress: here is what the data shows so far.
At Virginia (North course), the fastest Dual Clutch setting is 45. Go 1 lower in very high humidity, 2 lower on a very hot track. Gear stack, fuel load, rain and track rubber barely move it.
The general guideline: check your minimum RPM. Perform one test launch and read the lowest engine RPM reached after the clutch release. Around 2200–2600, your setting is optimal; above ~3000 it is too high; below ~1800 it is too low. This single measurement accounts for track, temperature, humidity and rubber — the ideal setting changes from track to track, but the ideal minimum RPM does not.
We are still gathering data across more tracks and conditions. Agree, disagree, have data of your own? Join the discussion on Discord.
Every run behind this article — conditions, best three settings, times and minimum RPM, one line per test session — is available here: browse the full run-by-run data. Virginia's controlled protocol and the comparable Mosport sweeps are included; we are holding back the rest (more tracks, mixed conditions) until it is validated.
A wrong setting can easily cost one to three tenths by the end of 1st gear alone — enough to lose (or gain) a position into the first corner.
At Virginia, where the optimal setting is 45, let's see the actual cost of guessing it wrong. The gap and speed are measured 5.23 s after the clutch release (~ 0.4s before the shift to 2nd gear):
| Setting | Time lost vs 45 | Min RPM | Gap after 5.23 s | Speed after 5.23 s | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | +0.13 s | ~750 | 3.7 m behind | 99.5 km/h | Anti-stall intervenes to keep the engine alive |
| 40 | +0.06 s | 990 | 1.7 m behind | 100.9 km/h | Too aggressive — deep RPM drop, the engine labours |
| 45 | fastest | 2260 | reference | 102.5 km/h | Optimal |
| 50 | +0.32 s | 5810 | 8.7 m behind | 96.0 km/h | Far too soft — the clutch slips and the car creeps off the line |
The conclusion is clear: a far-off guess gives away metres before the first corner. Arriving on the grid with at least a rough idea of the right value is non-negotiable.
Now let's see the actual cost of being just 1–2 clicks off the optimal, after the same 5.23 s:
| Setting | Time lost vs 45 | Min RPM | Gap after 5.23 s | Speed after 5.23 s | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | +0.024 s | 1510 | 0.7 m behind | 101.7 km/h | Slightly too aggressive |
| 44 | +0.011 s | 1810 | 0.3 m behind | 102.1 km/h | Near-optimal |
| 45 | fastest | 2260 | reference | 102.5 km/h | Optimal |
| 46 | +0.007 s | 3090 | 0.2 m behind | 102.7 km/h | Near-optimal |
| 47 | +0.048 s | 4120 | 1.4 m behind | 102.2 km/h | Slightly too soft |
For a standing start 0.7 m is already significant — it is the difference between having overlap and claiming the inside line into the first corner, or having to slot in behind. And these numbers cover 1st gear only: a wrong setting leaves you behind and slower, so the deficit keeps compounding down the opening straight.
Note also the asymmetry: a value too high costs more than the same error too low (1.4 m 2 clicks above (47) against 0.7 m 2 clicks below (43)). When unsure, err one click below the optimum, especially if track conditions might have changed between your practice run and the actual race start.
Same car, same technique, comparable conditions — yet Mosport is fastest at 48 where Virginia is fastest at 45 (track surface, conditions, grid slope... all contribute), with the winning minimum RPM landing in the same 2200–2600 band at both. Early data also suggests track rubber can shift the setting-to-RPM mapping by several steps on some tracks, despite changing nothing at Virginia. More tracks and conditions are needed before drawing general conclusions — which is why the per-track number is not the thing to remember.
This is the part that transfers between tracks. Across every track and condition we have measured, the fastest launch always reaches roughly the same minimum RPM: about 2200–2600. What changes between tracks is which setting produces it. Instead of memorizing per-track values, perform one test launch and read the minimum RPM from your telemetry:
| Min RPM | Diagnosis | Correction |
|---|---|---|
| 4000+ | Far too soft — the clutch slips, the car creeps | Lower the setting 2–3 steps |
| ~3000 | Slightly too soft | Lower it 1 step |
| 2200–2600 | Ideal range | Keep it |
| ~1800 | Slightly too aggressive | Raise it 1 step |
| Below 1500 | Too aggressive | Raise it 2–3 steps |
| ~750 | Anti-stall intervention — seconds lost | Raise it several steps |
The easiest way is to review your minimum RPM in Enduro Manager after a test launch and dial the setting in from there. You can also read it live off the tachometer during the launch — but stay sharp, the minimum only shows for a fraction of a second. And with some practice you will not need to look at all: the depth of the RPM drop is distinct enough to judge by ear.
Yes. The Dual Clutch is a simplified way to launch: it holds one fixed engagement point for the whole start. A driver modulating the clutch manually through the launch — feeding it in progressively to keep the engine in its maximum-torque range the entire time — would extract more acceleration than any single fixed point can. But it is much harder to execute, and far harder to repeat under pressure on the grid. We have not gathered data on manual launches yet; if the technique proves consistently faster, it will get its own article.
This article will grow as the dataset does. Agree, disagree, want a track measured next? Join the discussion on Discord and bring your own data.