I'm not gonna argue, as its aside from the point of the thread
I drag race, licenced NHRA member...I race for money, and have a dedicated car. I love drag racing, and the complexity of it goes into it is what is overlooked, and what I meant by people discrediting it. Its not just hit the gas and hope you're the fastest, at least in its more sophisticated forms.
I was comparing an automatic to a standard manual when I mentioned boosted applications; sequential with fuel cut does achieve the same thing. So does flat shifting a manual trans, but it also destroys it over time.
and yes, the efficiency loss was in reference to automatics
and launching with a manual trans, you either feather it off the line, pin the gas and slip the clutch a bunch, pin the gas and drop the clutch and most likely have tire spin, have slicks and dump the clutch and hope you have enough power not to bog. All of those are less consistent than a launch with an automatic trans.
it might not be fair to say an auto can do a better burnout, but it certainly is easier to do so. With a manual you have to start with the clutch in, and foot on the gas, then jump over to the brake and try to stop the car, but not stop the tires from spinning. Also, you can shift an automatic to get more wheel speed when doing a burnout. Unless you have a car that could practically start doing a burnout in 2nd gear with a manual trans, it will be nigh impossible to shift from 1st to 2nd, let alone 2nd to 3rd.
I was not trying to stir up any hostility, I guess I was a bit angry that night