How to Do a Burnout

Last Updated: January 4, 2022 References

In a burnout, the wheels of your car will spin at a high frequency, causing a large amount of smoke. The car will stay static until you pop the clutch, letting it spring into motion. Burnouts began in drag racing, where tires must be heated to obtain the optimum traction on the racing surface. Plus it just looks cool. Unfortunately, you can't burnout in any old car, but if you want to remove layers of expensive rubber to accomplish nothing of dynamic significance besides enjoyment, it can be done. See Step 1 for more information. Once you've successfully completed a burnout you no longer need to apply the clutch to shift (MANUAL TRANSMISSION ONLY) or to stop to shift in an (AUTOMATIC ONLY).

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Performing a Basic Burnout

1
Make sure you have the right kind of car. To perform a burnout, you need a car with lots of horsepower. Regarding transmissions, it is easiest to do a burnout in a manual transmission car but you can also do burnouts in an automatic transmission car. For the best effect, street tires are also desirable, which have smoother surfaces that'll put out more smoke. Don't buy a Ford Mustang to do a burnout because the only rubber you'll burn is an engine belt. Ideally, you would have a Holden Commodore or a Ford Falcon.^{[1]
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2
Put the car in first gear. Depress the clutch fully and start revving the engine. You shouldn't start moving, as long as you've got the clutch all the way in. Get your RPMs up so the tires will be hot when you let them loose.^{[2]
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3
Lock the handbrake (if the car is Front Wheel Drive). After you pop the clutch, your tires will be spinning very fast, so you can either pop it to speed off and perform a peel-out, or you can keep the hand brake or parking brake locked to spin your tires and create smoke, performing a burnout.^{[3]
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4
Release the clutch. When you release the clutch fully, the tires should start spinning very quickly, resulting in the burnout smoke. To stop the burnout ease off the accelerator and free the brake.^{[4]
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5
If the car is an automatic, put the transmission into D, hold the footbrake down as firmly as possible, build up the revs of the car by pushing the throttle pedal. When ready, release the footbrake and the car should wheelspin.^{[5]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Getting Nasty

1
Try a peel-out. A peel-out is the nicer cousin of the burnout and happens when the driver spins the wheels on the road before moving. Peel-Outs are far easier and less dangerous to your car than a burnout, and even happen accidentally at stoplights when you jump on the gas too hard. To perform the Peel-Out:^{[6]
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- Depress the clutch with the car in gear. Rev the engine high and release the clutch abruptly to peel-out.
2
Do a donut. A donut is a circular burnout. To do a donut, find a large open area with no other cars, lampposts, or other things you can hit. It is easy to lose control of a car with a donut. Begin driving in slow circles and then hit the gas hard so that the rear tires begin to lose traction, holding the wheel in the same position to perform the spinning donut.^{[7]
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3
Try a rollback burnout. A rollback is just like a burnout but performed on a hill. They are a good way to get burnout in an underpowered car as the backward movement helps with traction after the burn.
- Find a hill and put the car in first gear. Depress the clutch. Let the car roll backward down the hill slightly, then start giving the car plenty of gas. Finally, "pop" the clutch to jump into first and take off.
4
Use a line locker. A line locker is a device that modifies a car so the brake pedal only engages the front brakes. A line lock is a solenoid (fancy name for a switch) that gives you some extra buttons in the driver's seat to control your brakes. To do a burn out with a line locker installed:^{[8]
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- To use a line locker, step on the brakes and push the line lock button. When you release the brake pedal, you'll leave your front brakes on but disengaging your back brakes, leaving those wheels free to spin, burn and make smoke. Release the line lock button to release the front brakes and move forward.
- Like burnouts, this device is almost always illegal and is quite dangerous.

Community Q&A

Question

Does doing a burnout do any damage to my car?

Community Answer

Yes, if done for too long your car can overheat. The transmission and clutch can overheat. If you have an automatic and you're holding the brake for too long, it will wear out. And those 60,000-mile tires you spent so much on: for every twenty seconds of tire burning, you've just worn them down 20,000 miles.
Question

Can I spin or do burnout in a car with automatic transmission?

Community Answer

Yes. The best way to do it is the following: put the car into Drive, hold the foot brake, build the revs then release the foot brake. How much power the car has and the quality of the tires will determine how good the burnout is.
Question

Can I do a burnout with a FWD car?

Community Answer

Yes. Press the clutch in all the way, rev it high, then pop the clutch while in first gear.

Warnings

Again, burnouts are illegal and will earn you a traffic violation or worse penalties almost everywhere.

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Never try to pop the transmission in an automatic car by revving the engine in neutral and jamming it into gear. This can easily ruin your transmission box or drive shaft resulting in extremely costly repairs.

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Things You'll Need

A car with enough power and appropriate gearing to overcome the traction from the driving wheels.
Driving skill.
Good tires you don't mind destroying.
A tarmac surface, not sand, gravel or grass.