High-performance cars are usually meant to be driven on the track. The level of performance they bring to the table should force the driver/owner to take it to the track to fully enjoy it. However, some people never do and therefore end up pushing the gas pedal of their sportscar in all the wrong places. To be honest, we’ve all done it at some point, leaving the stop sign in a hurry, with some rival on our side, trying to figure out who’s faster. But with today’s launch control sequences in mind, should you go through the trouble of activating it?

The thing is, when you’re at a stop light and someone rolls up next to you, launching fast is paramount and, to be fair, BMW’s launch control activation sequence isn’t the easiest to activate either, especially on DCT-equipped M cars. Sure, it’s not rocket science but it does take a while to get everything right and you just might not have that luxury. But how much of a difference does Launch Control actually make?

To answer this question, the guys from Car Advice took an M3 out for a quick test, to see how the car behaves with and without the feature. First, they tested how fast it is with the DSC system on, Launch Control off and putting the car in Sport+ mode. Of course, that also didn’t get the results everyone was hoping for.

Then they tried things with the DSC completely off which, of course, lit up the rear tires. Lastly they activated Launch Control and reached a 0-62 mph run of 4.6 seconds which is considerably off what BMW claims for the M3. Even so, the Launch Control run was the fastest of the bunch, showing that the car really does work at its best when used. What’s your take on what the guys did here? How do you run your car?