Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
Shift right before it hits redline. Early shifting hurts you. I haven't taken my svt to a drag strip, so no launching advice yet.




But not when launching!!!! With the factory clutch, and with the miles on it, I wouldn't launch anywhere above 1750rpm. This is hard to do because when you let off the clutch your instinctive response is to hammer the gas. As you probably know from experience, the car will hop all over the place when you hammer it from the launch. This will absolutely kill your differential and you will be towing the car home. You have to slip the clutch out slowly when you are launching the factory differential. Resist your urge to push the pedal all the way to the floor in first gear until you are around 5500rpm. Shift into second gear firmly but watch out for the wheel hop again. From then on, row the gears like you are in a conoe ready to go over a waterfall. Shift right at the redline. You should be shifting into 4th gear about 200 feet before you cross the finish line. Watch your tach the entire time (as well as the track). No need to be watching the speedo.

Prep your car for the track: Don't show up to the track with a full tank of gas. This may be disputed but I've never ran a better time due to 93 octane versus 87 octane fuel. 101 octane on the other hand is a different story.
Remove your spare tire/jack/crap in the trunk/and hell, the rear seats while you are at it.
Try different tire pressures. Pressures at the track will differ greatly depending on humidity. Don't make super dramatic changes. You will probably find that if you do, you will get slower or more wheel hop.

The R/T (reaction time) only shows how fast the front tires leave the light in relation to the tree going green. The clock does not start recording your E/T (elapsed time) until your tires leave the light beam. So, when someone said the R/T doesn't mean anything about your actual time, they are correct, Because the clock doesn't start until YOU leave the line. Understand now???


Hope this was not overkill...

CSVT E0 3L 14.5 @ 94mph, Stock Intake, Stock Exhaust minus Resonator, CEL, And Broken Pass. Side CV...Untuned.