ok well, I just got into drag racing, i mainly use to street race and I came across shifting. Would it be more beneficial to start in first gear, shift to 2nd right before 5k, then throw it in drive when it almost hits 5k? Or just to leave it in OD and floor it? Mods in sig. O btw, what would a 1/4 time be for my cat? ET?

 

If yours acts anything like mine, the tranny will shift at about 4800 RPMs. With your cam, that is probably well below the peak power of the cam, or at least below where the best times would be obtained.

When I last ran mine, before the mods, my best times were obtained by letting it shift itself, for a couple of reasons: 1) The shifting was so sloppy, I had to shift before the RPMs got to the point where I wanted it to shift - judging that was less than fully successful; 2) It will shift at the same RPMs every time if you let it shift by itself.

Now, it is just getting going well if I let it shift itself. MUST do the shifting for it now!

You should be somewhere in the 15's with decent air (combination of temperature, barometric pressure, humidity) at sea level.

 

ok, well I DONT have the ZZ4 cam in yet nor my headers, which kinda sucks, I just got them and I havent had anytime to put them in at all. But in OD my first shifts at around 4,000-4,1000 rpm, then in 2nd it shifts at around 3,500 rpm. Last night I ran it and started in first gear, "L", and ran it till 5k, shifted to second, ran it till 4,500, then shifted back in to Drive, and I ran a 16.4 @ 83mph I never tried just doign it in OD or D, but I dont know if I would do as well, do you think i would?

 

When I ran my 305 TBI at its peak it didn't mater whether I manually shifted or kept it in "D" the whole way. Don't do OD, if my fuzzy memory serves me correctly it was slower than straight D and floor it. Go to TNT and try manually from L to D and try straight D and see which works better for you. If, like me, there's no diff stay in D and pay attention to other things like timing and the light you can do killer in brackets that way. In my opinion this is an advantage over shifting. You have less variables to deal with.

 

sounds good, guess ill go to TNT next friday, no way im running my piece in the bracket yet.

 

would it be better if i put it in neutral, then kept my car at 3 or 4k, then when green lights i just shift it in first or D, if I kept good traction?

 

This is probably the quickest way to kill an auto and can be very dangerous. It may even be illegal at some strips, it is at ours.

 

Ack! Neutral drops in a automatic are the easiest way to destroy a tranny. It's not a standard. There is hydraulic pressure operating inside. If you want to launch at a higher rpm then get a higher stall converter.

 

ok, but starting in L(first), then switching to second then drive is ok?

 

Yep, shifting the trans manualy is fine for the transmission.

Neutral drops = dropped/broken trans = crap all over track = bad traction and waiting for everyone else.

I'd personaly smack someone if I saw them doing this.

-Doug