pasting my reply from the mustang thread:
24~26 psi in the rear tires(advice from a guy at the track- helped a bunch with wheelspin), 2500 launch, shift at ~4800... practice rolling on the throttle from 2500 without spinning at all- its not easy to get it quick without spinning, just takes a few tries. Mines got the 3.55 gears, some newer ones are now getting 331's even with the stick- if so play around with launch rpm, but would guess closer to 3000 would not spin excessively.
mines a coupe, might be a few pounds lighter, best to date 13.78 @103 bone stock. Launching higher than 2500= horrible 60 foot times, and that first few feet is all important timewise...I was powershifting up on the limiter, car didnt like it- smoked my 2nd gear synchronizer- it still drives, but will not shift over 5000 anymore and gets balky once in a while even in normal driving. adding insult to injury, shifting at higher rpm never got under 14.2...was fun barking the tires in third, but not at that price
the car seems much quicker shifting near the torque peak- after that its just noise.
I dont *know* that 6000 rpm shifting hurt my tranny, but if not theres something else to watch out for- I was so hyped up, I noticed afterwards I was tending to hold pressure on my shifter all the way thru second- I know some aftermarket shifters have stop bolts so you cant force the fork into the gear after its engaged, but stock dont- so it may have been just me holding pressure on the stick that messed up my synchronizer...so dont do that anyways
when you stage, just BARELY get that second staged light on- creep up to it. the more 'roll' you can get before releasing the first beam starting the clock the better- that first inch might take over 2/10ths by the time the suspension loads and the car moves. reaction time dont count towards ET, so dont worry about leaving- you can let the other guy hit half track before you go, your timeslip will still show your ET(but with a horrible reaction time). If you want to work on your reaction time, just launch as soon as the third amber starts to illuminate- you wont redlight unless you got slicks/ a gear/ or way more hp
make sure your A/C is off(both for HP and moreso so it dont drip any condensation on the track making a dangerous situation for the next guy), I'd say turn off the TCS, but you will need to be a little gentle with the throttle...if the TCS kicks in at launch, the 'stumble' will hurt 60 foot time, and thats really the only place youre gonna improve your time. I still have yet to hit a 2.0 60 foot, thats supposed to be 'what to shoot for' (2.07 best to date one time for me) but I heard of guys hitting 1.9 stock- takes perfect throttle/clutch, and I aint that coordinated.
pop the hood, let it cooldown between runs- some guys put a bag of ice on the intake, I'm kinda chicken about hot/cold messing something up- as long as the intake aint 'hot' to the touch, it'll run good(feel that intake after a run- its almost too hot to hold) about 15 minutes with the hood up will cool it down pretty well...I shutoff in the staging lanes, only run a few seconds to pull up- a couple cars before you get called up, let it run, settle down, put up the windows, -dont forget the TCS off...no need for a burnout(if you do it will slow you down a bit, but my kids loved it- wax the quarters real well before going- the 'rubber noodles' are a bugger to remove). best IMO is just dump the clutch at about 3k as youre flooring it do a very short spin to clean the tires let off and stage. Ive heard the tires get greasy if you smoke them, and belive thats true- was fun, but spun a lot worse off the line. if you dont do a short spin first, the dirt on your tires will most likely cause more spin at launch(also watch the return lanes- I pulled off one day not thinking, parked where there was some mud- the track guy was pissed as when it spun it left dirt all over- oops)
have fun- it is a freaking blast
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