ok so far ive raced an probe, lancer, integra, and civic, beat them all but when getting up to harder cars what would u guys suggest on shifting. what mph should i top out in 1st, 2nd, n 3rd. cuz most likely the race is over after 3rd. and also in moving races what would be a reasonable amount of speed i should drop into 3 and take off...? id really appreciate it but this whole stick thing is new to me...haha :lol:

when i shift to get the most out of each gear you should shift a little or almost in begining of redline

you beat a lancer? Thats awsome, i cant wait to get mine! So how is the speed? How fast have you had it? As you know i ordered the exact car you did so sorry about all the questions, lol. Is it quick in acceleration?

^ ^ lancers are pretty heavy suckers, just don't mess with an EVO.

The shift point on a car is dependant on the car, so the best people to tell you would be other 2.2L cobalt owners. But i guess since you are one of the few, that dosn't help you much does it?

My advice would be to vary your shift patterns and watch your speedo so you can see how fast your speed rises. Also use your "butt dyno" the more you feel your back against the seat, the faster you are accelerating. If the roads are dry you can also use the sound of your tires breaking lose: if you spin for more than 1/2 - 1 second then you are wasting time and not building speed. You should hear little chirps of your tires when you launch + feather the cluch out, and chirp betweenyou first shift, maybe your 2nd as well but i doubt that you have enough power for that.

if those cars are getting beat by the 2.2, they are going to be pissed when they get raped by the S/C! :-D

yeah dude, i swear this cobalt has balls. i know for a fact its ecotec engine is built right and better then the other ecotecs. such as the grand ams and cava-qweers. haha :lol: but yeah dont be suprised when ur kicking the shit outta ralliarts. integras, civics, n even eclipses. cuz i just went out last night and whipped up a eclipse gs and an auto GTS (THE V6) hahaha...i love stick. dont u all? :cssNET: :cssNET:

yeah dude, i swear this cobalt has balls. i know for a fact its ecotec engine is built right and better then the other ecotecs. such as the grand ams and cava-qweers. haha :lol: but yeah dont be suprised when ur kicking the shit outta ralliarts. integras, civics, n even eclipses. cuz i just went out last night and whipped up a eclipse gs and an auto GTS (THE V6) hahaha...i love stick. dont u all? :cssNET: :cssNET:
can u race these cars for me??
1) Neon (Not SRT-4)
2) Sentra SE-R
3) Scion TC
4) 02+ Civic Si
Just wanted to know how fast the base is .... :cssNET:

if those cars are getting beat by the 2.2, they are going to be pissed when they get raped by the S/C! :-D
Cobalt SS/SC = Rice Killer :lol:

can u race these cars for me??
1) Neon (Not SRT-4)
2) Sentra SE-R
3) Scion TC
4) 02+ Civic Si
Just wanted to know how fast the base is .... :cssNET:

alright man ill try. ill let u know straight up what i think. number 1. a neon without turbo id OWN, sentra SE-R thad be a good race, scion tc, never seen them take off but i think i can take it. and an 02 civic id loose for sure. those si vtecs are pretty quick for stock. haha their pushing like 160-170 horse.

Uhrm, shift when your RPM hits the redline, not before then.

As for when to downshift to third, depends on what speed your going, you dont want to be going to fast so that you end up having to shift into 4th soon after you downshift, and you dont want to downshift to low into the RPM, although I cant imagine that being a problem.

Figure out what RPM you are in 5th gear, then estimate 1000 RPM per gear and go from there.

no use trying an SRT unless your a ss/sc. i was on the fence for quite a while deciding between the ss/sc or an SRT. i went the SRT route due to chevy dropping the ball on getting the car made. i lined up with a white ls about a week ago in VA Beach from a red light. i hit hte rev limeter in first and still had 1.5 to 2 cars on it by the time i shifted to 3rd. Not here trying to brag just letting ya know. (if that guy is on these boards "hello")

good kills either way... domestics unite!

yeah dude, i swear this cobalt has balls. i know for a fact its ecotec engine is built right and better then the other ecotecs. such as the grand ams and cava-qweers. haha :lol: but yeah dont be suprised when ur kicking the shit outta ralliarts. integras, civics, n even eclipses. cuz i just went out last night and whipped up a eclipse gs and an auto GTS (THE V6) hahaha...i love stick. dont u all? :cssNET: :cssNET:

Don't get to high on that horse, it is the same eco from the cav. Since when did N-bodys have ecotecs? I know a few had the 2.4 LD9 but I've never heard about one with an eco.

Uhrm, shift when your RPM hits the redline, not before then.

As for when to downshift to third, depends on what speed your going, you dont want to be going to fast so that you end up having to shift into 4th soon after you downshift, and you dont want to downshift to low into the RPM, although I cant imagine that being a problem.

Figure out what RPM you are in 5th gear, then estimate 1000 RPM per gear and go from there.


Not nessecarily. During my test drive I didn't find alot of power over 6000rpm. Going all the way to 6500rpm might be futile.

Some cars are quicker if they are shifted before redline. Only way to know for sure is take it to the track.

Not nessecarily. During my test drive I didn't find alot of power over 6000rpm. Going all the way to 6500rpm might be futile.

Some cars are quicker if they are shifted before redline. Only way to know for sure is take it to the track.

True, but a car makes more power in a lower gear even if the engine doesn't. Meaning the engine may make 300HP at 6000RPM, and 290 at 6500RPM. But do to transmission gearing, the car will still accelerate faster than if you shifted earlier.

say 1st gear is a 3.00 gear, and 2nd is a 2.75

290* 3.00=870
300* 2.75=825

You can see how the force of the car is lower despite the engine making more power.

Hey... nice thread going on here...

I haven't pushed my car yet.. I am driving it agressively.. but doing it slowly a little bit at a time...

I DID CHIRP 2nd. gear... And the car feels like it can chirp 3rd... ((Have to try that next)) lolol

And for the new people that don't know.... I have an LS Coupe!... :cssNET:

And yeah... They have some balls on them! :D

Hey... nice thread going on here...

I haven't pushed my car yet.. I am driving it agressively.. but doing it slowly a little bit at a time...

I DID CHIRP 2nd. gear... And the car feels like it can chirp 3rd... ((Have to try that next)) lolol

And for the new people that don't know.... I have an LS Coupe!... :cssNET:

And yeah... They have some balls on them! :D

sport coupe? if so, its auto i assume

no 5 speed i am getting the same one

Not nessecarily. During my test drive I didn't find alot of power over 6000rpm. Going all the way to 6500rpm might be futile.

Some cars are quicker if they are shifted before redline. Only way to know for sure is take it to the track.
Yep at about 5,800+ all the pull is about gone. :rolleyes:

as for the down shiting part of your ?, i have cars pull up on me all the time on the free way and 40-50+mph roads.

What i usually do is atleast down shift one gear. even if your in 5th and the RPMs are low if you floor it your not going to have the RPMs to accel the car, if im at like 3-4k rpm ill usually down shift. if higher i really down shift.

as for speeds to shift at, only time i ever look at the speedo in a race is when its over, the RPM gauge is the one you want to be watching, its the one that will bog your car down if you shift early and if you shift to late well you migh need a tow truck....

GL hope to race a LS coupe soon in my car, then beat the crap out of my friends in a SS as soon as they have some here.

^ . Also use your "butt dyno" the more you feel your back against the seat, the faster you are accelerating.

That right there is awesome... :lol: the BUTT DYNO ... :bow:

My advice would be to vary your shift patterns and watch your speedo so you can see how fast your speed rises. Also use your "butt dyno" the more you feel your back against the seat, the faster you are accelerating.

not always.

I found a good write up on a 300zx forum about choosing shift points. Ive been searching for it but to no avail. There are two ways to do shift points. One for the feel and one for the speed. To accuratly choose and appropriate shift point, you need a dyno of your specific car.

To get the "seat of the pants" feel, youll want to shift where your HP is at its peak or just before so it "feels" like there is a lot of power. However, to get the speed shift points, you want to shift where the HP will be the best when at the top of the gear and at the bottom of the gear.

It had all these fancy formulas where you put in the gear ratio and rpm with HP and what not and you would see where you would be shifting at. I really wish i couldve found it because that was a damn good article :(

ok so far ive raced an probe, lancer, integra, and civic, beat them all but when getting up to harder cars what would u guys suggest on shifting. what mph should i top out in 1st, 2nd, n 3rd. cuz most likely the race is over after 3rd. and also in moving races what would be a reasonable amount of speed i should drop into 3 and take off...? id really appreciate it but this whole stick thing is new to me...haha :lol:
You have an LS.

Step #1 is buy a car worth "racing" :rolleyes: :nuts:

You have an LS.

Step #1 is buy a car worth "racing" :rolleyes: :nuts:
^^^^all you do is make fun of people..maybe not everyone wants the SS model or and SRT4, maybe they just want the regular model, look at all the people and i hate to say this that have bought base civics and turboed and modded them to gods extent...dont make fun of them for it

By the way what kind of car do you drive....a geo prizm :rolleyes:

he's been banned, so you dont have to worry about him replying anymore.

Thank you my prayer has been answered the BOOT of BOOSTED

^^^^all you do is make fun of people..maybe not everyone wants the SS model or and SRT4, maybe they just want the regular model, look at all the people and i hate to say this that have bought base civics and turboed and modded them to gods extent...dont make fun of them for it

By the way what kind of car do you drive....a geo prizm :rolleyes:
Not making fun just stating a FACT. The LS is a econobox meant to commute not race. :lol:

Not making fun just stating a FACT. The LS is a econobox meant to commute not race. :lol:


and civic get 400WHP, and they're econobox's

I know you can make any car fast if you have the $, but a stock Cobalt LS is not anywhere near FAST. So go dump a ton into it & make it fast. THEN race it.

Who says to "race" you need a car that runs low 14s?
Maybe to "race" you should have something in the 13s.
(Some folks may consider low 14s to be pretty slow.)

If someone wants to race an LS, let them. Who cares?

What STOCK Civic makes 400whp? :lol: :rolleyes:

I know you can make any car fast if you have the $, but a stock Cobalt LS is not anywhere near FAST. So go dump a ton into it & make it fast. THEN race it.


Oh & admin, IP ban does not do it as you see. I guess you don't know much about the net huh? :lol: :cssNET:

Have a nice day.

Ban me again if you'd like. I'll be back. :nuts:


What kind of asshole changes his name so he can come back and argue his opinion...next time i want to hear it from an ass ill fart :lol:

not sure if this helps anybody, but here goes. I got my Cobalt 2.2L coupe about a month ago and i love that thing. it's arrival blue with custom tribal graphics down the side, its sleak.

But to the point, on the 2.2L coupes I'm pretty sure there is a rev gov. because it will NOT let you rev past redline, it automaticly begins to decellerate if you even TOUCH the redline. So a hint, shift about a microsecond before you redline, as your speed will boost as you hit the next gear.

I've raced a Honda Civic hatchback (around a mid-90 model), which had your basic cold-air intake and HUGE muffler (go figure), and beat him rather easily. Only challenge I've had so far was from an '01 VW Jetta, not sure if he had any aftermarket stuff under the hood, but he had one of those huge mufflers too, bleh. anyways, got beside him at a redlight and raced him. I took him off the line, about half a cars length ahead of him, but by the time I hit 3rd gear he was slowly gaining on me. I looked down and saw I was doing 80mph in 3rd gear down a street with a 45mph speed-limit. So I put the car in neutral and idled to the next redlight, at which he rolled his window down and gave me a holy shit look (at my car). :bow: Cobalts aren't the fastest car in the world, but I think people underestimated them. I love it. :cssNET:

not sure if this helps anybody, but here goes. I got my Cobalt 2.2L coupe about a month ago and i love that thing. it's arrival blue with custom tribal graphics down the side, its sleak.

But to the point, on the 2.2L coupes I'm pretty sure there is a rev gov. because it will NOT let you rev past redline, it automaticly begins to decellerate if you even TOUCH the redline. So a hint, shift about a microsecond before you redline, as your speed will boost as you hit the next gear.



right, thats called the rev limited
it is the highest point the computer will let the motor rev to due to fuel cut and power curves
if you were to get past that point, you would produce less power, and overheat your engine like whoah

doesnt it create the full 145hp at around 57-5800 RPMS? So should that be the shift point?

Well... ideally you want your shift to the next gear to land within the power band of the engine.

If you shift at 5800 or what not.. the next gear will start at say 4500 or something. Which is around maximum torque point, so maybe that's not a bad idea. I don't race cars so I'm talking out my rear with speculation.

Running a car out to redline is not always the best for quickest acceleration. Let say we have a car that makes 95@5000, 160@5500, 115@6000, 90@6500 and 70hp at the Rev Limiter (7000). And lets say that on the 2-3 shift the RPM drops 1500 rpm.

You can see that it would be much better to shift at 6500 rpm (90hp) dropping to 5000 rpm (95hp) than it would to shift at redline (70hp) dropping to 5500 rpm (160hp). Although, holding it out to redline will "feel" faster because you're shifting into the peak hp. You may even "chirp" the tires shifting at redline like that, but in reality you'll be slower because the average HP used across the gears will be lower (160, 115, 90, 70 = 108 average) vs shifting at the optimal shift points (95, 160, 115, 90 = 115 average).

If you have a dyno chart, you can use Car Test v4.5 to find optimal shift points. You'll need to build a car (probably start with a similiar car like the Cavalier since the software is older & the Cobalt won't be there) and modify the car specific parameters to put the torque curve in there. Then when you do the standing start acceleration test, you'll see what the computer comes up with for optimal shift points.

The Car Test software can be downloaded here:
http://www.richmondgear.com/01cartest.html

as for weither the ls with the manuals and the 2.2 can chirp the tires into 3rd..ive done it..ONCE but i have done it.

one thing i instantly noticed with the ecotec 2.2 vs the old 2200, is they love higher rpms, and they get up to speed quicker. obviously the aditional 25 hp and 35 torq helps but its just smoother. when i test drove a base cobalt i noticed 2 nd gear is its strongest. it just rips, so make sure you shift quick into 2nd. I would shift right before red line never at or into redline.
ull find a grove and it will become natural, good luck.

ive also only chirped third once in mine, i wish i knew what i did to do it cuz its fun lol

ive also only chirped third once in mine, i wish i knew what i did to do it cuz its fun lol


mine can do it all the time
i try to shift and drag the clutch so it goes in at higher rpms
i dont like chirpin gears, poor tires

but i do love 2nd gear

what is ecotec btw? i know vtec from honda is the variable timed electronic controller, but what is ecotec? economy controller?

what is ecotec btw? i know vtec from honda is the variable timed electronic controller, but what is ecotec? economy controller?

ecotech is the engine, not Vtec, which is pretty much ricer garbage

VTEC -- all of the turbo lag, none of the power.

:D

what is ecotec btw? i know vtec from honda is the variable timed electronic controller, but what is ecotec? economy controller?

Ummm...no ;)

First of all, Honda VTEC stands for "Variable Valve Timing and Electronic Lift Control".

Ecotec doesn't really stand for anything. Its just a word thats a combo of "Economical Technology" - meaning the Ecotec engines are both high-tech and efficient.

VTEC is a system of variable valve timing, Ecotec is not. VTEC is not the name of all Honda's engines, its just imprinted on the valve covers of engines that have that feature. Honda engines don't really have a specific name, they just have numbers, such as "b16a", meaning a b-series 1.6 liter engine.

GM's version of "VTEC" is just called VVT, for Variable Valve Timing. So VTEC is the equivelent of VVT as Ecotec would be to b16a, one is an engine technology and the other is a name for a series of engines.

Hope that clears things up for you ;)

ecotech is the engine, not Vtec, which is pretty much ricer garbage

hahaha... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Actually Honda/Acura makes some of the best engines in the world. Anyone who is into F1 racing would know this. They just don't put them in low income consumer cars like Civics - which is marketed as a computer controlled 'gas saver' not a performance machine. The major problem with Honda is that if you do anything such as turbo, the computer requires major tuning. I go to highschool with a kid who put over 3k into his Civic and he runs a 15.5. Kind of sad, but at least he's Go over Show.
The Ecotec engine might as well be the second coming of Jesus for tuners. If you want 250 to 600 streetable HP its the perfect engine to start with.

I can't believe no one has called him on this yet, but you should base your shift points on RPM not MPH......

i have a ss/sc and i shift around 5,500rpms b/c around that rpm is were the max hp/f.lbs acumulate and over that rpm like around 6,000 to 6,500 u are loosing hp. i raced a mustang,eclipse gsx,jetta gls,vw corrada vr6 if that is the correct name and my friends other ss/sc cobalt and beat everyone of them. ecept the vw corrada vr6.but that was a good race. it all depends on how well u know ur car and how it performes. just my 2 cents on this convo. ;)

car is basically stock but im upgrading to k&n cai,2.8 pully,psi-fi,new mecanical gauges for better readings,and 3" exhaust for now. till then ill keep yall updated on races and mods

I know you're new and all but next time check the post date on the thread. This one is over 3 months old, lol.