Ok, when I'm about to race somebody from a stop, usually I have it in drive with one foot on the gas, one on the brake holding at 2000 untill we go. But I've always wondered how much of a difference L and I make. I read the manuel but didn't really understand how that would effect the car under full throttle during a race. Can anybody help me out? Whats the difference between D I and L when I'm racing?

 

In the 2.4, L makes sure the traction control doesn't kick in and kill the HP. Not sure if the 2.2 has that.

But, shifting manually from L to I gets a much quicker shift, and the shifts in I are definitely faster than in D. So it could pick up a few thou.

 

hold your foot on the break and give it a lil gas.. put your car in (l) and then punch the gas and let off the break at the same time...when you feel the trany about to kick into 3rd throw it into (D) and just punch it... i have a 2.2 w a autotrans interceptor and when i do it i chirp 3rd

-drew

 

What they said is true. The 2.2L is just like the 2.4L as far as the traction control thing is concerned. I Plan on getting the B&M Shiftplus for $40 which shortens the time the trans takes to shift gears. Also i plan on working on wiring up a way to bypass the traction control so that it can be disabled no matter what gear you have the car in.

 

I thought traction control was optional? My LS is base, only options are cruise control and the auto trans

 

My cobalt is bare bones and i have traction control on it, does a thing that says T/C crossed out come up on your dash?

 

As it has already been mentioned.
"D" is your overdrive setting and uses the highest possible gear for shifting, and allows you to go into the overdrive gear (4th). Traction control is on.
"I" is an intermediate gear that provides more engine braking through firmer shifts and using the lowest possible gear when shifting. It will also lock out 4th gear and comes standard with traction control.
"L" is your low gear. It DISABLES traction control (which is good for launches because if your wheels start spinning while in "I" or "D", the T/C will kick in and majorly reduce power from your engine (limp mode, basically)) It will only go into 2nd gear though.

Start in "L", Brake launch (what you've been doing, holding the brake, and pressing the gas to get your RPMS to 2k, but don't hold this longer than about a second, it's hell on your transmission fluid), then shift to "I" when you get around 5k rpms.
That should finish you up in any 1/4mile race just fine. I would only slip back into "D" if you were going in excess of 100mph....which you should never be anyway.

 

you actually dont have to shift it...staying in L will give you a firm 1-2 shift, then you change to I, which will give you an equally aggressive 2-3 shift....you dont have to change from L to I at redline...i usually do it at 5000RPMs in 2nd gear

 

I just said that :P

 

traction control comes on vehicles with ABS. I live in michigan and its a good thing to have in the winter. Plus i got it free cuz the dealer messed up and told me it would give me disc brakes all around. However the traction control thing is annoying. I actually had the vehicle for about 2 minutes before i turned around because i forgot something and my first question was how the **** do you turn off the T/C and his answer was you cant. Thats why im going to wire a switch so i can.

I plan on tapping into the e-brake and make the car think that the e-brake is on when its not. However with this method i have to figure out how to bypass the chime as well or it may be on the entire time T/C is off but I'm not sure

 

that would be a pretty sweet mod.

 

beat me to the post button

 

I don't have abs and no theres not a T/C on my dash...

So basically I should never be in OverDrive during a 1/8th race. Thanks for your answers

 

When you're driving, shift into "L" when you are stopped. In between the tachometer and RPM gauge at the very bottom of the black a red " T/C" should be on. Shift into "I" and it will go back off. We all have the same transmissions in the 2.2L and 2.4l.

And no, you should never race in "D" The only time it would be remotely useful to use the 4th Overdrive gear would be upwards of 100mph. The governor will shut you down around 105 anyway, plus they're no reason to go that high (It's a cobalt, not an enzo)

 

That's kinda funny, but nice new knowledge. I have a base ls, and almost always raced in "D". The only time I would put it in I was when I would go from a roll.

I actually think the 07 LS has a Gov at 112. I have the 87S tires too. I took mine that high today on the 87 twice(with brake and tire cool down period of an hour). It was weird, because it shifted to 4th at 105mph. That would leave a good 30mph without the gov. 135mph, But damn is that 4th gear crappy. The 3rd to 4th shift drops me to like 3500 or 4K rpms! I'll have to eventually pull that 4th gear and put in something tighter. Or maybe just figure out how to put a 5 or 6 speed auto in.

So let me get this straight. From a dig: Put it in "L" for the hard 1-2 shift. Once in second gear at 5K shift to "I" for the harder 2-3 shift, and then once in third, shift to D for the overdrive for 100+speeds. Or maybe I should see about how high the car will go in "I".

 

I've never done a 1/4 race, but I'd imagine I would be the best gear to go in. I doubt we'd need 4th gear to hit 1/4 mile, but I still has traction control on so thats a downside. We need to jerry rig a traction off button, shouldn't be too hard.

 

this is correct, though you can change from L to I at any RPM in 2nd gear, not just 5000RPMs for the aggressive shift...5000 is just where i tend to change mine

you can also probably stay in I past 100mph....i hit the speed governor in 3rd gear with some more room to travel to redline, so you can get 110+ speeds in 3rd gear (or I)...id still change to D for a 3-4 shift though, as it might not shift you and could hurt the trans/engine if it doesnt

 

Cool!! I'll try this when I race this Lancer ES with intake, exhaust, and a 50 shot of NOS. He thinks even though he is about 35 horse less, and 45 less torque, and virtually the same weight because of his added subs and amps. He thinks the NOS will make his car a 13 second car.

 

you trying to get him to blow his tranny? my friend also has an 06 auto cobalt ls like mine, he raced and was reving in N and then threw it in D, you shouldve heard the noise his tranny made ahaha *******. If you miss the shift b/e 2nd and 3rd won't that hurt the tranny too?

 

Did I miss something? I didn't see anyone suggesting revving in N and dropping it into D. That will kill an auto for sure.

As for missing the shift between 2 and 3, how can you miss a shift with an auto? Once it's in I, the auto will make the shift for you. If it misses the shift, then something inside is broken.

 

thats what i was talking about

 

OK, I see the confusion. I believe he was talking about a torque stall launch, but got it a bit out of sequence. It shoul dbe:

Put it in L.
Hold the brake.
Give it a little gas to run the turque converter up against stall (the engine should just start to lug down).
Hit the gas, at the same time releasing the brake (pros actually lag the brake by a fraction, but you have to be good to not stall the engine or put things in too much of a bind).

This is as close as you can get to a drop-clutch launch in a manual. Real dragsters with autos have a high-stall torque converter, that doesn't lock in until like 3500 RPM. They're terrible to drive on the street, because every time you launch it's like dropping the clutch on a manual from 3500 RPM.