I am in a contest to win a cobalt supercharged. There are eight of us in the contest and whoever wins takes home a car. This contest is on friday. We were able to take three runs today but thats it. I was terrible at launching this car. What RPM do you hold it at and how hard do you drop the clutch? My RTs were 1 flat, .927, and .935. Do you go at the last amber or wait for green? I have never raced on a drag strip before so any advise you can give me would be awesome!!!

 

i go on the second to last yellow light

 

i'ma turbocharged Ecotec, but I typically wait until the second yellow light and I hold the rpms around 4,000rpm and slip the clutch in gradually so i dont bog it....

 

I'm assuming your driving the SS.

Low RPMs... 2k-ish maybe. Just feather the throttle and DO NOT spin the tires, just keep them on the very edge of traction. In second you can go WOT usually with no traction problems, but be careful. The car has incredible feedback, so you shuld be able to feel when the tires are on the edge of breaking loose.

Good luck!

 

So who won the Cobalt? How did you do? Depending on how fast YOU react and how deep you are staged, you can leave on either the second or third amber light. If you wait for green, you might as well not bother to show up. Launch technique and rpm vary so much depending on track conditions, use of traction enhancers (such as VHT), weather and your own personal style, that it is impossible for anyone to give you a formula that will work in all cases. Also, tires and tire pressure plays a big roll. Octane of fuel and tune of the car(stock, mild mods, etc.) are big players as well. The advice that you got from others here is good under the right conditions. hope you did well, even if you did not win the car.

 

do you start letting up the clucth on the 2nd to last yellow where it starts to move the car slowly as you are letting it up or you dont move the car at all untill green??

 

not him since he hasn't returned.. he musta sucked.

 

i go as soon as i see the last amber light up.... my reaction times are anywere between .50-.2

 

LAUNCH at the second to last yellow. by the time it's green you'll be on it

 

in my 2.2(115hp non-ecotec) auto cavalier i used to be awsome at reaction times, .500 personal best...but since getting the cobalt it has been hit or miss, 5.30 being the best, but i've had them up at like .700's. I rev to about 2k, with both staging lights on, and leave as soon as i see the 3rd yellow light come on...i try to slip it as much as possible, but sometimes in the exicitment i dump it, or i'll slip it less than 2k and bog it pretty bad...takes alot of pratice, but when i do nail everything it feels really good to pull off 2.2 60' times with little wheel hop and a little wheel spin...this friday and sunday will be the first time racing with stage 2, so i can imagine how different, and difficult that will end up being.

 

just so you guys know... I won my first race, lost the one after that. We're at about 5,000 ft elevation so you will laugh at my times. I ran a 16 flat @80 mph, its the best time anybody has gotten in any of the four cars we were racing. My second race i dumped the clutch a tad too much and ran 16.3 @ 78mph and lost by .003. The next week I took my 99 dodge dakota 5.2L 5spd against my buddys 04 corolla S and beat him. I just havent posted here cuz i dont have a cobalt so i dont really fit in.... anyway, thanks for the advise guys, it won me the first race at least.

 

I took my car to the track yesterday for the first time. I'm really embarassed because my best time was 16.08 at 95 mph. I'm at sea level. I just couldn't launch the car right. I kept spinning the tires. I felt like slamming into a wall after that. It was my first race from a dig because i usually race on the expressway. what can I do to get a better launch?

 

I got a 14.7 @ 97 while just rolling off the line like I was leaving a street light and then slowly laying into the throttle to prevent wheel spin. The track is at 1,200 ft