I want to run my 99 gs400 and have some setup questions:

1) VSC off?

2) Manual shift mode or auto?

3) RPM shift point if manual?

What will yield the fastest time?

Thanks

 

To give the best acceleration time:

1) Have 1/4 tank or less gas
2) Remove spare tire
3) A/C OFF
4) VSC OFF
5) Put it DRIVE (let the computer do the shifting)
6) Power Brake Torque at 1800 to 1900 rpm (if you don't know what this - it means left foot on brake pedal and right foot on accelerator pedal and rev engine to 1800 to 1900 rpm)
7) Release brake while flooring the accelerator pedal at the same time.

Chu...

 

i pretty much agree with what chuh said. personally on the drag stripe i think putting the car in D is the best way

 

wheres the fun in that? if you are already at the track might as well make it more intresting. Plus letting the engine red-line a little before shifting is not bad. The computer wont allow it.

 

Depends on if you want to get the best time, or actually win in side by side competition. I would make a couple of passes leaving it in drive with the VSC off. Note starting line procedure and at what RPM the transmission shifts. If it's close to the red line, you wouldn't gain much by manually shifting and run the risk of over winding the motor and having the rev limiter engage, which usually kills ET.
The key to winning is consistency. The key to low ET is how the car behaves in the first 60 feet. For consistency, try to do the same thing and get the car to do the same thing every time. Depending on what type of tires you are running, heating them may or may not help. You wil want to at least clean them off on the starting line (the "burn out"). Experiment with starting line RPM. Shouldn't take more than a few passes. Watch the tree. Your reaction time is measured and will be on your time slip. Try to leave as little margin here as possible. If you can cut the reaction time down without red-lighting, and if the car runs consistently, you will be very hard to beat.
I wonder if NHRA has a classification for a GS 430 in Super Stock Eliminator?

 

the problem is, if you shift at what feels like the right time, the auto tranny takes a tenth or two to shift and you loose the sweet spot and/or hit the rev limiter. been there

 

Not sure I understand your point.

Shifting manually will not yield faster times, no better than equal.

If you redline in manual mode, the rev limiter will kick in and clow you down further. Where's the fun in that ??

 

what's the fun when you can't get a faster time? we are talking about drag strip here, you want the car to be fast and shift asap once it hits redline. if you floor it all the way in D that's what you are getting. keep it in sport shift and you are just hitting the rev limiter, i don't see the good.

if you are on the race track then it's a different story, you HAVE to use the sport shift so you can hold certain gears...

 

i didnt know that the GSs have rev limiters. I take what i said back

 

No prob bro. We're here to educate !

 

shifting only helps when u need to down shift to pass some one on highway, but in a straight line just let the computer do all the work while u hang on.thats why they stopped the eshift for 01 and up,

 

actually, you can have some fun manually shifting, like everyone says, for holding a gear it 's nice, just make sure you shift up one gear early once you floor it and the computer will shift to next gear on time.

btw- I think all modern cars have rev limiters.

 

yeah that's correct, most modern cars they have rev limiters already as safety feature. it makes perfect sense actaully considering that cars nowadays are getting more and more power, overrev can seriously damage the engine

 

when u floor it , the car automatically rev's up to redline before shifting anyways, so why bother shifting. just hang on w/both hands.

 

Several of you eluded to the car shifting AT redline when in Drive.

Something must be wrong with my car because it DOES NOT shift at redline in Drive. It's about 300-400rpm short of the redline. Everytime.

I got my best time by having the shift lever in '2' and then hitting my e-shift button just a little earlier than what would "seem" to be best. Factor in that dreaded e-shift delay and BAM, you can time it to be right at redline.