plain drive is 3rd...O/D is 4th...It really depends how fast you will get going....if you think 2nd gear will allow you to go as ast as you need to, then putting it in second is fine, but be sure to at least put it in 3rd (regular drive) before letting off the gas, because its not all the great on your tranny to have say 5,000 RPM on it when you let off the gas in 2nd gear, and make your car slow it self. Plus, depending on how well you know your car, and its shift spots, if you start in second, and do not know exactly where to throw it into drive, you may risk hitting a rev limiter, which will slow your time down...Personally, I would just take it out of O/D and stick with that.

Ok, my dash reads from far left like this Park, Reverse, Nutral, Overdrive, Drive, 2nd, 1st. I know how to shift from first to second when the RPM hits around 5, but when it hits 5 again in 2nd do I go to drive, or should i avoide shifting all together and punch it in drive or overdrive?

Avoid shifting all together and put it in Drive when you are at the track. Drive is the same thing as 3rd gear...

So no overdrive...?

You should not need it while racing it...How fast will you car go in Drive (3rd) gear???

My car goes to 98mph in 2nd, and then uses 3rd to fisnish its way to the 107mph speed limiter, so it never even has the chance to make it into 4th gear (O/D) if I just floor it off the line and hold it to the floor.

Needs 4th (O/D) to continue climbing in speed then just stick it in overdrive. But my guess is tht your car will not be going fast enough in the time you have to go down the track to need 4th (O/D) which is why I think you will be fine just putting it in Drive, not overdrive. But if you really are not sure where your cars shift points are, then putting it in O/D (4th) is the best bet so that you don't have to worry about it.

Some people turn the heater on full blast, because it will help get heat away from the engine (just like through your radiator). IMO, unless your car overheats- there is no reason to do this. Just leave the HVAC blower off during your pass.

Of course windows up- think of all the wind noise at 60+ mph with the windows down, thats all drag! I doubt they'd let you run with the windows down anyways- the only cars I've seen run w/o windows have window nets to keep the driver in the car in case it rolls (in case you think this can't happen to you- what if the other car side swipes you and flips you at 80+ mph?). Really, I doubt they'll let you pull up to the line with the windows down anyways.

Duh, of course! You could easily be talking 100+ lbs, which could equate to 0.1 seconds or more. IMO, subs aren't made for racing- if the box is somewhat easy to remove, then get it out of there- you can leave the amp and other stuff if you want.

First time down the strip- just floor it and go like normal, no need to get fancy your first time down the track.

Once you get comfortable, here is how to powerbrake- pull up and stage your car (both top pairs of lights lit up)- and make sure the other car does too. Put your left foot FIRMLY on the brake. Once you see the single yellows start counting down, press the gas pedal to load the engine (it will rev up, but not move since you're still on the break). Once the light goes green, let go of the break and get the throttle to 100% as quick as possible.

This is how to launch the hardest, but its subject to tire spin. If you're spinning the tires- either roll into wide open throttle a little slower, or don't press the gas so hard during powerbraking.

The reason I say to wait until the lights start counting down is because inside your torque converter the trans input turbine is at 0 RPM and your engine side turbine is at 1500-2000 RPM, so the fluid in between starts to heat up quickly. The torque converter makes more torque with a bigger difference in rpm- so power braking it will let it hit a higher RPM quickly off the line, and hence more torque. However, if you sit there for 3,4, 5 + seconds- your tranny fluid can get extremely hot real fast- so wait until the lights start dropping.

Don't shift at all- pull up in overdrive (the circled D that you always drive in) and run it like that.

Putting it in 1 does nothing- I'm 99% sure it will still do the 1-2 shift at the same point regardless.

Putting it in 2 will hold the transmission from shifting 2-3, but why would you want that? You'll probably hit the rev limited in 2nd by the end of the track- so why would you not want it to shift to 3rd? You aren't going to make it shift much later than normal- there is a fairly narrow window before it hits the rev limiter, so why take the chance?

Putting it in 3 (regular D) would work since the 3-4 shift will be over 100mph (and you won't come close to that at the track), but from the pcm tables I've looked at- all the shifts occur at roughly the same point at full throttle anyways regardless if its in D or OD- so just put it in regular overdrive and don't mess with it.

Thanks guys, this really cleared up a lot of things. I went down to the track last night, but didn't get to race! My Monte would've been toast anyways, the average of cars running street tires was in the mid 15's. I expect mine to be in the low 17's to high 16's at best, but I still had a good time watching my friend learn how to drag his '84 corvette. He missed it off the line a few times and made a few other noob mistakes, but still showed up a '67 mustang and 98 cougar.

hmm. Question of mine is the transmission (stock). How long will it last?

Not sure what track you usually race at, but at Woodburn Drag Strip and Portland International Raceway .000 is a "perfect light." .500 is usually used on old systems.

You guys are saying 1, 2, D
But in my monte i have the option of 1, 2, 3, then D
Does that make much difference in this case?
P.S. I have a 2002 Monte Carlo LS