Going to the strip for the first time with my car. I have new Firehawk 285-40-17's and suspension goodies as shown in my sig. At what rpm should I launch and at what rear tire pressure? Will warming up the tires do anything for me? BTW I have 3:42 gears. My goal is 13.5-13.8 times. Wish me luck......

 

Your gonna have to experiment with your launch a little since your an M6. If you just have street tires heating them up probably won't make much of a difference, the tread isn't designed to improve traction in that way. Ideally you want to leave the line without bogging and without spinning obviously, so your going to have to try a lot of rpm launches to find this. Unfortunately that will all depend mainly on hp/tq,your tires, and outside weather temp and conditions. You shouldn't have to worry about breaking your rear with stock tires, they usually will let loose before the rear gives out, be careful if you move up in tire. Even DR's can be detrimental to a 10 bolt. Heck there's a lot of people who've screwed a rear up even on street tires, so just avoid those 5,000rpm launches and you should be alright. I'm guessing you launch like that and you'll put on a good smoke show more than anything anyway. Good luck, and have fun.

 

I've found the best RPM to be about 2k-2,500.. When I had my 3.42's I pulled a 13.88 @ 104 launching at that.. That was in 45 degree weather though.. At that RPM, let the clutch out quickly but not side-stepping it. Like Jay-Roll said, you just have to try different things, I ran quicker times if I spun them some out of the hole then if I didn't.. my quickest run with the 4.11's in 85 degree weather on a crappy track was 13.81, I was spinning so bad out of the hole I was getting wheel hop, any slower and I couldnt get out of the 14.0's If you can, go around the water and then just give them a quick spin to clean them off, on street tires it doesnt help to heat them up. I run 18-20 psi but I have 16" rims giving me a little more side wall. just have to play around and see what works for you, if you are a good shifter, you can go from 3-4 without letting off the gas, that helped my times alot, tryed it from 2-3 and the clutch wasnt having it Good Luck!!

 

Sticky tires will really improve your 1/4 times but as stated above, you put your 10 bolt at risk. I'd suggest you try and borrow a set of ET Streets from a fellow F-Body driver and try them with a modest rpm launch (3 - 3.5K) just to experience the difference in traction. The modest launch won't break your rear, but of course you won't get your fastest times either...they still should be a lot better than street tires.