I think there are different schools of thought on tire pressure, so I would largely defer to the experts on it. However, I can tell you that many think you should decrease the pressure to allow more flex and for the tire to "mold" itself to the ground more. They suggest that you drop the back pressure to 22-25 pounds. The problem with that is that when running on stock radials, especially with 18" rims like we have, there isn't a whole lot of "flex" in them anyway. Some say that decreasing the pressure on radials simply makes them cup in the middle and get poorer traction. Those same people suggest increasing the PSI on radials to get the best traction, but only by a few pounds in the back tires. Just about everybody agrees that you should increase the front pressure to 40 pounds or so to shave a couple 100th's off. The increased pressure makes for less rolling resistance, at least that is what I am told. All that said, I am too lazy to drag a compressor to the track so I just leave everything pretty much stock all the way around (30#). I have noticed that sometimes when I decrease the pressure slightly my times worsen. I have gone as far down as 19# in the back, which seemed to help a little bit but also seemed a bit dangerous with such a short sidewall on the 18" rims. I haven't tried the increased pressure in the back tires, but probably will next time out. It certainly didn't seem to hurt you in your 60' times - I am still amazed!
As to shift points, I think you want to ride it out on the torque curve. I don't think the horsepower curve is as important. If you haven't dyno'ed your car yet,
here is my dyno sheet for you to look at the curves. You will notice that the horsepower peaks at 5,500 rpms, but that the torque has long since fallen off at that point. The 2000's don't have the low end torque that the earlier cars did, but they do seem to have a broader range of peak torque - from about 3,500 to about 4,700. Although it may seem a bit early, I would think shifting at around 4,700 would do well as long as your next gear was already at 3,500 rpm. I am ashamed to say that in my many, many runs I have never once looked at my tach - I am a seat of the pants guy and that is probably why I have not hit 11's yet. Looking at Mike's comments above, he has hit 11's so I may be full of it. I just can't envision that with a 2000 you would want to shift that late, as you have already lost 10% of your horsepower and almost 30% of your torque. Of course, this is all in theory, as I am guessing I shift around 5,100 and have even hit the rev limiter a time or two. I will definitely watch the tach next time!
Finally, don't ever feel you let your car down. I think of mine as just having a blast out there playing around. I know for a fact I can get better times than I have, I am just not quite sure how to do it. The car is incredibly strong and ALWAYS willing. You will have the opportunity to make many, many runs with that black beauty, so enjoy them all and know that your car is happy to be exercised no matter how well it is done.
Chris
