89 5.0 (stock) 3.73 gears.

What should i shift at for the most horsepower?
I am lining up to people ad getting beat by/ tieing the people who i should be smoking.

where RPM is my optimum horsepower at?

what rpm should I launch.

I have that feeling that it's not my car, it's me

I'm assuming you have street tires on your car. I found the best on my car is to launch right at an idle and slip the clutch just abit so the wheel spin is minimal. I also found out that shifting a 5,000 rpm produced better e.t. times. Anything higher than that your just over-revving the engine and the power goes flat on you. This take's alot of practice to be consistant, so go out to a very quite stretch of road and practice or better yet a drag strip if there is one in your area. That way you can tell if your getting any better or worse. Frank.

I have a 94 GT and I would shift around 5000 to 5200. I've run it up to 6000 once and will never do it again. It's just to flat and I hate reving it that high. If I rev it higher than 5200 I get a huge power surge when I actually do shift it.

On my stock '88 LX AOD w/2.73 gears I've made probably 100 passes now using the G-Tech. It may not be accurate with the track but if you go quicker and faster it will tell you this. Anyhow, after trying many different shift points, I found 5500 to give me the quickest times 15.1's and most mph 98.1. I tried 5000 as well but was running high 15.2's to low 15.3's at this shift point at only 96mph. I know the mph is a bit higher that is realistic at the track but my point is that the car lost a couple of tenths and a couple of mph shifting at 5000 vs. 5500. I don't have the MAF sensor restricting flow so my motor may make a little more power than yours after 5000. With this tall a gear, if I shift earlier than 5500, the motor seems to have a hard time pulling the next gear. I shift into drive just before the end of the 1/4 mile. Holding it in 2nd just slowed the car down a little. You ought to try one of these little G-Tech gadgets. They're great fun and can actually help you refine such things as launch rpm and shift points.

I usually launch around 2500 rpm and once the car is moving, step on it. Don't dump the clutch. Feather it out at 2500rpm to get going, then shift around 5200. You have steep gearing, so you will spin the tires even more then stock gears.

You may want to consider learning "power shifting". This is when you don't use your clutch, except to launch the car. When you get to your shift point, you pull the shifter into the next gear WITHOUT touching the clutch. You have to feather the throttle up or down to find the right rpm sweet spot. The sweet spot is a neutral non-power point, where the engine is not accelerating or de-celerating. In other words, your revving hard, you reach your shift point rpm, then slightly back off the throttle just enough so there is no tension on the drive train, then the shifter will pull right into the next gear, and you nail the throttle. This takes less time to shift and keeps your car in the rpm range where it keeps making power. It cuts serious time off your races. Beware, it can be hard on your tranny, but most serious 5.0 racers have mastered it.

I tried the best that I could to explain power shifting, but I can't tell if it made any sense.