I'd taken my 2 former cars to the drag strip (Pacific Raceways) long ago.
Larry_in_Seattle said:
I'd never run the dragstrip before and didn't know what RT on the printout meant. Wish I had because my Reaction Time was pretty bad: .761 seconds. Shave some of that off my time and it would be just over 14 seconds!
Here are the full details:
R/T = .761 seconds
60' = 2.34 second
330' = 6.299 seconds
1/8 = 9.628 seconds and 73.53 mph
1000'=12.52 seconds
1/4 = 14.992 seconds
MPH = 90.55 mph
...
It looked like he was a mile ahead in that first 3/4 of a second. He floored it before the Christmas tree lights got to GREEN. I waited......
The 1/4 mile time is not supposed to include the reaction time. Your reaction time should have no bearing on the 1/4 mile time. You could wait seconds and still have the same 1/4 mile time.
As for when to go... I was given the hint to go on the (middle of?) 2nd yellow light. That's what I do. Don't wait until green. You may need to adjust exactly when you go, a bit.
I've driven the Rav4 EV a bunch and yeah, there's the issue of traction and the front wheels breaking free easily. It being FWD makes things even worse. When I drag raced my former 255 hp FWD car (had no traction control), I got better times if I didn't floor it from the start. I got rolling then floored it. Unfortunately, that still might not help on the Rav, as I've easily spun its tires while moving.
When I drag raced my 287 hp RWD car, I had no such traction issues since the car squats and weight transfers to driving wheels during acceleration, instead of away from them.
And yep, you've discovered that a second in the quarter mile difference is fairly substantial. It's really substantial if your car is say 3 seconds faster in the 1/4.