I'd just start with raising the RPM a few hundred and see what happens. Vary it to see how the car responds and find the "sweet spot" that works for you and the car. I wouldn't go full tilt agains the converter. If you stage first and the other guy hears you up high in RPM's it gives him the chance to burn you down. If you are bracket racing and you are the faster car, you might be there awhile. I don't know about footbraking but on a 2 step a converter builds 100 degrees a second.
Something else you said was that you dial the car to compensate for your lights. One has nothing to do with the other. You can sit on the line for 30 sec and still run the same ET.
What pressere are you running in your front tires? Higher pressure equals lower RT's. I had a 17 sec street car that 1lb in the front tires was about .01 on the tree.
IMO if you want to be consistant when you go deep, you have to bump in until you turn off the prestage light . The problem is some tracks may not allow it and at some tracks it's your responsibility to get in there 1st and be ready. If somebody quick trees you, you might be trying to bump in when the trees starts coming down.