How to launch a manual on the street?

I dream of some day having a manual transmission in my Duster, mostly because my family has always had automatics and I have yet to experience rowing a 4-speed (sniffle). I've seen and read plenty of stuff on launching and shifting strip-oriented cars but what about if you're not running slicks and race gearing? Do you dump the clutch and let the wheels spin until they grab, or do you feather it until you get going, or somewhere in between?

Also in the future I intend to set up the suspension for handling, can you still run drag-race suspension components like traction bars, pinion snubber, etc. and not mess up cornering ability? I'm guessing particular parts can or can't work in both road-race and drag-race setups.