Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A first UE and a second UE may coordinate to establish a sidelink connection. The first UE may identify data to transmit to the second UE, and the first UE may transmit a request to send (RTS) message to the second UE with a first transmit power. The first UE may then determine to refrain from using the first transmit power for the data transmission, and the first UE may transmit the data to the second UE with a second transmit power that is different from the first transmit power. The UE may determine the second transmit power for the data transmission based on instantaneous channel quality information (CQI) received in a clear to send (CTS) message, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) selected for the data transmission, a threshold power, etc.