Hitting the track tonight - Guesses?

[Sweet'86gt]

FINALLY! After maybe 7 months of having the Mustang, i will finally be going down the track at Gateway MSP here in STL.

Wednesday's are test n tune nights so I hope it will be a pretty simple, laid back enviroment. I have never driven or even ridden down the track yet.

Just thought it would be interesting to have some guesses from you guys on times and trap speed. Times of course will be varied a TON because of my inexperience, BUT, trap speeds should be too too far off I hope.

I am just hoping for maybe 105+, hopefully that isn't a stretch of the imagination but hey. Oh well. Friend of mine ran like 98 MPH or something on a high 13 sec run if I am not wrong, he has a decent 306 carbed setup I don't know much about in his '84 T-Top.

Anyways some info on my setup!
306 w/
Eddy Performer RPM II Intake
AFR 185cc heads
1.6 Roller Rockers
24# Injectors
X-303 Cam
BBK CAI
Eddy 70MM TB
BBK 190lph Fuel Pump
3.55 Gears
SCT Chip to tie some things together, not sure if I have realistic gains from this or not.
Aluminum Driveshaft
Not sure on the clutch, I think it is a RAM HD or somethign pretty basic, either way I wont be launching hard or worrying about shifting the fastest, I just want to get into the groove of things and not break anything, lol.

Car has stock suspension and I don't have the best tires; 275/40r17 Nitto NT555's on a 17x10" wheel. No radials or anything yet.

[mmb617]

I think the tires will hold you back from getting a good ET, and it also takes a bit of practice to launch the car well even with good tires. As a newbie to drag racing nothing will help you as much as seat time.

You have a decent sounding combo and I believe your goal of 105+ is definitely doable.

The most important thing is to have fun!

Warning - a lot of guys get addicted on the very first pass. Before you know it your car will be getting faster and your wallet will be getting emptier, but you'll have a smile on your face all the time.

[brianj]

It's worse than crack. And the first one isn't free. I would guess 13.8 at 98 or so- mostly traction limited.

[Sweet'86gt]

You guys are right on the money. I ran my friend in his s2000 my first run, as soon as we got done heading to the return lane, my exact words were "Thats it! Im addicted!"
I only have done one run since 6 o'clock, rain is holding us back. Its literally just enough drops to keep the windshield spotty.

Can't slam gears right now, stock quadrant seems to be letting go or something, I get locked out of gears if I go too quick.

first run was 14.05 @ 102 w/ 2.2 60'. Im content. :-)
I will be racing Friday night at a all nighter event! Hopefully I can get another run or two in before the nights over in 2 hours.

Kind of cool, my friend video'd my run and when I was staging, the announcer said my car was one of the cleanest fox's hes seen in a long time. Kind of a cool thing to hear.

[Johnny]

Nice! If I calculated the mph @102, the car should run a 13.02 or low 13's. Post up the video if you get a chance. Gotta get that 60' down a bit. How did the car hook? What rpm did you launch at? Put a power adder on it and 11's are in the future!!! Have any recent pictures of the car?

[Sweet'86gt]

Yeah, it can all be improved on massively, no doubt. Track was kinda slick i thought. A few other guys talked about it. I launched at 3,500 rpm and hopped and spun a bit in first but had more bite going into 2nd than expected. I will try and get the video today, it is on my friend's phone!
I have some recent ones but cannot post from phone.

[Johnny]

You have subframes on that car? If not you should. If you do, try and launching it at 4500 to 5000.

[Sweet'86gt]

You have subframes on that car? If not you should. If you do, try and launching it at 4500 to 5000.

I do, Steeda Full Lengths w/ some custom mounting plates. I will try a bit higher launch next time, and pedal it more.

[MY 85 GT]

Guys MPH goes down when you hook...so his 102 mph will go down his ET will go down but mph will be slower...been there before...lol..so i estimate if he hooks 98-99 mph...high 13's

[cb84capri]

try and launching it at 4500 to 5000.

on street tires he's probably best to launch it around 2k slipping the clutch.

Guys MPH goes down when you hook...so his 102 mph will go down his ET will go down but mph will be slower...been there before...lol..so i estimate if he hooks 98-99 mph...high 13's

i don't see it. i think his pass was pretty sloppy and his mph is going to pick up. that's my prediction anyways!

cale

[Johnny]

Guys MPH goes down when you hook...so his 102 mph will go down his ET will go down but mph will be slower...been there before...lol..so i estimate if he hooks 98-99 mph...high 13's

I agree with you in a way , but if you look at his 60' it's not good. So if he hooks that should drop down to 1.whatever and should pull a better time. He also said second gear was a little loose and the track was slick. Just my opinion, but I think he should pull a mid to low 13. I'm still thinking 13.20. to 13.40s, maybe better!!

[shifter]

With a hot 306, AFR 185's, cam, etc...

That thing better get closer to 110mph or something is wrong.

[MY 85 GT]

Ok you want me to post time slips to prove!!! the time will go down but mph also goes down....its a known FACT you hook better you get down the track faster TIME WISE..not speed wise....

[MY 85 GT]

I agree with you in a way , but if you look at his 60' it's not good. So if he hooks that should drop down to 1.whatever and should pull a better time. He also said second gear was a little loose and the track was slick. Just my opinion, but I think he should pull a mid to low 13. I'm still thinking 13.20. to 13.40s, maybe better!!

he might go mid 13's i dont think so i still say high 13's...

[mmb617]

Ok you want me to post time slips to prove!!! the time will go down but mph also goes down....its a known FACT you hook better you get down the track faster TIME WISE..not speed wise....

I agree 100%. Spinning times are faster mph-wise, but slower ET-wise.

Now in the case of the OP you have to remember it was his very first pass at a drag strip. I'm sure there were a lot of things wrong that experience will fix. Not only with the launch, but with shift points. With that being the case I would expect that he will eventually improve both his ET (a lot) and his mph (at least some).

I'd be surprised if he doesn't get that car into the low 13's as it sits now. Some tires that hook would make a huge improvement in ET without changing anything else. Then of course he'll get the bug to modify it to go even faster and who knows where that ends?

[LilRed86coupe]

With a hot 306, AFR 185's, cam, etc...

That thing better get closer to 110mph or something is wrong.

I agree 110% here,and he should be running mid to low 12's also.

[PaceFever79]

102 is not terrible speed for the first time out on street tires

(that's about 360 HP at the crank in a stock T-Top Mustang weighing about 3300 lbs)

Better tuning, Traction and lower ET is something that comes with practice.

Keep improving your setup, and remember it's just for fun!

[Sweet'86gt]

PaceFever79 has it right. I don't care how fast I go. It is more or less a fun personal goal. I won't end up taking this car in the direction of drag racing. Though, it will have more power eventually, going faster is always cool. Drag racing is a blast, I can already say that after 1 trip down the track.
BUT, people are WAY too competitive about it. It just isn't my scene. Plus I feel like my driving skills aren't involved with just banging gears. Quite frankly, that isn't something I am very good at, lol.

My car is 100% a full street car. Everything works as it should aside from AC, it even has a couple layers of FATMAT sound deadener throughout. Needless to say, speed isn't the whole goal!

mmb617 is totally right in that being my first run, it was full of mistakes. I plan to make a few better passes tonight and the follow Wednesday still. I would be happy with hitting a mid/high 13 soon but who knows what I can crack off! My real goal is to just not break anything at this point haha. I will post some time slips tonight/tomorrow for y'all interested.

[PaceFever79]

Take it to the track scale and get the weight with you in it. We can estimate your HP if we have the weight.

Lower the tire pressure on your tires to 20lbs and drive around the burnout box

Experiment with feathering the clutch rather than just dumping it

Think of it like a holeshot on a dirt bike, use the clutch to match your RPM to traction

[Sweet'86gt]

Currently waiting on track cleanup from some asshole driving down the track with a muddy truck. Anyways, ran 4 times so far, still trying to get launch down. Doing a decent burnout is the next plan of attack. Think I can get some hook with the nitto's hot enough!
Best pass: 14.01 @ 102. 2nd best v14.05 @ 103 60' is 2.2's

[Sweet'86gt]

Right after typing that, I ran a 13.85 @ 104.78 w/ 2.208 60'. ran an evo 10 that did 2.203 60! He had me by a car til the last little bit and reeled em in.

[PaceFever79]

Right after typing that, I ran a 13.85 @ 104.78 w/ 2.208 60'. ran an evo 10 that did 2.203 60! He had me by a car til the last little bit and reeled em in.

That's a nice gain in time and speed on street tires

I didn't want to say it before (and cause argument) but I suspected
that your ET would go down and MPH go up with technique.

[cb84capri]

nice! there's more in it still. if you can get 2.0s out of those street tires you'll be knocking down low 13s for sure. try doing a little burnout and see what happens.

cale

[Johnny]

Right after typing that, I ran a 13.85 @ 104.78 w/ 2.208 60'. ran an evo 10 that did 2.203 60! He had me by a car til the last little bit and reeled em in.

Sweet...!! A lot more left there. 60' isn't that great, but you'll do great the more seat time you get!

[Sweet'86gt]

Thanks for the kind words fellas. I ever ended up really lighting em up, but I felt id way until the next track day since it was getting late. I am happy I squeezed out 3 13.80's throughout the night! The last two being within 15 minutes of each other. The shifts from 2nd to 3rd, and 3rd to 4th, both speed shifting and what rpm I shift at, was more crucial than I has thought. What a fun learning experience it was though. hope to hit my original goal of 13.6 my next trip out there with a little less tire pressure, more burnout, and more aggressive driving. Hopefully I can post up a video or two my friends took from the night.

Edit: its odd, I had big wheel spin throughout 1st and second on all of my 13.8 passes, and squeezed out a high mph of 105.7. I too suspected it would go up, but, didnt say much about it with my inexperience.