wheezy_e

Took the mustang to the drag strip for the first time last night. The night was a bummer - the turnout was packed, people kept losing their parts and fluids up and down the track, so delays constantly. The organizers kept using up the time with "special presentation" stuff, like a wheelstanding stagecoach and a competition between the fastest guys from the last three midnight mayhems. (I got a letter invite for that due to the zrx's times last time out, but that was a mess up on their part, cause it was for cars only, no bikes.) So I got to run 2 times. I got in line at 7:00 and left right after my second run at 12:45. kind of a pain. My first run I let the trans shift itself. I was just curious to see the results of that compared to shifting manually. 14.959 @ 92.92mph. big let down. The second time I used the ratchet shifter and got a 14.215 @ 99.60mph despite a slightly worse 60' time. I did beat a nice Buick Regal Turbo on that run. He got the jump on me but each time I banged up a gear the mustang shot forward compared to him. that was interesting! glad I spent the money on the Lentech valvebody. Traction at the line is the issue as expected, but I was hoping to see 13 something. There's a lot at play though, I'm very rich. (no not money, despite how these exploits makes things appear) I knew I was a little, but it's more than I thought. I haven't really wound the car out that far on the street and haven't done actual plug chops shutting down after full throttle high rpm blasts. I was getting serious backfires on decelleration at the end of the track. It was hot as shit out, according to online weather it would have been around 101 for my first run and 96 for my second. That thins the air out pretty good. I rigged up this sneaky shift light to fit inside the ashtray, but hadn't hooked it up until yesterday, it didn't work. So I shifted at just below 5500, glancing down at the tach while watching the track. According to DynoSim my peak hp will be at about 6500rpm but I think I'll float the valves before that. I'm probably ok to 6000. I think I'll spend the money on a dyno tune. I can find out when the valves float and get the fuel & ignition dialed perfect. I was watching craigslist for a cheap 670 holley to see what the difference between my 570 might be, but DynoSim says surprisingly little. If I can trust DynoSim (& guys who know say it's well within 10% error so long as the inputs are accurate, usually less than 5%) I'll choose the fuel economy over a 5 to 10 peak hp increase. The rich running means I can drop jet sizes and pick up some mpg also, I'm happy about that. I really want a 12 second car that gets 25 mpg cruising at 75. I still think that's possible with this car. the only tank I've checked so far got me 15mpg with zero freeway (has overdrive) and a lot of heavy footed nonsense.

interesting - I just found some online calculators for drag racing. This one you can put your top speed and it will tell you what your optimal other numbers could be. So using 99.6 mph, here's what I get:

Optimal:
60 Foot 1.85
330 Foot 5.34
660 Foot 8.39
660 MPH 80.97
1000 Foot 11.04
1/4 Mile ET 13.30
1/4 Mile MPH 99.60

My Numbers:
60 foot 2.379
330 foot 6.193
1/8 mile 9.272
1/8 mph 79.74
1000 foot 11.950
1/4 mile et 14.215
1/4 Mile mph 99.60

so even with zero engine tuning and the same air temps, there's a lot to be gained with traction and technique. I've just got regular BFG Radial T/As, lots of regulars out there are using DOT drag radials. That would help traction a lot. I really want consistent 12s from the car, I think it's possible without much more money. I have some lightweight plastic drag seats in a parts car in the work yard. I'll just get some black covers for them and bingo, 60lbs lighter at least, I bet 80. One other thing that would help traction a lot is disconnecting the big front front sway bar I put on, but I'm not going to do that every time. Perhaps once when conditions are optimal & the car is fully tuned I'll remove it just to get the best time slip for bragging purposes.