jay00f4

Looks good work on the launch and you should be able to shave about 1/2 a sec on your 60 ft times.

FYI. I usually launch when the second light goes on. By the time you react the third has gone and it is green. Try it and see if you can improve your reaction time as well. Although yours are good for someone who hasn't dragged before.

Kaldar142

haha another noob question but uh do you go when the 3rd yellow light hits or when the green light hits? lol

im going to be making my first track visits soon and would like to have an idea of what to do lol, but thanks blinkage you pretty much explained everything to me.


dude an offroad midpipe should make a noticable difference, plus your car will sound like an effing monster. long tubes ive heard to add anywhere from 20-30hp, so you can know what to expect from those, UDPs should help acceleration in the top end, water pump should just make everything all around easier. id say if you and the forumla were pretty much toe to toe, you would eat him with those mods

add some 3.73s or 4.10s in there too and youve got one hell of a car

viking396

Your 60ft, 8th mile time and mph indicate a faster ET and trap speed is possible, are you floored in 3rd gear at the end of the track? When I run those 60ft's and 8th miles I usually nail a 13.5 or quicker. I know I'm a manual so it's possible your gear is holding you back. How are other Auto's with similar mods running?

ford4v429

I went for the first time last tuesday- had a friggin blast!!! test and tune 10$, 5$ for the wife, kids are free...ran a 14.4 @ 98 with all of us in the car, best a 14.02 @ 102 solo...made 10 runs total, 80 and muggy, drove like crap- ranged from a 15.4-14.02...last three runs were getting a bit easier, but still best run I had forgot to turn off traction control- the car did better on its own
Dragway42 is really casual for test/tune nights, takes about as much effort as getting off the turnpike to get setup for the night...pull in, pay at the 'tollbooth', fill out a card, a guy writes a number on your window, and make all the runs you want...return road tollbooth-stop the guy hands you your slips, go do it again...way too much fun. fast/slow, still a blast.

the guy at the track yelled at me on my second run "when ya see that third yellow- NAIL IT!"...as on my first run I waited to see some green...as I understand it, you dont redlight unless your tires leave the second staging beam before greenlight - by the time the clutch engages, the mounts torque up, and the tires roll 6" figure a couple tenths of a second, so thats why you 'try to leave early'.
the 14.02 I had 'deep staged'- pulled past the prestage light, as my reactions are way too slow- I probably shoulda launched on the second yellow, as I'm way too slow...the hardest part is taking off with zero wheelspin, as if they slip at all, you lost time...several of mine it was spinning/wheelhopping 20' or more...lousy times on the slips, great time with the car...at this track 14 seconds and slower the kids can ride too- they loved it...really it 'feels' safer than most onramps as no traffic, speeds arent really that much greater than passing speeds on the highway...20-30% faster under controlled conditions...

best part for me was on the ride home- third gear clicks in easier than ever- all 10 powershifts barked third, I woulda bet to have missed half of them, but no...think it just needed 'loosened up' a bit

ps- if you want to get better times, several guys said to run about 24psi rear, and throw a bag of ice on the intake between runs to cool off the topend- I felt the intake/tube on mine after a couple runs, you could barely keep your hand on it- hard running/then sitting in staging lanes= heatsoaked...shutoff in staging to keep heat down, remember to turn tcs off though- thats how I forgot, but still gave best run of the night...next time air pressure+ice= 13-something (hopefully).

[IMG]local://upfiles/19895/F040DD12DBC34CE3BFF92EA7BF0A9A49.jpg[/IMG]

bl1nk

So then viking, would you suggest I go to 4.10's as my next mod instead of O/R X?

Im not sure exactly what gear Im in when I finish because as I said this was my first time actually racing at the track, I was so pumped with adrenaline I didnt really think about any of that stuff lol. I know that I never let off the pedal though, its always floored.. but next weekend Ill definately be paying more attention to that stuff though. Is there a special way to drag these autos to make them pull harder? Im kinda worried now though, because people are telling me stock manuals run 13.6's and stock autos run 13.9's and I definately shouldnt be running same times as stock..

viking396

In an automatic if you want that thing to move and you plan on racing it then in my humble opnion 4.10's are the MINIMUM gear for you. One thing I can say, be glad you own a new Ford with the 5spd auto vs the old 4spd auto, this one is 1000% better than previous designes and is actually almost as quick as the manual cars.

I would still shift manually, this is easier with this automatic than previous versions as well. If you're running a CAI and 93 tune then hang to at least 6400 to 6500 rpms (per my SCT logging, my tach seems pretty accurate) and leave her in 3rd if possible to the end of the track. As for stockers running 13.6 stock, I have never ever seen a manual bone stock run faster than a 13.8, auto's about a tenth slower so ignore what people claim.

I've seen an automatic driven by a less than good driver with a very heat soaked engine run 13.3@104 with a JLT CAI, 93 canned SCT tune, off-road midpipe and 4.30 gears on a 95f 80%+ humidity day. I recommend good cool down times of about an hour on hot days and push it through the staging lane until you're about 4 to 5 cars back in line, then wait until the last second to start it up. This will get the engine to a nice cool condition and will reach normal operating temp by the time you're staged.

Launching, you're MUCH better launching too low than too high, after looking at your slips you seem to be doing fine so just keep that up. It's later down the track your car is falling off and this is why I ask what gear you're in at the traps since everything up to the 8th mile seems pretty strong.

Oh, I tried to log directly to my SCT, it states no log files present to start logging, it looks like I need to try and upload my preconfigured log file and see if that works. Looks like a computer is needed no matter what or you won't be able to upload these config files.
If someone has info on data-logging with just the SCT please post it.

bl1nk

Thanks alot, I noticed you said I should shift it manually. All of my runs I simply put it in drive, turned OD off and TC off and then slammed the pedal down, should I try to shift it manually and if so whats the best way to do that without tearing up the tranny (not sure if thats really good for it since there is no clutch) what do ya think?

viking396

It doesn't hurt to shift it yourself, been doing it with automatics for decades. On previous versions you had to work harder to manually shift, ugh, what a pain, with yours, simply start in 1, at 6400 (it will be 6500 by the time you actually shift) push it into 2nd and at 6400 again push it up the next gear, you'll be going through in 3rd...hmmm other automatic drivers does it stay in third with stock gears crossing the traps?

Give it a try, your trap speed and et will improve.

bl1nk

Alright Ill give it a try. Is there any kinda "touch" involved or do I just push it into the gear lol.. I never know whether to let off the gas when I manually shift it like that or not.

viking396

Just click it forward, but do it fast or you could bump the rev limiter. Thankfully you can keep your foot plastered to the floor!