janine

Hello Guys: I am new to this forum. I am a 20 year old girl with decent knowledge about MY car. I do lots of reading in various magazines as Mustangs and Fast Fords. When I think something makes sense, I take my Stang to the speed shop and tell them what I want done. I have a 02 GT 4.6 2V with 10,233 miles as of 11/24/04. Engine mods include the following: Vortech SQ Trim Charger with 42lb green injectors, hi volume focus fuel pump, CNL Plenum, BBK 75mm TB, 80mm Pro M Mass Air meter, KB Filter, BBK Shorty Headers, Magna Flow Hi Flow Catted X, Mac Cats 3.5", 3:73 gears. Boost gauge and finally a shift light to avoid going into the rev limiter when manually shifting.

AUTOMATIC TRANNY: Wide ratio planitary gear set that gives a 4:37 to 1 first gear ratio, 4:11 second gear ratio with stock 3rd and 4th gears. A 2200 rpm to 2600 rpm stall converter, custom valve body drilling and upgrade, high performance shift kit, tranny cooler.

SUSPENSION: Yellow Koni Adjustibles in the rear, Red KYB AJX Adjustible Struts in the front, Steeda front tube blue Sway Bar, Mac Upper and Lower Control Arms. Kumho Supra 255 x 40 x 17 tires on 03 Cobra polished wheels all around. The engine was Dyno Tuned at 373 rwhp at 5900 rpm and at 10lbs boost. Tunning was done at Mustang Magic at Deer Park New York. See WWW.mustangmagic.com

This Stang handles fantistic. It can corner at high speeds without much roll with the shocks adjusted on level 2 of 4. However, the steering is tight and a little harder to turn the wheel. On the highway in full boost, it is absolutely awesome, without exaggeration, I get a 4th gear scratch at 73mph. Love it!

PROBLEM: WHEEL SPIN. I can't get traction. When I rev up the engine with full break at 2500 rpm, just before the wheels break, and then let off the break and hit the throttle, all I get is spinning wheels for 1/2 block. My boost starts to kick in just over 2800 rpm. The engine starts to make so much power at that point. I am defeating the purpose of my high dollar stall converter. Even on a 25 mph roll, when I let it down, all I get is wheel spin in 2nd and part of 3rd gears.

Money is not really a problem. I have a really good job. I drive this car mostly on the weekends in circles on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Queens New York, and adjacent areas looking for races. Thats all. What can I say, I like the competition, the speed and the all out thrill of beating out the guys who think they are soooo bad.

I can't get off the line properly to beat the 426 Hemi's and modified 03 and 04 Cobra's out there (boy, those late model Cobra's seem to make great power gains with simple mods, it's unreal). I get laughed at. Can anyone give me any sound suggestions to improve my traction with out having my Stang drive like a rock? I put $14000 into my Stang, it is a shame it doesn't hook up to the ground properly. Thanks, Janine

2k1gt

Wow, sounds like a nice car. What kind of tires do you have on there now? If you dont have drag radials I think that should be your next purchase, they will help you hook up at the track once they are nice and warm.

EDIT: Ahh ok, I see what kind of tires you have now. I think a set of drag radials(nitto, etc) will help you hook up much easier.

RollinThunder

what did ur car dyno at??

janine

Mustang Magic at Deer Park New York. See www.mustangmagic.com

janine

Nitto 555R's? I understand they don't last very long. Six months even if you don't do a single burn out. It is just the nature of the soft tire. Is that the very best overall street tire made? If not, what is the finest OVER ALL street tire made?

Birdieman4

2k1gt is right. You could do better rubber-wise for traction. Everything in life is a tradeoff. Janine, I thought $ was no object? Just about any all dry tire will do better than the Kuhmo you have right now. The problem with all season tires is they have silicon in the compound, designed to help wet performance. In the dry the silicon works against you, and makes traction an issue. Get something with a 140 treadwear rating or lower for better launches. What do you mean by over all street tire? Is cornering performance a consideration, or just straight line? My personal preferance for a dry performance tire is Bridgestone's SO2 or the BFG KD.

janine

Cornering is very important as well as straight line performance. I am looking for the best tire for these 2 purposes. I was investigating the Nitto 555's (not the 555r's) People rave about the 555s. Yet, they have 300 tread wear. My Kuhmo's have 280 tread wear rating. Considered softer. Yet, I firmly believe the stock tires my stang came with from the dealer gave by far better overall traction than Kuhmo's. Kuhmo's are terrible on slightly wet pavement. I mean, if there is a little water on the street, and I emphasize, a little water, I can easily pull a 180 while in progress of making a turn at the light. At high speeds, there is hydroplaining. I have to drive slow. I don't even want to think about driving in snow. That is out of the question.

I purchased my 03 polished wheels and tires together for $1100. They are perfectly balanced. I balked at canning the Kuhmo's out of fear of getting an improper wheel balance. I can't stand shaky steering wheels at 80 mph.

Agreed, the Kuhmo's have to go. They are bad in wet weather and feel like hard plastic on dry pavement. I am thinking about going back to 255 x 45 x 17 as opposed to my present set up of 255 x 40 x 17. The 40's drive hard. But I wonder if the 40's give me better cornering ability that 45's?

I will consider the Bridgestones. Should I go with the 255 x 40's or 255 x 45's? What are the pros and cons of both? Please advise.

Birdieman4

Yeah, the Kuhmos' gotta go. One big question is do you want a tire that performs well in the rain? If you do, you will give up some dry performance. The 2 tires I mentioned above are phenominal dry tires, but are just ok in the rain. -Although the SO2 seems to do better in the rain. If you want more control in the rain and don't mind sacrificing some dry performance, get Bridgestone SO3's. They have a 220 treadwear rating and are good in the rain and dry as well. As far as size, 45 series vs. 40, the 40's will have less sidewall and will corner better. The 45's won't be much different, but the ride willl be a tiny bit softer. The overall difference isn't huge, but I say go 40's for the better overall cornering. dump those kuhmos asap, they are a safety hazzard.

mdvaldosta

You have an imperception about Nitto 555r's - they last considerably longer than any drag radial - in fact their barely considered a drag radial. And, and important AND, is that the tire wear ratings are not standardized, meanign that you can't compare a rating of 300 between different brands... a 100 in one brand may actually outlast a 300 in another brand.

I can tell you with certainty that 6 months is all you'd get out of a set of BFG's most likely... but Nitto's will last you 12-15 miles of normal driving - 1 or 2 years for many people. I've had mine for 7 months now and they will soon need to be replaced - but I've put 8k miles on them AND have 100+ passes on them at the strip with nice, smokey burnouts. Not to mention the last video that I made.... burnout at the end burnt off 1/4 of my tread.

janine

[quote]ORIGINAL: Birdieman4
,If you want more control in the rain and don't mind sacrificing some dry performance, get Bridgestone SO3's. They have a 220 treadwear rating and are good in the rain and dry as well. As far as size, 45 series vs. 40, the 40's will have less sidewall and will corner better.

I drive 99 percent on dry pavement. My Stang is a weekend only car. My every day card is an 04 Focus. Can't race in rain any way. So, I can go for the all out performace tire -- SO2's and I will stay with the 40 series. I rather have better cornering as opposed to a softer ride. I will just set my Koni's on level 1 if I want a softer bounce. Some say they last only 6 months. Okay, if the tire gives me what I want, so be it. I will get new tires every 6 months. No big deal. I just have to find a tire dealer who has the best balancing machines in the industry. I have to have a proper wheel balance. That is my only concern.

Thank you for the advice.