Tungsten

For all my fellow S197 drivers out there...

I took the GT out for some late night back roads cruising tonight and I was practicing my zero to 60 time just to see what I could do with my bone stock 5 speed on 18" wheels. Out of my 5 or so attempts, I kept coming up with about 6 seconds sadly . I got this number by having my friend in the passenger seat watch the dash clock. Hey it's a rough estimate, but it certainly wasn't 5 seconds like I was hoping. I have been driving a stick car since I started driving 7 years ago, so I have experience there...

I was feathering the clutch, as I've found it's easy to bog the launch if you don't. Launching at 3,000 gave me a bit of wheel hop while 2,500 was just about right (a small chirp with minimal bog)...but it just didn't have the "umph" I was hoping for. Are the 18s to blame or the extra weight from my buddy? (I'm 210 he's 180ish). Maybe the stock BFGs can't grip for crap? Please help me out here guys What are some quick/cheap things I can do to my stang to get it to grip better and take off. From lurking around here, I would say LCAs and gears?

Thanks!

ski

Since your friend's weight will slow down your 1/4 mile time by approx. 0.2 seconds(0.1 seconds slower for each extra 100 lb.), then that same extra weight will adda few hundredths of asecond to your 0-60 time.
Your car's extra rolling weight(18" wheels and tires vs. 17") will also causeyour car toaccelerate slower.
Finally, using an instrument panel clock to time your 0-60 runs is not the best timing method. A digital stopwatch that reads in at least hundredths of a second is much more accurate.
While LCA's and gearswill help todecrease your times,installing a CAI and a tunewill give youmore 'bang for thebuck', IMHO.

Tungsten

Hmm, ok. Good advice thanks! I checked out the weight on my current fan blades and they weigh around 31 pounds a piece. The Konig 18s I was looking at were about 6 pounds lighter. Is a 24lb difference in rotational weight ( 12 to the rear ) going to make that big of a difference for me?

johnnyv8

my tires are starting to wear out a little; so my launches are starting get worse.

but me and my buddy went outw/ a stop watch(me weighting 250; bud weighting 150) and i have 18' wheels and i still was getting 5.5ish w/ good starts.

i rev about 3ish; prolly 3 and drop the clutch quickly (not to fast) then featherd it on its catching point for a sec and boom i get a little bit of wheel spin for about a sec and then traction.

somebody has a video of them at the track ruing a mid to low 13 w/ there stock GT (18' wheels too) and he had i think a all most perfect start. you can hear it; little bit of wheel spin and then traction and he's gone.

Rock36

Keep in mind that magazine 0-60mph times are also done on prepped tracks with good traction. Public streets aren't the best place to measure acceleration. Even if you get a launch that feels good, tires can still "slip" without you being able to really feel or hearit.

Finally using aninstrument panel clock is highly inaccurate. Too much mental time is taken up by your buddy looking at the speedometer waiting until he sees it hit 60mph and then looking at the clock a fraction of a moment later to read it.

Not to mention that if your buddy is looking at the speedo at an angle that will also distort where he "thinks" it hits 60 mph. That is called parallax view.

I wouldn't worry about it, I bet your car is as fast as it should be.

Tungsten

Well, that's good to hear! Good info....thanks!

mustangman2424

Doesn't Road & Track have the best recorded time in a stock GT with 4.9 seconds? Ford rated the Mustang at 5.1 seconds I believe but they did it in 4.9!!!

Anyways I've gotten the stang to 5.2 with me weighing 205.

jonpo

I tested my 0-60 with a buddy ridding along. He's about 200 lbs, and i'm a little more than that. Anyway we timed it with a stopwatch twice. The first run I got a 5.3, and the second time I hit 5.2. I've also got the 18's on my car. I have not been able to test it without a passenger yet but I'm hoping to get 5 flat. And as for my launch, I just rev it a little bit (maybe 3k) and slip the clutch. Shift into 2nd at 6k and leave it in 2nd until I hit 60. Good luck.

johnnyv8

I agree %100; but 5.9 is still a slow time even if its off .2 secs.

RED121572

[ul][*]Ive got 18" wheels with 285's on the rear. I havea tune andcommonbolt ons. I datalogged a few 0-100 runs w/no power braking. My best 0-60 is 5.17 secs. [/ul]