Mellowdien

Whats up Fella's,...

Like the thread title says i'm looking for high elevens, or atleast consistent 12.0 second passes. Before anyone starts flaming me for not using "search", read the circumstances i'm dealing with.

Fastest cars in the whole country; Subaru Legacy Stock Internals 11.3 sec. GMC Typhoon 11.7. Dragraces here are divided into All-motor (up to 3liter), Turbo division (1 power adder), Open division (Anything goes besides meth).

I'm looking to participate in the Turbo division, I know my goals aren't that hard to achieve however; 1. There are NO Ford technicians/dealers/specialits in the country 2. There is NO dyno in the whole country 3. I want to keep it a daily driver 4. Need a steady set-up (No running to my mechanic every 2month or having **** break) 5. My personal mechanic will be working on it (There are NO pro's here,just guys who are handywith a wrench).

I'd like to hear your opinions on the easiest/safest way to achieve this,... Nitrous, Supercharger, Turbo ... All-motor bolt-ons ..
Money isn't an issue (yet lol)

I don't need the power all the time (don't mind having it if S/C was the way i was goin', but it isnt a must).

Thnx

MexGT

get a SC or a turbo with a Xcal3 programmed by Justin or Brenspeed and you're set.

jc63_

what "country" are you in.

And for starters, get a smaller wheel...20's aren't great for racing. Unless you already have slicks, which are going to help you IMMENSELY.

baha

Yeah but he said he needs it to last, he doesn't have any mechanics around in case something goes boom, I think he'll be better off with a basic 5psi Saleen or Brenspeed's stage1

Mellowdien, if you go F/I make sure the fuel grade is no less than 91 octane (W 5psi)

Good luck

Mellowdien

My bad, I live in South America, Suriname. (Just above brasil)
I know my wheels slow me down, not my personal choice, were a gift so it was hard not to accept. Which leads me to another question by the way, i'm planning on ordering the stock 17" bullit's with pirelli's, i plan on swapping them for only a few days at a time, so i don't want to swap the TPMS-sensor, will it get damaged if i swap the tires often?

Any intercooled S/C could put me around the 425RWHP benchmark, however i don't think that's enough to get me where i want to be. Plus i hear when launching too hard or too often it really messes up your transmission (Mine's automatic 3.31 gear ratio). So i take that too will have to be modified to be able to run consistently and safe.

Another issue i forgot the mention was the cheap gas we have or here, 89octane is the highest we have.

MexGT

.... then you're quite screwed my friend.

1.- You cant run high psi with 89 oct fuel
2.- No specialist mechanic? so who will install the SC ? and if something goes wrong, whith whom will you take your car?
3.- Cant go above 10 psi (IMO) with a canned tune, you need a dyno tune for final tweaking and details that will improve the tune.
4.- 425 rwhp is the limit of the auto tranny most likely, 450 for the engine.

sucks but i'd just get a cai + tune and minor mods to be a bit faster in your situation [&:]

BlackTwist

GEARS! this is a must, your 3.31s are slowing you down a lot. If you really want to decrease your times get 4.10s IMO

baha

+1, and actually it's not that difficult to run very low 12s with bolt-ons only, I'm shooting for high 12s with the stock intake and headers, I run mid 13s with 3 mods only (4.10s, Pulleys, Tune) with lotsof spinning, my next 3 mods is my ticket to the 12s (DRs, 3000 stall TC, Alum DS)

Don't forget your suspension, if you have someone to install it...

jc63_

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that if there isn't a MUSTANG specific tuner, you may want to become that guy. Learn from who you can...engines aren't that dissimilar when you get down to it.

GT Bob

I really think that a daily drivable, 12.0 car with no forced induction is not hard, it just involves thinking about exactly what you need and making some compormises. Horsepower options are somewhat limited, but they should be sufficient if your smart about it. One thing to keep in mind, is to not be swayed by peak horsepower claim numbers. Useable off-peak power gains will help every bit as much as a peak number. Also, sacrificing bottom end for top end is not always smart either. Every .1 you take off on your 60 foot time, is .2 off at the traps, but taking that same .2 off on the big end is alot harder than .1 at the little end. My recommendations on power would be:

1. Cold Air intake and a tune- I use the ProFab intake from Modular Depot and love it, but JLT or Demolet would be comparable also. I would say to stay away from a C&L, simply because one thing you need to maximize is low end torque for a good launch, and the C&L allows the air charge to slow too much around the elbow. The tune could be any of the popular mail order tuners around... I would say either Doug at Bamachips or Ken at Modular Depot. Both have a ton of experience with the automatics. I can;t speak for Doug, but I know Ken's Daily driver is an automatic.
2. Underdrive pullies - Not so much a part that makes power, but it frees up existing power.
3. Headers - Since you have a very strict goal, I would say Long tubes, with an offroad H pipe. The longtubes will give you slightly better top end than the short tubes will. The H Pipe keep more of the low end torque than the X pipe would give ya, again, to balance the power between torque and Horsepower.
4. One piece driveshaft- Same idea as the pullies here.
5. A short belt - Basically, all this is is a shorter serpentine belt that bypasses all of the pullies except the waterpump. By not driving the power steering and everything else, your not gettting the drag from them on the crank pulley. You could take this one step further and go with an electric waterpump and run no belt at all... be careful tho, that eather way with this set up, you will need to run a battery charger between races, or have a spare battery that you can swap in.
6. A good aftermarket torque converter - Right behind a Cold Air INtake and a tune, the single best mod for an Automatic car IMO. Will really make a big difference in the car. Most vendors will be able to help you with a choice on exactly what specs the converter should be...

You'll notice I left off the CMCV delete plates. IMO, these will hurt your launch too much for them to make it up on the top end. Also, throttle bodies and the like are a waste. The stock 52mm TB flows well enough to support nearly 425 horsepower, which is well above what you would have with these mods.

Next I would address suspension. Getting the power your making to the ground is every bit as important as making it in the first place. If all you can do is sit and spin, your gonna go no where. Here's where I would go:

1. Lower and Upper control arms: Something tubular, one end with a poly-type bushing and one with a rod end. I would also recommend adjustable on the lower and solid on the upper. I run Spohn LCA's and I love em.
2. A good set of Drag shocks - These might hurt daily driveability somewhat, but it's not unreasonable to swap shocks out on race day. The idea is to get the weight you have transfered onto the rear tires to help them plant.
3. Drag radials - I will list these here... a good drag radial or even a good bias ply drag tire will help ya tons also. A street tire just will not hook like one of these will, and a harder launch will always help. Also, those 20's are a death sentance for a 12.0 time. I hate to say it, because they do fill the wheel wells up nice, but there is just too much unspring weight in them.

I would not lower the car. LOwering springs are generally stiffer than stock and will hurt the weight transfer at lauch.

The next place to look is into making the car lighter. The obvious ones are spare tire removal, run on less than 1/4 tank gas, but there are a few things that you can do further:

1. That one piece drive shaft I listed above.. 26 pounds lighter than stock if you get a good aluminum one.
2. The 17's you mentioned... also MUCH lighter than the 20's.
3. A front swaybar/radiator support replacement kit - This pulls another nearly 30 pounds out of the front of the car. The front sway bar is removed by this, and the support for the radiator is removed and replaced by a much lighter support. Also, removing the front sway allows for a better weight tranfser to the rear tires.
4. remove the rear seat and passenger seat- I can have these seats out in under 15 minutes, working alone. Probably worth about 50 to 60 pounds or so between the both of them.
5. The center console and all the trim up to (but not incuding) the radio surround. Again, takes less than 5 minutes to get this out. worth another 10 pounds or so.
6. Some tracks frown on this... but take your hood off. Another 60 or so pounds and all the cool air you can handle
7. Relocate your battery to the trunk. By removing this weight from the front of the car and placing it over the drive wheels, you helping plant the tires.
8. If you have the shaker 1000 or any sub box for that matter.. leave it at home!
9. Skip dinner before you go! Ok..well, maybe this won't help, but if your like me, eating a few more salads and a few less burgers certainly wouldn't hurt your ET if ya know what I mean... LOL!

Basically, anything you can easily remove and re-install later will help save weight. Also, don't scoff at removing something thats a pound or two.. because those pounds do add up.

One miscellaneous thing I might be inclined to add... A trans cooler. Heat more than anything kills an auto trans, and by adding a good cooler, you are helping to remove alot of that heat.

The last thing you can do... PRACTICE! Don't be one of these internet hero's who goes to the track twice, gets a total of 6 runs in and thinks he knows how to race. I've got over 20 years experience drag racing with usually around 75 passes in per year, and I still find tips and tricks I never knew from others. Don't be afraid to ask people for advice at your local track and go as often as you can, getting in every run that you can, even if you sacrifice cool off time to get another practive run in. Two drivers in the exact same car: 1 guy runs a 14.2 with it, and another runs a 13.3 not even 15 mintues later with the engine all heatsoaked. Why? Experience...