Lol, had to run out and check them.. couldnt remember what the number was. They are the A550's. 255/40/17's. Look like this



Not a track tire by any means.

 

Sounds about right for your mods, tires and conditions. You will run better for sure with better tires and condiditons, maybe 13.5-13.7

 

After running tonight I honestly think with the track conditions and my tires I woulda ran better with stock gearing [:@] Would have atleast been able to launch high enough to not bog when I got good traction. Ohh well... just means I get to make the wife mad by spending more on the car [8D] .. unless someone takes that offer up [&:]

 

2 ranch chickens for 3.78 is a rip, you should have gotten a 1/2lb potato burrito.
Anyways, maybe the track was really poorly prepped if everyonne was runing bad times. Low 14 isn't too shabby, although emann will probably get you when he gets his vert running right.

 

i always get stuff off the dollar menu like the burrito's and even steak Quesidilla's... those things are the sh*t! hahahaha.

 

Man I needed the good stuff after that last run

I need to run again after I get tires. Hopefully will do MUCH better.

 

Man, don't be so hard on yourself. This is your first time to a drag strip correct? First off. You do need to do a little burnout to put a little heat into the tires, and clean them off. Not too much, or they'll get greasy and you'll never hook.

As far as your launch...If you're having these spinning problems, try riding the clutch out. Don't just dump it, but get the RPM's up high enough, and ride the clutch out just enough to hear a tiny bit of squeel. Once you're out a little ways, then hammer it. You'll have to trial and error this about 10 times to get it down. But thats how you solve the street tire situation.

14 flat is not a horrible time for your first time. However, your trap speed tells me that there isn't much left there. I can't imagine hitting mid 13's, but what the hell...Let's try. How good of a shifter are you? Are you power shifting? If you're not...You need to learn how and practice. When you think you've got it down...You don't...Practice some more. Get yourself a Tri-Ax shifter, or my personal favorite. A B&M Ripper. This will help you with the 2nd to 3rd power shift.

Don't worry. You'll get it down. And when you're ready, pick up some drag radials. Then you can really start getting some times with that thing. Good luck!

 

Thats the sad thing.. This is far from my first time at the track. First time with this car, but this is the 3rd mustang I have ran, 4th vehicle overall including my truck.

I am a pretty decent powershifter. I dont powershift 1-2 becuase the T45's are known for molesting a synchro when you do. I power shift 2-3 and 3-4.

When it came to traction, I think it was mostly the way the track was prepred that as throwing me off sooo bad. I tried last night to take off from a light... launching at the same RPM I was at the track and slipping the clutch, not dumping it, I could take off just fine. I didnt have the bog issue from having to get out just the slightest bit to get traction. I think I should have launched at a lower RPM at the track. I think DR's will help a lot next time I run as well.

And I was ticked when I wrote all that. Lol, you would be to if you managed to pull a 16 on video. I just had a lapse in judgement.. I would have been fine skipping the water and the burn out if I had just gotten to make a run and my tires were still warm... I should have skipped the water and just did a quick little burn out like I was doing through the water earlier. Between shifting way later then I should have on my last 3 runs, and the take off of the final run.. I was just ticked. Ahh well, live and learn I'll do better next trip.

 

Nah, don't sweat it. I ran the GTO to a whopping 18 second run once. Everytime I came near the gas pedal it got sideways and headed for the wall. Because I had gotten the tires too hot. Go I gave up about half track and did about 55 the rest of the way.

 

I think you may be expecting a little too much out of your car, Hav. Assuming that your car is a stock '97 Cobra with 4.10 gears (a mixed blessing on street tires), your first E.T. was actually pretty good. You might be able to run something in the 13.90's but, just as Sidewayz6.0 said, that's about all you're going to get until you go to DR's.

While the 96-98 Cobras supposedly produced 300hp, even MM&FF couldn't crack the 13's with a stock one when they tested it in '96. Regardless, your engine has a lot of potential thanks to those 4v heads. Don't get discouraged! Tracks tend to lose traction when lots of drivers with street tires make runs, and your experience of having a good early run (when traction was still good) followed by progressively worse runs as traction breaks down mirrored my own "Test&Tune Session" this weekend...