[Black2vConvertible]

Car is a 2002 Mustang GT convertible 5speed...BONE STOCK except for the cold air intake which obviously doesn't do all that much on it's own to an otherwise stock motor with stock exhaust. Car is running on some cooper 245/45/17's with 1/4 tank of gas. I myself weigh in at 190lb's so I'm not sure what the total weight is but I know them convertibles are a good 400-500lb's heavier as well...

Launching between 2,000-2,250 rpm's and shifting right at 6k rpm's...

I was only able to make 3 passes and none of which was I really able to get all that great of traction but hey... Sunshine Speedway is a very dusty and dirty track with the parking lot beside of it kicking up all kinds of dust as folks pull in and all of that settles onto the track, staging area and right there at the start... not trying to make excuses because seriously alot of people were having problems hooking up. anyways... here is my best run of the night...

Reaction time: .751
60'...2.43
330..6.619
1/8..10.019
mph.72.27


I probably could have let maybe a little bit of air out of my tires? Was running about 32psi in the rear's... maybe if I lowered that down just under 30psi or something I would hook up better but please feel free to give any advice on the launch, rear tire psi or whatever... Oh and not that it probably matters but it was 82F outside tonight... just kinda throwing that in there for FYI....

[Black2vConvertible]

something tells me I should be really embarrased because my 2.3L Focus ST with 5spd ran a best of 10.7 in the 1/8th at the same track... actually kinda miss my focus even more now lol...

[cschoening09]

need to work on your reaction time..dump the clutch after the third yellow..last one before the bottom green on the tree.

[Black2vConvertible]

Originally Posted by cschoening09 need to work on your reaction time..dump the clutch after the third yellow..last one before the bottom green on the tree.

Ya.. I can do that...

correct me if I'm wrong but reaction time doesn't have much to do with the overall time though right? because it isn't until the car actually starts moving that it starts trapping your time after you leave the staging area or no?

This is my second time out at a drag strip period... I went once in my focus and then of course tonight in the stang...

[Black2vConvertible]

My car is slow as shit... lol... I mean... obviously the v8 sounds badass and it looks 100x's better than my focus but damn dude....

I feel like now I shoulda just kept the focus and just turbo'd it.... =(

[MATT02GT]

Sticky tires would cut that time waaay down. It's the sucky 60ft times that are getting ya. It takes some practice to get a good launch down, but street tires plain out suck for launching our cars. I've dropped a second off my et with just tires.

[cschoening09]

correct

[Black2vConvertible]

Ya....

[cschoening09]

get urself some nitto nt555r drag radials. my buddy had a set on his heavilly modded 94 gt. they even grabbed hard on the street

[Black2vConvertible]

I'll look into it for the Rear's... Was thinkin a larger size wouldn't hurt either... Maybe get some bigger wheels for the back and run some 275 or even 315 drag radials... Shouldn't hurt!

I imagine if I focused on suspension work to get the power to the ground more efficiently it would pay off in the long run vs. dumping money into the motor and still having problems getting that power down to the wheels on the track so it can hook up where it counts.

[MATT02GT]

Tires would be the best for the buck to start with. I cut 1.8 60 ft times on some 17in bfg drag radials.

[Blackbird1084]

Get a set of non-adjustable lower control arms, double adjustable uppers(unless your a novice at suspension, then get non-adj), remove the front sway bar and get a strut tower brace. That's a pretty slow 1/8th time but traction has all to do with it. You might be able to get some 9.5's out of it with suspension and dr's. My best pass n/a with just bolt-ons and dr's on my 04 is a 13.35@102.5 which I think is a mid 8 sec 1/8. Not 100% on that since that time slip is at home and I'm at work.

[Black2vConvertible]

Thanks for the advice guys!

[NASTY03GT]

Drag radials-a must IMHO. I let the air out of the tires to around 17psi. No need to do a fancy burnout, just warm up the tires if doing NITTOs. Don't wait for the green on the tree, start leaving on 3rd yellow. Other things you can do to help time is weight reduction. Make sure you run with less than a quarter of a tank of gas. Remove spare tire. If you are really motivated you can also pull out passenger seat and back seat and remove front sway bar.

[Black2vConvertible]

Thanks man!

Ya Drag radials are sounding great... Quick question... I was wanting to lower my car about 1.5"-1.75" all the way around to take it from it's 4x4 offroad stance. lol....

will that help or hurt me in terms of 1/8 or 1/4?

[Black2vConvertible]

Oh and I'd like to retain the interior... and I was running with a 1/4 of a tank or less too last night.

[v606er]

Does running with a full tank of gas vs. 1/4 tank make a difference?

[Black2vConvertible]

Originally Posted by v606er Does running with a full tank of gas vs. 1/4 tank make a difference?

Well... it's less weight. Can't hurt to trim those few pounds lol...

[brokenweasel]

Gasoline weighs about 6 lbs per gallon. If you have a 15 gallon tank and you take out 10 lbs, that's 60lbs of weight! Word on the street is that 100lbs will gain you a 10th in the 1/4 mile.

[Blackbird1084]

A gallon of gas actualy weighs closer to 7lbs. And with nitto 555r's a long burnout in second is needed to get them really sticky. And taking out the seats only takes about 15-20min and about the same to put back. So if you take some tools with you to the track you could do it there to see the diffrence and then put them back before you leave. Lowering a car generaly hurts et because it will have less weight transfer and lose traction easier. So if you do so take off the front sway bar for sure.