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Trouble getting into 11’s

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I have a 2014 mustang gt. I have been struggling to get into the 11’s my current mods are.
Cobra jet intake
Long tube headers
3.73 gears
Aluminum 1 piece drive shaft
BMR upper and lower control arms
& for tires I’ve been running a NT555 on my 20inch rim.
I feel like the tires are what’s keeping me from getting into the 11’s the car is kinda a slouch off the like I usually get 1.8-1.9 60ft but I run 12.0’s consistently at 114-115mph so I know the car definitely has an 11 in it I was thinking about going full drag pack with 15inch on the back & 17inch front runners. Anyone can give some advice on things I can do to get the car more dialed in & also I was wondering do you think my car is capable of a 11.6 et based off the numbers on my time slip if I were to be able to get my 60ft down to maybe a 1.6

2FBAACFC-CE02-4BAA-8F1F-5F8FA1790F20.jpeg
 

Bill Pemberton

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Not a Drag Racer, but I agree with TonyStang, as I know my friends who hit the strip a lot are all running smaller tires than that. One guy I know is running Toyos 315/18s and I know others running Mickey Thompsons or Nittos ( not sure the size but I know none are on 20s)

Good luck , as you are close and I think Tony is steering your the right direction.
 

TMSBOSS

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20" have no sidewall to speak of. The sidewall lessons the shock on the tread patch improving traction. Ditch the 20s for the drag strip. From there you can go with the 15' wheels. Be sure to check clearance at the sway bar in the rear if you run the 15"s. I read where folks were adding a relocation kit so they could keep the rear sway bar stock while running 15"s. All depends on width....If I remember correctly. I "Started" tracking my Boss a 1/4 mile at a time. Then I learned I could get more track time in 20 minute session than a weekend at the drag strip. Still run the 1/4 mile occasionally. I try to miss the crowds so I can run more frequently. Good luck searching for the 11's. I never made that with the Boss, just into the low 12's for me.
 
it’s an automatic. I have been on the track on this set up a few times & it would not just go 11’s I have a few more set of mods I plan on adding before going back I have a 4400 Stall from circle D. Don’t know how it’s gonna effect daily drive ability lol but I’m tryna go fast as I can N/A for now & I have a two step and trans brake I will add with that. While on a full drag wheel set up car should be definitely be into the 11’s then I’ve seen a car with similar mods running 11.40’s at the strip I go too but idk if his stall converter was that high though but he definitely had a higher stall converter
Stick or auto.....and running this time on 20’s in back is def holding you back.

get the Mickey Thompson et streets R’s on 15’s and you’ll easily take of .2-.3 because you’ll be able to launch higher.
Stick or auto.....and running this time on 20’s in back is def holding you back.

get the Mickey Thompson et streets R’s on 15’s and you’ll easily take of .2-.3 because you’ll be able to launch higher.
Stick or auto.....and running this time on 20’s in back is def holding you back.

get the Mickey Thompson et streets R’s on 15’s and you’ll easily take of .2-.3 because you’ll be able to launch higher.
 
it’s an automatic. I have been on the track on this set up a few times & it would not just go 11’s I have a few more set of mods I plan on adding before going back I have a 4400 Stall from circle D. Don’t know how it’s gonna effect daily drive ability lol but I’m tryna go fast as I can N/A for now & I have a two step and trans brake I will add with that. While on a full drag wheel set up car should be definitely be into the 11’s then I’ve seen a car with similar mods running 11.40’s at the strip I go too but idk if his stall converter was that high though but he definitely had a higher stall converter

you will for sure be in mid to low 11’s. Daily driving is not something you should care about since you have a cobrajet intake. You may just shift at higher points.
 

Apex Wheels

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What's the shift points set at, and what does the car weigh? Personally I feel like a CJ car with longtubes and those other mods should trap a little higher than 115. Curious if the car is shifting too soon to take advantage of the manifold. As others have said, tires will make the biggest difference, especially combined with a Circle D converter. If you're looking for a budget set of drag wheels, VMS has been popular lately but they only come in 18x5 front and 17x10 (maybe 10.5") rear, which has plenty of tire choices and no need for a sway bar relocation like 15x10s do.
 
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I think the 20" tires are definitely an issue but I think you're bigger issue is the 3.73 gears. Combined with the 4.17 1st gear you are not going to be able to get good traction without slicks. If you are running 27" tall tires, you're probably redlining at 100 to 105 rpm and having to shift into 4th well before the traps. If you're running 26" tall tires, its even worse.

Going with a high stall converter will probably make your traction issues even worse. If you go down to 3:55's you might have a better chance. If I did a 12.339 at 111.5 with a 1.92 60ft at 475 DA with a stock engine and exhaust and 3.55's you should be able to do 11.9x with longtubes and a CJ intake.

Also, make sure you are running with the TC off.
 
The car is shifting around 7200 & Im getting the stall & the 2 steps and trans brake installed today & im on the look for a set of tires right now. My local track is down right now due to the Coronavirus but I’m very curious on what it’ll run once I get everything together it’s gonna be a 11 second pass for sure. But Im for certain like you guys say that 20 inch rim is holding the car back a ton & it’s on 315/35/20 size tire
What's the shift points set at, and what does the car weigh? Personally I feel like a CJ car with longtubes and those other mods should trap a little higher than 115. Curious if the car is shifting too soon to take advantage of the manifold. As others have said, tires will make the biggest difference, especially combined with a Circle D converter. If you're looking for a budget set of drag wheels, VMS has been popular lately but they only come in 18x5 front and 17x10 (maybe 10.5") rear, which has plenty of tire choices and no need for a sway bar relocation like 15x10s do.
 
Yeah I didn’t really know to much when I started out. I was just throwing mods at the car I thought 3.73 would be good gearing for 1/4mile racing I thought it would get me out of the hole quicker but without sacrificing too much mph up top. Getting my stall installed now with a 2 step and trans brake as I search for a smaller tire can’t wait to track it and see what it does
I think the 20" tires are definitely an issue but I think you're bigger issue is the 3.73 gears. Combined with the 4.17 1st gear you are not going to be able to get good traction without slicks. If you are running 27" tall tires, you're probably redlining at 100 to 105 rpm and having to shift into 4th well before the traps. If you're running 26" tall tires, its even worse.

Going with a high stall converter will probably make your traction issues even worse. If you go down to 3:55's you might have a better chance. If I did a 12.339 at 111.5 with a 1.92 60ft at 475 DA with a stock engine and exhaust and 3.55's you should be able to do 11.9x with longtubes and a CJ intake.

Also, make sure you are running with the TC off.
 

Apex Wheels

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But Im for certain like you guys say that 20 inch rim is holding the car back a ton & it’s on 315/35/20 size tire

It's not so much the 20" diameter, honestly just the tire model is pretty poor for traction. A 315/35-20 Nitto NT05R or 305/35-20 Nitto NT555R and Mickey Thompson ET Street S/S would produce much better results without having to buy new wheels.
 
F4ADBEEF-E6F9-4F45-A467-1D224884B439.pngF4ADBEEF-E6F9-4F45-A467-1D224884B439.png
Car has been a best of 11.57 now I’m still having issues with a tune rn my speedometer i has been off for a while now and now has been mentioned to my tuner and he told me that the car is short shifting Because of it never got the chance to load the new tune in yet but ima make some more suspension tweaks I wanna get into the 11’3’s in this weather but from what I’m looking at on the slip it’s like my car is slowing down after the 1/8th idk if it might be the 3.73 gears but I’m switching out to 3:31’s
 
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The 3.31s will definitely save you from it shifting just before the traps. So you're now running a Circle D 4C? What size wheel and type tire are you running now?

You should be able to datalog your runs with your tune device. For example, with an SCT X4 you can load your tuner's or your own LiveWire configuration file into it. You can then use it's menu to start and stop the datalogs. Once you download the file you can see all the data - assuming the right PIDs were selected for the file. You should be able to see your RPMs and as they peak and drop these are your shift points. If it's shortshifting it should be readily apparent. There are loads of other things that are worthy of looking at. Knock Sensor pulling or adding advance, lambse (commanded air fuel ratio), coolant temp, etc, etc...

BTW, if your tuner enables at least part of the integral SCT Tuner custom options you should be able to input the tire revs per minute to get your speedometer in sync. If you swap tire sizes for street and strip this can save you from having to ask the tuner to give you two different tunes.
 
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The 3.31s will definitely save you from it shifting just before the traps. So you're now running a Circle D 4C? What size wheel and type tire are you running now?

You should be able to datalog your runs with your tune device. For example, with an SCT X4 you can load your tuner's or your own LiveWire configuration file into it. You can then use it's menu to start and stop the datalogs. Once you download the file you can see all the data - assuming the right PIDs were selected for the file. You should be able to see your RPMs and as they peak and drop these are your shift points. If it's shortshifting it should be readily apparent. There are loads of other things that are worthy of looking at. Knock Sensor pulling or adding advance, lambse (commanded air fuel ratio), coolant temp, etc, etc...

BTW, if your tuner enables at least part of the integral SCT Tune custom options you should be able to input the tire revs per minute to get your speedometer in sync. If you swap tire sizes for street and strip this can save you from having to ask the tuner to give you two different tunes.
I’m Running a 5c converter the track I run at prep isn’t so great the most I can leave at is 3500 rpm. I kinda feel Like the car Is lacking in top end speed i feel it slows down a good bit after the 1/8th ima make some more adjustments I’m tryna get to 11.30’s or low 11.40’s in this heat weather so that I know I’ll be close to 10’s when good weather comes around. ima make some more suspension tweaks and run on some race fuel next time I go out. I have been running E70 in it the last time
 

302 Hi Pro

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Beautiful! 11.5’s running an ‘All Motor’ 14 S197 5.0l Mustang! Yup, it’s a beautiful thing.

Congratulations.

Reading your thread renews my hope that my 2012 Boss 302 could be a sub 12’s car as she ran consistent 12.4’s on street tires @ 114-116 mph with .6xx/.7xx RT’s & 2.0x 60/ft times. Won 5/8 and had to drag 4 of them down before the traps. It was a fun diversion from my trips to NJMP.

Good luck.
 
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First of all, congrats on not only getting into the 11's but now aiming towards 10's in less than 3 months since your original post.

What does your tuner say about your next steps?

Have you dyno'd your car? If so, what does your curve look like above 5000 rpm?

A data log would help too. When you were running E70 did you change injectors? You may not have enough fuel flow with the stock injectors. Is that why you're thinking about race fuel as your next step?
 
First of all, congrats on not only getting into the 11's but now aiming towards 10's in less than 3 months since your original post.

What does your tuner say about your next steps?

Have you dyno'd your car? If so, what does your curve look like above 5000 rpm?

A data log would help too. When you were running E70 did you change injectors? You may not have enough fuel flow with the stock injectors. Is that why you're thinking about race fuel as your next step?
My car has never been on a dyno before. I have been thinking of doing it but never got around to do it & I also have upgraded injectors 47Lb ford racing ones & before I go with the race fuel I was gonna tryna some pure E85 & go to another drag strip in my area we’re I can launch pretty hard I should run a new PB there I know I won’t run any spectacular number in this hot summer weather but I just want to see what the car will do in the heat so that will give me an idea of what it will do once temps drop & once the weather gets better and the DA gets low I will try race fuel & I also have upgraded rear suspension parts too. White line adjustable sway bar, bmr pan hard bar, Viking double adjustable shocks, cobra jet drag springs the front suspension is still stock. The best 60foot I have got is shown in the slip above but it consistently puts down a 1.59 or better
 

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