I was gonna ask if 4.10's would help there.

So what 60' times would be a good goal for me with 4.10's, 295/35/18 street tires in rear, and stock stall.

I feel I'm fairly good at launching the car, is something under 2.0' setting my goal to high?

 

1.97's was all I could muster on 4.30's and stock convertor but that's my car you might do better. That was with zero tire spin it would bog a little.

 

So what are the major differences between the SCT and Diablo Sport. The place I plan on doing a lot of my tuning advertises the Diablo, I don't know if they do the SCT or not. I'm sure they do because they are a mustang only place and have been doing mustangs for over 20 years.

Just curious on what the differences between the 2 tuners are?

 

What kind of tires were you on when you ran that?

 

The SCT is simply better. It is written by ex-Ford engineers and has a great deal of adjustablilty. Diablo may be great but everyone I race with around the country uses SCT.

I ran the 1.97's on my Nitto's.

 

In the 5 years I've been dealing with Diablo tunes... I've never been really really really happy... just momentarily satisfied. The 1 Superchips tune I did was ok but like all of theirs it was off the shelf and not "great". The SCT tunes I've been there to see and experience were all really very good. I don't know if it's the interface, the engineering behind the software, the chip/tuner, or the expertise of the guy doing the tune but everyone I've known that's tried both has always seemed to like SCT better. My tuner does and that is what matters to me.

In a very real sense... if your tuner shows prowess with Diablo, let him use it. If you can get him to custom tune a SCT program for you and he has the skillz, even better.

Some shops will sign exclusivity deals with their tuning software provider and can only tune on that providers chips/handhelds. I know of one really close to me that has such an arrangement. best course of action... ask them if they do SCT. If not, get diablo. Don't bother with Superchips since they all appear to be off-the-shelf and not really top shelf at that.

 

I have the Diablo Predator Programmer and i haven't had any success with it i think it is actually making my car slower. I want to take it to a tuner and have a dyno tune with it to see if that would work. I'm not to worried about it right now because i'm doing the 5.4 2v swap so. What ever the tuner wants to use when i get it finished and dyno tuned i will use. But for a do it yourself tune i don't like it at all it's just a $350 paper weight.

 

This has to be hands down one of the best threads this site has seen in months. WELCOME BACK!

 

I've ran the ole' GT to 13.56 @ 100.85 with just exhaust (O/R H and catback), cai, and tuner. Street tires of course.

I'm going for 12s on street tires with just gears and a little more practicing. :banana:

I see people at the track running mid 14s in their GT.. heck I've never had a best time of the night... slower than a 13.95 and that was when I only had an H pipe.

 

Although i agree with what you say, I don't agree that 3.73's are a waste. considering that not everyone is running a n/a set up and 4.10's or steeper gears will just not do. Pricewise, an ls1 will make more power for alot less. I love my mustang but it just doesn't cut it...

 

We have covered the gears already, 4.10's for a n/a set up,higher for a forced induction. LS1's suck! the Camaro's look like a big catfish from the front, the Firebirds look like something out of a Japanese cartoon. They have no room inside and the dash is 6 foot deep. You cannot work on them because the damn engine sits under the ginormous dash board. They rattle from the factory and did I mention they SUCK. True they have a bigger engine and make more power but that's what makes it so fun to beat them and watch their owners cry.
By the way a 4.10 is a lower gear than a 3.55, I have always found it strange that a higher gear is actually a lower gear, I think they do that just to confuse people like me.

 

Is your car an auto?
If it's a manual it should run low 13's with traction. The first sixty feet is the whole race (unless you miss a gear).
As far as racing an automatic you have all sorts of things to do when racing.
1. You must steer it straight down the track
2. You must remember to let off the gas after going thru the traps
3. You must brake at some point or you will hit a sand trap, tree, barrier etc.
4. You must call your friends during the race on your cell phone to let them know how you are doing.
5. You must constantly adjust the volume on your radio due to excessive noise from your car and the one you are racing, unless it is a Honda in which case it wont take long to be so far behind as to not annoy you.
6. Finally you have to go back to the pit's and show your friends with manual cars your time slip which is better than their's.

 

What kind of sixty foot times are you getting now?

 

Yeah you really need to correct your times to see what you would run at sea level. I bet you lose close to a second due to the altitude.
To launch an auto basically just hold the brake while keeping you right foot just above the gas pedal. when the tree comes down stomp it to the floor while letting off the brake quickly ( I do this as soon as the last amber light flashes) by the time the front tire has time to roll throught the last beam your convertor will have flashed and you off with hopefully a sub .1 reaction time.
If you have excessive wheel spin try stalling the convertor on your own by holding the brake while bringing the engine rpm's up till the car feels like it wants to start pushing then let off the brake and floor it on the last amber light. This will cause you to launch softer and you might fix the tire spin problem. Another trick is to stage very shallow by just nudging up to the second beam enough to make it flicker. You get a running start through the lights and this trick can knock a tenth or two off of your et. It does slow your reaction time a bit so it's a trade off. It works well if you have problems red lighting. For a quicker reaction time try staging deep where you actually roll out of the first beam and stop with only the second beam lit. This will slow your et a bit but will speed up your e.t. It is quite usefull in bracket/index type racing.

 

I have a stock 96 cobra wid 3:73s what 1/4 ET is it capable of? It is a 5spd. Which adds more power o/r H or x pipe? How much power would a set of long tubes and mid add? How would it affect your ET?

 

whatever 1/4 mile time you can pilot it to. You should at minimum be able to see low 13's if driven properly. high 12's aren't even unreasonable. Neither an H or an X adds power, they free up a little but like 3-10hp (only aftermarket units that are freeer flowing and have high flow or no cats) ... nothing to write home about. It really helps when you toss in a power adder. A set of longtubes would probably get you 12-15hp and a killer sound. What a PITA to install. OMFG. Get a tubular (MM) k-member and make your life easier. Your et would drop just a tad. Your trap speed would probably show a bump too.

 

I don't know how much a set of headers would help on your Cobra. Seems like at least as much as they do on a 2v since yours has the capacity to flow much more air through. I really never noticed and better e.t. with any of my power mod's since they are all minor bolt on parts. The big helpers and the gears, sricky tires and in my case the higher stall convertor. I went from 13.7's to 13.00 with the 4.30's replacing the 3.73's, Nitto's and the torque convertor.
If I wanted to race a 4v I would go no less than 4.30's since they keep making power when the 2v has given up.Since you have a live axle you can beef it up and launch that sucker off the limiter. I have a friend who had a 01 Cobra, he swapped in a live axle, beefed it up and launched at 6,300. He ran 12.00 with a a basically stock car using only gears, sticky tires and exhaust.

And yes installing headers on a sn95 sucks big time, I still have nightmares about it a year later.

 

Think I can hit 13's? maybe mid 13s?

Mods in sig, would be on 295/35/18 max summer tires, stock auto, lowered 1.5"

 

what gears? Stock gears I doubt it.
When I ran my first 12.89 I dyno'd at 243/272.

 

I'm at 240RWHP and 283RWTQ. Yes stock gears for now.
You dont think I can hit 13s?

 

the 18's will make you about 5 tenths slower in the quarter. i did my own test on this and i would be stuck at 14.00 consistant and with 17" 13.6 consistant with stock gears. i got about 100 150 passes with my car before i put the blower on. i always did gambler runs since i was consistant with my car.

edit and im not saying you wont go 13 just sayin those 18's will hurt your time.

 

He's right, I have raced several really nice looking 99 Cobras that had huge 18" chrome wheels and just smoked them. That was when I was running 13.70's.
Those heavy wheels really take their toll on your et.
As far as 13's with stock gears and torque convertor it would be hard to do with your horsepower. You just are not going to get off the line hard enough. I think you can come close low 14's for sure. Just spray a little 75 shot that will fix your problems.

 

Eh, it's no biggy. My car is my daily driver and I am more into the looks and show car kinda look than the horsepower. I mean I love making my car faster, but not enough where I'll get 17 inch rims and do weight reduction type things.

By the end of this summer performance wise I'll have 4.10 gears, my full SLP exhaust, JLT RAI, 75mm Accufab TB/Plenum, Stage 1 VT N/A cams, and everything re-tuned with my Xcal2.

Goal: Mid 13s, 270-275RWHP through stock auto.

 

I know my 18's are slowing me down. I have 3.73 gears, o/r x-pipe, 2 chamber flowmasters, bbk 75mm throttle body, CnL intake plenum, CnL inlet pipe w/ 85mm MAF, and Diablo Predator Programmer with there tune. I'm only getting 13.92@ 100 mph.

What do you guys think i should actually be running? I ran a 14.00@ 99 mph with just o/r x-pipe and flows before i got all that other stuff done. oh i had the 18's then too.

 

It depends on several factors.
Is your car an manual or auto? I assume manual since you did not metion a stock or aftermarket convertor.
With a manual car you should be a little quicker than an auto once you learn to launch it well. With about the same mod's as you have mine went 13.70 @ 102 with 3.73's and stock convertor. Your heavy wheels will cost you a tenth or two so you are about right at 13.70 - 13.90. With some light weight track wheels and sticky tires mid 13's should be easy.

 

It's a manual sorry forgot to mention that. The first couple times i ran my car i with the stuff done to it that i have know i was running 14.6@ 96mph. I was also running BFG drag radials at that time. Also my car would want to stall out sometimes when i tried to take off. I changed some of the parameters on my Programmer and it helped. i leaned it out and adjusted the timing too. I haven't been back to the track with the last adjustment i made but it seems stronger by the seat of my pants. LOL

Oh and my 60ft. with the 13.92 was 2.1 so i know i still have room for improvement there.

 

I can't stress enough how important it is to get out to the track for test and tune and just practice. I write notes on my time slip after each run, things like tire pressure, tire spine, head or tail wind. I always correct my times once I get home. It has really helped my evaluate mod's and techniques. You can get a log book from Summit racing or just use a note book.