Took the stang to the track..

[Eos]

Well I took my mustang and my eclipse out to the drags to run them last night. To see how my mustang has improved over last year, and just to run the eclipse for ****s and giggles. Well the mustang won the battle, but the eclipse won the war. The eclipse was the only one who made it home. During the first run the stang was running good and strong and then I heard a snap and my steering went really tight. I got off the track asap and pulled it over. I popped the hood and the belt was just shredded and broken, the car was overheating and steam was coming out of the radiator. So we now have to get a new belt for it. My best and only time in the mustang was a 16.612 @ 84.95 which is it's new record. Last year pre cam swap it ran the best of a 16.7 with my ex boyf driving and my best time was a 17.1 last year. So I improved! The eclipse's best time was a 17.848 @ 79 I ran it several times and thats just the best I could do. I think the mustang could have run a lot better if for one it wasn't already very hot when it went on the track, and if I would have been able to run it a few more times to perfect the launch and such. Keep in mind too traction is horrible with stocker 13" x 5.5 wheels. hehe So future mods will be bigger wheels with nice thick tires for traction. Also it's very hot so that could affect it too. Okay enough excuses for my 16 second car. hehe

What can I improve on??
Best Time Mustang:
R/t .152
60' 2.620
330 7.138
1/8 10.838 @ 67.27
1000 13.973
1/4 16.612
MPH 84.95



Best Time Eclipse: For Comparison

R/T .270
60' 2.850
330 7.679
1/8 11.590 @ 62.63
1000 14.993
1/4 17.848 @ 79.21

 

[Camshaft78]

Work on getting those 60 foot times down. A good solution is of course better traction like you mentioned. Also reaction times could be a bit better but I digress.

 

[Dano78]

Ehhh... there's something wrong. You sould be turning times faster than that espically with that manual trans. Hell, I pulled off a 17.6 in my V6 4speed T-Top car at 5500 elevation (corrected time would be about 16.5) when I had the car down in Albuquerque.

Somethings just not right....

 

[vetwhat]

I agree with camshaft78, you need better 60' times, how's your shifting speed? are you shifting quickly and smoothly ? when you leave the line your goal should be a slight chirp from the tires and a steady strong pull through the traps. you'll get that in time and practice.
also you could be loosing traction further down the track than just off the line. lower your tire pressures in the back to about 15 psi and see if it helps. just don't forget to pump back up before riding the highway. an underinflated tire can cause lots of problems if run for extended time. being hot is hurting a lot. find out why your motor is overheating, you shouldn't be steaming after a run.
when you get that fixed try getting some ice and lay it on the sides of the intake manifold between runs to help cool the intake. a cool air/fuel mix builds power. good luck and keep on racing

 

[1badII]

One thing that can help is to find out for sure when your powerband starts to drop. Do a dyno pull (usually car clubs will do a dyno day, around $60 for 3 pulls), and that will tell you where your powerband is. Shift a couple RPMs after it starts to drop. I dropped a few 10ths off my ET by shifting sooner. What RPMs are you shifting at? I'm guessing you should be shifting in the high 4000's.

 

[Eos]

I was shifting around 5 grand. Like I said I only got to do 1 run and the belt broke during it so I don't remember how I launched and whatever else. I know I need to work on the 60ft times. I wasn't trying to launch the car because I knew the tires would just spin so I took off like I would noramally and then smashed on the gas. When I get bigger wheels/tires I will try launching it better.

I know the car has some definete problem in hot weather because it will overheat if it is sitting on one place more then a few minutes. Plans to replace the radiator are in order. It doesn't overheat when its less then 70 degrees out. So it's fine in fall time.

I'm planning on having it dyno'd again so I can see where I'm at as far as power goes. I know the shop to go too and I know the prices. I just set a date, and have the money to do it.

 

[Eos]

Heres some of the belt.
View attachment 508864

We replaced it today, boy that was a headache. Trying to find the right size....