Help me figure out why my car is so slow

[FSTNG]

Seeing everybodys times makes me wonder why my car runs so slow... maybe somebody can make a suggestion or two. Here are my specs:

89 lx hatch with freshly built 302, forged flat-top probe pistons, gt40p heads, x303 cam, high-volume oil pump, msd ignition (pro-billet dist, digital 6+, digital multi-step retard, blaster hvc II coil, super conductor wires, denso iridium plugs gapped .045"), electric fan, underdrive pulley only driving water pump and alternator, all other accessories removed, victor jr single plane air gap intake manifold, spyder efi elbow, 75mm tb, 92mm pro-m maf, 50# injectors, direct port nitrous setup jetted for just over a 200 shot using a progressive controller, stock t5 trans w/pro50 shifter, centerforce clutch, stock steel driveshaft, all stock 8.8 limited slip rear with 3.08 gears and approx 25" tire height (normal street tires), granatelli control arms, custom front member with coilovers and MM camber plates, custom chassis stiffening, full cage, no rear interior, car weighs 2960 without me in it. I'm using Moates hardware for tuning the A9L. I added 4 degrees of timing at cruise and WOT and tuned the AFR to 12.8-13.2 at WOT and 11.8-12 on nitrous. Car has a full aeromotive a1000 setup with large diameter braided lines, rails, adjustable fmu (set at 39psi, vacuum disconnected), sumped fuel tank with rear pickup, etc.

My guess is that the oversized intake setup is where my problem is, combined with the 3.08 gears. How high are you guys gearing your cars? This is a daily driver so I need to keep the MPG and RPMs in check.

Here are my latest times:

On motor:
RT --- .111
60' --- 2.238 (my 60' is killing me, I have to launch at 1500RPM and 20psi and it still spins)
330' --- 6.071
1/8 --- 9.195
MPH --- 78.19
1000 --- 11.877
1/4 --- 14.110
MPH --- 101.60

On nitrous:
RT --- .425
60' --- 2.141
330' --- 5.610
1/8 --- 8.475
MPH --- 86.74
1000 --- 10.842
1/4 --- 12.821
MPH --- 112.79

As you can see it's all coming on near the end of the track. Nitrous is set up to roll from 50%-100% over 2 seconds from 3000rpm-6000rpm at WOT (shifting at 6000rpm, not power shifting) and I pull 2 degrees of timing as soon as the nitrous system is armed, then 2 more at .5 seconds into the run and 2 more at 1 second in.

Thanks for any replies

 

[QUICK91LX]

First off your street tires are really killing your launch. you should leave off idle on those tires, anything higher and they just spin. you probably would be better off with a performer rpm or trick flow street heat intake or something along those lines. based on your description, that totally sounds like a carb intake...never heard of an air gap intake for an efi mustang...the 3.08's are also hurting low end acceleration. if you want improvement but dont want too much gear try some 3.55's, though most people will tell you just do 3.73's. this will cause more traction problems though, so tires are even more in order.

but yeah get drag radials...and practice practice practice...the key is getting those 60' times lower. work on them first before you get gears, just using the drag radials. the car has alot more in it the way it sits but all the horsepower in the world means nothing if you cant get it to hook. once you have some seat time with just the new tires, then try upgrading the gears and if you feel like it, make the change to an intake that provides better low end power.

 

[FSTNG]

Yeah, its a carb style intake with injector bosses. It's been a real bear to tune off-idle due to the large intake components. I still don't have it perfect. I almost got a set of slicks this weekend but somebody else beat me to them. I know the tires are a big factor but they are hooking pretty well after the 60' although I know I could launch a lot harder with slicks. It just seems like it should be running a lot faster as it sits. I'll put up a datalog the next time I run it, I am missing track day today because I have the tranny out for a rebuild and I'm waiting on new control arm bushings.

Here is a somewhat recent pic of the engine bay:
http://www.sokodo.net/~brian/gallery/show.php?image=/2007_02_08/IMG_5898.JPG

 

[QUICK91LX]

Yeah other than getting the power to the ground better, I'd say the other issue would be that intake. Its like putting a 750 double pumper carb on a stock 302, its just overkill. If you were to swap over to a more traditional style EFI 5.0 intake such as the ones i mentioned, you would pick up alot of bottom end. the X cam makes power higher up as well so everything you have makes for one screamer of a motor but a bit softer than it could be right off the line.

 

[FSTNG]

maybe i just need a big rubber band, lol.
money is the main problem right now so I've been trying to figure out how I can get the times down with what I have. Slicks are first on the list, and hopefully that plus tweaking the tune some more will get my 60' down which is the main problem area. I might think about doing a gear swap too, but I don't want to run out of gear at the end of the track either. On the other hand since this is a daily driver it would be more fun on the street

 

[brian15]

maybe i just need a big rubber band, lol.
money is the main problem right now so I've been trying to figure out how I can get the times down with what I have. Slicks are first on the list, and hopefully that plus tweaking the tune some more will get my 60' down which is the main problem area. I might think about doing a gear swap too, but I don't want to run out of gear at the end of the track either. On the other hand since this is a daily driver it would be more fun on the street

well if you figure out you want to swap intakes for something else ... let me know id be interested in the one on your car currently .

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

whoa!! stock maf ftl!!!