Track questions.....racing tomorrow

[89five.o]

Last time out at the track I ran a 15.56. This summer I'll be making some money in Michigan working for GM and I was wondering what times I can expect if I pick up some 3.73's,slicks, and perhaps finally hook up my nitrous (125 shot) Running 15.56 is a bit disappointing even at 4000ft. I was also wondering about my tremec 3550 and how it holds up under powershifting. I've been granny shifting it at the track since it's my dd and I don't feel like breaking the trannie. How much time could I probably take off as of now powershifting? Hoping I can get a bit better time at the track tomorrow. Any tips? I normally Ice the intake, launch at about 2k feathering the trottle and shift at 5500. Thanks for the help. Heres me running a 15.59.

http://media.putfile.com/me1559

 

[dans89lx]

if you were on street tires there it didnt SOUND bad off the line, i would keep it there if thats working for you. and you werent joking about granny shifting haha...a tremec will hold up...i had a buddy with an 88gt (306, mild heads/cam, 4:10s and a few bolt ons) and i used to beat the ever-living-**** outta that tranny and it is now in his second fox without ever being opened up lol...i didnt look to see your mods if any but if you are mostly stock the tranny is the last place i would be worried in your case

 

[cenok is family]

look at it this way, i ran a [email protected] on OLD nitto's and all i had at the time was 4:10's, 2.5 bassani off road X pipe and 40 series flows. That tremec will withstand anything you can throw at it man, i promise you. with the gears, slicks and 125 shot, you SHOULD be well into the 12's.

 

[Strippt88]

Sounds more like you need tires more than a transmission. The granny shifting could be a lot faster, not much fun powershifting and leaving the track with a box of gears where a t-5 used to be, though. What shifter are you using, that could shorten your shifts a lot, even if you still shift for trans life and not for speed. The Tremec will do anything you want a trans to do, but if your technique isn't practiced, its not gonna get you out of the gate or down the track any better. Sprayed 150 on my old 86 (89 5.0 in it), had a t-5 with a Hurst, 3.73's, no motor changes, just good tires and practice, ran 11.4's. All kinds of chassis work on that, though.

 

[89five.o]

The shifter is the stock one that goes with the 3550 I believe, but I put a kirban short handle on it. If I were to powershift would I only do it for first to second shift or second to third shift as well? I don't think I'd trust myself powershifting the 2nd to third. I already spin the tires at the track when I hit 2nd so would it be a lot worse powershifting?

 

[Fett]

The power you are making isn't possibly going to break your tranny...only you can break it, at this point. By "powershifting" do you mean no-clutch shifting? If so, scrap that idea.

The best advice I ever heard about shifting at the track was told to me years ago, and I never changed it. Imagine how you shift on the street when just driving around.....now do that as fast as you possibly can. Clutch in, move shifter from 1st to 2nd, clutch out....do it FAST. You can practice anywhere, every time you are driving around, you can practice your shifting.

Think about it this way, the only things you need to worry about when it comes to fast shifting is your hand-foot coordination. You don't need to go through all the gears to get that down so your hand and feet are working together in rhythm. Once you have your hand-foot coordination down quickly, the only other "tricky" part is the 2nd to 3rd shift. 1st to 2nd is straight down, and 3rd to 4th is straight down. The only issue you will have with the 2nd to 3rd shift is trying to not overshift. You can practice your hand movement sitting still with the clutch in, just constantly going from 2nd to 3rd. Practice different hand positions to find what feels comfortable and what puts you into the best angle to get that shift down.

Once you have that all down, you will cut your times down dramatically.

Then get some slicks and have fun. Racing on street tires is like running a foot race in flip-flops.

 

[89five.o]

By powershifting I meant keeping the accelerator to the floor while tapping the clutch and banging it in gear so that the rpm's stay up. My shifting has improved a lot but I know that there's probably still a few tenths that may be gained from powershifting.

 

[mackey]

You are be able to powershift that transmission all day long and it SHOULD hold up. They are pretty strong.

 

[Fett]

By powershifting I meant keeping the accelerator to the floor while tapping the clutch and banging it in gear so that the rpm's stay up. My shifting has improved a lot but I know that there's probably still a few tenths that may be gained from powershifting.

Not really. The difference between being a good shifter and being a good shifter without letting off the gas would be VERY minimal. Just practice your shifting and you will be fine. Everybody seems to have the best "trick" to shifting....but honestly the best way to shift is by doing the exact same thing you do on the street, you just do it extremely fast.

 

[Darkwriter77]

BIG minus to not letting off the gas: potentially banging against the factory rev limiter (especially when running nitrous and/or boost), especially if you miss the shift. If this is your DD, don't risk it. Follow the above recommendation. I "granny shift" my stuff all the time, but as stated, you just gotta learn to do the usual ... just do it a lot faster.

A firewall adjuster with aluminum quad (instead of the stock auto-adjusting quad) and a good shifter base will help your shifting ability A LOT, especially if your shifter is set up with an auto-centering kind of deal to help with the 2-3 shift (I'm so totally spoiled to my Pro 5.0 shifter, I was all kinds of fumbling around when I tried shifting Frankie's '04 the other day).

I'd definitely recommend investing in upper/lower LCA's, torque box reinforcements, subframes, and a driveshaft loop before going with gears and slicks. Button down the foundation FIRST, or you're looking at a squirrelly ride.

 

[89five.o]

Yeah, I have the UPR clutch quadrant and firewall adjuster. I'm debating between getting the pro 5.0 shifter or the MGW one. I also have full length MM subframe connectors already. Torque box reinforcements are definetely on my list if I get slicks along with hardened wheel studs. So all in all then I guess powershifting really isn't worth it then.

 

[Strippt88]

Yeah, what they said! "Granny shifting" is what you're gonna do, just do it quickly. The height of your gas pedal is just, well, wherever your practice tells you your car likes. You'll want to lift some, to keep it from granading, but keep into it so when you release the clutch in the next gear, you're at the power, you don't have to wait on it. After all, clock's running. Can't stress enough, tires x 3! Street tires and the track like driving on ice. If a fox don't get out of the hole, it ain't gonna get at all! Lower control arms a big help, got Southsides myself(old school, yes I am!), car won't squat nearly as much.

 

[89five.o]

I have ford racing rear uppers and maximum motorsports rear lowers.....pretty much useless without slicks though. The Nitto 555's I have (not the 555r's) are pretty slick at the track.

 

[Fett]

Drag radials are a thousand times better than street tires....but slicks are the way to go. My buddy as a coupe like mine, but he has a 306 built block, alum heads, and a custom cam....everything else is pretty much the same, and he has never seen the 14s, because he runs street tires. On slicks, dropping the clutch at 5000rpms, and shifting like mad....he would be in the 12s easily. All the power and suspension in the world is meaningless if you can't get that power to the ground....and you shift like you are on a nice Sunday drive.

You might want to invest in a good shifter. Good shifters have stops that won't allow you to bend a fork, and have centering springs that will dramatically reduce the possibility of missing 3rd.

Above all else, get tires and practice your shifting.

 

[Curse]

89five.o, hows it going. Are you going to race here in El Paso? If so let me know and I will be more than happy to let you try out my slicks.

 

[cobradvm]

You have some suspension mods, Nittos (although not drag radials), spinning the wheels in second, etc and only running a 15.59, seems like something is way out of whack. I would think a slushbox on chitty street tires with grandma driving could run better than that. I was under the impression that bone stock fox bodies were easy 14 second cars. Not trying to flame or anything, but seems like you should be able to get better times. May be more seat time???

 

[dans89lx]

i never had any problems not lifting to shift at the track...the way i see it, if im at the track, im risking breaking something. im there to try to get the best time i can outta the car knowing that. and power shifting was how i got the best times out of the car...your only gonna break your weakest link...and then its time to upgrade anyways. and no im not rich or spoiled, im a weekend warrior just like most of you guys and i rely on my car being up and running, but if im gonna run the car at the track im gonna RUN the car

 

[Fett]

I agree, but you can "RUN" it and still avoid doing things that will up the chances that you do break something. I dog the snot out of my car at the track, 5000+rpm clutch dumps at the line with slicks, spraying out of the hole, shifting like mad, and carrying those RPMs well beyond 5500 with stock heads.

I just think that holding down on the gas is a bad move for someone who is inexperienced. A miss shift could cause a nice amount of damage when you don't let off the gas....especially with nitrous. If he decides to go that route, he NEEDS an MSD with a 6000rpm pill rev limiter.

 

[25thmustang]

Not really. The difference between being a good shifter and being a good shifter without letting off the gas would be VERY minimal. Just practice your shifting and you will be fine. Everybody seems to have the best "trick" to shifting....but honestly the best way to shift is by doing the exact same thing you do on the street, you just do it extremely fast.

This actually has been proven wrong by me a few times. I tend to shift a car as fast as I can, and with powershifting even compared to a fast lift and shift I see a good tenth or two every time. To me a tenth or two isnt minimal, but it might be for you. Also to note if you go to a heads up race, and watch the top guys and long time racers, you wont hear a lifted shift... its a free tenth or two to learn how to do it right.

By the way I shift mine at 5700 or so, and we had my dads shifting at 6000 and never once hit the limiter between gears. A missed shift will but thats what the limiter is for, keeps the motor from blowing up (my friend pulled his car out of gear on a track pass with the limiter disabled... bent a pushrod that we replaced at the track, but did some other damage we couldnt fix right then. He still went out and raced after the mishap.).

Now if this is your daily driver you might not want to be out there abusing it as much as I describe. If you need it to get to and from work and have no other means, then id be leary!

Oh you know what is fun I did once (one reason I dont powershift the car on the street much anymore), Powershift 2nd from 3rd. Yup missed 4th and got 2nd merging one day. I got lucky I was probably only 5000 and not the 5700 I normally go at, but damn Ive never heard worse sound or had my stomach hurt soo much for a split second!

 

[Curse]

You have some suspension mods, Nittos (although not drag radials), spinning the wheels in second, etc and only running a 15.59, seems like something is way out of whack. I would think a slushbox on chitty street tires with grandma driving could run better than that. I was under the impression that bone stock fox bodies were easy 14 second cars. Not trying to flame or anything, but seems like you should be able to get better times. May be more seat time???

We race at track(if you can call it that)that is 4,000FT above sea level and usually has a DA of 7,500FT. With everything I have in my sig, no N20 my car runs 13.0s. To compare, 03-04 Cobras run high 13s-low 14s here so I don't think he is doing too bad.