Still no difference after all the mods.....

[firebird99]

Last year around late October or early November I took my car to the track to see how it ran. The car was stock and my best time was 16.4. Now I've put in a whisper lid,the ghetto ram air, K&N filter, 3" catalytic converter, a cat-back exhaust, and flowmaster. I also changed out the stock thermostat for the 180. Anyways I took it to the track on Friday and my best freakin time was still a 16.4. I couldn't believe it!! :mad: My friend says it was because it was colder last time but I just feel like I threw all this money into the car but it didnt do sh*t!! Am I doing something wrong? Do I have to reset the cars computer somehow or what happened here? Some guy at the track also told me to get some kind of a resistor or capacitor for the sensor after the whisper lid. He said it really made a difference on his car. He showed it to me and said I could get it at any radio shack real cheap. Can anyone explain this a little better to me and how its done???? Your help is greatly appreciated.

[01blackbird]

my brother did this mod to his car (2002 mustang). its called a potentiometer. something like $2.50. you have to get into your wiring nd solder the wires to this thing. With this installed, you can crank it up or turn it down. when its all the way up, you better make sure 1.its cold and 2. you have premium gas in there! What it does is trick the computer into thinking colder air is coming in, thus advancing the timing. they sell it on ebay also and call it a "performance chip" for like $11.00 (ripoff). btw, gas milage goes [img]graemlins/thumbsdown.gif[/img] . oh well
[img]graemlins/dunce.gif[/img]

[scottblack]

Post the specifics of your time slip and we can help you more.
You also list a catback exhaust and a flowmaster. So which one is it? You really can't have both, unless it is a catback with a flowmaster muffler.
What gears do you have? Is it an auto or M5? What tires? Elevation? Do you have limited slip?

Please elaborate and we can help you more.

Scott

[strobhen]

You make it sound like you have been to the track twice

That's your problem

If you have an auto, my guess would be bad launches.

If you have a manual, I would guess bad launches and shifting.

No offense, but you likely need practice.

Your 60' should be right around 2.2 (max) and there should be no wheel spin on your launch.

[snotty]

Way to be ignorant and scare him away.

[Guardiannknight]

Sounds like the temp. and humidity to me. It makes a difference. Do you know the temp. it was the first time you ran(back in Oct. Nov.) and the most recent time. Also, I noticed that you have the free ram air mod. I have no dyno to support this, but your car is sucking up hot air from your radiator. I had the free ram air mod, and I was running slower than I should have been. So, I blocked off the air with a piece of alum. that i cut to fit perfect below my air filter. I raised my air box up and my car has regained it's power. I no longer pull the hot air from the radiator, I'm pulling in cooler air, so that helps. [img]smile.gif[/img] So, if you want the ram air effect without pulling up hot air, you probably need to buy one of the kits from fast toys or slp.

[ September 23, 2002: Message edited by: Guardiannknight ]</p>

[LTNone]

You definitely have to consider the wind, air temperature, humidity, and your engine temperature when you make the comparison. I am not sure what type of improvement you are expecting, but on my 2nd Gen T/A, the E.T. can vary by 3 tenths between a warm day a and a cold one. In addition, cool down time between passes greatly affects the E.T. I always score my best ET's in November when the air is cold.

Who knows what affect the wind can have? Were you driving into a headwind the second time, or did you have a tailwind the first time?

Not only that, make sure your track is using the same timing system. I have left a track in the fall and some back in the spring and everyone I know was slower (or faster) in MPH and/or ET.

Did you race the same track both times? Believe it or not, not all dragstrips give you the same ET, since they may not be exactly flat.

With the mods you have applied, I feel there should have been some SOTP improvements. If you can tell its there, its there. Before you get too pissed, try again in November.

[firebird99]

"Post the specifics of your time slip and we can help you more.
You also list a catback exhaust and a flowmaster. So which one is it? You really can't have both, unless it is a catback with a flowmaster muffler.
What gears do you have? Is it an auto or M5? What tires? Elevation? Do you have limited slip?"


Ok here go my specifics for last year:

reaction: .733
I1: 2.297

E.T.: 16.443
MPH: 82.822

Now here are the ones for this past Friday:

reaction: .771
I1: 2.246

E.T.: 16.434
MPH: 82.730

Also what I have is a cat-back exhaust w/ a flowmaster muffler. I don't know what gears I have but I'm pretty sure its the Y87 package. My car is an automatic, tires are Yokohama Avid V4 245/50, and yes I do have limited slip.

Now as per strobhen's comment about me only having been to the track twice, well thats incorrect. I've been to the track quite a few times but I really thought that with all these new modifications I would really see more improvement. I'm launching at about 2000-2500 rpms but I'm still spinning my tires. Anyways so does the computer need to be reset somehow so that it adjusts to these mods or does it do it automatically? Someone told me to remove some fuses and wait a few minutes then to install them again and it would reset, but I don't know which ones. Anyone heard about this?

[firebird99]

Oh by the way I am 3,710 feet above sea level. In the middle of the desert. Friday night it was probably in the low 70's but I know when I raced last year it was colder.

[Seppo Kaitainen]

moving to racing forum