'14 GT Automatic - drag racing results from a few simple mods

dre256

forum member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Posts
608
Reaction score
17
Location
NJ
Congratulations! Good to finish the season on a high note!
 

Five Oh Brian

Mustang Guru
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Posts
1,687
Reaction score
17
Location
Pacific Northwest
Congratulations! Good to finish the season on a high note!

Thanks. We technically have two more race days this month, but the weather will likely be rainy and my drag radials are shot (I was cooking them hard to fight for traction due to the poor track prep Friday), so my season is done and I'm so pleased to go out on that high note with this car. I may have another Mustang to race next season.

300 DA
Yum

I wish we had this more often. It's been a few years since we've had negative DA, so slightly under 500' is the best we usually get in the spring & fall. Summertime racing is usually 1500-2500' DA around here.

Awesome man!!

Thanks! I may be retiring my '14 GT from racing as I might be purchasing a friend's Procharged '12 GT automatic soon. Far from a done deal, but a distinct possibility. It's NHRA legal down to 10.0's with a freshly installed rollbar and all the other safety goodies that go along with sub 11.49 runs. I've made several passes in this car last season and this season, and really dig his car. Traps in the 125-129 mph range, but needs some tuning magic to get its launch and shifting perfected. Should run 10.50's once the tuning is figured out. If I don't buy his car, perhaps I'll bite the bullet and work on getting my '14 into the 10.90's naturally aspirated.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

John@Steeda

Junior Member
Official Vendor
Joined
Jun 29, 2017
Posts
14
Reaction score
0
Great times!

let us know if there is anything for the suspension you need
 

Five Oh Brian

Mustang Guru
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Posts
1,687
Reaction score
17
Location
Pacific Northwest
Congrats and that .007 RT is really good.

Thank you. I can usually post .0XX RT's, with the occasional .1XX to keep me humble. I leave on the 3rd amber light (if I'm holding 1500 rpm's against the brakes) and just before the 3rd amber light if I'm launching off idle. After 35 years of drag racing, I've only cut a perfect .000 light once. I liken it to golfers trying to hit a hole-in-one.
 

Pentalab

forum member
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Posts
5,211
Reaction score
1,093
Thank you. I can usually post .0XX RT's, with the occasional .1XX to keep me humble. I leave on the 3rd amber light (if I'm holding 1500 rpm's against the brakes) and just before the 3rd amber light if I'm launching off idle. After 35 years of drag racing, I've only cut a perfect .000 light once. I liken it to golfers trying to hit a hole-in-one.

I'm not a drag racer, but I thought the concept of a higher stall converter was so you could keep the rpm's a lot higher, with foot on brake ?
 

skaarlaj

Probie Former Pink Bus Rider
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Posts
767
Reaction score
6
Pentalab, just speaking on my own behalf here, but I've found that not holding the highest possible rpm against the brakes, (I actually take mine to about 2500), before trading feet upon launching and then it immediately flashes to around 4-5K this lets the suspension load while launching and gets me better traction. I've tried leaving at 3500+ rpm, and the suspension becomes pre-loaded by doing this, and not much suspension movement is left to happen upon launching, and for my particular car, it leads to worse 60' times. different methods for different car / suspension set-ups I suppose.

I have stock lower control arms, and springs, but an upper mount using the stock upper arm in the lower hole which causes the body to separate from the axle under load, and by not providing the full load prior to launching, it allows the body to separate from the rear axle while actually moving down the track and pushing the tires down-ward for the first however many feet where I'm most likely to spin. If you're as high rpm's as possible against the stall before the light turns green, the body will become separated from the rear axle (before) launching with my particular set-up anyways, and won't benefit. Brian's reasoning and explanation may be different. But regarding the torque converter, when the throttle gets nailed the rpm's will jump up much higher, and further into the powerband with these loose converters compared to stock. Mine probably couldn't get over 2Krpm's with the stock torque converter against the brakes, and Coyotes are just plain lazy at those rpms, so you'd have time lapsing during your run while your motor just isn't making decent power, but with my 5C, I can easily hit 4500 or probably higher when ever I want to plant the right foot prior to the car's movement.
 
Last edited:

Five Oh Brian

Mustang Guru
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Posts
1,687
Reaction score
17
Location
Pacific Northwest
I'm not a drag racer, but I thought the concept of a higher stall converter was so you could keep the rpm's a lot higher, with foot on brake ?

Skaarlaj explained it pretty well. The magic of a big stall converter is the "flash" in rpm's that you get as that is what maximizes the launch. A big STR (stall torque ratio) helps multiply torque on launch, as well (you don't get that with a manual trans!). My converter's STR is close to 2:1, which means my car feels like it's got about 800 lb ft torque on launch. Ideal stall speed should be just a few hundred rpm's below peak engine torque rpm, which is why I chose 5,000 rpm's for a stall speed. Too many people pick stall speeds that are way too low to keep them "streetable" when a big converter is just fine for daily driving, IMHO.

Most stall converter companies suggest holding the rpm's closer to idle against the brakes to have a bigger flash and harder launch. I've tried all different rpm's against the brakes and I can only go to about 2200-2300 rpm's before it starts pushing the car out of the beams. My best 60' times come from holding just 1500 rpm's against the brakes. Keep in mind that the instant I mash the gas & release the brakes it goes immediately from 1500 rpm's to 5000 rpm's, and at WOT the rpm's never drop below 5000 rpm's on upshifts.
 
Last edited:

Pentalab

forum member
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Posts
5,211
Reaction score
1,093
Tnx for the explanation Brian, now it all makes sense. For folks with a centrifugal blower, it should get into boost a lot quicker. For folks with a PD blower, it would probably have a tendency to lose traction....esp with street tires.

On another note, do you remove the rears seats? That only takes a few mins with another pair of hands...and dumps apx 40 lbs. The heated leather passenger seat weighs aprx 52 lbs I'm told, and comes out with just 4 bolts and the electrical connector. Then remove the spare tire + jack....and any other misc stuff in the trunk. That's a bunch more weight right there....possibly 40-60 lbs.

The fuel in a full tank weighs 100.6 lbs. So you could dump some more weight by juggling fuels levels a bit.

If you do install LT's...and either no cats or high flow cats..and either an X or H, I think you will be in for a rude awakening. That was the one mod on my 2010 auto, that was blatantly obvious. I installed JBA titanium ceramic coated LT's...and mating high flow catted H. I can push my fingers down hard on any of the 8 x primaries, after having the blower on, 3 blocks from the house, without burning my fingers. The theory with ceramic coated LT's is... the hotter the exhaust gases are inside the primaries and collector's, the faster they flow. The oem cats on my 4.6 were at base of eng bay..and run very hot. The new high flow cats reside below the front seats. Between relocating the cats + ceramic coated LT's, there was a drastic drop in eng bay temps..like a huge redux. B4, the steeda STB, which is black in color, was blazing hot to the touch, now it's luke warm at most. My aeroforce gauges indicated the oem cats would hit 1800+ deg F at WOT. High flow cats are a bit higher. I used one of those Fluke 61 point + shoot IR thermometers to take some measurements..... but that was with hood up, eng on idle..and after having it on the hwy for 20-30 mins...( with the blower being used quite a bit).

The 2010-2012 cars all have that severely restricted upper grille. I tossed it (and the oem upper foglamps), and replaced with a 7 bar upper grille. Now it's bucket loads more air through the upper grille. The new 7 bar upper grille also solved another issue, the air is now straight into the.. 'snorkel' that in turn feeds the input to the oem airbox. With the oem upper grille, the intake air has to do two 90 deg bends to the....'snorkel'. My boost went up slightly, when on the hwy. Oem snorkel is aprx 1.25 wide x 6-7" tall, and resides at extreme right side ( driver's side). You can't see it with oem upper grille.

I replaced the oem paper filter with a K+N. You can hear the air whistle though it. It flows another 22% per K+N. If on dusty dirty roads on a semi regular basis, I would not use the K+N.
 
Last edited:

Five Oh Brian

Mustang Guru
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Posts
1,687
Reaction score
17
Location
Pacific Northwest
My quickest passes (mid 11.40's to low 11.50's) have been with 20 minutes of weight reduction before going to the track. I remove the front passenger, rear seat, spare tire/jack, trunk liner, and strut tower brace. I run with 1/3 tank of gas. That 20 minute ritual drops about 200 lbs. When I run with all of the seats in the car, it goes high 11.50's to mid 11.60's.

LT's are definitely on my short list and I certainly want to keep underhood temps down with coated headers.

I swapped grilles a couple years ago on my '14 GT to the '13 Boss 302 grille. I kept my fog lamps, but could easily remove them to allow more airflow, but I like keeping the lamps for aesthetics.

Lots of good info being shared here. Hoping to report on more mods to my '14 this spring. I really didn't change much, if anything, this season.
 

Pentalab

forum member
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Posts
5,211
Reaction score
1,093
With Lt's and the 5.0 eng, most see aprx 440 rwhp with a 93 tune..on a manual. That's like 500 crank hp..which is a bunch. On an auto, I'd expect aprx 400 rwhp. It's a ..'free lunch'...except for the initial cost. That's the one mod that did something. Sure, I could have used a smaller blower pulley. But the LT's work in both NA + blower mode. It pulls a lot harder when not in boost..and ditto when in boost. Manually shift into 3rd at a red light. Mash the gas, shriek of rubber..and off we go to almost 100 mph..all in 3rd gear.

If you go the LT route, make sure you install new exhaust gaskets. New ones from any ford dealer are cheap. I also installed steeda eng mounts, which allowed for a stock ride height, or 1/4 - 1/2 - 3/4" eng drop option. I used the 1/4" drop option which made for better clearance between my roush cai tube and steeda stb. It also lowers the center of gravity a bit.
 

STEVEB

Junior Member
Joined
May 5, 2010
Posts
43
Reaction score
0
Location
Ottawa On. Canada
I have't been on for a while so I missed this... Awesome times Brian!! I do have a question about your torque converter, did Circle D help you decide your stall speed? Or did you chose that on your own? getting ready to order mine and I want to make sure I order the right one..
 

skaarlaj

Probie Former Pink Bus Rider
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Posts
767
Reaction score
6
Just talk to them at Circle D man. I'd always say go as loose as possible if NA or centrifugal. PD blowers, and turbos might require a little more thought. However when locked up cruising they're all going to be the same, so I wouldn't really about drive-ability.
 

tigerhonaker

Senior Member
S197 Team Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2009
Posts
6,516
Reaction score
29
Location
TN
I have't been on for a while so I missed this... Awesome times Brian!! I do have a question about your torque converter, did Circle D help you decide your stall speed? Or did you chose that on your own? getting ready to order mine and I want to make sure I order the right one..
Steve,

I run the Custom Circle-D Billet Converter.
Give them a call and discuss with them your "Application".
They will know exactly which one to build for you.

Terry
 

Five Oh Brian

Mustang Guru
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Posts
1,687
Reaction score
17
Location
Pacific Northwest
I've been away for a long time. First post here in nearly a year. I traded the '14 GT for a low mileage, mint condition '11 GT500 a couple weeks ago. My '14 GT was just resold a couple days ago in Tacoma, WA. Most of the mods went with the car (converter, gears, tuner, etc.). Hopefully, the new owner will hit the track and pick up where I left off with this great 5.0L!
 

Latest posts

Support us!

Support Us - Become A Supporting Member Today!

Click Here For Details

Sponsor Links

Banner image
Back
Top