Five Oh Brian
Mustang Guru
My daily driver is a '14 GT Automatic, but it's also my weekend warrior for drag racing. I've been drag racing for 32 years, and learned that putting together the right combination of parts is much more effective than simply throwing away money on every bolt on available.
My goal with this car is to run the 1/4 mile in the 11's every pass, yet not go under 11.49 (as I don't want to install a cage to pass tech since it's a daily driver).
I'm pretty much done modding now and wanted to share the simple path I took to get the ET's I was after. I've posted averages for various mods below (I have a spreadsheet built for all of my runs). I chose to compare averages instead of best/peak #'s to give a better feel for what improvements there really are. Also, our weather (i.e. Density Altitude) has been incredibly similar for most of the passes I've made in this car as I tend to stay away from the track on sweltering hot/humid days. DA has been in the -100' to +1000' most of the time I've run the car, so the numbers below are very comparable, IMO. I've made dozens and dozens of passes on this car, so follow along to see if any of my info helps with your own car's progress.
Keep in mind, my car is very heavy with most factory options (automatic, glass roof, shaker audio, dual power/heated seats, etc.). It weighs 3800 lbs with me in it. I never ran the car stock, but Coyote automatics tend to run about 13.0 @ 109 in the 1/4 mile from those I've seen at our local tracks.
First mod was an SCT canned tune with drag radials (M&H 275/45/18 DR's). Those two basic items were worth about 3 tenths and 1-2 mph in the 1/4 mile versus stock. Time slips averaged....
1.969 = 60'
5.405 = 330'
8.206 @ 87.53 = 1/8 mile
10.624 = 1000'
12.664 @ 110.66 = 1/4 mile
Next up, I switched to a Bama tune with a Circle-D stall converter (4E that flashes to 5,000 rpm's). While the converter was out, I decided to put a 1-piece aluminum driveshaft in. Big improvement of about 6 tenths and 2 mph! Time slips averaged....
1.669 = 60'
4.938 = 330'
7.699 @ 88.73 = 1/8 mile
10.083 = 1000'
12.087 @ 112.74 = 1/4 mile
Next up, I went with 4.10 gears and a Mike Rousch tune. Dropped 6 hundredths and another 1 mph. Most people seem to agree that the gears did nothing (and may have slowed the car), so credit this round to Mike's tuning, albeit I didn't have him datalog, so there should be more gains to be had. Time slips averaged....
1.685 = 60'
4.944 = 330'
7.675 @ 90.00 = 1/8 mile
10.028 = 1000'
12.02 @ 113.81 = 1/4 mile
Current setup: Mike Rousch encouraged me to lose the factory cats so he could tune a little more aggressively. So, I bought a Pypes Off-Road H-Pipe, and Mike altered the tune accordingly (still not datalogged, so there should be more improvements coming soon). Improved nearly 2 tenths in the 1/4! Time slips currently averaging....
1.677 = 60'
4.855 = 330'
7.547 @ 91.09 = 1/8 mile
9.874 = 1000'
11.853 @ 113.84 = 1/4 mile
So, with just a tune, converter, 1-pc, d/s, OR H-pipe, 4.10's, and drag radials, the car has improved by an average of about 1.15 seconds and more than 4 mph in the 1/4 mile versus a typical stock Coyote Automatic.
Best 1/4 mile ET so far has been an 11.786 and best 1/4 mile trap speed so far has been 116.06 mph. So, those best figures are about 1.2 seconds and 7 mph better than a typical stock Coyote Automatic.
100% stock engine (including factory airbox with paper air filter from the factory!), 100% stock suspension, factory wheels at all four corners, no weight reduction, stock headers/mufflers, and it's a heavy daily driver.
Here's what my '14 looks like when it's race ready. The only clue that something is different is the drag radials. To say it's a bit of a sleeper at our local tracks is an understatement....
My goal with this car is to run the 1/4 mile in the 11's every pass, yet not go under 11.49 (as I don't want to install a cage to pass tech since it's a daily driver).
I'm pretty much done modding now and wanted to share the simple path I took to get the ET's I was after. I've posted averages for various mods below (I have a spreadsheet built for all of my runs). I chose to compare averages instead of best/peak #'s to give a better feel for what improvements there really are. Also, our weather (i.e. Density Altitude) has been incredibly similar for most of the passes I've made in this car as I tend to stay away from the track on sweltering hot/humid days. DA has been in the -100' to +1000' most of the time I've run the car, so the numbers below are very comparable, IMO. I've made dozens and dozens of passes on this car, so follow along to see if any of my info helps with your own car's progress.
Keep in mind, my car is very heavy with most factory options (automatic, glass roof, shaker audio, dual power/heated seats, etc.). It weighs 3800 lbs with me in it. I never ran the car stock, but Coyote automatics tend to run about 13.0 @ 109 in the 1/4 mile from those I've seen at our local tracks.
First mod was an SCT canned tune with drag radials (M&H 275/45/18 DR's). Those two basic items were worth about 3 tenths and 1-2 mph in the 1/4 mile versus stock. Time slips averaged....
1.969 = 60'
5.405 = 330'
8.206 @ 87.53 = 1/8 mile
10.624 = 1000'
12.664 @ 110.66 = 1/4 mile
Next up, I switched to a Bama tune with a Circle-D stall converter (4E that flashes to 5,000 rpm's). While the converter was out, I decided to put a 1-piece aluminum driveshaft in. Big improvement of about 6 tenths and 2 mph! Time slips averaged....
1.669 = 60'
4.938 = 330'
7.699 @ 88.73 = 1/8 mile
10.083 = 1000'
12.087 @ 112.74 = 1/4 mile
Next up, I went with 4.10 gears and a Mike Rousch tune. Dropped 6 hundredths and another 1 mph. Most people seem to agree that the gears did nothing (and may have slowed the car), so credit this round to Mike's tuning, albeit I didn't have him datalog, so there should be more gains to be had. Time slips averaged....
1.685 = 60'
4.944 = 330'
7.675 @ 90.00 = 1/8 mile
10.028 = 1000'
12.02 @ 113.81 = 1/4 mile
Current setup: Mike Rousch encouraged me to lose the factory cats so he could tune a little more aggressively. So, I bought a Pypes Off-Road H-Pipe, and Mike altered the tune accordingly (still not datalogged, so there should be more improvements coming soon). Improved nearly 2 tenths in the 1/4! Time slips currently averaging....
1.677 = 60'
4.855 = 330'
7.547 @ 91.09 = 1/8 mile
9.874 = 1000'
11.853 @ 113.84 = 1/4 mile
So, with just a tune, converter, 1-pc, d/s, OR H-pipe, 4.10's, and drag radials, the car has improved by an average of about 1.15 seconds and more than 4 mph in the 1/4 mile versus a typical stock Coyote Automatic.
Best 1/4 mile ET so far has been an 11.786 and best 1/4 mile trap speed so far has been 116.06 mph. So, those best figures are about 1.2 seconds and 7 mph better than a typical stock Coyote Automatic.
100% stock engine (including factory airbox with paper air filter from the factory!), 100% stock suspension, factory wheels at all four corners, no weight reduction, stock headers/mufflers, and it's a heavy daily driver.
Here's what my '14 looks like when it's race ready. The only clue that something is different is the drag radials. To say it's a bit of a sleeper at our local tracks is an understatement....
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