School Me: Such thing as too much traction? Yes.

[RedfireV8]

So I thought I had this whole drag racing thing down but it just goes to show you when you think you know, there's more to it. Change one thing on the car and it changes something else. I apologize for the long read, I just like to be detailed.

Let's back track to before last nights Trophy TNT. With the current car's setup (below), I've been running 12.3's to 12.5's @ 114-117mph. Sixty foots range from 1.96 to 2.00. This has been within the past year so I haven't gone out to the track when it wasn't hot out. Temps on those runs were anywhere from 75* to 89*. Humidity being up there too.

Now as everyone know's better traction usually means better 60' times right? Well that's what I thought at least. A few months ago I bought 15" Racestars with 275/50 MT ET Streets. Figured I'd be pretty close to those 11.9's I've been looking for. Wrong. Had my dad watching the car to see what the launches looked like last night. He said he saw no spinning and no wheel hop. He did say however that it looked like it was in slow motion. I didn't feel any bog but you never know.

So with the DR's and 4/5 runs were all 12.6X @ 110-112mph with 2.002-2.0X 60'. No matter how hard I ran it, that's the best I could do. Off of idle or even 1400RPM. I'm glad I didn't go with the 275/60 (28") tall tires, thats for sure. The last run was 12.55 @ 112. I contribute that to the weather getting cooler. Which btw it was 89* with 73% humidity. By 9ish PM it cooled to like 82*. So yea I'm sure the heat didn't help at all. Not gonna lie pretty down about the times. Don't get me wrong the car is damn consistent. So I started thinking..and would like yalls input to see if my thoughts are right.

I'm thinking due to the extra traction now, that I need more RPM when launching. The car just wants to dig in but its not launching hard enough to get out the hole quick enough. Mixed with the 3.15's in the rear the car just needs a harder launch to produce better times. Meaning a converter is what I need coupled with these Racestars. Which I won't be doing. Now about those MPH's, I'm guessing due to having the 25.8 dia tires now the car isn't having the high MPH like my street tires have, 27in I believe. Am I correct on this train of thought? Let me know.

Car's setup:
12' 5.0 Auto w/ 3.15 gears
Airaid Intake
Tune
GT500 Mufflers
Steeda Ultralight Springs
J&M LCA and PHB
18x9.5 with 275/40 Continental Extremecontact DW's

Track Wheels:
15x8" Racestars with 275/50 MT ET Streets

Times are 1st to last run, left to right. Car #19.

Video of my 1st ever elemination run and last of the night. lol

 

[Lupo222]

Sounds to ms you need to launch just a tad bit higher in the rpms. Are taking any pressure out? How long is your burnout to heat em?? Maybe try less of a burn out? What tires were you runnin on your old times?

 

[RedfireV8]

Forgot to mention some of those things. Tire pressure was at 18psi. I would burn em till I saw a good bit of smoke. From what I read, could be wrong, you want a nice long burn out to heat them up good. Old, faster times were just street tires. Continental Extreme Contacts.

I kind of just found it funny that I finally get some sticky tires on this thing and I end up going backwards as far as times and speed goes. You know? lol

 

[stkjock]

To answer the thread question- NO

U need a coverter to launch harder

As to the burnout, 55-60 MPH for 4-5 seconds should be all u need

 

[BlackDragon]

Are you braking up onto the converter or flashing it when the light turns green?

-Ant

 

[Lupo222]

ahhh forgot he's an auto. yea you need a higher stall converter. That is definetly your problem though because with DRs you should definetly be running harder, better times than that!!

 

[MikeT]

you want to go faster in 60ft you need a converter. . . a gear change would help too

period

 

[fdjizm]

There is no such thing as too much traction, there is such thing as too little RPM though

 

[BAKnBLK2010]

Convertor is the key with the auto. You don't have to go real big with the stall rpm either. BMR's n/a 2011 Mustang GT cuts 1.5XX sixty foot times with the Circle D 3200 convertor on 265/40/18 MT drag radials. I talked to Kelly the other day and he said the car drives like stock with this size convertor other than the Circle D chatter noise. This is the size convertor I'll be getting real soon.

 

[46Tbird]

Your 60' is the same as before even a 1" shorter tire height? So overall gearing is a little better, but you added traction ... to end up with the same 60' and 5mph less top end?

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say your car is down on power due to DA or an actual problem. Run it again with street tires and see what it does.

 

[Unreal]

I just went through the same thing. Look at my thread below. The autos need a converter and/or gears to get out of the hole. Coming out the hole at 1300-1400rpm just won't 60' well. I tried 28" and 26" tires, 60's were all 2.12-2.15s. Street tires 60' the same as I was actually faster on them.

 

[dragpac]

Take those tires off and go back to stock until you get a converter.period

 

[OU81]

For 1 its the da. Its too damn hot & humid here to be worried about track times. The last at scr was 2000+ when racing started and 1840 at the end of the night w/ the humidity at 77% when racing started and ended up at 88% when racing ended.

I know thats not your hole problem but it is a factor. Your 12.55 run corrects to a 12.28 @ 114. Still less mph than before

If you dont want a converter then add more gear to help get it out the hole.

PM me for a good/cheap gear installer. Everybody around here uses him. You might even know him

 

[Bud]

My converter was one of the best things I've done to the car. Took it from being lame outta the hole to very fun now. On an N/A car I'm guessing it's an even more important piece of the puzzle.

 

[RedfireV8]

This is exactly what I was looking for. So my suspicions were correct on the converter/gear thing. Of course heat and humidity make up the other half of the problem. Thank you everyone for your insight and knowledge.

To answer some of the questions, the car feels fine as far as power goes but I will look over everything and make sure nothing looks out of the ordinary. I know there's no point in running the car in this heat but I had an old time friend going out and wanted to catch up. The next time I go out will probably be in October and will be trying both sets of tires and see what happens. The only reason I don't want to do a converter and possibly gears is I want the most out of the car as it sits now plus I'm not too sure how much longer I'll be having it due to house hunting so..

Oh and lol at the "there is such thing as too little RPM" comment. That was pretty good lol! Thank you all again for yalls help!

 

[kdanner]

Pretty well proven 2 years ago that with the stock converter, the right amount of spin will make these cars quicker, the converter is just really tight.

 

[Lupo222]

converter or not, with DRs, you should still be able to cut slightly better times, not slightly worse...

 

[stang1971]

they are right... a convertor is what you need.... my auto with 4.10's and a 2800 circle d stall will cut low 1.7's and high 1.6's on 275/50's at 30 psi. my car is lowered and i have the lca reloc kit on... car bites hard with very little tire spin... i can drive to the track on the dr's and race all day without changing psi....

 

[psfracer]

converter or not, with DRs, you should still be able to cut slightly better times, not slightly worse...

Unless you change the tire height (which people often do) to a taller tire.

And yes, the best thing you can do to an auto car is converter, gear, and tire.

 

[Unreal]

converter or not, with DRs, you should still be able to cut slightly better times, not slightly worse...

My self and the OP both had the same results. I ran consistent 13.0s with stock tires, 13.2s with hoosier 28" slicks and 13.1s on 26" MT ET streets. It would go quicker spinning a bit off the line and getting the RPMs up then sticking with the good tires.