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2020 GT 6spd: First trip to the dragstrip with 4.09 gears

MRGTX

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So let me preface this by saying that this was my first trip to the drag strip ever.

I've autocrossed many times and engaged in street shenanigans for a couple decades now but this was my first time on an actual drag strip. I've always loved watching and reading about drag racing but I never wanted to build a car for it so it always seemed a bit pointless to try to run a 1320' with a car set up for cornering. Well, I change my mind. The drag strip is ridiculously fun regardless of what you're driving and I am an idiot for writing it off. I'm going back ASAP. :D

The car is a base model GT, has the (non-drag oriented) Ford Performance track handling pack, BMR cradle brace, 325/30/19 Indy 500s (good, not great), Ford Performance intake/tune and of course, the 4.09 final drive ratio. I didn't mess with tire pressures or anything. I just wanted to drive and get a baseline.

I got in four runs, best run was 12.95 @ 113mph. My very first run was slightly quicker (12.94) but it only trapped at 106mph... not sure what to make of that other than mediocre driving.

On one hand, I met my goal of having a hell of a lot of fun and at least cracking into the 12s...but I secretly hoped that those 4.09s would make the car significantly quicker than expected. Inexperienced driver aside, the problem was...and I suspect that anyone who knows anything at all about drag racing would have predicted this....that the 4.09s cause you to run out of 3rd gear long before the finish line. So whatever the car gains in wheel torque, it's almost certainly washed out (and then some) by that extra shift.

I also had some wheelhop issues when trying to warm up the tires, something that doesn't happen on the street but was absolute no-go on the strip. The BMR cradle brace didn't help as I expected it would so I'll have to look into that next. I don't know that getting more heat into the tires would have helped much but it probably wouldn't have hurt.

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I’ve seen other posts with the same conclusions…. 4.09’s are great everywhere except the drag strip because of that extra shift.

Sounds like you need some 17’s or 18’s on the rear to get more sidewall.
 

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but I secretly hoped that those 4.09s would make the car significantly quicker than expected. Inexperienced driver aside, the problem was...and I suspect that anyone who knows anything at all about drag racing would have predicted this....that the 4.09s cause you to run out of 3rd gear long before the finish line. So whatever the car gains in wheel torque, it's almost certainly washed out (and then some) by that extra shift.
IMO, you're not getting all of your expected performance due to your tires. Extra shift does lose a marginal amount of time, but nowhere near as much as having a 2.3x 60 foot. That's borderline atrocious for a car with this power and that kind of gearing. You're simply not getting out of the hole hard enough to make up that time down the rest of the strip and my guess is you lack traction from small sidewall 340TW budget street tires.

A 1.9-2.0 60 foot, which is very much doable on good tires (not talking about fancy slicks or drag radials) will easily get you in the low-mid 12s where you should be with that setup.
 

Dave2013M3

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Like EFI posted. Your 2.3 60ft time is where you are hurting. A 2.0 60 ft. time would get you into low 12s. A 1.8-1.9 (totally doable) will get you 12.0s and possible high 11s.
 

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Sounds like fun. When you go back, try no-lift shifting, nobody can confirm or deny the Ford Perf tune has it. Must be in Track mode at over 5K rpms.
 

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MRGTX

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IMO, you're not getting all of your expected performance due to your tires. Extra shift does lose a marginal amount of time, but nowhere near as much as having a 2.3x 60 foot. That's borderline atrocious for a car with this power and that kind of gearing. You're simply not getting out of the hole hard enough to make up that time down the rest of the strip and my guess is you lack traction from small sidewall 340TW budget street tires.

A 1.9-2.0 60 foot, which is very much doable on good tires (not talking about fancy slicks or drag radials) will easily get you in the low-mid 12s where you should be with that setup.

Like EFI posted. Your 2.3 60ft time is where you are hurting. A 2.0 60 ft. time would get you into low 12s. A 1.8-1.9 (totally doable) will get you 12.0s and possible high 11s.
Good input...looks like a bit of a consensus on that point.

I figured there was room to improve on the launch but it's good to hear that there is a lot of room there. I was trying to avoid just lighting up the tires so I was launching around 3500. It still spun but it didn't go up in smoke or anything. At what RPM do people usually launch manual stock-ish cars?
 
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StangTime

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What do you mean? A 30 second chat/call with any FP rep and it's confirmed.

I had it on the PP2 tune on my 2016, my buddy has it on his PP tune on a 2019.
It depends who you talk to I guess. FP didn't advertise it as a feature for the new kit. Thanks for confirming. :like:
 
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MRGTX

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With no Track Mode on the rental spec/manual cars, I wonder if this feature is available for me. I'll give them a call.
 

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It depends who you talk to I guess. FP didn't advertise it as a feature for the new kit. Thanks for confirming. :like:
It doesn't specifically on the 18+ packages, but it does say it on the 15-17 ones on like the 2nd line.

So I talked to them again just now, and this rep said the 18+ do not actually have it. Which is weird, because another rep said it did, and my buddy tried it on his car and said he was able to power shift without overrevving.

A bit confusing to say the least.
 

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I’ve seen other posts with the same conclusions…. 4.09’s are great everywhere except the drag strip because of that extra shift.

Sounds like you need some 17’s or 18’s on the rear to get more sidewall.

The key with the 4.09s is shifting before redline, you will still be in the heart of the torque band. Let the 4.09s torque multiplication pull you through. However, for the MT82D4 the car really needs some 4.56s.
 

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StangTime

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It doesn't specifically on the 18+ packages, but it does say it on the 15-17 ones on like the 2nd line.

So I talked to them again just now, and this rep said the 18+ do not actually have it. Which is weird, because another rep said it did, and my buddy tried it on his car and said he was able to power shift without overrevving.

A bit confusing to say the least.
I stand by my statement of "It depends who you talk to". 🤪
 

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At what RPM do people usually launch manual stock-ish cars?
Street tires from idle , part throttle launch then lean into it. With bias plies, 4000 rpm. Stop the hop kits are good from a roll. Not so much from the dig at the track with radials and a decent launch. Money best spent elsewhere.
 

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Maybe Im proving again that I’m not a drag racer but mixing radials and bias ply tires makes cars do spooky stuff. Are they that much better than drag radials?
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