02 Mustang traction problems

I ran my 02 Mustang GT on Friday night for the first time, and had HORRIBLE traction. I'm running on almost brand new yokohamas 255/45ZR17 in front, and 285/40ZR17 out back. These tires give me excellent street traction, but when I went to the strip, I could not hook-up at all in first gear, and very little in second gear with the traction control off. The only things this car has done to it is rear lowering springs, short throw shifter, MAC exhaust, and centerforce clutch. My best was 15.8 with traction control off and then the same with traction control on, which is very slow for this car in my opinion. When I turned traction control on I had good traction, but I think it just bogged the engine down too much to have a good start. What should this car be running? I am an amateur to drag racing, and am having trouble finding where to dump it off the line. Does anyone know from experience where I should be dumping it off the line? Also What are some other ways to get better traction besides going to slicks? If I went to slicks, are there so street legal slicks I could get for a reasonable price for the rear wheels so I don't have to trailer it? Would the car handle slicks? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated![img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_tup.gif[/img]

On street tires you will need to ride the clutch out of the hole and possible feather it a bit in 2nd until it can handle all the power.



Get youself a pair of DR's(Nitto or BFG) as they will be more forgiving on the rearend but still provide tons more traction than street tires.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: 1 Bad 88 GT on 4/27/04 1:46am ]</font>

try dropping you tire press down some and u really dont need to go threw the water box just a waste of tires since street tire dont perform any better when hot

first of all, don't dump the clutch. You have to slip the clutch, meaning release it as fast as possible without spinning. Usually a little tire spin is ok, as it can keep your engine from bogging. A good driver in your car should be running anywhere from 13.8's to 14.10's with a 2.10 or less 60 ft. I've heard of quite a few people getting 60 fts in the 1.90 range on street tires(not drag radials) and stock suspension. I'm curious what your 60 ft times were, I'm assuming 2.5 or worse. The good news is you can only go faster! With some practice you'll get those times down.

_________________
1966 Mustang coupe, mild 308, T5, 9 inch, 4 wheel discs, Torq-thrusts
1965 F100, 351W, C4, 3.25's
1962 Falcon Futura 2 dr, bracket car
2003 Mustang GT, 5 spd, dark shadow grey, bone stock weekend cruiser

FOR SALE: 2003 Kawasaki Vulcan

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: indigo66 on 6/22/04 10:26pm ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: indigo66 on 6/23/04 8:29pm ]</font>

Didn't mean to butt in...last sunday my maverick was down, raced my daily-driver '84 Mustang. Not a hot rod, but fun to drive, especially with the 5 speed. First run out was a 7.90/94 on STREET tires, with a fairly smoky 1.94 60'. That is a bone-stock rear end, factory arms, everything except gears (even has the factory 260,000 mile bushings LOL.

Second pass, rode the clutch in first at about 1/2 throttle for a while, then nailed it...pow, something made a loud noise then it quit pulling. Broke both spider gears into millions of pieces (again, 260,000 mile 7.5" rear), actually individual gear teeth are all that's left. Felt good to know that I actually built an iron-headed 302 with leftover parts that will easily break a 7.5" rear (which I hear isn't real hard to do LOL)

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On 2004-06-22 22:39, mavman wrote:
Felt good to know that I actually built an iron-headed 302 with leftover parts that will easily break a 7.5" rear (which I hear isn't real hard to do LOL)
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No, it's not. Upgrading to an 8.8 or are you going to rebuild the 7.5?

Couldn't find a track-lock 8.8 for less than $650, so I just rebuilt the 7.5. A buddy did the 8.8 swap in his '85 and sold me his 7.5 for $25. Worked well enough for me.


I have about 20 9" rears stashed away at the other shop, might try to order some brackets and just use one of those someday.

MPS in Georgia has 3.08 8.8's for $225+shippinf or pick up.


http://www.stangparts.com/products/l...&amp;TypeID=23