1st Time to the Track

[DaveMan]

Well just got back from the track. Ran the cobra for the 1st time. I'm running 26x10.50x16 MT ET Streets for now. They are from my last car and only have a few passes on them so I'll run them out and get 11.50s after that.

I'm on the stock clutch and have been having trouble shifting, speed shifting or power shifting. Pretty much hit a wall before it goes into gear. I have a quadrant and adjuster already with a properly adjusted clutch. I'm going to replace the clutch in a couple weeks with a Spec 3+ and steel flywheel.

My runs were: Not too happy with my times :cuss:
12.538 @ 113.34 1.955 60'
12.591 @ 111.96 1.976 60'
12.619 @ 110.65 1.918 60'
12.679 @ 113.34 2.074 60'

Engine Performance mods are 2.93" pulley, 4 piece idler set, basanni catted x, borla stinger catback, straight shot air filter, tune

I have the Brooks stage IV suspension setup which is bushings, braces everywhere, coils and a bunch of other stuff. Mostly a road coarse suspension setup so I don't know if that would hurt my 60' times or not.

Also thinking the clutch might be slipping a little bit but it shows no sign of a bad clutch other then the hard shifting. It just seems soft off the line. I feel like I am dumping the clutch almost but I may be babying it too much off the line. I was launching anywhere from 4000 up to 6000 once. It doesn't seem like it spinning, if it is it's not very much at all. 2nd gear burn out to heat them. Did a bunch of 1st gear burn outs too but found no 60' difference.

How do you all launch? Could my clutch be slipping a bit off the line and not rev out as soon as it slips, kind of slip a bit and once I'm moving grip? Do you side step the clutch of ease it out hard and quick? Home much better would the 11.50s hook compared to the 10.50s?

 

[Nate14120]

In 1st and 2nd - If your clutch is slipping and you don't get out of the throttle, it should smoke it. After is starts slipping, it won't stop unless you get off it. Just my opinion...

As far as how to improve your time...I won't comment on it because I'm far from a quality driver.

 

[DaveMan]

I definitely need more seat time because I've only had the car for a couple months at the most. The clutch must not be slipping then since it doesn't smoke or nor do I have to get out of it at all. I need to get the hard shifting fixed and learn how to launch this thing I guess. I thought maybe I was letting the clutch out too slow and I wasn't floor it as soon as I left. I waited till the clutch was all the way out to floor it the whole way. Probably about 75% throttle till then.

 

[Nate14120]

The brick wall shifting should be minimized with the quadrant and adjuster. I had the same problem. It will probably never feel like butter, but you can find a happy compromise between clutch engagement and the brick wall.

I smoked my clutch pretty bad last summer when I first got the car. Was enjoying some 2nd gear burnouts far away from town in a safe area...after a couple of them I got into it again. I thought I was spinning tires, until the smoke came up through the center console! No fatal damage, but I'm sure I took a chunk of life off the clutch. I now know not to do back-to-back-to-back 2nd gear burnouts!

 

[DaveMan]

There was one run that it didn't feel like it was spinning but it acted like it was by RPMs. I never got out of it because it calmed down and I smelled clutch/brakes at the send of the 1/4 and there was a bit of smoke coming from the hood. By the time I got back to the pits and popped the hood it didn't smell, the brake still did though.

I know how a failing clutch acts and smells but this just makes no sense to me. The quadrant and adjuster make very little difference. I've played with the fw adjuster a lot and ran it out way more then it should have on the street to the point where it would slip if I hit it hard just to test the disengagement and it also shifted the exact same, big brick wall. It's every gear when your on it hard. Maybe 5% of the time you might get a good 1st to 2nd shift but that's it. When sitting still you can slam the gears so easy with the car running.

 

[MustangMikeKy]

those are street tire 60 ft times . . . and your mph indicates nearly a stock cobra or a very crappy day (weather wise)

I would say your clutch is slipping if you are dumping it and only getting a 1.9 or 2.0 60. . . unless its just blowing the tires off. . .

i was getting 1.71ish 60ft times on ET street radials on stock clutch. . . also trapping 121, but I was on a smaller upper pulley. . . 2.76

 

[DaveMan]

I think a lot of the down MPH is because I'm wasting a ton of time waiting for it to go in gear.

This car dyno'd 475 whp on a dynapack hub dyno at sea level on a good day a coupler months ago. Also dyno'd 480whp on a mustang dyno at Amazon tuning before I bought it, dyno sheet was still in the car. I'm sure those numbers are too high for my mods though. 21,000 miles are on it.

 

[MustangMikeKy]

I think a lot of the down MPH is because I'm wasting a ton of time waiting for it to go in gear.

This car dyno'd 475 whp on a dynapack hub dyno at sea level on a good day a coupler months ago. Also dyno'd 480whp on a mustang dyno at Amazon tuning before I bought it, dyno sheet was still in the car. I'm sure those numbers are too high for my mods though. 21,000 miles are on it.

I was going 121 with 474 rwhp. . . so yea, it sounds like the clutch/shifting is the issue. . . get the new clutch in, it should prob run better. . .

also, if u run this car in any kindof heat. . . they will pull timing like no other. . . i suggest letting the car get cool before making a pass, and don't run them back to back. . . I've seen major improvments from letting the car cool down between runs. . .

 

[DaveMan]

I had ran the car pretty cool on all those runs. I tried logging the runs but my POS X3 kept messing up and only logged my burnout then froze up like it always does lol