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13's for $2500.00

17K views 72 replies 24 participants last post by  daveyboy 
#1 · (Edited)
I got to thinking the other day about this up coming racing season and the budjet that I have and came up with this: A 13 second pass for 2500 bucks. The subject for this exsperment is my 05 Mazda 3 with a 2.0L, While not a focus the engines and transmissions are very similar. The car is very close to stock. Only mods are a customized air box, Grounded Throttle body and rear "dog bone" Mount.

I have a Nitrous kit already sitting in the garage Waiting to be installed. so I plan on using that.
Other plans to get me there:
Light weight wheels and drag radials
Nitrous controller and assorted Nitrous installation assesories
Header
Custom built exhaust(have welder and know how to use it), or the tru bendz off of the focus.(if it will fit)
Lentech Valve body and some syntetic transmission fluid (for reliability)
Wide band O2
Remove AC belt, but leave compressor (has electric power steering so thats not an option)
Possible weight reduction, although i would like to keep the car looking good
Possible other mods involve porting the throttle body and thinning the shaft mainly for throttle response, but with out some sort of fuel management I am not sure if that will work
Issues that I will have
There is no tune available for the car yet, with none being planned as far as I know. So in order to adust A/F I would have to get a piggy back controller.
The header for the car is 500 bux. Ouch! So I was thinking/hoping that some one had one for a focus sitting in the garage or even on their car that I could borrow to see about fittiment issues. I figure a grand total in wheels and tires, Valve body 450, Header 500,the rest of the Nitrous componets may be 300. so thats about 2250, unless I can find parts cheaper...belive me I am looking.
If everything goes according to plan I should have this accomplished by the end of the racing season this year. I will be heading to the strip in april to get a base line to see what I have to work with.

So now all I need is your input (Just pretend it is a auto focus with a Dtech motor)
 
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#46 ·
Im jus pickin i like mustangs alot ive owned about 6or 7 of them now but never a 3v personally but friends have them and you jus cant make them fast for cheap or to last even if you fork out the cash


For example my buddy has a 07 he has done s/c and now one turbo and it still hasnt went into the single digits at the track and im not talkin about a small turbo either its a 88mm
 
#49 ·
I am going with TCI for the converter inn the mustang. Has 3000 stall should be close to perfect, plus its in a price range I can afford..

As far as the Duratech, IIRC the peak torque is around 4600 rpm. I'd have to look at my dyno to know for sure. That would be insane stall for a family car that has to get the kids to dr's and such
 
#53 ·
Sounds like the DUratec makes the same peak torque as the Zetec. 4000 stall would be plenty. 3500 would be streetable.

I've heard some so so things about TCI... They seem to make just off the shelve converters and not really designed around your set-up. I like how places like Edge and Yank design the TC around your set-up. I know Andre told me after I filled out my sheet with info he could give me 3500rpm and danm he gave me 3500 on the button. With a TCI they say 3000, but it could be 2800 or 3300 you never know depending on your combo.
 
#58 ·
Depends on what years we're talking about.

LSX > Modular motors
SBF > SBC
BBC > BBF
Chevy 4 cylinders > Ford 4 cylinders

Motor wise, I like Chevy's newer stuff. The LS motors are awesome engines that can be swapped into dang near anything. The modular motors without a blower are mammoth engines that are expensive and complicated to work on. I like Ford's older pushrod engines though just with Chevy's finer points (HEI distributors, one wire alternators, etc...), Ford tough with Chevy stuff.

There's two dream drag car combinations I would love to have. One would be a fox body with a small block Ford 9.5" deck dart block 380ci, 10.5:1 compression, Yates C3 heads, Super Victor intake, a single LF88 turbo mounted in the front bumper with the exhaust dumped in front of the front tires, 2-speed powerglide with 1.72 first gear, and running on Q16. The second one is a fox body with a 572ci big block Chevy with 13.5:1 compression, conventional heads, custom headers dumped right behind the front tires, and a single NX fogger nitrous kit with a progressive 500 shot also with a 2-speed powerglide with a 1.80 first gear, and running on Q16.

Ford makes the best rear ends, Chevy makes the best transmissions, and the engines are split between and personal preference. Chrysler just kinda fails on all counts. lol Except for making 500ci top fuel engines.

BTW, I grew up in Waynesboro, MS not far from you. Go War Eagles!
 
#52 ·
It isnt always cheap for a chevy lol, right now helpin a family member build his 02 single cab stepside gmc, just your typical 408 with a 91mm attached and a powerglide lol this truck is no where near cheap lil over 2 yrs into it and jus got it moving on its own, but it was cheaper then his 04 88mm turbo'd lightning lol
 
#54 · (Edited)
Never heard a bad thing about TCI...I guess every company out there has had so so issues. I am going TCI because of $$$. If It was no issue It would be a Circle D...Not sure If Yank makes a converter for the Mustang


Edit: Yank does not make an off the self for the mustang. Probably get one custom built.

Performance automatics does make an off the self converter
 
#56 ·
Well I guess the feedback I got was it was an okay solution for an off the shelve unit that's not really built around your car and needs. Especially in the Mustang my god the sky is the limit for how radical or tame you wanna go. Not only in terms of stall speed but STR as well. The other thing that sets apart a good converter from a great converter is if it actually improves your trap speed. Regardless that TCI unit is way better then the factory converter anyway so I see your point. I don't think I could drop $800-$1,000 in a converter either. I paid $425 for mine.
 
#59 ·
A 13 sec pass is a piece of cake in my focus, granted, I have stuffed 100K into it. Motor from Japan, Brembo Drum to Disc conversion on the rear, lightened flywheel, 2lb rims with High-Performance Low-Profile tires, a twin turbo, and a complete engine rebuild and tuneup. Granted, like I said, I have 100K into the car, but I run low 10's to high 9's. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor, but for your budget and everything else, it will be a challenge.
 
#62 ·
I haven't read the entire thread because I'm sure with these sorts of things most of it is complete nonsense or sparks of a impending flame war.

Here's it is simple....

You can use nitrous, however a 50-75hp shot is not going to get it done. Nitrous is torque not boost, you don't need a converter really, its just a waste of money. You do however need better clutches inside the transmission and more aggressive shifting (left in D).

You will need to open up the exhaust, don't worry about cold-air intakes, save that money for some sticky tires, just go with a basic K&N drop-in.

A decent cat-back from Truebenz and a good header will help the most here.

I would also invest in a bottle warmer you need at least 700psi for best mixture as nitrous needs to be in semi-gaseous form not fully gas or fully liquid.

Next I would invest in a progressive controller. If you want a recommendation just ask.

Without a controller, Nitrous Express used to go to Thrifty Rental car and get a Dodge Neon Sport with automatic and the DOHC engine, the slowest combination. Why? Because of the way the DOHC makes its power, the automatic never shifts high enough in the powerband to take advantage of the power it has over the SOHC engine. The SOHC/Auto combo is quite a bit faster in the 1/4.

Anyway, they used to strap on a NX kit with bottle heater (adjustable), set at 75hp (dyno's a bit higher actually) and it would run mid 14's all day long at LACR (3,300 above sea level).

Because of the nitrous instant torque it will spin the tires out of the hole, so they would launch without using the nitrous and then mash it once the car got going. Easy to repeat and simple technique.

However with a set of BFG, Dunlop or Hoosier Drag Radials and a Progressive controller you don't need to worry about tire spin or having to get up on the converter at launch.

A friend of mine used to run 12.7's with a stock 2.4L swap Neon coupe. I told him to get some slicks, clutch, controller, turn up the nitrous to 100-125hp that was it.

Another friend of mine had an automatic 2nd gen Neon which is about 200lbs heavier than the original Neon. He ran 14.8's with a 50hp shot, Pacesetter header, Exhaust and BFG 14" drag radials to help with the gear ratio. A stock Automatic is a 16 second car to give you reference.

Like I said NX kits based on bottle pressure will dyno higher than jet settings. That same 50hp shot on the dyno actually put down 78hp/100ft of torque.

So my suggestion is -

Get a good cat-back exhaust and header. With your current nitrous kit, get a bottle heater and blow-down tube. Some tracks check, some don't better to be prepared.

Get a progressive controller, if you want a cheap but effective unit get the NOS - http://www.holley.com/15974NOS.asp or Wizard of NOS - http://www.noswizard.com/index.php/...ontrollers/minimax-v2-nitrous-controller.html

Don't argue these work and work well and no it won't blow up your engine if you use the standard one range colder plugs and good gas. For 100+hp shot, you need to run E85 or 100 octane unleaded.

This is where a tune would come in, don't get an off the shelf flash, everybody's car is different. Its fine for a base program but unless you have the software suite you can't adjust global timing maps for example.

Progressive controllers work on the same principle as turbo or supercharger instead of a linear flow like you would with a standard system, as engine speed increases it bleeds off more cylinder pressure, which means you can add more pressure without increasing cylinder pressure beyond the breaking point of the engine. The key is delaying the full flow of nitrous. This used to be done by using 2/3 Stage nitrous systems but since the advent of progressive controllers even the most powerful systems aren't more than two now days and many only run one.

So progressively feeding your engine nitrous (air), as long as the is additional fuel to keep the A/F fairly rich (why I would only go with wet kits) you can increase the flow of nitrous (time based) as the engine speed increases.

You can also help traction by say launching on a setting that would give you about 50hp, which on a set of warm, sticky BFG's will stick. My friend best 60ft time on BFG's, 50hp on hot BFG's was 1.9, compare that to your stock 60ft time...

For every 1 tenth you drop out of the hole, you drop two tenths at the end of the strip. Its much easier to reach your goal if you can just get the car out of the hole. You only need to go about 95-97mph to run 13.99.

I would start with a your car stock, some BFG's and 75hp shot to see where your at and then make changes as needed. You can run 50hp on stock plugs and 91 octane but I would recommend you put in one set colder ahead of time just so you don't have to change later.

PM me for more details because then we can get into fine tuning with jetting and reading your spark plugs.
 
#64 ·
I haven't read the entire thread because I'm sure with these sorts of things most of it is complete nonsense or sparks of a impending flame war.

Here's it is simple....

You can use nitrous, however a 50-75hp shot is not going to get it done. Nitrous is torque not boost, you don't need a converter really, its just a waste of money. You do however need better clutches inside the transmission and more aggressive shifting (left in D).
Hold on here are you seriously saying a converter is a waste of money? You must not know anyone who installed a high stall converter in their car, if you did they would tell you it's one of the single best mods you can do to any automatic car. I have a Edge Racing 3500 stall and it is quite amazing how much faster it gets the car going drag racing and around the street.

What is a waste of money is clutches in a transmission if you don't need them. What you really do need is a plate and fin transmission cooler and higher line pressure especially for only a 50-75 shot. I recommend an upgraded valve body.

The rest of your information about nitrous is a great read.
 
#65 ·
On avererage 1/10 on the 60 is worth 2 to 3/10's in the quarter so a converter is needed.
as a matter of fact, my plan to get the mustang in the 12's involve a converter and a tune But only if the tun is nessissary for 12's
 
#66 ·
I agree, I'm going back to the track next week but the first time testing it I dropped 2/10th's on my 60ft in horrible weather with issues with my car. That's going from a 2200 rpm converter to a 3500rpm street converter.

I have no doubts in normal 70degree weather the car will pull 3/10th's better on the 60ft alone with the improved converter. That's good for over 1/2 a second in the 1/4.
 
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