If so, what kind of times have you turned?

Magazines are talking in the low-mid 14's, but I would like to see some actual owners out there and what they've done.

My fiance' and I are looking at picking up a G35 later this summer... after the wedding. I'm just wondering what it takes to get one of these into the 13's - the 6spd especially.

How's the traction on launch with the stock tires?

~Steve

 

i'd like to know too. i've read 14.2 magazine driven, but we all know how crappy their drivers are.

i'd be willing to bet a good driver could hit 13s....i know people who can take a stock mustsang GT and make it do 13.7 consistently.

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I think that's about what I saw too. I know that the driver, and lots of seat time, will improve those little things that add up to a few tenths consisitently.

Back in the early 90's when the 5.0's were running in the mid 14's in the magazines, I was running 14.1's with my 88 ex-cop car. But it was my second cop car 5.0, and it took a LOT of trips down the track to get the good times with consistency.

I'm sure that someone who's gotten used to the launch characteristics and shift points should be able to take several tenths off the magazine writers' best efforts.

Since I'm several months away from having one to test myself, I hope to see more track times here on the board - including the "free mods" that increase hp and tq.


~Steve

 

Oooo, free mods, i always like those

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"but we all know how crappy their drivers are. "

If you only knew what you are talking about! The test drivers at the big 3 (C&D, R&T, MT) probably have more 0-60 and 1/4 mile runs (along with all the other performance testing) than you could ever imagine. One of them has over 6000 1/4 mile runs in a 10 yr span. He can get as much/more out of any sports car than you probably could. They have usually spent serious time at both Bob Bondurant and Skip Barber too.
Take 10 6MT drivers out there and ask them to better the 14.2 time on the same track/same conditions (temp, etc) and I bet 9/10 cannot do it! My $.02.

Tom

 

i do and most mag drivers can't drive for poop. i can't speak for most cars, but this has been discussed hella lot of times on mustang boards and, atleast for mustangs, they can't even begin to tap the potential of them (whether GT, cobra, cobra R)



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As a 2 time Stang owner and a longtime member of Stangnet I would disagree and say that MT's 14.0@100mph in Dec '99 is a very respectable time for a '99 GT 5sp. Find me a GT owner who has run better stock! I've read every post by '03 Cobra owners who have run the 1/4 stock and they beat the most recent MT mag time maybe 33% of the time.

I agree that you cannot go by mag times because they all use different criteria and usually "do not drive them like they stole them". However, I've seen articles where they had guest race car drivers from NASCAR, CART, etc drive street cars at the track and their times were not much different than that of the mag test guys.

You are entitled to your opinion but to say these guys can't drive worth poop is just plain ignorant. I've met and talked with one before and the amount of race track hours he has is incredible. Unless you drive a race car for a living I'd put my $$ on him everytime.

 

I second that motion Scg35. Those drivers are there cause that's what they do. Run 1/4 mile times and write reviews. These guys aren't part time hobbiests who lucked out and got a job. They do this for a living.
Coupeman

 

I agree. Getting a 14.2 on a 6MT would be great.

My last car was a high 13 second 5.0 Mustang with lots of mods, & my new 6MT isn't near as quick in the seat of the pants meter. Not even close.

 

lol, and maybe that's because you don't have as much T-O-R-Q-U-E

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Coupeman, I agree that they are very experienced racers all around.
It really depends, IMO, on how much seat time they get in each individual car. Their learning curve, based on their multitude of experience, is much shorter than the rest of ours.
I've got at least a couple hundred runs in your average 5.0 Mustang, so my learning curve is pretty short here. After over a year without a 5.0, a friend I was visiting in Albuquerque threw me the keys to his 1993 Cobra (basic bolt-on mods) and I made a few passes. It started coming back to me around the 2nd and 3rd passes. We ended up getting rained out after that and I couldn't make any passes once my "legs" were back.

On the other hand, my learning curve in a 6MT G35C would be a while, because I haven't driven one. This is where the experience from a magazine writer/driver comes in. It would likely take them less time to start getting better times.

But I don't agree that the few passes they make are the maximum that whatever car it is can do.

Another question is whether or not their 1/4 mile times are read from an actual track or using a 5th wheel attached to the bumper. That could sway the results. Hopefully they wouldn't resort to G-teching for their articles.

~Steve

 

Brian,

It really shouldn't take many mods to make a 5.0 run high 13's. Assuming it's a 5spd car with the stock 3.08's, all it takes is traction, a hard launch, better exhaust and some better breathing on the intake side.

If you have done more than the standard bolt-on's (got into heads, cams, really deep gears, etc... ) and you're still going high 13's, either the car isn't set up right or you're spinning off the line, or you're shifting at the wrong rpms.

A strong 60 foot time for a street tire 5.0, 5spd is in the 2.0 - 2.1 range. With the mods above and traction, it should be in the high 1.8's to 1.9's. Mustangs have that wicked 3.35:1 first gear ratio that makes them great (or terrible) out of the hole.

This makes me wonder what the ratios are in the 6MT of the G35C???

~Steve

 

Excellent point regarding the learning curve. You're correct, the mag test guy may only get 4-5 runs in a day, sometimes they'll do over 10-15 depending on the circumstances. Whereas a long-time owner of a car may have hundreds of 1/4 mile passes and knows his car much better.
I think they've gotten away from the 5th wheel and they don't g-tech.
One point to consider is in past years the factory would send a "ringer" car to be tested. Although this doesn't happen as much anymore I read that the last Camaro SS tested last yr by MT was factory dynoed and tuned (not modded, just running 100% perfect) before being sent to the MT offices, making damn sure it pulled the best possible numbers!

 

I wonder if they're making "ringers" like they used to (back in the GTO days, swapping in a 421 in place of the 389, etc...).
With those Z's, as many fast ones as I've seen - they're all ringers! The LS1 is just an evil little motor.

It amazing how many cars are running deep into the 14's though. Not that it's quick, but it's the run of the mill daily drivers that are hitting this level. Back in the 80's, there were only a couple that could do it. Also, they're doing it with much tougher emissions laws, and in some relatively heavy rides too!

Just think if the cars of the 60's and 70's had this kind of efficiency! Those 400+ cubers would be downright scary (but with a smile, if you know what I mean).


~Steve

 

"It amazing how many cars are running deep into the 14's though. "
I know what you mean. New Altima 3.5 5speeds are running 14.4@98mph! That was a supercar time in the late 70's/early 80's.
Regarding the 60's...Like Carroll Shelby says, Give me today's tire technology back in 1965 and we'd be running (he's referring to his 427 Cobra) in the low 10's!