camaro vs mustang drag

[owensmat]

Ok, so this has probably been beaten to death, but I'm going to post a real-life story here, so perhaps some will appreciate it? Don't hate the messenger though. Just telling it how it was.
Went to the track last Sunday with my buddy who has been talking a load of crap about his Mustang. He has a 2012 base model six speed 5.0 with a CAI, drag radials and a tune from Alternative Performance (Mustang specialists). He ran 11.86 at just over 117mph with follow-up 11.90s. I was pretty impressed. There was about 7 Camaros present and even those with some significant modding weren't able to hang. I was a little bummed, but the consolation was that when we were all parked next to one another, my Camaro looked a whole lot better than his Mustang. : )

[InfernoSS454]

It's all about the driver.

[1ltcap]

Originally Posted by owensmat

Ok, so this has probably been beaten to death, but I'm going to post a real-life story here, so perhaps some will appreciate it? Don't hate the messenger though. Just telling it how it was.
Went to the track last Sunday with my buddy who has been talking a load of crap about his Mustang. He has a 2012 base model six speed 5.0 with a CAI, drag radials and a tune from Alternative Performance (Mustang specialists). He ran 11.86 at just over 117mph with follow-up 11.90s. I was pretty impressed. There was about 7 Camaros present and even those with some significant modding weren't able to hang. I was a little bummed, but the consolation was that when we were all parked next to one another, my Camaro looked a whole lot better than his Mustang. : )

he's actually a bit slow with those mods. what rear does he have?

[owensmat]

Originally Posted by 1ltcap

he's actually a bit slow with those mods. what rear does he have?

I'm surprised to hear that. I haven't researched much, but I haven't seen many with those numbers, without significant mods. His is bone stock, other than the CAI, tune and drag radials. I know he also has the larger of the two factory gears, but I don't recall the size.

[1ltcap]

Originally Posted by owensmat

I'm surprised to hear that. I haven't researched much, but I haven't seen many with those numbers, without significant mods. His is bone stock, other than the CAI, tune and drag radials. I know he also has the larger of the two factory gears, but I don't recall the size.

ford dealer down the street from my shop runs one in the nmra. tune, drag radials, auto, running 11.5's to 11.6's. maybe it's the difference between auto and manual..........

[goodtime]

Originally Posted by 1ltcap

ford dealer down the street from my shop runs one in the nmra. tune, drag radials, auto, running 11.5's to 11.6's. maybe it's the difference between auto and manual..........

It absolutely is.

I ran a 11.88@119 in my tune/tire auto.

[Camarowguy]

Originally Posted by goodtime

It absolutely is.

I ran a 11.88@119 in my tune/tire auto.

So you picked up about 80hp with a tune? These cars trap about 110-112 stock. And with a tune only you trap 119? Ok.

[1ltcap]

Originally Posted by Camarowguy

So you picked up about 80hp with a tune? These cars trap about 110-112 stock. And with a tune only you trap 119? Ok.

if you look into what they have to do with the computers, it is VERY easily possible that they give up that much power in the ecu from the factory. remember.....that 2ss that runs perfect for you at sea level has to run just as good in colorado at 5kasl.

guys have been tuning fords eec4 since way back in the 80's/90's. not as efficiently as todays computers are tuned....but they were doing it.

that said, my car is still bone stock....nothing touched with 1700 miles on the clock. it's never been to the drag strip, and to be honest, i don't see me taking it there any time soon. i will be taking it to milleville soon though, i hope.

i should also add, that while it feels to me like this car will dip into the 12's, i don't think that i myself could drive it to that right now.

[lexlueger]

[MauriSSio]

Originally Posted by Camarowguy

So you picked up about 80hp with a tune? These cars trap about 110-112 stock. And with a tune only you trap 119? Ok.

most tune only guys are trapping 116-117mph or so. I think a big part of it is changing the shift point. not just the power gain.

[Unreal]

My experience is the same. My wife has a 2012 automatic. Up here at 4500ft I was running 13.0@109mph. There were a lot of cammed camaros, heads/cam camaros, full bolt on camaros all running mid 13s. They all blamed tires but the wife's mustang was just running stock 235 all seasons at full pressure which are way worse than the stock camaro tires.

[Bob Cosby]

Originally Posted by 1ltcap

if you look into what they have to do with the computers, it is VERY easily possible that they give up that much power in the ecu from the factory.....

80 HP? No. Sorry.

However, there are bone stock cars that are running 112-114 mph, so picking up 30-ish HP combined with traction and perhaps better air will account for the increased performance, and the ET/MPH for the car is quite believable, and not too uncommon.

EDIT: Was a little optimistic on my bone stock MPHs.

[NoWRX]

Originally Posted by Camarowguy

So you picked up about 80hp with a tune? These cars trap about 110-112 stock. And with a tune only you trap 119? Ok.

I suppose I'm missing where he claimed he picked up 80 hp with just a tune.....

A sticky set of tires alone makes a huge difference with these cars. Several of the 'rags have put slicks on an otherwise stock 5.0 and ran low, low 12s. Couple that with a tune, and yes, high to mid 11s are very believeable, especially with an auto.

Additionally, Ford neuters the hell out of the autos with the tune for fuel economy purposes. The shift points are laughably low, the car won't hit red line even at full tilt, etc. A good tune makes a huge difference with an auto, much more so than a manual.

I think a big part of it is changing the shift point. not just the power gain.

Bingo. When I switch back and forth between the tune on our shop 5.0 and stock, I can tell a massive difference. It's a completely different car on the tune versus off.

[goodtime]

Originally Posted by Camarowguy

So you picked up about 80hp with a tune? These cars trap about 110-112 stock. And with a tune only you trap 119? Ok.

Originally Posted by NoWRX

I suppose I'm missing where he claimed he picked up 80 hp with just a tune.....

A sticky set of tires alone makes a huge difference with these cars. Several of the 'rags have put slicks on an otherwise stock 5.0 and ran low, low 12s. Couple that with a tune, and yes, high to mid 11s are very believeable, especially with an auto.

Additionally, Ford neuters the hell out of the autos with the tune for fuel economy purposes. The shift points are laughably low, the car won't hit red line even at full tilt, etc. A good tune makes a huge difference with an auto, much more so than a manual.



Bingo. When I switch back and forth between the tune on our shop 5.0 and stock, I can tell a massive difference. It's a completely different car on the tune versus off.

Thanks for summarizing almost exactly what I was going to respond with. The only other thing I would add is disabling all the TQ nannies and getting the proper transmission tune in place is crucial on the auto's. Many people overlook this or just may not know.

I am not the only person to run high 11's with a tune/tire. I know of a couple of other to do the same thing. These runs were done in negative DA.

Video of said pass:



Timeslip:


This car with bolt-ons, stock long block, N/A, has run 11.00@124 in 1,400' DA. I fully expect to run 10's, when the air conditions permit this coming Fall, in the high 120 MPH range.