14.560 @ 97.217 mph w/ stock 2003 Marauder

[TripleTransAm]

I couldn't believe it myself... just ask Charles (username: MTL_CV) how many times I was repeating "Holy *****! Holy *****!" when we pulled into the pits after our first run against one another.

To think I almost decided against going, and when I finally did break down and head out towards the track, all sorts of disasters (traffic jams, accidents, etc.) were conspiring to keep me from getting there in time to get a few runs in.

I'll be scanning the timeslips tomorrow but for now the dirty details on the best run are:
Reaction: 0.169
60' : 2.209
1/4 ET: 14.560 seconds
trap speed: 97.217 mph


I can't believe this result from a bone stock 2003 Marauder! Just over 17000 km on the car of good break-in, and some good racing air.

At the risk of sounding cocky....
"Come get some of THIS, Car and Driver! Oh yeah... make sure to bring an Accord with you!"

I stuck around for eliminations, dialling in at 14.60. Unfortunately, after a few wins (some lucky, some not), I lost my choice of lanes due to being matched up with an old Bronco with a 12.39 dial-in :eek: and wound up with the lane in which I had previously run a 14.927 @ 95.989 mph (quicker dial-in gets lane choice). So on a hunch I dropped the dial-in to 14.70, just in case. Guess what... I redlighted. :( So much for nerves of steel. What sucks is that the opponent broke out with a 12.366, so had I kept it together, my 14.721 @ 96.818 would have netted me the win. :mad2:

Otherwise, there were a bunch of 14.6s and 14.7s as I varied my launch and shifting techniques... seems I couldn't remember for the life of me how I did things back in the summer last time I ran. :rolleyes:


As an added bonus I finally got to meet up with Charles and check out his awesome Crown Vic, which looks stock but it sure ain't!! ;) I don't know the exact details but I believe he was running 14.6s with that sweet SOHC. And MAN did it sound good when he goosed it as he drove past me when I took my exit off the highway, on the way home. Great to meet you and your buddy racing the V6 Sable :bows:

[JET]

Triple,
That is awesome news. Those are the best bone stock times I remember hearing. I' bummed I was going to go to the track tonight but ended up a seeing a chick flick with my wife.
What was the temperature?

Congrats again,
John

[TripleTransAm]

Thanks, John.
A few degrees Celsius above freezing, and felt like *just* the right humidity for racing.

See what a second knock sensor will do for your 1/4 mile times? (Just kidding, it's still not connected to anything yet...)

Upshifts seemed to be no better than in July, nor was the top end any noticeably stronger, but I'm almost thinking there was a noted improvement in the low speed response, no doubt due to the cooler temps. I wonder how much of that is due to break-in...

I was honestly just *hoping* I'd see a low low 15, or *gasp* a real high 14. I was NOT expecting this.

Lucky for me, wheelspin wasn't a terribly big issue, in my preferred lane. Charles, on the other hand, was making all kinds of smoke and noise off the line in the *other* lane. Now I thoroughly believe what they say about SOHC motors being the preferred choice for building a drag motor.

[amerikan]

Yes! that is so awesome. Those are the best numbers i remember seeing. Good job man! big props.

[Petrograde]

:up: woo-hooo!!!! awesome TTA!

Tom

[1 BAD 03 MM]

I haven't run at the track yet, but felt this car to be a little faster than the Mag's published. We can just keep it our secret, well..........ours and Rice Boys secret.

[RCSignals]

Steve, Is that with '03 tuning in the EEC or '04? (I thought '04 tuning was something you were going to try out?)

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by RCSignals
Steve, Is that with '03 tuning in the EEC or '04? (I thought '04 tuning was something you were going to try out?)


Nope. When I said bone-stock, I meant it. Okay, the only mod I've done is the oil pressure gage mod à la VegasMarauder but that's it. And I do have the improved head on my driver's side, but I doubt there's any functional difference besides the faulty valve guides being re-engineered... the idle is glass smooth which I'm betting would not be the case if the heads and cams differed in any way.

We've been unable to jam the '04 software into the '03 PCM due to hardware differences, it was all described in my knock sensor thread (no pun intended). So the PCM s/w never got to be touched.

1 BAD 03 MM, this car has been feeling faster and faster with each passing month. A few days ago, I decided to do some informal testing on my little private track (a long paved 2 laner through forest ironically not more than 5 minutes from home). I mentioned wheelspin becoming more obvious since getting the car back after the head replacement (I suppose that cylinder was getting a little weak, by the looks of the valve seat). After MANY repeated attempts ;) I can honestly say wheelspin was a big deal in 8 out of every 10 launches... the remaining launches would result in a brief scrape or sometimes a hopping scrape. The BFGs do make a nice sound when tortured! :up:

I'll stand by my original claim... these cars (at least mine) do show improvement with time. How much of it is "time-release" (ie. PCM restricted until definite mileage milestones) and how much of it is mechanical break-in, I cannot say. Back in the spring in cooler temperature, I could not spin a tire for the life of me.

Y'know, it's about time this car gave me something to be proud of, instead of serving me with opportunities to learn fixes to whatever glitch it throws at me! :rolleyes:

And thanks to all for the encouraging words... means a lot to me.

[SergntMac]

Wait a metric minute, TTA, those ETs are in Canadian time, right?

LOL...Nice job, must be the lowest time I've heard of on a bone stock MM. Congrats!

Yep, your 2.2 60 foot time is telling ya where you are slippng, in the launch. How are you launching?

What worked best for me, was a 1K brake torque, and a drive out by counting 1 2 3 before hitting the floor. It was all I could do to minimize the spin from hitting the power band too soon.

[martyo]

Nice job Steve! A bunch of us are going to Englishtown, New Jersey, next Sunday. Can I assume you'll just drop in on us again?

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by SergntMac
Yep, your 2.2 60 foot time is telling ya where you are slippng, in the launch. How are you launching?


Funny you should mention that, I went back and looked up my old timeslips from the summer. I really had forgotten how bad they were, but it's shocking to see a bunch of high 2.3s and low 2.4s . That session, I had tried a whole bunch of launch techniques, but settled on the stab-it-and-go technique, with minimal wheelspin if any at all. This time around, I made a mental note of one of your posts earlier this week describing your 1K launch technique (talk about a timely post, I had no idea I'd be in town this weekend to be able to catch this track session). 60' times were all now 2.2 .

I can't say wheelspin was present at any except for 1 or 2 runs, with this 1000-1300 RPM brake-torquing launch technique. At the last yellow, I stabbed the throttle but not violently... I have this habit of always holding back on slamming the pedal down unless I'm outright looking for wheelspin, on any of my cars, but otherwise I usually wimp out and gradually mat the pedal. It's tough to describe, I'm sure I'm lacking the proper vocabulary to describe this, but I'm just trying to say that I'm flooring it but with a certain reluctance, I guess. Call me a wimp, but I have this thing about not over-abusing a drivetrain (something drilled into me by my dad) unless it's a rental car, of course. ;)

Okay, now back to the actual launches... I recall b*tching about a lazy launch when describing my MM's departures off the line. I'm not sure if it was the fact of having a *little* torque on the drivetrain pre-loaded by the time the lights came down, but let's just say that the launch wasn't so glaringly slow as to stick out in my mind as bad as in the summer. No doubt a result of the cooler temps, and the PCM's ability to dump more fuel accordingly to avoid detonation, possibly also due to more break-in mileage as well (more on that below).

So unless Charles has some comments on my launches and any spinning I didn't notice, I'd have to say improvements on my 2.2 will only come about once I address the low end of my DOHC's range. For that, I understand a chip is the way to go, or hopefully a combination of chip and the '04 electronics. Or 4.10s. ;)

I'm kind of happy with a 2.2, actually... my WS6 takes a lot of concentration to rip off a 2.2 or better (either bog or wild spin - very digital) on its mid 13 runs. My GTA, on the other hand, will torque it's way off the line to a 2.0something, but to an overall lazy 15.6 @ 88 mph.

I have no doubt these results are repeatable on any bone-stock MM under the right racing conditions. Now that our cars are racking up the miles, racing temperatures are getting better, and techniques are being shared and discussed, I think we'll be seeing some record numbers out of the Marauder fold in the coming days or weeks.

In the "what if" file: what if I had opted for that chip and t-stat/plugs package? :baaa:


Edit: about the mileage thing... maybe I'm crazy but it just happens that I always get the best times in any of my cars after a long road trip. In this case, my car was practically still warm from the Hershey trip (I was in Pittsburgh during the first part of the week, and had the GTA out for the rest of the time). In 1999 I pulled my best time to that date in my WS6 after driving to Cayuga race track in Ontario (8+ hours) during my honeymoon (long story) and that 13.6 was with all our luggage in the car and no cool-down. The car went 13.4 a year later with no particular long trip. Maybe I'd nudge a 12 out of that WS6 by taking a long drive before a cool night of racing?:confused:

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by martyo
Nice job Steve! A bunch of us are going to Englishtown, New Jersey, next Sunday. Can I assume you'll just drop in on us again?


Thanks Marty. You have no idea how tempting that is. I understand Englishtown is a good place to race (yep, I've NEVER had a chance to race there, in all these years of hearing of Pontiac / F-body events being held there). Truth is, I probably couldn't afford the time away, as I need to prep my house for hopefully a quick sale, in order to build a custom unit in a more secluded area. As such, financial constraints are heavy as well... one of the reasons I've held back from deciding on whether to plow ahead with the '04 electronics upgrade or just opt for an '03 chip in the meantime. :alone:

But if what I hear is correct, end-of-season racing at Englishtown is killer, and you should expect a new best time. The only caveat is that I understand it might get quite crowded. Timing a proper cooldown will be the key. For my 14.56 I was able to crawl to the line very quickly after a 15 minute cooldown coming off a 1 hour drive to the track from home, but later runs involved busy lanes, hence the repeated 14.6s and 14.7s.

Good luck, wish I could join you (if not for the racing, definitely for the comraderie).

[Mtl_CV]

Yes! At 20:46 exactly!

I'm just looking at the timeslip right now and no wonder why you seemed to launch like a rocket. RT of .169 vs .723 for me. I'll watch the tree instead of you next time! :D It was great to finally race another Panther here at Napierville.

I agree on the right lane beeing the fastest one yesterday, it's where I got my best time too :

RT .597
60 ft. 2.223
1/8 9.430
1/4 14.652
MPH 94.460

It was one of my slowest MPH run, the fastest being @ 95.477 but it was my best 60-ft time. I definitely have to work on my launching technique for next spring. The 255mm Firehawks didn't want to grab at anything yesterday...too bad the track is closing, I could have tried the 225mm Blizzaks! ;)

It was great to meet you Steve. And it sounded more like "holy freackin' *****!" :D

C.

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by TripleTransAm
"Come get some of THIS, Car and Driver! Oh yeah... make sure to bring an Accord with you!"

AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!

ROFLMAO!

[TripleTransAm]

Seriously, RF, I am SO fed up with folks quoting that rag when talking about the Marauder. It was the same story with the F-cars... they'd whine and moan about something they didn't like, then when they'd get it changed, they'd whine and moan in the opposite fashion! Not just C&D... MT and R/T do the same if not worse. Anything to have something to write about...

I honestly get tired of making excuses for this car thanks to these misconceptions. The test car probably needed more break-in, they might not have had good gas, yadda yadda yadda... finally I have some slips of paper with actual hard numbers printed on them to wave in their faces. "There, buddy... 97.2 friggin' miles an hour after 1320 feet. Never mind 4300+ lbs. Never mind hp per liter. That's what these things are capable of, and there's plenty more available if you want faster." Finally some respect...

And not just for the Marauder, but for the Panther in general. MTL-CV's Crown Vic is a good example, a total sleeper, besides a few styling updates such as aftermarket wheels, a tint, and some Marauder-like touches (tips, taillamp customizations, etc.). But what he's done under the hood is what counts... I pity the poor Mustang owner who comes up alongside this beast and thinks it'll be an easy kill. With some traction, that challenger will be having flashbacks of CV taillights for weeks to come.

I'll leave it up to Charles if he wants to come out with a description of what he's done, but it wins hands-down the award for tasteful and 100% stock-looking. In my case, I paid Ford to give me a 14.56, in his case, he built that 14.65 himself.

[Paul T. Casey]

WAY TO STEVE!!! I knew this car had mid 14's in her.

[Paul T. Casey]

GO (insert between TO & STEVE) sorry, I was excited. 14.5!!!!

[Mtl_CV]

In your face Car & Driver!

http://www.superford.org/getfile.php?id=90703&toggle=fullsize&f=vsmarauder.jpg

For those of you interested about my car, there you go : I swapped the heads on my 2000 Crownvic with CNC ported FoxLake Stage 1 P.I. heads. There are the same heads found on 99+ mustangs & trucks as well as 2001+ Panthers. I also installed Ford racing shorty headers with 1 set of hi-flow cats, along with an X-pipe (it's the Reinhart package, I believe it is the same one that goes on the Marauder). To complete the package, a set of 3.55 gears (to replace the OEM 2.73 [ :rolleyes: ] ) and a traction-lok diff with a chip until I can get a real dynotune.

You can find pictures of my car as well as the headswap in progess here (http://www.superford.org/registry/vehicles/detail.php?id=1306) .

Now I just have to convince my father to rent a Marauder for the next three years and buy it after. Two 14 sec. cars would make a nice Panther fleet. http://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banana.gif

Charles

[jgc61sr2002]

Steve - Congrats. Sounds like you have the fastest stock Marauder.:up:

[tetsu]

I can't wait to see my slips in a couple weeks. Stockers love that cold November air! :)

Johnny

[kurly]

I'll be scanning the timeslips tomorrow but for now the dirty details on the best run are:
Reaction: 0.169
60' : 2.209
1/4 ET: 14.560 seconds
trap speed: 97.217 mph
----------------------------------------------
TTA,
These would be excellent stats for John's spreadsheet!
Encouragement for all of us!
:)

[TripleTransAm]

Mtl_CV beat me to it... the timeslip is basically the same as the one attached above. I'm car # 121, running against Charles on that run.

Reaction times were happening that night, for me. I really was in the zone or something... worst reaction time was in the ugly lane, and that was a tire-spinning incident from the word go. I remember b*tching about the car last time I was at the track, saying it was a lazy launcher. Not so on Friday night... torque her up to 1000-1500, wait for the last yellow, then mat her firmly but gently.