2011 Ford Mustang GT Automatic Soft Launch? Ask Rob About Cars

Read your 2011 Ford Mustang GT Test Drive And Overview on insidemusclecars.com (also published here: http://www.examiner.com/autos-in-san-jose/2011-ford-mustang-gt-automatic-test-drive-and-overview )

Best article yet I have read. I am a first time muscle car buyer and am 46 years old. I got the 2011 Mustang GT/CS automatic. Any suggestions for a first time buyer/driver? I tried your slammin it to the floor at 20mph and anything above 60mph and it sure is fun. I am a little disappointed in the take off from a dead stop

Thanks Jim

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Hi Jim,

I wish I could take credit for that article but I'm glad you liked it.

Congratulations on your purchase. I take it you're looking for
suggestions for a quicker "launch" from a dead stop? You could look
at the softness off the line as a benefit too. A fast car like that
can easily overwhelm the tires and you end up spinning instead of
moving forward. Therefore the benefit can actually be is that your
"launches" can be very consistent which many cannot claim.

However if your tires are warm and the surface can handle more power
than just hitting the gas, a "brake torque" will allow you to start
with a higher rpm, bringing the engine into the powerband more
quickly. This is only when racing, not a daily practice by any means.
The technique is left-foot braking and holding the car in place while
giving it some gas. Do not do this for very long as it can overheat
the transmission. Per the previous article, this seems to help quite a bit.

In the meantime, scan dragtimes.com and the various Mustang forums for
owners with automatic transmissions on street tires (versus drag
radials or slicks) and see what kind of 60ft times they are hitting at
the dragstrip and the techniques they used. If you're seeing 1.9x
seconds, it's pretty good. Anything below that is great. 2.0 seconds
is decent, but anything higher than that is really a soft launch.
Just doing a cursory search, it's difficult to find many quarter mile
results for automatics, let alone the manuals.

There is one owner who has timeslips showing 12-second runs at
114-115mph with 2.0 60fts but that trap speed is very suspect. I'll
go on record saying that a "stock" '11 GT Automatic will never repeat
this unless the timing lights are out of calibration or
malfunctioning. Many experienced drag racers on line are of this
opinion.

Besides technique, some custom engine tuning and intake and exhaust
modifications might help the response off the line. However, it is
that critical moment from a dead stop to rolling is the key and the
60ft is a great measurement. In other words, even though your head
isn't jerked back right off the line, if the car is cutting 1.9 60fts
or better on street tires, or even 2.0 60fts every time, you're doing just
fine.

Not everyone has the time or desire to go to the dragstrip however. A
fun device like a Gtech Pro http://www.gtechpro.com/ or Vbox
http://www.vboxusa.com/ can measure 0-60mph times well enough to tell
you how good your launch is as well.

Please feel free ask any other questions, I hope this helped. Thank
you Jim and have fun!

Rob

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