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At the track with my 2.3


white02ranger

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So after making the 50 mile trip up to the Woodburn Drag Strips in Woodburn, OR, i made a total of 17 1/4 mile runs with my white 2002 2.3 5speed 2wd regular cab ranger w/120k. After owning it for 3 weeks i've already put a cold air kit on it, as well as a 2.5" catback flowmaster exhaust. It's also got 245/40/r18 lo pro's on it with 18" arelli wheels on it. At the end of my runs i had a best of 17.016 and a worst of about 17.9. Here are the specs for my run:

r/t .019
60' 2.478
330 7.001
1/8 10.870
1/8 mph 63.94
1000 14.193
1/4 17.016 @ 79.31mph

I now this motor's pretty peppy but i thought it would be faster than that, expecially with the mods i've done. my reaction time was good, and i shifted at 5500rpm in first and second, then rode it out in 3rd. I hit the 1/4 mile just before the fuel cut off at 6000rpm in 3rd. I don't think anything's wrong with it, but i definitly think it should be running faster than a best at 17.0 @79mph. If anyones got any advice or have been to the track with their 2.3 please reply. Also if anyone has any personal experience with tuning their 2.3 let me know. Thanks, i'm new to the site so any info is great.
 


white02ranger

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Nothing? Has anyone had any experience at the track with their 2.3 ranger? Anything at all?
 

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Plum Ranger XLT

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I took my '95 Ranger 2.3 to Edgewater drag strip in Cleves, OH about four years ago and the numbers it put up are not to impressive to even think about since the truck was and still is stock.
 

almostclueless

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Those times are pretty close to expected, except for the horrible 60ft time. Are you letting the tire spin as much as it wants?
 

Dar70

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Well these vehicles arent built for speed. Even with mods I dont think anyone should expect anything spectacular. Funny how the 6 cyl. guys want better gas mileage and the 4 cyl. guys want more power. I chose better gas mileage of course. 143HP is more than enough power for me as a daily driver.(20 more than the old 4 cyl.)
 

white02ranger

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yeah i chose it because i'm getting 26-30mpg out of it. With those 50% tread 245/40/18's i was spinning really bad at first, then i started to slip the clutch a bit and instead of spinning it kinda got traction and chirped all the way to 20mph. Next time i go up in a few weeks i will put the stock tires and wheels on to try and get more traction and to get out of the whole faster to improve the 0-60 time. I ran multiple 17.0's but couldn't snag a 16.9. It's not that big of deal but i'd rather say it runs somewhere in the 16's than 17's.
 

phatcap

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if you're that concerned about 1/4 mile times, i'd say the ranger (any non-turbo or non-v8) was not the best choice of vehicle...
 

white02ranger

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yeah well being 17, still in highschool, and working doesn't give me much options. I bought the vehicle for mpg's, i just choose to take it to the track for fun to see what it'll run, then see if i can improve my times. Buying a turbo or v8 would defeat the whole purpose of why i bought this truck. I've got what i've got and that's what i'm working with, not any other vehicle.
 

Bryan22

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try not revving it up so high on the launch, with 1 wheel drive (aka peg leg) 2k-2500 is about all u can do off the launch to keep decent traction, you'd be suprised how much faster not spinning is than getting it in the power right off the bat.. the new 2.3's aren't so gutless as everyone makes them out to be when it puts out about the same hp (acorrding to the numbers) as my 92 3.0....
 
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Dar70

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^^^^So true Bryan. They have about the same HP as the old 3.0 V6.



yeah well being 17, still in highschool, and working doesn't give me much options. I bought the vehicle for mpg's, i just choose to take it to the track for fun to see what it'll run, then see if i can improve my times. Buying a turbo or v8 would defeat the whole purpose of why i bought this truck. I've got what i've got and that's what i'm working with, not any other vehicle.
Nothing wrong with wanting to see what you could do at the track.:icon_thumby::icon_thumby: At 17 I think you made a great choice of vehicle. When I was your age I always wanted a V8, than I hit my late 20's and a V6 was good enough, now Im in my late 30's and want fuel economy and the 4 cyl. Ranger is surprisingly not much different than driving my old Grand Am V6. It gets me from point A to B in the same time. :D Plus I have the advantage of hauling stuff without asking for a favor from anyone.

Funny the older you get the less you will worry about how fast a vehicle goes at takeoff. It all will comes down to functionalbility and transportation eventually.(well for most people anyways) Youve learned that lesson early which is a good thing.

The Ranger should last you a long time if taken care of properly, while your friends will go through 2 or 3 vehicles.:)
 

white02ranger

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yeah i always take care of my vehicles with regular tune up's. I'll have to give that 2500rpm launch a try. So as soon as i dump the clutch at 2500, i just stomp on it? I didn't really want to go up again with out adding any extra mods than before, but i'm just dying to dip into the 16's. Maybe i'll try that, and bring along my stock rear tires to see how they do. the stock ones have 75% tread and are 225/70/r15 which is 27.4" tall and i'm running my 40% tread 245/40/r18's now that are 25.7" tall. I think the stock will get me out of the hole quicker but are taller thus making me accelerate slower. What do you guys think?
 

white02ranger

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does anyone have any opinions or comments about which tire to use at the track?
 

white02ranger

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yeah it's alright, i'm in the process of selling my beloved 18" chrome wheels anyway. So it looks like i'll be running the stock size 225/70/r15 wheels. If the deal goes through with the wheels, i'm going to get ahold of a bamachips custom X-Tuner. They claim 10rwhp and 17rwhp on a standard 87 octaine tune. They offer a 87-octaine performance tune, 92-octaine performance tune as well as a 92-octaine torque tune. When i get it i'm gonna have to make a run up to the WoodBurn drag strips again before they close on sept. 11th. That way i'll be able to test each performance and torque tune and get exact performance measurements and see how my times vary. This way i'll be able to test what it'll run without the tune on stock tires, then what it'll run on each of the tunes it offers. Then i'll be able to write a full review on this product, to see what it actually offers. Maybe i'll be able to save some of you some money on a bogis product, or give you guys a first hand review and help persuade you to get some extra boost out of your mighty little 2.3 :)
 

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