At the track with my 2.3

[white02ranger]

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]

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

[CheapThrillB2]

This is from a different board

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/87-Turbod-Ranger-23-Vs-W_13087.htm

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/SVO-Ranger-Vs-Evo23L-Vs_13039.htm

http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/743/10164/181381.jpg
87 Ranger with a 2.3 turbo motor out of a svo. This pass was a 12.60 at 110 I believe.


TURBO THAT THING

[Plum Ranger XLT]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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....

[Dar70]

^^^^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]

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]

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

[Dar70]

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

Wish I could help.But I get confused with tire sizes.

[white02ranger]

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 :)

[Bryan22]

sweet man that'd be really cool. have you got the tuner yet?

[NomadRider]

The shorter tires would be better for the strip as they will have the same effect as a lower gear. You might find some minimal gains from running without any extra weight. Low fuel load, drop the spare, the jack and any extras that wont help you down the strip. It depends on how far you wanna take it. I used to ride to work with a neighbor who woud put a 2nd seat in his mustang through the week so I had a place to sit. That car was gutted. No dash pad, carpet, door, skins inner fenders, radio etc. If it wasn't needed to race his car didn't have it.

[birdmanslopy]

drain your tank to about 3 gallons left of fuel, make a half gallon around 100 octane or less if the track sells it.
any tire you have that is low profile or say all terrains, dont bother doing a burn out.
air your front tires up ALOT and lower the back a little like say 25 rear psi 50 psi front , less tire touching the ground faster top end, kinda a poor man skinny. and the front end air up raises it so when the back squats a little it might hook better.
the compounds on the stock tires or even tires for 18s wont make you hook any better at the track burning em, so i wouldnt even bother there, stay away from the water box unless you want to look cool burning one tire.
if you go to jegs or somewhere you can buy yourself a 23 to 25 inch tall drag radial or even slick for it (which you could burn out to make it sticky to grab)
and use that if you wanted to dump the clutch at 5 or 6 grand.
for the people that would think that doing that is bad actually slicks ran low is drivetrain savers because the tires give a little (wrinkle) before they grab.

another thing i learned that works for some reason is if you go to the staging lane and quickly put it in reverse engage the clutch and quickly power brake in reverse then put it back in gear at the light it makes it launch in 2 wheel peel till 2nd gear.
always works for me

as for the launch, dont dump the clutch!! never do that unless you want bad 60 fts. rev the motor to about 3500 rpms and let the clutch out till it grabs barely then push is back till it disengages then when the light hits let it out slow and mash the gas to the floor and that gets your 60 better. kinda like slipping.

you put so much torture on dumping the clutch and if you get wheel hop bad say bye bye to the rear end or transmission.

my 94 ranger almost at 200k miles 5 speed ran 15.6 quarter mile on a gallon of straight 110 octane, m/t slicks and a open air filter and unbolted exhaust from the cat, and a 20 pill of nitrious (make for streetbikes but i used it :P )

another thing in drag racing is the 1 2 shift that usually gets a better time somewhat also, its bad to do it with a m5r1 but i hold the gas to the floor and just keep pushing the clutch and changing gears, but you gotta do it fast or youll bounch off the rev limiter
she still runs great, (dont recomend that though)