Looking at my short term goals I am planning on adding a 3600 stall torque converter to my car and I am wondering what you guys think my car should be capable in the 1/4.

Car: 1999 Firebird Formula A4 w/ 2.73 gears on stock 10 bolt, stock 4L60E
Mods: ARH 1-7/8" LT's, ARH 3" ORY, Borla catback (open), BMR LCA's, Nitto 245/50R16 555R drag radials, SLP lid, FTI 3600 stall, cooler, tuned by Andrew at CSP.

I'd like to see 12.5 but that may be a little optimistic, not sure.

 

12.5 with the converter easy. No stall with the 273 gearing 13.0-13.2.

 

You should be able to break into the 12s without the stall depending on how well you launch and what the DA and track conditions are. I'd say 12.9-13.1. With the stall, you should be able to get pretty close to 12.5-12.6.

 

i'd say 12.9 stock stall and 12.3-12.2 with stall. will depend on those tires...because they suck haha.

 

12.70's or 80's

 

I would consider 255/50R16 MT ET Street Radials since they would fit I think, but I know they hook better and I want to be as careful with the 10 bolt as possible. Although with the auto and 2.73's that may not be a problem

 

^ A4s are a lot more forgiving on the 10-bolt than manuals because we can't drop the clutch from 4000+ rpms. The 3600 stall is probably going to shorten it's life from the extra torque at launch, but it should still survive a while until you're putting down more power. Lol then again, there have been guys who have blown their 10-bolt on stock power too, so it's basically the luck of the draw.

 

That's what I'm worried about, seems like I usually have bad luck with things like that. I don't plan on going to the track and running it with the stock converter...maybe I should though for a baseline. Of course it has street tires on it now which will slow it down.

 

555r will give you plenty of traction, mine do just fine on a preped track.

 

My "local" track is 75-80 Dragway, Maryland's oldest drag strip. I haven't really heard anything that stands out about their track prep, I guess I'll have to do some research.

I'm really hoping to get the 12.5 and then with a cam maybe hit high 11's or 12.0 (maybe with a built trans/rear if necessary).

If any of you guys run nitrous, approximately what kind of ET drop could you expect using a 100 shot? If I can break into the 10's after the above mods with a 100 shot I'd do that but I'm a little wary of running nitrous with the ramp rate of the cam and the 3600 stall. (looking at the TSP Torquer V2)

 

Get some real tires.

When my car had close to the same mods as yours it went 12.19 @ 113 with a 1.67 60'.

 

Dang really? What tires were you running there?!

 

275 ET Street Radials.

Only things I had that you don't are an LS6 intake and a UDP I believe.

Not to mention I only made 3 passes with the car like that before I took it apart. It would have gone into the 11's the way it sat with more seat time.

 

Screw the Nittos. I've had them on several cars and never got them to hook. I've had good luck with M/T ET Streets, M/T ET Street Radials, and Hoosier drag radials. I would not worry about the 10-bolt at the bolt-on level with 2.73s. Don't put a cam in the car with those gears, though, it will be really sluggish IMO. Put a 12-bolt/9"/S60 or something in the car, then add more power.

If you can get a decent 60', then I don't see why a 12.5 isn't attainable.

 

I was originally planning on getting a 9" with 3.50 or 3.70 gears but I may go with an S60 since they're cheaper.

I may need the serpentine belt replaced soon, would that be a good time to add a UDP? I don't really know anything about them lol like what they affect

 

My car did 12.6 with all mods in sig MINUS the ss3600 stall in -1000 da full weight
Same car did 12.0 with addition of ss3600 in -1000 da full weight
Same car did 11.9 with about 200lbs of weight reduction in -187 da

I will say you will do 12.5 easy in spring air da.

 

I'd wait until you do a cam swap to do a UDP. They are only worth a tenth or so anyway. Changing the belt is a 5 min job.

 

Cool I'll keep that in mind then. Thanks guys.

 

UPDATE

Ok guys, still haven't taken the car to the track yet but will be soon (hopefully, weather permitting)

I'm still hoping to see 12.5 but my setup has changed very slightly so if you have any new opinions on what it could run let me know. This will be the first time I've ever been down the strip but don't let that change your guesses, I want to know what the CAR should be capable of, not what I'm capable of

Car: 1999 Firebird Formula A4 w/ 2.73 gears on stock 10 bolt, stock 4L60E, 245/50R16 street tires
Mods: Custom FTI ~3600 stall, ARH 1-7/8" LT's, ARH 3" ORY, Borla catback (open), BMR LCA's, SLP lid, UMI PHB, Founders STB, Hayden cooler, tuned by Andrew at CSP.
Dyno numbers: 326rwhp 322rwtq on 90* day

I'll probably take out the spare tire at the track and I'm going to try to have about 1/2 tank of fuel. Not sure on tire pressure for street tires.

 

My guess is 13.0 based on the following:

I just went last week on a similar setup, slp lid, ls6 intake, UDP, ARh 1 7/8s and ory, mufflex clone with mag 4x9. RPM trans, vig 3600 stall, cooler, 3.23 gears. On a crappy 245/50R/16. Stock suspension, besides poly motor mounts.

First run went 13.1 at 106 on a 2.1. Next couple runs I tried to stall it up a bit, all were over 13.5 at 106, massive wheel spin. Finally found a sweet spot rolling out and punching it and cut a 1.9 60ft, started getting the knock flashing SES light, ran a 13.06 at 103... Car pulled a lot of timing when it saw knock or I woulda got my high 12 pass.

Headers were knocking against K it looks like. Anytime I got a good bite it would see knock and retard timing. After I trim the K some more Im gonna go back and just try to get a high 12 down. Its pretty hard with street tires and next to impossible to be consistent.

Now after I get some good ET street radials this winter bolted up, Ill come out next year looking for a 12.2 and I think itll be easy to find!