2014 MKS Ecoboost bone stock at the drag strip

[Agentlongwood]

I bought the car about 1 week ago with 60k miles.  Tonight I ran it at the drag strip.  The car is stock, down to the air filter and Michelin Primacy MXM4 tires.  Best time of the night was 14.328 @ 98.04mph with a 60 foot time of 2.204.  This was at Orlando Speed World in Florida.  My 60 foot times were consistent all night.  I made 4 passes and all were 2.2xx with one of them at 2.190. 

It was pretty warm and humid.  First run was around 7pm and when I left the track at 10pm it was 81 degrees and 84% humidity.  I held the brake and held the RPM at just over 2000 for a few seconds before leaving the tree.  Had traction control off, and my first 3 passes where done in S with the suspension set to sport.  Last pass was the fastest, and I accidentally left the trans in D with suspension set to Normal.  Didn't try any passes with suspension set to comfort.  Never touched the paddle shifters, just let the car do its thing.  Had the lane keeping assist turned on for the first 3 passes, and decided to turn it off on the last one.  Don't think it mattered.

Is that about right for a stock 2014 MKS Ecoboost?  I saw magazines got times of 14.1 and 13.9 so I was a little bummed at first.  Then I though, heck 2 tenths off of a pro driver for one of the magazines isn't too bad, lol.  Anything I'm doing wrong or could do better? 

 

 

 

[Agentlongwood]

I saw in some other threads people posting Density Altitude.  I have no idea the details of that measurement, but I looked it up and at about 10:53pm it was 2095 at Orlando Speed World.  My runs were from 7pm till about 10pm.  The site I looked this up on listed the temp at 10:53 as 79 degrees and 90% humidity. 

 

[SHOdded]

Start here:
http://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php/topic,1239.0.html

Typical things people do for better times:  minimize fuel in tank, drop tire pressures, avoid waterbox.  Heat fighting tips:  don't be in line too long (!), pop hood at end of each run & while coasting back to the line, remove weatherstrip at rear of hood to allow heat to escape more readily.

But I think you did good for bone stock with a challenging DA.  That humidity ... sucks.  You should pick up an OBD II adapter and Torque Pro to monitor your MKS' operations.

 

[Agentlongwood]

I was actually reading that thread on my phone while in the staging lane lol.  I did avoid the water box, and I left the hood open between runs.  I tried to line up in the grove of sticky track that other cars were laying down.  I had just barely over 1/4 tank, and of that 1/4 tank about 2 gallons of it was 93 octane.  Just wanted to make sure there was no knock or anything.  Probably not a big deal on a stock tune, lol, but I just wanted to be sure.

I did not try messing with tire pressure.  Even with traction control off, I have never heard the car even chirp the tires from a stop.  I also haven't tried removing that weather strip section.  Is that safe to run all the time, or is it just for days at the track?  I will look into that torque pro for sure.  I'm a total nerd for data.

 

[Brucelinc]

You said about 2 gallons of the fuel was 93.  You need to run 100% 93 octane fuel.  These engines - even stock - need 93 for best performance.

The weather strip on your car is easy to take off and put back on.  I used to take mine off when racing but left it on the rest of the time.  I would also remove the engine cover, too - not the aeroshield underneath - I mean the one on top of the engine.

One other STRONG recommendation:  Get a tune! 

 

[FoMoCoSHO]

I was actually reading that thread on my phone while in the staging lane lol.  I did avoid the water box, and I left the hood open between runs.  I tried to line up in the grove of sticky track that other cars were laying down.  I had just barely over 1/4 tank, and of that 1/4 tank about 2 gallons of it was 93 octane.  Just wanted to make sure there was no knock or anything.  Probably not a big deal on a stock tune, lol, but I just wanted to be sure.

I did not try messing with tire pressure.  Even with traction control off, I have never heard the car even chirp the tires from a stop.  I also haven't tried removing that weather strip section.  Is that safe to run all the time, or is it just for days at the track?  I will look into that torque pro for sure.  I'm a total nerd for data.

If you are planning on sct tuning in the future you may want to consider getting an X4 now as it's datalogging capabilities are quite a bit better than Torque.

 

[Brucelinc]

^^  I couldn't live without my X4.  If you like data and plan to get a tune, it would be a wise choice.

 

[Agentlongwood]

I absolutely do plan on tuning in the future.  Before I bought the car I was looking into Livernois.  After reading up on this site, it seems like everyone who works with AJP Turbo absolutely loves the results.  I'm totally new at all things Turbo, so apologies if this is a silly question: What is the benefit of the Livewire TS+ over the X4?  I just looked them up on the SCT website and I don't see any real benefit for the extra cost...

 

[FoMoCoSHO]

I absolutely do plan on tuning in the future.  Before I bought the car I was looking into Livernois.  After reading up on this site, it seems like everyone who works with AJP Turbo absolutely loves the results.  I'm totally new at all things Turbo, so apologies if this is a silly question: What is the benefit of the Livewire TS+ over the X4?  I just looked them up on the SCT website and I don't see any real benefit for the extra cost...

No benefit except bigger screen from what I can tell.

I'm waiting for the GTX to upgrade but so far it is vaporware on the SCT side of things.