my car is a dog

[the slow and the curious]

Recently bought 98 T/a, all stock with A4 trans, dont know what is up but off the line this thing is like Mother Teresa on ludes. This car won't do a standing burnout. I know it is hot out, and I am running cheap gas, and yes my engine is pinging from time to time but c'mon.

Sure, once it is going it rages pretty good, but I just want to burm my tires at A stop sign when I Feel like it. I have no need to do 120 miles per hour or more, that's how people die..Soooo Thinking about 373 gears but my first quote was 7 to 8 hundred bucks GEEZ!! Any thoughts out there

[Sarge]

Well from an old "714" guy I can tell you this......
1. Stall Convertor.
2. Dyno Tune.

Before you go throwing money in mods get those two things taken care of FIRST.

[SteveC]

You do not state what gears you have, however with a stock motor, converter and 2.73's, it will be pretty tough to burnout. I had a stock setup with 3.23 gears and bearly chirped at all from a dead stop.

I went to 3.73's with a mild Y3000 2.0 STR Yank converter, and now I chirp 2nd @ less than 1/2 throttle.

If you go with 3.73's couple it to a Vigilante 3200, or a Yank 3600, and hold on for the ride of your life.

SteveC :)

[CamaroSSx1999]

what does pinging from time to time mean? i got 4.10's to put in my m6.... is that gonna get me in the 12s? or would 373s be better

[ibanez7]

I hope the pinging you have isnt detonation from running cheap gas....

[the slow and the curious]

Yes, I am running cheap gas, if their is such a thing. Hey Camaro SS Pinging is the brief noise you hear typically going uphill just after a gear change like from 2nd to third. Usually caused by cheap gas. It is refered to as detonation it is not a good thing. Also I had a 00 ss with 410 gear and m6. My clutch slipped waaay before I got any 12 second times 12s are very possible but you are going to have to NAIL every gear perfectly. no clutch slip and slicks Personally I did not like my m6 with 410 gear seemed all I was doing was shifting. sooo anyhoo just seems 800 bucks was a little steep for gears.

[Ed Blown Vert]

Yes, a converter should be your first mod.

[carsnow]

before I bought my firehawk I took out an auto ws-6 or t.a cant remember. THat car was a dog, I put it to the floor at 30 and it didn't move. Driving my m6 firehawk a few weeks after was like night and day.

[nhraformula]

get a converter

[third_shift|studios]

before I bought my firehawk I took out an auto ws-6 or t.a cant remember. THat car was a dog, I put it to the floor at 30 and it didn't move. Driving my m6 firehawk a few weeks after was like night and day.

Zboner and i tested an A4 ws.6 CE [the yellow one] and it was poopy too. really shooked us both. We figred with a dyno-tune [stated by Sarge] that thing could be leathal.

[Zboner]

Recently bought 98 T/a, all stock with A4 trans, dont know what is up but off the line this thing is like Mother Teresa on ludes. This car won't do a standing burnout. I know it is hot out, and I am running cheap gas, and yes my engine is pinging from time to time but c'mon.

Sure, once it is going it rages pretty good, but I just want to burm my tires at A stop sign when I Feel like it. I have no need to do 120 miles per hour or more, that's how people die..Soooo Thinking about 373 gears but my first quote was 7 to 8 hundred bucks GEEZ!! Any thoughts out there


:naughtywa Check your driver side door jam, there is a build list and a bunch of codes, look for GU5=3.23 gears or for GU3=2.73 i think, (but its something low like that) :naughtywa

or when do you try and burn out? if you have been driving for a while and come to a stop and do it then you will not be able to do it because of heat soak. also your trans may just be worn out, how many miles on the trans? i had to have mine rebuilt a 74K from normal wear and tear man.

[Zboner]

oh and dont use cheap gas man, spend the extra cash it will run a hell of a lot better and you will be getting better gas mileage out of it

[rbob93]

Use premium fuel.
If your car is pinging, your PCM will pull timing out. Retarded timing will make it run like a dog.
If you cannot correct the pinging using premium fuel, you may have too much carbon built up, or you may be using a too hot of a plug.
Once your pinging issues are cleared up, then you could look into tuning, gears, converter, etc., but you may find you don't need all that if all you want to do is bust the tires loose.
If you continue to run your engine pinging, you would be far better off saving your money for a new engine instead of adding expensive performance parts, because it will only become worse.
Also, I don't think it's possible to could get a good tune with it detonating, so that would be a major waste of $.

Here's a link for the straight dope on ping.

http://www.hastingsmfg.com/Service%20Tips/detonation_and_preignition.htm

Good luck! :)

Bob

[Killer_bluebird]

I think part of it is also perception (Seat of the pants feel). My wife has a an 00 Z28 A4 when whe went to the track last time the car was consistantly running 13.4-13.5 @104. My best time is 13.2 @106 (mostly due to lack of traction on street tires). Mine is a 6 speed. Note also that was before the latest round of upgrades. Now my car always feels like it pulls like crazy from the dig in comparison to hers, her's feels slow but I know it is not. To tell you the truth I was a little pissed because her car is so consistant. The only change on her car was K&N. And mine it always depends on the not to good driver. :confused:

[dmnall]

You do not state what gears you have, however with a stock motor, converter and 2.73's, it will be pretty tough to burnout. I had a stock setup with 3.23 gears and bearly chirped at all from a dead stop.

SteveC :)

When I had my 02 Z28 A4 w/ 2.73 with just a Dynomouth, the car did burn the Eagle GSCs all day just @ 1/2 throttle launches. His car should be able to burn the rears as long as he starts running Premium Fuel. I know w/ stock Muffler, my Z28 did not burn out unless I was @full throttle w/ a little brake standing..

Charlie

[Beast]

.....Sure, once it is going it rages pretty good, but I just want to burm my tires at A stop sign when I Feel like it....

Buy cheapest, crappiest tires you can find... you'll light them up all day long. :usa:

[Killer_bluebird]

:haha: :burnout:

[mcamp001]

keep in mind these cars pcm's have a high and low octane timing chart to use. If low octane fuel is used, the low octane timing advance is used, so performance will obviously be decreased. Use high octane 92-93 and you shouldn't have any issues spinning the tires

[Zboner]

did you check to see if it read GU5 or GU3 yet? that is the code for the gear ratios

[310stanger]

that cheap gas your running has a lot to do with it. the computer cuts back timing jus to avoid the detonation your experiencing for starters. if you have enough detonation you can have engine damage and thats detrimental to power. but start with rear end gears a converter and a tune as sarge stated.

[blk_jaws]

I have 3.23's. From a stop it will burn them every time. It's a a4 with Toyo Proxes FZ4 tires on it.

[Danger731]

Well from an old "714" guy I can tell you this......
1. Stall Convertor.
2. Dyno Tune.

Before you go throwing money in mods get those two things taken care of FIRST.

FUNNY "RORER"

[02z28ls1]

Are you seriously considering hotrodding the car for better performance,but won't buy premium gas for it? That's the wrong approach. As stated,your killing the performance by pulling timing out w/the cheap gas. It's only a couple bucks a tank,and it'll be the cheapest horsepower you can buy.

[Hot Black Trans-Am]

Good gas and cheap hard tires is the way to burn em up! Don't forget to disable the traction control.

[0rion]

keep in mind these cars pcm's have a high and low octane timing chart to use. If low octane fuel is used, the low octane timing advance is used, so performance will obviously be decreased. Use high octane 92-93 and you shouldn't have any issues spinning the tires

ding ding ding ding.....we have a winner. :D

[jmhvenom]

I have gotten pinging with Premium fuel before, its been known to be caused by running too lean. Originally I thought it was my ported MAF, so I got rid of that. And still heard it, Took out my K&N and it went away. I was just told recently that you can also get pinging if the Oil you use on the K&N gets onto the MAF wires. Gonna try cleaning em to see if that helps.

My Z burns nittos on the street even with 2.73 gears, but I would definately advise getting some 3.73s for the A4. But with Free mods, bolt ons, cutout and tune I can burn the nittos so you shouldnt have a problem

[Capster78]

Why are you puting cheap gas in your car?? I shake my head in complete discust when I see or hear about people who do this. I did this in another thread and Ill do it here. Lets do a little math!!

The average driver drives about 15,000 miles a year. The largest price difference I can see between priemium and mid grade is going to be .20 cents a gallon.

The average F-bod is going to get about 20mpg.

1500/20 = 750 gallons a year

750 x .20 cents = $150

If your worride about spending an additional $150 a year on gas you probably should not have bought a V-8 to begin with.

[oneBADDz]

exactly, nobody thinks about it, but you are paying TOPS $2.50 more per tank for premium, that's 1 cent per mile more


1 cent per mile.


Actually looking at capster's math it's the exact same as mine, 15,000 miles and $150 bucks. I swear I didn't steal your math, but I am gonna steal your statement. -If you can't afford 1 cent per mile more than you are already paying, you shouldn't have bought a V8 in the first place

[~redlinels1~]

Don't even bother modding the car if you run cheap gas. The modding game becomes very expensive and from the sounds of it...you don't like spending money.

I only dream about the day I can grab decent traction on street tires. My little a4 and 3.23 gears won't even think about grabbing traction until 2nd gear. Sure, its fun at first but when you need traction its a PITA.