BFG g-Force T/A Drag Radial

[Nathan]

Has anyone installed the BFG g-Force T/A Drag Radials (245/40R18) on their MM? Any reason that they wouldn't fit or work on our rear OEM rims?

Nathan

[John F. Russo]

I'm looking to get greater traction for everyday driving. Is this the answer? I doubt it.

I'm new to the drag racing field. I have Pirelli P-Zero (45's in the front and 55's in the rear) which are suppose to be better tires than stock tires.

Can anyone suggest the next step without losing too much handling ability in normal or accelerated driving conditions?

____________
2003 Blue 300B (Canadian) (traction control, mini spare, trunked 6 disc
CD changer,clock-in-the-radio, heated front seats, hood light)
Born 12/10/02
10,000 miles
Stock transmission (upgraded with Performance Automatic
clutches and band after stock tranny failed in 8,800 miles)
Wheel locks (Ford)
Mileage: 18 mpg at a steady speed of 80 mph
Tire minder valve stem caps (getting rid of them- unreliable)
Kenny Brown: 6th “signature series” conversion (450 hp) 3/28/03
Dead pedal
Baer front brakes 14 in. two piston, vented rotors
MMX Driveshaft
4.10 gears
Vortech supercharger (7 to 8 psig boost)
Pirelli P-Zero
FordChip
One coil of each front stock spring removed to produce
the “same” effect as an Eibach spring

[Nathan]

I'm just looking for something stickier to put on before going to the strip. My primary worries are with traction control and/or ABS problems with a tire of smaller diameter... Sales@TireRack replied to my questions regarding the tire with:

"The BFG Drag Radial is 3" small overall diameter than the stock size tire based on this I do not feel it would be a good match.
If properly sized this tire would be good track tire but NOT A good road tire."

I guess that answers my question regarding the BFG Drag Radial.

John, did you get a chance to drive your MM supercharged before the Pirelli's were put on? If so, please describe the handling and traction differences you have noticed. Also, how does your 300B's traction control react to the extra power of the supercharged motor? I should have my 300B back next week from Trilogy and I've been told that I should be careful not to WOT with Traction control on.

[John F. Russo]

Nathan

Before I got the car I had a Kenny Brown do the conversion.

When you punch the gas pedal to the floor the car nearly stalls because of the ABS.

I have the traction control button on the left hand side of the dash. (It came from the factory this way). To prevent the described condition, one has to press the button to prevent the traction control from going on.

I got tired of pressing the button off and had someone reverse the switch, that is, now the traction control is always off and when I want it on, I press the button again. When I'm at the lights, I don't want to have to remember to press the switch.

In fact I find the use of the traction control to be of very limited value. It may have help me but I have not recognized its helpfulness yet.

[John F. Russo]

Nathan

What does "WOT" mean?

[Nathan]

Thanks for the info on traction control. Was the switch reversal done in the computer programming or in the switch itself somehow? I'm just wondering if this is something that I would have to find a local person to do or if I could buy a part or have something reprogrammed.

WOT = Wide Open Throttle

[Racerx88]

Originally posted by John F. Russo ......When you punch the gas pedal to the floor the car nearly stalls because of the ABS......

Not to flame, but the ABS has no affect whatsoever on acceleration, only braking. Antilock Brake System.

[John F. Russo]

Racerx88

The traction control does not directly affect how the acceleration works but it sure does affect the rate at which the car takes off. If the brakes are being applied automatically to stop the spinning wheel as your car is trying to take off as fast as it can, you will not take off as fast. It happened to my car, as it was taking off during a "test and tune" session at the local dragstrip. I forgot to tell the driver to press the button "off" on the traction control.

I know that when the traction control is off, I don't have any restriction on the rpm of my rear wheel(s).

I'm willling to compare data with you. What experience do you have that is opposite mine.

Nathan

The work was done on the switch itself, no programming changes. I'll put up a posting later about what "someone" (not me) did. It took him a couple of hours to figure out what to do and to do it.

So far I have driven the car only a couple of weeks and haven't seen a Mustang on the street to run against to test it out.

[Racerx88]

I see what you're saying but Traction Control and ABS are two completely different things. I don't believe that the Traction Control applies the brakes on our cars. It varies the throttle instead. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[Nathan]

I'm just speculating here, but do believe that the MM's TC uses throttle control only. My Lincoln LS had yaw control and it would apply the brakes to the wheels that needed it... and trust me, you could tell!

[Papabear]

The traction control Ford uses actually does several things. If it detects a loss of traction it will use the ABS system to apply breaking to the spinning wheel. This is a very small amount of breaking though. If that does not correct the los of traction the system will reduce engine power. Here is where things get complicated. It can reduce engine power by retarding the timeing a few degrees or reducing the fuel to the engine. The fuel reduction is a bad thing if any of you go with a power adder. I have a 99 Cobra with traction control and a Vortech supercharger you learn pretty quick to make the traction control the first thing you turn off when you crank the car. High boost and a loss of fuel will do bad things to your engine.

[John F. Russo]

Papabear is talking like a real "Papa" and knows what he is talking about! Anyone one else who can add to this discussion?

I think that anyone who has more than the stock factory car should reverse the action of the traction control button. (Anyone disagree now?)

Now you can see why my traction control button is set at all times on "off" and when I want traction control, I press the button.

Thank you Papa for corroborating my actions even though my words were incomplete, partly accurate etc.

[John F. Russo]

I should have checked your profile for your age first before I called you a real "Papa".

I found out that it wouldn't have made any difference since your age isn 't noted! So I retract the title until you divulge your age.

[Papabear]

I'll put it like this, My kids are 21, 20 and 18 so I have been around the block a few times.

[John F. Russo]

That';s close enough- "Papa".

[Constable]

I have posted a few threads in the past about reversing the T/C switch. I don't think anyone here was really "into" the idea. I drive my car like a psycho, so I always want it off. If the weather gets nasty and I want it on, I'll just hit the freakin button. I heard somewhere that the T/C uses braking up to a certain speed, and -- after that certain speed -- uses fuel starvation & timing. My info might be a little skewed, but Papa was on the money.... our cars use a variety of techniques to do the job effectively. Works fine on a stock MM, but not ideal for a modded one.

Russo - if you could get hold of the information needed to reverse the switch, I'd really appreciate it. Also, does the little T/C light stay on all the time now that it's always off? Or was the light rigged to only come on when the T/C is on?

[John F. Russo]

Constable

The light remains off all of the time. That's what is great about the change, otherwise with the light on all of the time it is very irritating at night.

I'll try to post what this guy did. He is fearful of a backlash from Ford for warranty reasons, I think.

[Nathan]

If you would feel more comfortable sending me the information privately, please do so. It would be much appreciated :)

[GordonB]

To all,
The MM's Traction Control is computer-based and integrated into the car's fuel mgt. system AND the ABS Brake system. That is what makes it so hard to re-program. I believe that is why it took Ford until mid-year Model '03 to come out with the TC on the 300B version of our cars -- it is integrated and Ford wanted it to be as `seamless' and non-intrusive as possible. That in a nutshell is both the Good and the Bad of it at the same time.
What that means for people into mods is that it is very difficult to modify even if you have the electrical schematics for our cars. Some of what we need is to see the `logic' diagrams for the computer boards that are actually doing the controlling of TC.
Just be careful when you mod and enjoy!
Gordon B.

[Fin Harder 92]

You are not gonna to want to run BFG DR's every day. First, these tires are very unstable in wet weather, VERY. Second, you won't get more than 10-12k miles from them. I ran these tires on a high hp Buick GN (255/50/16) and they were real nice on the street when hot.

I got caught in the rain one time, that was all it took. Off they came and on went Nitto Extreme DR's. You won't get many miles out of those either, but then again we're not talking about 80k mile Michelins are we.

Take Care

[Nathan]

Thanks John... That's the kind of information for which I was looking. I had considered buying an extra pair of factory rims to make swapping for the track a little easier.. but if I'm going to do that, maybe I should just buy a wider rim for the wider Nittos?