Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches California Deal for Nor-Cal CEG's

Originally posted by NorCalCoug:

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We'll account for the following.

#1: His tire size is .6% smaller than stock
#2: Stock speedo is off by about 2% to begin with.
#3: He has the Zetec final drive, which bumps his top speed before hitting rev limiter to about 163.
4. A stock SVT Contour is limited to around 148-150mph due to the rev limiter more than the drag itself. It has more power than the Cougar by 30hp which is enough to break the 143mph drag limit.

5. Makes sense to me. So with 40-50 more HP than a Cougar (at LEAST, since we're talking a hybrid here and not just a straight 200hp 3L swap) and a taller gear with his final drive,

6. I don't see why there's all this hullabaloo that he managed to go a measly 13-15 miles per hour faster than a Cougar which has a HIGHER drag coefficient and LESS horsepower.

Let's not fight over stupid simple logical equations, people.

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1. .6% = 2mph deviation from base calculations.
Everything is calculated in the PCM and TD is only one variable.

2. Your are wrong in thinking it's a fixed deviation.
The speedo is actually very accurate up to about 60mph. Within 1%
From 60-80mph it gets steadily worse from 1-3%
From 80mph on it exponentially gets worse and the more "off" the bases for calculation are the worse the deviation becomes.

RPM from an OBD-II hookup is the best indicator for true speed. Then back calculate mph using the simple formula and ACCURATE DATA.

3. Talk about bad math.

Using stock TD and gearing the SVT is rpm limited to ~164mph at 6900rpm.

While adding the Zetec (3.84) will raise the rpm limited top speed (~173mph) if you don't have the POWER to push the gear it will drop your top speed ability because of the loss in multiplication factor.

Drag limited means your power * gearing can not over come drag. If you lower the gearing you lower your work output and thus top speed ability.

Now if the car was rpm limited in top speed then a taller gear would increase top speed ability.

4. The SVT is drag limited to 143-144 mph. Tested by several magazines with a radar gun. 'nuff said

NO 170HP Contour or Cougar was EVER radar tested to 143mph.

5. He has ~185 FWHP. (225 crank) 25 HP over a stock SVT WILL NOT EVER gain 16mph in top speed even including the torque gain. Honestly not even enough to make 150mph.

Also there is no proof the splitter doesn't add drag or at least improve nothing at all. The SVT already has a very good underside deflector to keep air from pocketing in the engine bay.

The lowering will help.

Wider tires will hurt.

6. A MEASILY 16mph faster???

Let's do some basic equations.

Let's say he lowered CD to .30 (not likely but let's run with it) and using his 185 wheels he could theoretically reach 150mph if the gearing put him at max HP at 150mph
You see it's not just what max HP you make but what the rpm to "total" gearing factor is.

160mph would need about 230 wheels. (~280 crank)
Conditions being absolutely perfect of course. (i.e. bench racing equations!) So figure a fudge factor of 5-10 crank HP.

Originally posted by DemonSVT:

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NO 170HP Contour or Cougar was EVER radar tested to 143mph.

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So I guess (in the NECO thread that you never replied to my post to) the "road safety" radar detector on the freeway that I blew past at 143mph according to the detector(145 on my speedo) was wrong, right? By the way, this was a stock Cougar ATX.

And yeah, I'm obviously lying, because everyone knows that Demon is the god of all knowledge. Nice, okay, so a magazine tested the car at 144mph. But these are also the same magazines that post incorrect horsepower ratings and so forth. Do they list all of the conditions during the test? Weight in the car at the time, other conditions such as barometric and temperature readings, etc?

There are other limiting factors, such as air density (which affects drag) and temperature, which can and will have a bearing. My speed was hit on a dry, cool night in the middle of the desert, which means less dense air (as far as molecular saturation from water).

Here, why don't we leave it at this. You can all think that he didn't hit the speed he hit. That's fine. I'll go on believing it, as will him and his fiancee who was in the car with him at the time and saw it.

We'll stop talking about it and then everyone else can go on living in their own dreamworld, kind of like how everyone who voted for Bush can go on pretending that he's a good guy, and an OK dude to be President.

Originally posted by ContourSVT98:

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How the hell did this mathematical crap talk ended up when this post is about someone offering carbon fiber hoods!?

-dan

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Book'em Danno!

Originally posted by ContourSVT98:

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How the hell did this mathematical crap talk ended up when this post is about someone offering carbon fiber hoods!?

-dan

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