My buddy has a 02 dakota 4.7l v8 auto.
I have a 06 ranger 4.0 5 speed.

any guesses?

 

Yeah....someone will LOSE.

 

You will beat him if you get good traction and no errors in shifting. A few mods such as CAI and unrestrictive exhaust would surely help. The size and type of tires may be the difference in the race. I have a modded and tuned 4.0 Mustang and recently beat a Dakota 318 by a full car length out of the hole. That 4.0 is a great engine to work with and is 100-150 lbs. lighter than most V-8s. Out of the trap, that stang will eat front wheel drive rice burners all day long as well as all of those hot looking SUV's and large P/Ups. Ford Racing!

 

I think if stock form for both vehicles over a 1/4 mile the dodge will take it. The dodge may need to add a little weight over the rear axle to do it though (not stock) but he has you in cubic inches in a stock vehicle.

 

Back over him first then go, you allways want an edge ha ha. If you have a manual tranny and 4;10 gears, you should take in the 1/8 mile, but he should catch you on the big end of a 1/4 mile. Try safley and see where your at, there are drag strips for such things and the lights are more accurate than an arm drop, BE SAFE!!!!!!!!

 

He doesn't have you by alot of hp, maybe 30, but he does have you covered in torque, but you way lesss, iut should be interesting. Feather the clutch when you take off to reduce spinnibg, hopefully he will floor his and spin like a mother, then just wave good-bye as your banging gears!!!!

 

I meant to say you have way less weight

 

i think you will be in the dust. i had a freind that had one, 2wd crew cab. it was enough of a performer that i could almost consider a dodge. but then this 2004 developed some problems, like blowing a water pump and the power rack and pinion getting a "dead" spot in it. only had 60,000 miles. he ended his lease a year early and got a hyndai. and being a auto, yor freind can keep his foot in the throttle while you have to let off to shift. sure you could try speed-shifting. you may also damage something expensive too. its too bad dodge has such crappy chassis. their 4.7 is quite a motor.

 

It isn't that bad now racsan, the 4.7 is rated around 240 hp and 290 ft pounds. Were at 207 hp and 238 ft pounds, then factor the weight difference and xtra power and gears of the manual trans. An auto robs some of the power, not enough that the ranger will kill him. I would hope to get him out of the gate and at least keep it close, that would be a win for the ranger in my book. Hopefully the first impulse of the dodge driver will be to manually shift his auto and to floor it on launch. That should produce some wheel spin and the auto will shift faster if left in drive than to manually do it, unless he has a shift kit. I've been racing for years and I can speed shift a manual tranny fast. I don't recomend power shifting, trannies aren't built like they use to be, but you can learn to hit the clutch and pump the shifter extremely fast with some practice. It's like just one quick lighting fast motion. Just stay close and you can be proud and know that if he had the 3.7 V-6 instead of a V-8, you would own him. Just getting him out of the gate would be a victory. With a set of under drive pullies and a bama programer you really could make a race of it. Also remove any un-nesserary weight, like tools, jack, spare tire and so on. Good luck and do ford rangers proud, even if you don't beat him, let him know that he was in a race.

 

I'm going to be the "Dodge Bashing" poster

They are junk, you will smoke him. Chances are he will blow out his tranny, or have an electrical meltdown during the race (It is a dodge after all).

Also, if his is the crew cab 4wd, that should help. I just drove one, and wasn't that impressed.

Go GET EM!

 

"O HELL YEAH", if he has a 4x4 super or crewcab, you should tie him if not beat him. That will make a lot more weight and drag for him. And like Peter94 says, thats if he can complete the run without a major MOPAR malfunction. Also telll him that he will get a better grip if he runs 10 more pounds of air in his rear tires. At the same time drop your rear tire presure by around 5-8 pounds, maybe even 10, don't go under 22 psi. This will allow you to launch a little harder without massive tire spin, plus heat them up a little by spinning them before you race. Him on the other hand with the higher tire presure will spin like a fan hee hee!!!!!!

 

Make sure your windows are rolled up,tail gate down; no passengers;air cond. off; only 1/8th tank of gas; radio off; and get off the line fast and tromp it to the floor! Keep your eyes on the road and don't look over at him. You will win! Nascar Ford Racing/Carl Edwards!

 

I disagree that they are junk. We have a 2000 Dakota V6 and it has over 290,000 miles and still runs good. No major problems. Even the V6 is pretty quick too. If he is stock and the Ranger is modded, I would say the Ranger, which is lighter, has a good chance of winning. But the auto on the Dodge will let him keep the foot on the throttle, and modern autos do not rob power anymore. Many are equipped with double clutch torque converters, which will make them quicker off the line, and once they get moving, the converters lockup to give direct power transfer and that makes them behave like the best things in a manual.

I think you should race him, he will loose if he breaks the tires free. But I would want a good CAI, a performance exhaust, complete with shorty headers, and a Bama tuner.

 

I hope this will be done at a track and not on the street.
I also think the Dodge will win if it doesn't break down first.

I had a student in one of the Dodge SRT10 pick up w/ the viper motor in it and in a straight line (at the track) it was faster than my Porsche.

 

The Dodge will probably drop a tranny on take off. LOL