2004 Cobra modifying for open track

[04GTMustang]

I've done some searching around the forum and figured out a few things especially by jimmy sidecar. My current mod list is in my sig, but here's a recap:

Billetflow 2.76 Non-Slip upper pulley, Steeda 100mm Idler, Brembo pads w/ slotted rotors, JLT Ram Air Intake, Bassani Catted X pipe, Magnaflow Catback, BF IRS Brace, MGW Short throw shifter, SCT X3 with Custom Dyno Tune

Car made 471 at the wheels and 496 torque......

I want to do some open track racing. Here is my list of mods to do over the winter to have it ready. PLEASE critque my list.

IN order of NEED:

1. Aftermarket coolant gauge
2. 3.400" billetflow pulley (I have a hub already with my 2.76 on the car)
3. Dyno retune for 11-11.2 AFR (currently 12.0)
4. Brake Cooling mod/ducts
5. 4 wheel aggressive alignment
6. SFC's or FLSFC's
7. LFP heat exchanger and larger tank or fluid.
8. Rear Seat Delete

I will have NT555R's on the back and BF Goodrich sport tires up front (340 TW) I heard it's not wise to start with R compound and a staggered set up.....

What do you guys think? Blower is not ported and I do not plan on porting it I don't think, I'm looking at huge power down the road and plan on skipping this.

 

[MGC]

I've done some searching around the forum and figured out a few things especially by jimmy sidecar. My current mod list is in my sig, but here's a recap:

Billetflow 2.76 Non-Slip upper pulley, Steeda 100mm Idler, Brembo pads w/ slotted rotors, JLT Ram Air Intake, Bassani Catted X pipe, Magnaflow Catback, BF IRS Brace, MGW Short throw shifter, SCT X3 with Custom Dyno Tune

Car made 471 at the wheels and 496 torque......

I want to do some open track racing. Here is my list of mods to do over the winter to have it ready. PLEASE critque my list.

IN order of NEED:

1. Aftermarket coolant gauge
2. 3.400" billetflow pulley (I have a hub already with my 2.76 on the car)
3. Dyno retune for 11-11.2 AFR (currently 12.0)
4. Brake Cooling mod/ducts
5. 4 wheel aggressive alignment
6. SFC's or FLSFC's
7. LFP heat exchanger and larger tank or fluid.
8. Rear Seat Delete

I will have NT555R's on the back and BF Goodrich sport tires up front (340 TW) I heard it's not wise to start with R compound and a staggered set up.....

What do you guys think? Blower is not ported and I do not plan on porting it I don't think, I'm looking at huge power down the road and plan on skipping this.

Brake cooling ducts are a MUST! I wouldn't waste your time or money on the heat exchanger. FULL LENGTH SFC's without a doubt. I'd look into the regular NT05's if I were you, awesome tire, the problem with R compounds is that they are not very forgiving once you pass the limit, you're spinning. A street tire is helpful because it will teach you to correct the car easier at high speeds and it gives you a bit of leway. Do you have caster/camber plates? If not, you should. If you are just starting out, don't spend a whole lot of money on it, just go out and run it and you will have a better idea of what the weak points of the car are. Judging by your list, the most pressing thing is the 2.76 pulley, that will cause you to heatsoak the car pretty quickly. Most importantly, have fun! Hope this helps.

 

[04GTMustang]

Brake cooling ducts are a MUST! I wouldn't waste your time or money on the heat exchanger. FULL LENGTH SFC's without a doubt. I'd look into the regular NT05's if I were you, awesome tire, the problem with R compounds is that they are not very forgiving once you pass the limit, you're spinning. A street tire is helpful because it will teach you to correct the car easier at high speeds and it gives you a bit of leway. Do you have caster/camber plates? If not, you should. If you are just starting out, don't spend a whole lot of money on it, just go out and run it and you will have a better idea of what the weak points of the car are. Judging by your list, the most pressing thing is the 2.76 pulley, that will cause you to heatsoak the car pretty quickly. Most importantly, have fun! Hope this helps.

Good advice. Full length SFC's will happen then, and as you and I said, the 2.76 has to go for the open track events. 3.4 seems like a good pick as it is close to stock with a little more pants than the stock one.

NT05's sound great, I almost bought them for my rears until my 2.76 started giving me 0 traction in the first 2 gears.

 

[Blk03CobraVenom]

Good thread!:thumbsup: I am actually curious as to what I could use to improve my setup as well. I want to dabble in road racing badly. I have done some autocross and it's so much fun! I have a 2.8 pulley and an afco dual pass h/e. Would I still have to worry about heat soak? :shrug: I do have diff. bushings, cover brace, FLSF, CC plates, and H&R race springs. Will the springs help or hamper me? I only ask since this was not mentioned as a needed mod.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Your car should be good with the H&R race springs to start out.
You might want to try a smaller pulley.

Just change all your fluids and get some front brake cooling ducts.

Hawk HP+ pads are good for street tires on the track.

 

[dragon40k]

I've reordered it according to my opinion. I open track my cobra which is much like yours and this is the order of what I consider important. I drive like a sissy though.

1. Actually get to a track. All the other stuff is pointless if you don't do this.
2. Brake Cooling mod/ducts/fresh fluid
I'd go with a more aggressive pad than hp+ though for your first 2 events or so you should be ok.
3. non staggard street tire setup.
I like my Nt-05's alot. Stay away from r-comps for a while.
4. 3.400" billetflow pulley (I have a hub already with my 2.76 on the car)
5. Dyno retune for 11-11.2 AFR (currently 12.0)
I still have a 2.76 on mine however if its hot you will start overheating. If i hadn't had it pullied before I started this i'd have never put it on at all.
6. SFC's or FLSFC's
This is very important whether you're tracking it or not.
7. Aftermarket coolant gauge
You could use the odometer trick (until the gauge is in) that shows the temp but its not that easy to read at speed.
8. 4 wheel aggressive alignment
you will eat your tire edges up even WITH a good alignment. Consider some caster camber plates.
9. Rear Seat Delete
losing weight is nice but the 35lbs or so you'll save isn't critical yet.
10. LFP heat exchanger and larger tank or fluid
I don't know that this is important at all. Much more important to cool the engine.
11. Consider buying a different car than an 03 cobra.
12. Give up and buy a race car.

Thats my 12 step program. :beer:

 

[gcassidy]

There's a guy on this forum selling one of Anthony's brake cooling kits. One of you should pick it up.
And like is said before, go to the track, and have fun. There's plenty of time for the rest.

 

[racebronco2]

Below is the hood you need. I currently have a similar hood, a splitter with similar vents as the hood. At the last event in 90* weather my temps did not go over 195*. If you think i was taking it easy think again, i used almost 1/2 tank of gas per 20 minute session. I am running a gt500 blower with a 2.80 pulley putting out over 520hp/490tq at 15psi.

 

[MGC]

I've reordered it according to my opinion. I open track my cobra which is much like yours and this is the order of what I consider important. I drive like a sissy though.

1. Actually get to a track. All the other stuff is pointless if you don't do this.
2. Brake Cooling mod/ducts/fresh fluid
I'd go with a more aggressive pad than hp+ though for your first 2 events or so you should be ok.
3. non staggard street tire setup.
I like my Nt-05's alot. Stay away from r-comps for a while.
4. 3.400" billetflow pulley (I have a hub already with my 2.76 on the car)
5. Dyno retune for 11-11.2 AFR (currently 12.0)
I still have a 2.76 on mine however if its hot you will start overheating. If i hadn't had it pullied before I started this i'd have never put it on at all.
6. SFC's or FLSFC's
This is very important whether you're tracking it or not.
7. Aftermarket coolant gauge
You could use the odometer trick (until the gauge is in) that shows the temp but its not that easy to read at speed.
8. 4 wheel aggressive alignment
you will eat your tire edges up even WITH a good alignment. Consider some caster camber plates.
9. Rear Seat Delete
losing weight is nice but the 35lbs or so you'll save isn't critical yet.
10. LFP heat exchanger and larger tank or fluid
I don't know that this is important at all. Much more important to cool the engine.
11. Consider buying a different car than an 03 cobra.
12. Give up and buy a race car.

Thats my 12 step program. :beer:

Looks good to me! Good luck, I'm sure you will have a blast. There is very little more fun that open tracking! Remember, this is NOT a race! So just have fun out there and be respectful to faster cars. If you can, I highly recommend having an instructor ride with you, and you ride with them, this is invaluable IMO. Sign up with NASA (National auto sports association) There is a wealth of info on there and that's how a lot of people get into competitive racing.

There's a guy on this forum selling one of Anthony's brake cooling kits. One of you should pick it up.
And like is said before, go to the track, and have fun. There's plenty of time for the rest.

Well said! I was overwhelmed at first because I thought I had to do all these mods in order to be "fast", the first few times out though I found that the car in fact held up really well and the only way I was getting faster was by my driving!

 

[brkntrxn]

If you have never done a single track event, then here is my advice:

- flush the brake fluid with DOT4 synthetic -- doesn't matter which one at this point for a newbie
- change your oil
- check the fluid level in the diff
- put some Carbotech XP10/XP8 brake pads on

Go get seat time. None of the stuff listed in your post is going to matter until you have several events under your belt. Learn to drive. If you wait to have all of that done, then you have wasted time and money by not being on track.

My .02


-Kevin

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

WOW great stuff guys!:thumbsup:

First event I ran bone stock except cooling ducts and subframe connectors on the factory alignment.
The car scared the living $#!T out of me!! It went around corners faster than I had ever been around a corner in my life!:uh oh::rockon:
I had over ten years of autocross experience and 5 years of wheel to wheel racing in an Ice Car(78 Fiesta).
MORAL of this story? These are not slow bone stock.

I would like to take this opportunity to recommend a cheap but great open track learning tire.

The Sumitumo HTR-Z II.
Sumitomo HTR Z II $99.00 for the 275/40R17 :uh oh::rockon:
Look at the price and features of this tire, IMHO it is the perfect starter tire. I ran two seasons on these until they were GONE!!
They are the perfect amount of grip for a new tracker. These tires were so much fun to drive on, I have several times seriously thought about buying another set just for fun. They will give you excellent handling but will give plenty of warning as the grip is exceeded and the window of control as they start to slide is HUGE!! That is what makes them perfect, aside from the low price, for a great learning track tire!

You will learn rapidly on these, they will be fun as HELL, and you can go tracking a bunch of times and burn up lots of them and not go broke!

If you have never done a single track event, then here is my advice:

- flush the brake fluid with DOT4 synthetic -- doesn't matter which one at this point for a newbie(a must do)
- change your oil (If it's the slightest bit old and fill it to 7 quarts)
- check the fluid level in the diff(make sure it's a 1/4" down from the fill hole, it shouldn't barf then, if you all of a sudden get real fast:rollseyes)
- put some Carbotech XP10/XP8 brake pads on(If you have previous experience or have questionable replacement pads on, the stock pads actually were not too bad, But I doubt any cars still have them on, I am ALSO a HUGE Carbotech fan! What ever you use make sure they are nearly new but bedded in well)

Go get seat time. None of the stuff listed in your post is going to matter until you have several events under your belt. Learn to drive. If you wait to have all of that done, then you have wasted time and money by not being on track.

My .02
-Kevin

Seat time is the best most effective mod going, always has been and always will be, don't under estimate it's value.

 

[brkntrxn]

This past weekend we introduced a young man that works for my wife to the track habit. He has an 06 Roush Stage 1 and I left him on stock pads because: 1/2 of Sunday was on the skid pad and the other half on VIR Patriot (small), and then Monday was on Full Course. I also had confidence that he was not going to go out there and run balls-to-the-wall into the turns to prove his manhood. After the event, his stock pads still look good, but I told him to get Carbos before I take him to the track again.

So I will agree with Jimmy on possibly staying on OEM pads for the first event, but it will depend on the car, the driver and the track.


-Kevin

 

[wheelhopper]

I ran an '03 Cobra for 3 years and drag raced the same car for 3 years prior. My first event was with drag radials on the car, Nittos, and it did just fine. I ran the entire 3 years with a 2.8 upper and 2# lower. There was only 1 time on VIR South course, when I was going back and forth with a 600hp GT500, that I came close to limp mode. The key is to have a track specific tune that has a rich fuel mixture and reduced timing. that will help keep the car cool. I also ran a larger heat exchanger and recomend a ported blower. It is proven that the ported blowers run cooler.

FYI, my car made 500rwhp, on the dyno, on my OT tune and 529rwhp on a 93 octane street tune.

Here are my recomendations for your car.
1. You should already have FLSC for your car, regardless of OT.
2. I am a big supporter of EBC yellow pads. They work hot or cold, so you don't have to swap at the track and they worked great for me through HPDE2.
3. Use some good synthetic brake fluid. Castrol or Valvoline will work fine for a couple years.
4. You probably won't need brake ducts for your first event, but you will soon after, so get them.
5. For your fisrt 5 or 6 events you probably will not need any aftermarket gauges or interior mods. Just make sure all your stock mechanicals are in good shape and your seat belts work. Heck, I instruct and still use stock seat belts in my '90, for now.
6. Just use whatever street tires you have on the car, as long as they are in good shape.


With all that being said, if you really like to do OT, you may consider getting a more track dedicated car. The Terminators are fun track cars, but they are heavy and need a good amount of modification to be competitive with more cost effective cars. That is why you see a lot of people running Miatas, cause they are cheap to run. Even though they are girl cars, so I will never run one, even if there are a few faster them me. Plus they get scared and cranky when a V8 roars by them. My point is if you start really getting into this hobby there are more cost effective cars to run before you put $5K-$10K in mods to make your Terminator more competitive.

 

[kevin01cobra]

So I will agree with Jimmy on possibly staying on OEM pads for the first event, but it will depend on the car, the driver and the track.


-Kevin

+1
I stayed on OEM pads for my first even and everything was perfect. Second event was in the June, Texas heat, pads started chunking off/disintegrated.

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

I don't think too many 04 Cobras are even going to still have the OE pads by now. Mine were gone by 8K miles.:uh oh::dw:

For a new guy, even though these things are really heavy, almost any high performance street pad that is bedded in properly and is close to new should be OK.

Event number two, probably not, once they are 1/2 gone they wear out FAST.

1/2 gone street pads should probably be your street pads. Some of the new guys I have seen picked it up pretty darn fast, since these cars are so easy to drive fast.

That is one thing that really struck me about them, they are really easy to drive ridiculously fast, relatively drama free.:shrug:

I'm catching the occasional Cayman S and I'm still on stock springs and shocks.:shrug::dw: Though most of them are GONE!!!

 

[04GTMustang]

Really good info guys, thanks.

My brakes are high quality slotted rotors with brembo pads which are almost brand new so no problems there.

All the other info is awesome, keep it coming if you think of anything else.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Really good info guys, thanks.

My brakes are high quality slotted rotors with brembo pads which are almost brand new so no problems there.

All the other info is awesome, keep it coming if you think of anything else.

Also, don't waste your money on slotted rotors - they do nothing. Depending on what Brembo pad you are using, it may be just a "street" pad. Be prepared to change them as you get faster.

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

Also, don't waste your money on slotted rotors - they do nothing. Depending on what Brembo pad you are using, it may be just a "street" pad. Be prepared to change them as you get faster.

Yep when the slots are gone or they are too cracked up just get plain ones, they are less money.
Even though they last a little longer than brake pads, rotors are still a wear item.
Since slotted provide no tangible advantages and cost more money most of us prefer the plain over the slotted.

I wish I could afford a 14" kit, and the wheels and tires to fit over it.
The rotors and pads both last longer. It would take quite a few track events to offset the kit cost with pad and rotor savings however.

 

[Force4.6]

Stick with the basics at first. It will take you a little bit to get use to the car even though you have driven a lot on the street and remember things will be different on the track. As Rodney said first get the car to the track and make sure it has fresh fluid, pads, rotors, and tires. Focus on being safe on track, learning the line, and monitoring the car.

Finally try to start making more money because cobras eat tires and pads up fast when you get really going. :beer:

 

[brkntrxn]

To go along with "just go get some seat time"....


Written by our very own "Edz". Trackdaddy to myself and many others; trackgrandaddy to uncountable hordes of addicts!!!

Don't be Sigmond.

Mostly true story, not intended to be anything other than maybe a little humorous, you may know this guy however that I will call Sigmund:

Story starts sometime around July 2002.


Sigmund: “Man we got the new Cobras can’t wait to get it on the track”

Ed: “There’s an event in September”.

Sigmund: “Can’t make that one, I want the new Steeda G++ Track suspension before I take it out.”


Six months later.

Ed: “Got a track event next month you gonna come”

Sigmund: “Naw can’t make it, I want the new Godzilla vs. King Kong Supersupercharger, I will need that extra HP on the track.”


Six months later

Ed: “Got a track event next month you gonna come”

Sigmund: “Naw, can’t make it , I am gonna send the car to Kangaroo Racing down in Australia to see if they can fix the tune after I installed the GKK Supersupercharger.”


Six months later

Ed: “Got a track event next month you gonna come”

Sigmund: “Man I would love to but with 650 HP I want to get the new Stoptech Larger than Big, Kryptonite 12 piston brakes, with the diamond encrusted pads, the spent uranium rotors with the Freon direct assisted cooling kit. Before I hit the track”


Six months later

Ed: “Got a track event next month you gonna come”

Sigmund: “I am having some problems with the stock motor, probably need a rebuild after running 25lbs of boost for too long. Gonna probably send it to Fruits and Nuts Racing out in California for their super 900 HP build and Kangaroo Racings new tune with the GKK Supersupercharger.”


Six months later

Ed: “Got a track event next month you gonna come”

Sigmund: “Man I would love to , but I need some new rubber, but am going to wait until Ford Racing starts supplying the new 18’ Bling Blings, and UPR is going to install the full Billet Shiny Kit.”


Six months later

Ed: “Got a track event next month you gonna come”

Sigmund: “I think that I am ready, I am wondering what class I should register for? You know I got the Steeda G+++, the GKK Supersupercharger, the Stoptech Larger than Big Kit, the Kangaroo Racing tune, with the Fruits and Nuts 900 HP rebuild, not to mention the 18 Bling Blings and the new Nitto IIR’s…”

Ed: “Don’t forget the UPR Billet Shiny Kit.”

Sigmund: “yea that too, so what do you think?”

Ed: “Novice??”