New guy to the open track life

[v6mustang94]

Hi everyone. I might as well be a new guy here. It's been a long time since I've logged in here. I picked up a bone stock '95 GT with 68k miles on it a few years ago, started doing the usual mods to it, and then I got the itch to get it on track last year. I participated in an informal open track event, figured out that I love being on the road course, and a few weeks ago I did my first HPDE/Driving School event at Brainerd International Raceway (a couple videos below). Needless to say, I'm hooked. Thought I'd swing by SVTP again to chat with some like minded people, get feedback, and learn some new stuff.

Here's how the car sits right now:
CAI, catless-catback, removed smog pump, pro kit springs, tokico HP blue shocks/struts, MM CCs, MM full length weld in SFCs, J&M adjustable rear LCAs, Steeda bumpsteer, X2 Balljoints, SVE Cobra front brakes, 18" Saleens with 265 Front and 285 Rear, racing seats, 4-point harness, harness bar, removed rear seat, short throw shifter, 3.55 gears

There's a number of things I would do differently with the knowledge and direction I have now... ie: springs/shocks/struts/harness setup. But they do what I need them to do for now. What advice do you guys have for someone starting out (other than more seat time)?

[video=youtube;lDUbYzihFBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDUbYzihFBE[/video]
[video=youtube;nYjsPKDPnHg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYjsPKDPnHg[/video]

 

[cobraboss]

You said nothing about brakes. The first thing you need to do if you want to get a little more serious is brakes, fluid and stainless steel brake lines.

 

[Stanger58]

Welcome to the addiction!

Invest in: Seat time, brake pads & fluid, seat time, brake pads and fluid and oh yeah, SEAT TIME!

This might be of interest to you, http://www.turnology.com/features/editorials-opinions/plan-your-attack-and-attack-your-plan/

See you on track.

 

[v6mustang94]

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

Sorry, forgot to go into detail on my brakes. I did the SVE (company that makes 94-98 Cobra style calipers) front brake upgrade last year. So I'm on those and 13" rotors, flushed my fluid with Motorcraft HP Dot 3, and steel brake lines. So far so good for now.

 

[a1yola]

You'll want to switch out your DOT3 brake fluid to some high temp race fluid. I've been out of the track scene for a while so I drew a blank on what the brand is, but I'm sure someone can chime in and let you know what type of fluid is recommende for track use.

Have fun!!!

 

[wmfateam]

I run the stop tech fluid from tirerack. Brake ducting is a must too. As you start to increase your speed and skill level, you will find yourself needing more brakes. I ate through a set of Hawk HP+ in 4 track weekends. I also cooked that ford brake fluid in two events. I would suggest a 5 point harness personally. I have seen some submarine action with four point harnesses. When I installed my halo seat and harness, I could feel everything that much sooner. I'm glad you didn't say you have a panhard bar and torque arm. You can do just fine with spherical bushings in all of the rear arms. Also what tires are you running? I'm glad to see you didn't just add power. Best way to get fast is to learn to carry speed through the corners.

 

[a1yola]

I agree, a good seat and a 5pt harness will really make a world of difference! I used to use the Ultrashield Road Race alumni seat in my 98 cobra and it was great! You can get the Kirkey Intermedite for about $300 which is pretty much the same seat. The cover is actually quite comfortable and it let you feel the road A LOT better! For some reason, I was able to increase speed/lower lap times after the seat and harness install.

 

[v6mustang94]

I run the stop tech fluid from tirerack. Brake ducting is a must too. As you start to increase your speed and skill level, you will find yourself needing more brakes. I ate through a set of Hawk HP+ in 4 track weekends. I also cooked that ford brake fluid in two events. I would suggest a 5 point harness personally. I have seen some submarine action with four point harnesses. When I installed my halo seat and harness, I could feel everything that much sooner. I'm glad you didn't say you have a panhard bar and torque arm. You can do just fine with spherical bushings in all of the rear arms. Also what tires are you running? I'm glad to see you didn't just add power. Best way to get fast is to learn to carry speed through the corners.

So far I've been on track twice and haven't been able to cook my brakes, but upgrades will certainly come as needed.

I definitely want a 5-point harness and roll bar at some point. My seat, harness, harness bar combo were strictly a budget minded purchase for a guy who is/wasn't quite what direction he wanted to take his car. My first time on a road course I had the stock leather seats and belts. I quickly learned I needed to change that. So for now, my current set up works, but I want to upgrade eventually after I get more seat time.

I'm surprised to hear what you say about panhard rods and torque arms. I've read all of the "sales" pitches from MM, and they sounds great, but that's not the case? Is that the general consensus from the Mustang track community? I'd love to hear more.

My first time on track I was running Nitto 555s (265/285). I had screw in one of the rears, and now I have 285 Nitto NT05s on both sides. Still have the same 555s up front. NT05s were purchased based off research, feedback from the interwebs, and my buddy who was running them. Basically they sounded like a great tire for the price. Prior to purchasing the NT05s I was looking Hankook Ventus RS3, but I figured I'd be happy with the NT05s for my current skill level.

A lot of the mods I made were from a personal preference of daily driving a V6 for 7-8 years and driving the GT while it was stock for a year. Now that I've realized I want to be the guy on the track, and not the spectator, I'll be looking at changing things up as they become "obsolete." I'm glad I have some of you guys responding. I surprised to see 100 views pop up on this thread without a single response at first. I love talking about this stuff, and hearing people's experiences/feedback. Thanks a lot!

I should add that I still drive this car on the street, but I'm not afraid of nvh and the "uncomfortable" ride that comes with it. I have a DD when I need something comfortable.

 

[wmfateam]

Usually the "general" how to make a Mustang handle is to throw a panhard or watts link at it. When I was researching parts for my car, that was the route I was going to do. Do those parts do their job? Yes. Do you need them on your car? No. Is it a tried and true method of getting a mustang around corners? Yes. I have the luxury of a former tube chassis and suspension fabricator/guru. With the control arms level to the ground, front and back, it just becomes a means getting the car balanced with the correct springs, dampening, sway bars, down force, etc. I have a couple mustangs that I run with that have the panhard bar and torque arm and it is fun to play with them. I just try to let people know that it is an option to not run the PHB TA. But I would never tell anyone it is a bad set up. I see it work for people everyone I'm on track. There are more track people on this forum, surprised they haven't chimed in.
And I have a couple smaller tracks in my area, that is why I have had to upgrade my brakes.

 

[wmfateam]

As for tires, is say run those NT05's as long as you can. If you can learn to be great and smooth on street tires, it generally helps you out when you move up to an R comp. I run NT01's and RC1's currently. Moving up to Hoosiers when funds allow.

 

[WutApex]

Are you driving to and from the track? Are you willing to swap out brake pads or would you like to arrive, drive and head home?

I ask because I was often too lazy to switch pads at the track so I chose a pad I could use to drive home with and would (sometimes) switch them out whenever I had the chance....sometimes weeks later.

As your speed increases and your braking zones get shorter and harder you'll want some good fluid, pads and brake ducts. I like Motul 600 myself...it's high quality but not stupid expensive like the Castrol SRF. Once I installed ducts, a lot of my braking problems went away. No more fluid boiling and pad life increased.

NT05s are good choice - I liked my NT05s and NT01s when I had them. I didn't understand - are you running NT05s front & rear? Are you squared up, i.e. 285s on all four corners?

 

[v6mustang94]

265 555s on the front. 285 NT05s on the rear. I'd like the same model tire all around, but I couldn't justify buying 4 new tires because one of them had a screw in it. This car is more street than track yet.

With that said, I currently drive to the track, and I cruise around in it when I'm bored. At least for now it won't be a fully committed track car. I have other car buddies that are getting into tracking/dragging now too. One of them plans to buy a trailer that the group can borrow as needed. If that ever happens, I'd like to get a set of track wheels and pads so I can run something a little more aggressive at the track.

 

[MFE]

TA/PHB guy here. I gotta say, wmfateam is a fast mofo (he once lapped me twice in a 20-minute sessions on a short track), but he's also clearly found a way to not be bothered by and/or drive around some funkiness that an all-spherical rear end creates. To be fair, every suspension you can put back there will bring some other kind of funk to the table. In the case of TA/PHB, you pay for way better than stock rear traction and stability in the form of weight and complexity, and the funk is, it's really easy to induce wheelhop on braking. If you don't get the revs high enough on a downshift, it'll hop. Violently. The spherical setup is going to ask for compliance the attachment points can't provide in certain loads/roll angles and IIRC from looking at models of it, there's some rear-steer involved.

Speaking of rev-matching, it looks to me from the video that you're simply slipping the clutch out on the downshift without matching the revs. If so, that's going to bite you in the ass with a spin some day sooner than later. The cure is either learn to heel/toe rev-match, or simply don't take the downshift until right before you're going to start accelerating anyway.

 

[v6mustang94]

You're correct. We were instructed not to heel toe unless you already had the experience and know how. They wanted is to focus on our lines and doing it cleanly.

I've been trying to figure out how to heel toe, but I can't find a comfortable way without wearing clown shoes. I understand the process, but just can't get enough of the pedals to do it. I've read that some people have bent the pedals, but I'd like to find a wider brake pedal. What do you guys do?

 

[WutApex]

I think I posted this in a thread recently, but in the Cobra, I went with Ultimate Pedals to extend the gas pedal. Excellent quality BTW:

On the race car, I went the cheap route and used a cheap cutting board I got from Walmart....nice thing about this was I could make it any shape I wanted:

I did the gas pedal mod for both cars which helped bring the accelerator a bit higher. The cutting board material on the race car brought it up a bit higher which worked out great for me.

 

[wmfateam]

I think I posted this in a thread recently, but in the Cobra, I went with Ultimate Pedals to extend the gas pedal. Excellent quality BTW:

On the race car, I went the cheap route and used a cheap cutting board I got from Walmart....nice thing about this was I could make it any shape I wanted:

I did the gas pedal mod for both cars which helped bring the accelerator a bit higher. The cutting board material on the race car brought it up a bit higher which worked out great for me.

I did the gas pedal mod as well, but it appears I am special because it is too close to me now. I think I am going to doing it up and put half behind and half in front to see if it helps. I like you pedals though, I may have to do that DIY pedal.

 

[MFE]

Heel & Toe is pretty much a misnomer anymore. I use the sides of my foot exactly like this guy does.


[video=youtube;WCePH2xu4_4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCePH2xu4_4[/video]

 

[v6mustang94]

Thanks for the link to the pedals. I've had a hard time finding wider pedal mods.

I was going to do the gas pedal mod, and decided against it; at least until I can actually heel toe shift and figure out what I like. I did it on my V6 and liked the location, but that was an auto.

 

[v6mustang94]

Thanks for the suggestion @76IHscoutII. I ended up going with Ultimate Pedals. Having that extra width to the pedal made heel/toe possible and so easy for me. Unfortunately my track day was cut short due to power steering issues, but it made braking and cornering so much more comfortable while I was on track. It's great for day to day driving.

I learned something new during my track day too that I need to fix. I knew the nose dipped on braking, but I had no idea how much until my friend snapped a pic for me:


Here's a video comparing my fastest lap from Spring 2016 (larger video) to my fastest lap Fall 2015 (smaller video).
[video=youtube;coSVDmHP4Hs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coSVDmHP4Hs[/video]

 

[MFE]

That's not front dive as much as rear lift