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  • #91
    Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

    Project Update for August 2, 2011 (part 2 of 2): Sorry for the delay on "part 2", but the construction at the new Vorshlag headquarters is eating up every minute of my day. This past week the demolition inside the new space was finished and electrical work is finally getting back on schedule. Let's finish the July updates for the Mustang while I have a few free minutes.

    SW Div Autocross #3 - Our most recent event in the car was a 2-day autocross in mid July, where Amy and I drove it (Costas had work stuff pop up). This was the 3rd of 3 SCCA Southwest Divisional Series events, run on a pair of Roger Johnson courses across the biggest patch of concrete around, in College Station, Texas. I went to school there (TAMU!) and ran with the college sports car club for many years (TAMSCC!), and even setup dozens of courses there myself as autocross chairman over the years. The area they had acquired for this weekend was the most prime real estate available at this old air force base, and most importantly it was our first real race in the STX Mustang on concrete , making a great test of the car, just a month before Nationals.


    (click thumbnails of course maps to enlarge)

    The courses were... very narrow-car-centric, very tight, and very busy. And long - it took 25 minutes to walk the damn things. Cones frakking everywhere. They were very challenging to drive, as is evidenced by the large number of cones hit and DNFs over both days. It looked to me that the small/narrow cars did disproportionally well, due to the narrowness of some transitions (where it was a 3 transition section in wide cars, but a straight in a Miata), but "that's autocrossing". Not knocking Roger, as this is what we see at Nationals from some course designers, and he was probably just prepping everyone for what they should expect. Just can be very frustrating in a wide car like the S197 Mustang.

    It was also damned hot - Texas is in the middle of over 30+ days of 100°F heat, and this weekend in July was no exception. The SW Divisional Steward (Todd!) had brought out two massive swamp coolers and a big tent, and we hung out there during our "off" heat on Sunday, which was a life saver. I was also lucky to score a prime work assignment driving the chase car, picking up the cone sheets between runs, so I shouldn't complain about the heat. Vorshlag being a SW Division sponsor doesn't hurt, I guess! But it was so hot that it became another tire-boiling event, with Amy and I running in the same heat, back to back to back.



    This time we brought a new tire sprayer (20X better than the last!), and used melted iced water from the cooler to spray the tires, hitting the rears 2-3 times between runs - and boy were they hot, especially after my runs. Since the run order had us running close together, we had a 5 minute clock on us between runs (grid was very well run), which made driver changes pretty hectic again. I guess the car handled as well as we could expect given the course design, excessive heat, and horrific steering shudder. We had the new ARH headers and cat-X-pipe and custom tune, with 21 more hp at the wheels across the rev range for this event as well. Rear tire spin was again a serious issue, but its just another element we have to work with until we can get the Watts and a better differential (lots more fab time and testing needed). I'd rather have too much power than not enough, but if I was smarter I'd have too little weight and less power, as that is what SCCA Solo rewards. Like, say, a 1900 pound ST car in STX. That would be fast!



    Our regular, faster STX competitors from the Texas Region were not at this event - the Maxcy's, and Ledbetter's 328is BMWs stayed in Dallas this weekend - so we didn't have much to gauge our performance on, except each others times, STR/STU times, and PAX. Not to knock the two STX competitors who were at this Div, who were in a stone stock RX8 on the OEM tires driving their guts out; they had a lot less prep on their car for the class. My drive in STX class was bad, frustrating, and I coned my fastest runs on both days, which were 1.4 seconds quicker on Saturday and 1 second quicker on Sunday, than my clean runs. I cannot explain this huge gap in my clean vs dirty runs, other than I drove like a hack. I haven't been leaving that much time out there, even in this "difficult to drive car". This was almost as frustrating as the STU Nats win I threw away in 2005 with cones on 2 different runs (as did my co-driver). So this weekend I had 3 cones in 8 runs over 2 days (whereas Amy hit 7 over both days, but never on her quickest runs!), which was still a fairly low cone count for this event (some normally quick drivers had upwards of 3-7+ cones per run and cone counts in the teens for the two days - it was a busy course), but those cones cost me dearly. Even without those cones, and 2.4 seconds quicker times, my PAX placing would have still been "meh". I was 6 seconds behind STR and STU over both days as well - not a good finish.


    Left: Terry, driving around a dirty sweeper sideways, like a jackhole. Right: Amy, driving in the same corner, was smooth and fast

    My dirty driving and her smoothness allowed Amy to "skirt" me pretty badly for both days - around .9 sec. She had me by .4 sec on Saturday and .5 sec on Sunday clean. It was already frustrating enough but then every announcer in each run group on both days had to rub that it in continuously. "Terry's getting skirted!" comments were popping up every 5 minutes, even in the 2 heats we didn't run in... Ugh. Here's a tip - don't co-drive with your wife if she's fast and you have thin skin. Amy was a good sport and didn't kick me while I was down, at least.



    Amy drove some solidly quick runs but still barely won the PAXed "women's class" at the event (a class we have in this Division to avoid having a dozen 1 car entry Ladies' classes), and the win pushed her to the 3 event Division Series W class championship. She had to fight for it, beating some quick drivers/cars. My STX class win did the same for me, but with the Maxcy & Ledbetter STX cars not in attendance at 2 of the 3 SW Div events, it was a hollow victory. More important - our PAX times were NOT good, slotting us well down in the 29th and 34th places. Yeesh... This again points clearly how far back the car still is, better than anything else. We weren't keeping up with the two fast STX cars/drivers at regional events, and not PAXing well at these Divisional events, so why would we take this car to Nationals?



    Long story short - we aren't going to take it to Nationals this year. Its more than just the poor performance of the car (which has been consistently slow over 3 drivers, all of whom have trophied or won at National SCCA events) that's keeping us from bringing the red Mustang to STX/Nationals this year. There's lots of other reasons, but the lack of performance in the car with 3 somewhat proven drivers, and the wacked out steering problem we haven't nailed down yet, are reason enough.

    I'm also swamped for the entire month with moving Vorshlag into its new building. What I thought would be 8-10 days of construction is looking more like 20-25, including days, nights and weekends. We had to gut the commercial space to make the layout work for us, but at least now we'll have a pretty big shop - that's air conditioned. When its 100-107°F outside its still 100+ inside a non-climate controlled shop. Everyone here will be glad to get out of this crushing heat and into a well lit, spaceous, and air conditioned shop space.

    I could point to a bunch of other reasons, like the continued allowance of the ST>STX "upclass jumping" (aka: poaching), which is finally supposed to end in 2012. Then there's the expense of going to Nationals; we'll drop $3000+ in entry fees, fuel towing to/from Lincoln from Dallas, hotel rooms, and food + each of us will lose a week of work. Mostly its the performance of the car and the timing with our shop move.

    More preparation needed - Costas and I would consider the car about "half-prepped", at best. We still have the single adjustable shocks on there, and however good they may be, they are still single adjustable shocks and can only get us so far if conditions change or we need to alter the set-up. We do have the Moton Club Sport doubles revalved, and pretty much ready to go onto the car, as of last Friday - but its going to take 1-2 days of testing to get the car reliably fast, possibly including a revalve of the shocks, and we just don't have the days to attack that this month. We're out of time, and the car is just not ready.

    We've had a dozen people say "just slap some Hoosiers on it and run ESP", but there's a lot more to ESP prep than big gumball tires, and I'm not fool enough to think we'd keep up with Madderash, Merideth, or Strano in an STX prepped car with Hoosiers thrown on at the last minute.

    We're not giving up on the Mustang. I agreed up front to give it 2 years in STX, and that's what we plan to do. Next season we will have time to make a better lateral locating device for the solid rear axle, like a Watts Link, which the car needs for several reasons. Plus there are lots of rear suspension tweaks in STX, unique to a stick axle car, we can still exploit that we just haven't touched. We also never got a chance to swap in/tune/test with an aftermarket differential, which any autocrossed car with over 400 whp desperately needs, especially one that comes with a craptastic clutch-style diff like this car. The electronic steering "issue" is also pretty massive, getting worse, and Ford cannot seem to fix it at the moment. You don't take a broken car to Nationals. And the car isn't even competitive locally, yet. It's as simple is that, and all 3 drivers were in agreement for this year. We ran out of time with respect to testing and additional parts development, and just were not seeing the results we needed to see in the last 2 months of running events to then invest thousands of dollars to go get ~30-40th place in STX at Nationals, especially when ST cars were allowed to run in STX that weigh half as much as ours'.

    I hate excuses, but we do have quite a long list amassed this time. We've had several choice co-drives offered for Nationals for Costas, myself, and Amy, and as much as those are appreciated, the business construction/move work is really where we need to be spending our time this month. So we'll spend August setting up the new shop instead of last minute testing, parts installation, and a week in Lincoln. We have the $2011 Challenge to prep for in just 2 month's time as well, and our crapcan E30 V8 needs a lot of repair and set-up work to get ready for that. After that event in early October, we'll jump back to the Mustang (and also the TTD 330 with it's new motor, the E46 LS1 Alpha car development, the black E36 M3 LS1 car, and many other project cars in the Vorshlag shop). Its a bitter pill to swallow, and I'm going to miss being at Nationals this year, but I've been enough times in a row to afford to skip this year.



    Click the thumbnails above for HiDef videos from Day 1 (Amy, left) and Day 2 (Terry, right) from the Divisional

    An opportunity popped up and we will have the Mustang in a booth at the Yellow Rose Classic car show Aug 13-14th in Ft Worth, if you happen to be going stop by and say "hi". Look for us right across from the SCCA Texas Region folks. I don't know if I'll be there both days, but the car and someone from Vorshlag will be.

    Since we won't be at the Solo Nationals, please go here to request Vorshlag decals for your car. We can make them to order in a few different colors, but already have lots of 24" decals ready to mail out in black, silver and white. VTPP Testers at Nationals need to be running Vorshlag decals, per VTPP agreements. AST/Moton will have their trailer at Nationals and will have a limited number of Vorshlag decals on hand.

    Good luck to all of the drivers at Nats this year!
    Last edited by Fair!; 08-03-2011, 10:35 AM.
    Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
    2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
    EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

    Comment


    • #92
      Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

      Project Update for Sept 12, 2011: Wow, haven't raced the Mustang in nearly 2 months. Took the last 60 days and got the new Vorshlag commercial space demolished and rebuilt, then we moved in. Very long hours and lots of work. During that time I only went to a karting event (Vorshlag Karting Challenge), the day after we did demo. The guys and I worked a little on the Mustang, installing the PC680 Odyssey Battery.

      Lightweight Battery Install





      As you can see, the OEM battery weighed 32.2 lbs (33.6 lbs with the OEM bracket), and our PC680 was 14.7 with the screw-on, SAE style brass top terminals. Our Hodge-podge of custom brackets came in at 1.5 lbs, which you can watch us put together in this gallery.



      Basically we took a piece of aluminum plate (see above, left), then bolted it to two existing battery tray holes in the chassis. Then we made a steel post that bolted to a 3rd hole, and then to our new lower bracket (see above, right). Then we bolted the West Coast Batteries CNC bracket (made for the PC680 but impossible to bolt to the S197 chassis without major surgery) to that, in the car, using counter-sunk bolts (below, left). Lastly the cylindrical stanchions screwed into their plate, the battery went in, and the the top bracket locked it all down (below, right). Took me a few hours to finish the custom brackets, one night after hours, like it sometimes does.



      TMS Road Course Autocross

      That was our one mod to the Mustang last month. Lost a whopping 17 pounds. Using all of this "new-found performance" Amy and I autocrossed the Mustang at Texas Motor Speedway in the Texas SCCA Region's annual Road Course autocross (Costas had prior commitments, again). We spent the anniversary of Sept 11th doing what so many Americans like to do - race cars! This annual Solo event is always my favorite autocross of the year, and it is not one to be missed in our region. They removed one line of slaloms from the layout this year, which upped the speed quite a bit. If there was ever an autocross where we might beat the BMWs, and the ST Hondas, this was it!


      Click the pics above to see Amy's 4th run then my 4th run, our fastest.

      We were pretty tired from working all day Saturday, literally shoveling yards of dirt dug up from the new shop's foundation (concrete work that was done Friday), and barely got the wheels on and the car washed by 9 pm Saturday night. So we blew off going to get the big trailer and towing out, and instead just drove out to the event on the Hankooks. We brought some of our gear but forgot the tire sprayer (damn it!) and the log book, so we were guessing at tire and shock settings (I can't remember them from 2 months ago after the construction work wiped me out).

      We are running in different run groups again, Amy in heat 2 (while I worked as announcer) and me in heat 3. She took a stab at some changes, after texting my in the timing trailer, but I touched nothing during my runs. Rear tires were overheating badly, as usual, and the steering was doing its Mad Shudder in all corners and slaloms - worse then ever before - but we just drove around all of these issues and still had a good time. Amy was quick and smooth; I was driving like an asshat, using too much throttle and steering input, getting the car crossed up too much. It felt really loose to me, and I was driving on the head of a pin to keep it on line. Too much throttle and it stepped out easily, even in 3rd gear (see it crossed up in my video, right before the finish; that was with gentle 3rd gear throttle). Too much steering input and it wanted to swap ends. We brought no tools to make swaybar changes (it needed that), so we played with the shocks a little and it helped.



      As usual, Amy got faster each run, pretty much, yet always looked controlled driving it on video - even with a few cone issues and a DNF early on. I also got quicker on each run, but never felt like I put in anything remotely resembling a coherent run until my last. Watching video from all of my runs was hilarious - I was over-braking one run, then braking way too late and getting into ABS Ice Mode the next. One run I'm coasting through the tight parts, then over-driving them then next. Total mess - I felt extremely rusty. Only on my 4th run did it all seem to come together, and it felt half-way decent. Of course I chose then to hit my only cone of the day, running over the base of one in the slowest part of the course, and threw it all away. Bah! I had both the Ledbetter 328is (with co-driver Brian B at the helm) and Brad Maxcy's 328is beat, but could not do it clean. The cone pushed me back to a disappointing 3rd. Damn.

      So while I had fun, this event was a stark wake-up call - if I can't get this big Mustang to the top of the leader board at a regional event like this, on a stupid-fast power course where the deck was stacked heavily in my favor, does it have no shot in STX at all? I'm having some doubts. Even without the cone, I would have only PAX'ed 8th, and even then, just barely beat the BMWs and ST/STS Hondas (with the cone I PAXed a dismal 15th, and didn't beat the top ST* cars). I'm not one to put too much stock in hero runs with cones, either.



      Questions Linger

      After a season of running it in STX, some nagging questions still remain: Is the Mustang just too powerful and too heavy for 265mm street tires??

      The limited tire size in STX is probably going to keep holding this car back. Since there is never going to be a sliding scale of tire size vs weight in any ST* class, we're stuck with the same 265mm tire as a 2800 pound RX8 or BMW can run, yet have to carry around an extra 700 pounds that we can't seem to get rid of. All the extra power we can make is going up in smoke, and we're never going to have the cornering speeds of the much lighter cars in class. This extra mass and power is making the car a bear to drive, too. Then there are all of the "too new 2011 GT" issues (new 5.0 motor/programming, new all-electric steering/programming, and an ABS system that is still very unforgiving compared to the E36).

      It is just that time late in the season where you have to think about prepping for next year. We're looking hard at which class we race the Mustang in for 2012: Does switching to ESP make more sense? Maybe another year of development can magically transform the car in STX?

      We know the Watts link + new rear control arms + Motons + aftermarket diff will help forward bite, but can it fully tame the massive rear wheel spin? Maybe we can find some more weight in the exhaust and other areas, but we're running out of places to look. Sure, with more time we can get the all-new engine mapping tuned even better. Maybe with a steering fix (awaiting a valid TSB) the car gets less darty in transitions (where its violently shuddering) and easier to control? The 17" Dunlops and 17x9" rear wheels, which I only tried for a few runs at one event earlier this year, need to be further tested in action, and settings optimized to get more forward bite out of them. Lots to do.

      We have the car about what I'd call "half-prepped" for STX now. Another year, and that list of items, will surely help. But will it be enough?? And would bolting on much bigger Hoosier gumballs make more impact in one fell swoop than all of that, combined? Well, since STX and ESP share a lot of the same suspension rules, we're going to try a quick little test at an upcoming autocross event - using two drivers, we'll run STX as-is, then slap some A6s I picked up on the 18x10" D-Force wheels and see how the car behaves in ESP, on the same day. PAX placings in each iteration should tell us a lot. We just want to see. Its a cheap and easy test, too. We can switch the wheels in about 4 minutes, if we need to.

      Don't worry - we'll keep the focus on STX, and keep the car able to switch back and forth between classes quickly. It needs more preparation, more testing, and more modifications to be competitive in either class, in any case. If we make any significant changes or get to that Hoosier vs Hankook test this year, I'll post it up here!

      Thanks for reading,
      Last edited by Fair!; 09-13-2011, 12:09 PM.
      Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
      2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
      EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

      Comment


      • #93
        Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

        STU, STU, STU!!

        Why don't you slap some 285 street tires on it and see what happens there? You'll be closer in weight to those cars, in the same hp, etc.
        Brian Hanchey
        AST Suspension - USA

        Comment


        • #94
          Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

          Originally posted by hancheyb View Post
          STU, STU, STU!!

          Why don't you slap some 285 street tires on it and see what happens there? You'll be closer in weight to those cars, in the same hp, etc.
          You know my opinion, ESP all the way baby. With your power level even 285s ain't going to cut it. I'm guessing 335s would fit very nicely on the rear
          McCall

          Comment


          • #95
            Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

            Originally posted by hancheyb View Post
            STU, STU, STU!!

            Why don't you slap some 285 street tires on it and see what happens there? You'll be closer in weight to those cars, in the same hp, etc.
            If +20mm more street tire would make the car 2 seconds faster, I'd consider it. Even then, I'd still be a good bit behind the STU AWD turbo buggies. Unfortunately I don't think +20mm will help enough. We already did one test on 275s and it wasn't any faster.

            But yea, maybe its worth a test? If we could round up some 285/35/18 Hankook R-S3s ($265 each) and put them on the 18x10s, and do the same back-to-back STX vs STU testing, it would be insightful.

            Anyone want to donate $1060 worth of tires? I'll give them back to you with only a few runs on them.
            Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
            2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
            EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

            Comment


            • #96
              Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

              1. Fix the ice mode issue.
              2. Fix the steering shake issue.

              With those two issues fixed, re-learn to drive the car on the nose. Now that the rear dampers are sweet and the throttle tip-in issue is fixed, I wonder where we would end up at that point.

              If you/we are still way behind, then look to alternate classes. IF that closes the gap, then watts-time.

              BUT you and I both know we are giving up a TON of time due to the issues of the car that are going to have to be fixed regardless if we got STU or ESP. So let's fix the two issues that have dogged us the whole time, then re-test.

              Then decide.

              Just my .02

              Costas
              cars and such...

              Comment


              • #97
                Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

                Project Update for Nov 23, 2011: To our USA friends, Happy Thanksgiving! After over 2 months off from autocrossing in the Mustang (GRM Challenge, a NASA track day, a Hankook Arrive and Drive, plus some other events were jammed in there) Amy and I managed to get it to the last Texas Region SCCA autocross of the year this past Sunday, the 20th. It was run at the Lone Star Park horse track parking lot, my "not so favorite" local autocross site. The site is big, less than an hour from my house, has some cool elevation changes and on-site restroom facilities, so I should love it. It just has a lower grip surface that comes apart badly. It makes for a very narrow "clean line" that you have to stay on at all costs.



                Last 2011 Autocross

                Overall, it was actually a very fun day, surface degradation notwithstanding. Jarrett Jan laid out a pretty fun course that was technically challenging, plenty long (60 seconds), yet well marked. The hard working SCCA crew spent some serious time cleaning the course surface before the first runs, using brooms and air blowers to move hundreds of pounds of gravel off line. So the first run group has some clean course runs. The weather was looking very iffy (high chance of rain), and due to a site-forced re-scheduling, the event was moved a week back from its original date, so we were expecting a very low turn-out - but 82 racers made it out and we had a great event, running in STU and STU-W.



                New Tires, Wheels, DDP pistons in AST struts

                So yea, if you were paying attention just then we didn't run in STX. Let me back up a bit to explain why. In July of this year Amy won a random drawing for a free set of Bridgestones at the NSTC event. One of those "fill out this survey" deals. Whatever the reason for the tires, Amy already had a great relationship with Bridgestone for several years, after winning a National Championship (STU-L) on them in 2007 and being sponsored driver in 2008. So we were excited to be running their tires again, no matter how we got them. They sent us a set of 275/40/18 RE-11s (the biggest 18" size they made, by the way) and a big box of decals, and we mounted them up on the D-Force 18x10" wheels on Friday before the autocross. I gladly put on all of the decals they sent - give me $1400 of free tires and I'll damn sure run your decals!



                We've got pallets of these 18x10" wheels (5x114.3 mm PCD, fits '05-up Mustang and '08+ Subaru Impreza; I'm almost 100% certain it fits the RX8 as well - will know soon!) arriving at Vorshlag right around the end of this year ($300, 19 lbs!) so I really wanted to do an autocross and a track day on the wheels first, and fit them with something wide like these 275s - which fit the 10" wheels perfectly. Sure, a wider tire would work even better, and for a more serious STU effort we would go with a 285mm tire. It was just that the widest RE-11 was this 275, so that's what we asked for and received. We'll use them for street use, drag racing, maybe a random track day, and this last autocross of the year. Good test miles on the D-Force wheels, for sure.

                I was really impressed by these RE-11 - I think its just as fast and as competitive as the Dunlop, Hankook, or Yokohama. We drove that day in the cold and later when it warmed up a bit, and it was ripping up pavement. I think the RE-11's higher price and "lemming effect" of the online community has given this tire a bad rap. I'm going to start keeping the RE-11 on my "go to" list for Street Touring choices. Also street drove on them Monday in the rain and I was able to use 100% full throttle in 1st gear. That's never happened before on this car... the Pirelli's are a joke in the wet. These RE-11s are stupid good in the wet.

                These wider/taller tires fit the 10" wide wheels and the car PERFECTLY, with the tall 40 series sidewall making for great ride quality on the street. Filled out the big wheel openings and were only 1/2" shorter than the mammoth 255/40/19 tires it came with. Anything we can do to lessen the effective rear gear ratio (3.31) is a plus, extending 2nd gear speeds even higher - into the mid 70 mph range @ 7800 rpm.

                So I was curious if the wider and significantly taller tires would be a significant performance improvement, going from the 18x9" wheel and 265/35/18 Hankook RS-3s to the 18x10" wheel and 275/40/18 RE-11s. The 265 Hankooks had so much shorter and stiffer sidewalls, I felt the 'Stones would be a big improvement. And I was right.



                We also got to try out some brand new shock pistons from AST - their new Double Digressive Pistons, or DDPs, were installed into our 4100 front struts a few weeks ago. We have Moton Clubsport doubles ready to install for this car but have been waiting to try the DDP equipped (and renamed) 4150 AST shocks at both autocross and track events first, before we switch to the Mo's.

                I'm glad we waited! These DDP pistons are amazing - they ride even better on the street than before, but when you turn up the knobs they make some SERIOUS rebound forces. This piston is a game changer, and starting in 2012 all 4000 series ASTs will have these pistons (and a new shock name). Be prepared for a slight price increase on the AST 4000 series on Jan 1st 2012 - but the added costs will include these DDP pistons, improved top guides, upgraded seals, aluminum shock bodies, and several other innovations - all things learned from racing in GRAND AM in 2011 (where ASTs took 28 of the 30 podium positions in GS for the year!). The new 4150 is coming soon...


                (click 2 left images for larger sizes)

                This was also our first "normal" autocross event running with the additional ~30 whp from the ARH full length headers. We picked the larger 1-7/8" primary headers with their cat equipped X-pipe, and it added a very noticeable bump in power across the entire RPM range, but strangely added no additional outside noise (as measured in our WOT and drive-by sound tests - see previous thread entries here). The car feels so much quicker, but I was worried it would be even harder to control wheelspin on corner exits.



                Boy was I ever wrong. The other changes (wheel, tire, and DDP pistons) must have combined to do something magic to the car - it had corner exit grip in 2nd gear like NEVER before. As long as I kept the outside/loaded tires on the clean line it was clawing out of corners, and the car was FAST. I was running in STU since it was +10mm out of spec for STX, but I still compared times to the serious STX we have in our region, with some outside region drivers arriving as well (Paul Carrig's DSG/AWD VW). So STX ran in heat #2, and I ran in heat #3, at the end of the day when the course was the dirtiest possible (there were piles of gravel just offline). Still, for the first time all year I was able to beat Ledbetter and his co-driver Brian in their 328is, and was only .018 sec behind Maxcy in his 328is STX car. That was nice, and we have still barely scratched the surface of the prep on this car. Amy won the PAXed "Womens" class, having to put an extra 1.1 seconds on Jen Maxcy in her STX car to win by a scant .075 sec on PAX, since the STU factor is so much worse (Jen won the W class for the year - congrats!).



                Left: Terry's Run 4 in-car video Right: Amy's 4th run (timer borked). Her 3rd run is here, which won "W".

                So in the end, I PAXed 13th overall, which was my best PAX finish in a long time; Amy PAXed 31st, which is far from her best. She was a full 2 seconds back from my times but I think the unexpected corner exit grip, lateral grip and braking traction from the new tires/shocks/wheels threw her way off. She needs more seat time to adjust. The car just WORKED like it never has before, and my spaz-monkey driving style of throwing the car on its nose under heavy Left Foot Braking and being super aggressive on the throttle on exit finally worked for me. It was just... hooked up. I dunno. I was also extra careful to keep the outside tires on the clean line (driving on gravel with the inboard tires, and she seemed to get caught out in the marbles on one showcase turn on every run. We don't know what she ran on her 4th run (timer error) but I hand timed the video at a nearly identical 62.3 sec time, so there was no hero run lost for her.

                Two odd things didn't happen at this event: the steering never got into its feedback loop on me, and the brakes are completely ICE mode free, and I pushed the HELL out of the brakes. Amy said she noticed one steering shudder moment coming out of one slalom but that was it. The HP+ pads were rock solid but are getting below 1/2 pad thickness. I noticed some brake pedal squishiness in runs 3 and 4, and mention it in the video (I remind myself of these things in verbal "notes" when I am driving on camera; had totally forgotten about that until I watched it today). We will bleed the brakes soon and keep an eye on the fluid change intervals (Motul600). Still gong to keep working on a steering rack solution, which will happen over the winter (probably just buy a new electric steering rack and stick it in the car).

                Results and Links


                Obviously an STU car should have been a full second quicker than STX, but this was still a monumental showing, and I have plenty of excuses! One, this is hardly maxed out for STU - I'd be running an 11" wide wheel with a 285mm tire for that class. We also didn't have the race seats in for this event (took them out for the winter), which hurt us sitting in the barcalounger stock seats. Lastly the front camber was set to minimum on one side, which really didn't help. Long story there: basically there was a very busy week at the shop and the Mustang didn't get any pre-race preparation this week except for me mounting the wheels/tires and adding Bridgestone decals when I came into the shop for a bit on Saturday, between other fires I worked on that day. We had removed one corner of the front suspension this past week to take measurements for an all-new S197 camber plate design, and we never re-set the camber on that corner. Doh. It was set on -2.0° on the RF and -3.2° on the LF, so it cornered better one way than the other. I guess we push my cars down to a lower priority due to increased amount of customer service work.



                Anyway, it was an encouraging event when compared to STX and other classes with very talented drivers in them, more than the "near win" autocross in September, which was on the freagin TMS Road Course (where I should have easily won STX with the +200 hp advantage, but drove like an ass). These STX cars I'm running against are FAST, and a good gauge. We had Mark Sipe in his STX RX8 there as well, running in "X" class (with a 60.5+1), and fast STS drivers running in the 59.5-60.0 range (also in X). So we are at least "in the ballpark" of where I think we should be, for STX. If we can get the rear suspension tweaked to put power down like this on the 265s, we might actually have a shot in this big pony car pig (40 series 265s).



                Oh! We finally got the 3" 304L mandrel bent exhaust bends built and in stock this week, so we're busy building our first customer dual 3" mandrel stainless exhaust with the new bits. Ryan has TIG welded up a nice system so far, and I can't wait to let him loose on the Mustang here, which still has the OEM heavy/restrictive/stupid quiet "after cat" exhaust. Once that is on I will take the car back to True Street Motorsports for another custom dyno tune, and finally get the "street" tune" we didn't have time for before. I think it will exceed 430 whp, in STX legal trim (last dyno pull was done in 107°F August temperature). It could be knocking on the door of 500 crank hp, which is pretty cool. We're going to hit the 1/4 mile dragstrip right after that, and I better see some low 12 second ETs @ 115 mph (it ran 12.9@109 mph in bone stock trim). Then we have LOTS of rear suspension development and even some STX legal aero bits to build for the car over the winter. Hankook just came out with a big 265/40/18 RS-3 that needs a look and I still have yet to test on the rear 17x9/265/40/17 Dunlops.

                I'll check back into this thread as soon as we have something new to show... probably December. There's also a track at at ECR on Dec 10th we might take this out for a few laps in. PRI is Dec 1-3, and a LeMons race Dec 17th.. its looking like a hectic month.

                Cheers,
                Last edited by Fair!; 08-14-2013, 02:15 PM.
                Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
                2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
                EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

                Comment


                • #98
                  Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

                  Originally posted by Fair! View Post
                  We've got pallets of these 18x10" wheels (5x114.3 mm PCD, fits '05-up Mustang and '08+ Subaru Impreza; I'm almost 100% certain it fits the RX8 as well - will know soon!) arriving at Vorshlag right around the end of this year ($300, 19 lbs!)
                  What finishes did you end up going with? Santa might have to pass on the 302S Tiger Racing hood (for cooling) and pick up an extra 1/2" of wheel

                  Comment


                  • #99
                    Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

                    Originally posted by John in Houston View Post
                    What finishes did you end up going with? Santa might have to pass on the 302S Tiger Racing hood (for cooling) and pick up an extra 1/2" of wheel
                    Silver or Flat Black!
                    Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
                    2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
                    EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

                    Comment


                    • Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

                      Silver for me please.

                      -Paul
                      '11 Mustang GT / '95 Frankenpreza

                      "A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster."
                      - Dr. Clarkson

                      Comment


                      • Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

                        Flat Black for moi

                        Comment


                        • Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

                          Project Update for Dec 9, 2011: There's an ECR track day this Saturday (ECR Toy Run) and AJ and Ryan have been wrenching this week on both our 2001 BMW 330 and the 2011 Mustang, to take these two cars out for one last blast around the track for the year. The BMW hasn't been on track or autocrossed in over a year, but its been running around with its fresh 2005 motor for a couple of months and and we've finally found all of the clunks and bangs and repaired them (the ball joints in fairly new front control arms had already sh!t the bed! Lesson learned: don't buy cheap, no-name replacement parts).



                          Before we got started on the exhaust, I had AJ swap the race seats back in, then align, corner weigh and corner balance the Mustang. The weights were looking good - this was before the exhaust work lined out below. The weight above (3483) was with the trunk junk still installed; it was 3472 lbs with low fuel (autocross weight) and the junk out, so it is slowly getting lower. Not too terrible for this big pig - the car started out life at 3563 lbs w/o fuel, and we've seen over 3600 lbs stock, with some gas in the tank. The 18x10's and the 275/40/18 tires are a bit heavier than the normal 18x9/265 tires we run, so knock off another 40 pounds out for the "STX" autocross weight. And we're going to get some weight out of the exhaust, today...



                          The Mustang is getting a new, 304SS, 3" mandrel bent, "after-X" exhaust here at Vorshlag today. It has been running around with the ARH 1-7/8" primary full length headers, the ARH catted X-pipe, but the stock rear exhaust section from just after the X. The drive-by sound test numbers didn't go up at all with the headers, which meant the stock mufflers were choking the the exhaust noise and flow down considerably. The stock mufflers looked heavy, too, and the over-axle section and resonators are "factory crushed" with crazy crimps and "clearance" bends. Its been bugging me for months, and we finally found time to attack the Mustang after our fabricator finished with McCall's Z3M dual 3" exhaust (which is incredible). Did I mention that Vorshlag is offering custom mandrel bent exhaust fabrication now?



                          I was right about the Mustang's stock mufflers - they are 25 pounds each! The after-X exhaust section with mufflers was 75 pounds just by itself. Factory exhausts are ALWAYS crazy heavy, and restrictive, and too quiet. We'll fix that!



                          While Ryan was TIG welding up the exhaust AJ was swapping to the dedicated set of track rotors and pads, plus giving the car a brake fluid flush.



                          This is the final routing, above. It gets within 2 inches of a fuel filler line so we wrapped that part of the exhaust with header wrap, just to be extra safe (there was zero issue with it after 2 drivers tracked it all day). To see how much weight the new dual 3" exhaust shed, we did a quick scale check as it came down - 3442 lbs. So it lost exactly 30 more pounds just in the rear exhaust. Most of that was in the mufflers, but some was in the larger diameter 16 gauge pipes, too.



                          After we got home that night, before we went out to grab some dinner in the Mustang, I shot a little video (below) of Amy in the Mustang starting it up, idling, and a little blip of the throttle. It sounds pretty subdued at idle and cruising around, but at WOT it is definitely "easier to hear the engine" now.



                          click for video of exhaust test


                          Next week we'll take the Mustang back to True Street and have it re-dyno tuned, and finally get the damned "street" tune, that takes out our weaker "autocross" throttle mapping. I will do another thread update after the dyno runs, with a report of how the track event went (Mustang was great!), what times it at ECR, etc.

                          Thanks,
                          Last edited by Fair!; 12-12-2011, 08:01 PM.
                          Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
                          2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
                          EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

                          Comment


                          • Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

                            Project Update for Dec 21, 2011: So much has been going on with my racing schedule in the past 2 weeks, sorry for the delayed update. Dec 10th I drove my 330 BMW and our 2011 Mustang GT at the ECR Toy run on the 10th, then did a 4 hour karting enduro at DKC Dec 13th, then dyno'd the Mustang on the 15th, then drove 275 miles worth of laps in a 15 hour LeMons race at ECR Dec 17-18th. And December is usually a slow month on our race schedule?!

                            So the pertinent bits for this thread are the dyno number and the ECR track day in the Mustang. Yes, I said I wasn't tracking the Mustang anymore, but we had sold Amy's 1997 M3 already, she wanted something to run at this event (we both run it each year), and I wanted to get one more track day in with the new AST 4150 style DDP pistons and valving we were working with AST-USA to verify. The street ride on full soft was better than ever with the new pistons/base valving, and it worked extremely well at the last 2 autocross events. If we could get one track day in, with the knobs turned up, it would be a great data point. And not to mention, ECR is very bumpy. So I broke my promise to myself - we tracked the Mustang again. And OMFG, I'm so glad we did!

                            Track Day in Mustang + BMW

                            As I already posted about in the BMW 330 project thread, the folks who run the 2.5 mile road course at Eagles Canyon Raceway always put on a good "fun" track day every December. Its only $50 + a toy + some canned goods to run, makes for great donations to local families in need, and which brings out all sorts of casual racers that want to run on track for lower costs + a few serious track guys/racers that want to squeeze in a track event at the very end of the year. I guess we fell into the latter group, but barely.

                            Pictures and videos are here.

                            ECR put on another great Toy Run event, with 90+ cars in attendance on a cold 30°F wintery day. The track was mostly dry from previous rains and the weather warmed up into the mid 50s that afternoon, so we had a great time, peeling layers of clothing off as the day warmed up. The plan was to for me to primarily run sessions in the BMW 330 in Red group, logging its first track miles on the "new" 2005 M54 longblock, and its first miles driven in anger in over a year. Brought the transponder charged up, had sticker 285 R6s mounted (which we can just barely squeeze into the build for TTD use), so I planned on putting in a mild first session, coming in and checking everything. Then go out and pound out a lot of laps in it, steadily pushing the car and trying to put in a quick time.



                            Amy was to drive the Mustang in the same group all day, and just have fun. Towards the end of the day I was going to swap cars with her for the last session (each group had five 20 minute sessions on track scheduled), slap on the transponder, and see what the Mustang would do, too. I've driven literally hundreds of laps at ECR since my first NASA TT event there in 2008 (where I set the TTU record, and fastest TT time in the old E36 LSx Alpha car), so I knew the track and it would give us a good baseline for the Mustang. When we put the very-revised/DDP equipped/updated Moton Club Sport doubles on the Mustang (soon), we'll go back to ECR and re-test the Mustang with the same wheels/tires/power and see where we pick up time.


                            If you wanted to, the 275mm tires could be vaporized like this all day - in 3rd gear

                            The best laid plans... first of all they did not have the AMB timing system turned on, and wouldn't. It was a long shot, but I had hoped they would. So no "real" times. Damn it - should have pulled the trigger on that new on-board lap timer/data logger. Oh well, I figured I'd find someone to hand-time both cars for me towards the end of the day, when it warmed up and we'd be quicker anyway. So we both went out in Red, which was the very first session on track at 9 am, and it was frakking COLD. I warmed up the BMW's tires, trying to scrub them in, and put in about 9 trouble-free laps over 20 minutes in it. Never saw Amy in the Mustang - she was on the other side of the track each lap, running about the same times as me. The 330 felt fine, but there was some unusually SLOW traffic in this group (one of which was moved down to Blue group later, some to Yellow), so I just took it easy, shifted the motor early (5500 rpm), and just tried to scrub in the tires and not abuse the brakes. The HP+ pads on the 330 were fairly thin (the replacements we had ordered weeks before arrived the next Wednesday), so it wouldn't stop 100% for more than 1-2 lap bursts.



                            Got in-car video driving the BMW in this first session, but only ran a 2:07, with plenty of mistakes. Meh, not very quick, but that was already 3 seconds quicker than its previous best, which was a NASA TTD record. So it wasn't a totally wasted effort.

                            Came in the pits and the BMW had developed a tiny leak at the coolant reservoir. Freak thing, where the OEM bracket flexed and let the tank rub a pulley, and didn't start to leak until I was already off track, and just a trickle at that. Long story short - it went onto the trailer. Amy had a blast in the Mustang, said it was working great, so I took the 5.0 out during the next Yellow group and she stayed running in Red, so we doubled up sessions in the same car. Car didn't care... just asked for more fuel, and more abuse!



                            Getting into the Mustang and driving it on track for the first time in 6 months... man, I had missed THAT! And now the car had more power than at any other track sessions before (we had 100% stock dreivetrain/power mods on it before). Every track event I've done since driving the Mustang last were in LeMons cars, the BMW, or something else with a lot less than 430 whp. Driving the Mustang on track with the newly added horsepower (ARH full length headers + ARH X-pipe + cold air + Vorshlag x-back exhaust + tune) and 275mm grip on the 18x10s and new AST 4150 DDP pistons was a BLAST, even if it was on Amy's full street/daily driver set-up.



                            The new Vorshlag built dual 3" exhaust behind the ARH 1-7/8" full lengths sounded GOOD, and we had several drivers, spectators, and corner workers walk up and tell us that "that thing is the best sounding car on track today!", and it was. Sweet, sweet V8 sounds, but not terribly loud. The sound it made from 5000-7000 rpm... oh, it made my man parts tingle. I opened the hood in grid and a swarm of people came by to gawk at the clean, tidy engine bay. Got a lot of "That thing blew by me like I was STOPPED!" comments from Yellow group drivers.



                            So Amy and I kept taking it out in Red & Yellow and I led some "Lead-Follow" groups during a few Green groups as well (hazards on, about 60% pace, for to show the proper line to n00bs without freaking them out). All we needed for the car was fuel - but it averaged 11.8 mpg, running some hand timed 2:03 laps. Amy had some low 2:10s, and with a little coaching she'll find every ounce of speed I had. So yea, the Mustang on street tires was 4 seconds a lap faster than the TTD prepped BMW 330 on 285mm Hoosiers. Horsepower. 'Merca!

                            Current track impressions: This Mustang probably still needs some dedicated brake cooling ducts, as I could get the DTC-60 Hawk pads a little warm if I was pushing the brakes 100% for a couple of laps, but it still STOPS. Might switch to a Porterfield pad someone has put me onto. Some added aero wouldn't hurt, as it has the ample power to convert into some downforce. The car was pretty much just flawless on track, and too damned much fun. No temperature issues at all, even with 2 drivers driving it back to back to back. I could hoon it in 3rd gear in slow corners, or drive it nicer and put down some decent laps. Played with a certain hot TT driver's E92 M3 on similar tires and the Mustang came out ahead. I had it all on video, but all of the in-car from the Mustang was borked when we looked at it the next day. Gah! It was so good, with a passenger hooting and laughing the whole time.

                            So, I think any more power in the Mustang and it would be begging for Hoosiers... Hell, its already begging for Hoosiers. I gotta quit tracking this still too-new car. Its just so much more fun to drive than my "dedicated track car" BMW with M54 power!

                            New Tune + Dyno Number

                            So we had hoped to get the Mustang over to the local tuner shop we use for this car (True Street Motorsports in McKinney, TX) and have them put on a fresh tune for the car, now that its not 108°F outside like it was last August (where it made 404 whp) + we had the new rear exhaust on (which might add a little power) + make us the "Street Tune" version we ran out of time in August for, which uses all of the throttle travel all of the time (we have had an RPM-based throttle stop / traction control built into the EFI programming for autocross use for many months).

                            Their shop was super busy and they couldn't squeeze us in until after the ECR Track Day, so we took the car by after the event. They pulled it in off the street and it made 426 whp on the old "traction control" track tune. Wow, that call got me excited! They fiddled around a bit and settled on 430 whp / 406 wtq, still with the limited throttle track tune (shown below). Didn't take much work. That's still a 100% STX class legal + street legal set-up, with cats, and mufflers. Too bad its still 3400 pounds and limited to 265mm tires for this class, which is far too heavy to be a threat there.


                            the August "hot as hell in the dyno cell" 404 whp run is shown under the more realistic but still corrected 430 whp dyno pull

                            This Coyote 5.0L V8 motor will RUIN you - 100% stock longblock, just a few bolt-ons and a pump gas tune, and its making 430 wheel??? It still gets great mileage, idles quietly, and pulls hard to 7000 and beyond. Its making more than 400 whp from 5200-7000 rpm. With the Boss302 intake manifold it would keep making more and more power up to 7500 (those intakes are amazing), but sadly that intake swap isn't legal in STX. But it is for ESP, if you were to build a Boss302 engined Mustang for that class. Mmmm, big grip and even more power - it sure is tempting.

                            So TSM made a street tune for me as well, with the "crazy throttle" mapping that comes with it from the factory. I've been driving around on that, and its definitely more "frisky". This tune makes even more power than the Track map, but I don't have that dyno print-out yet (it made an additional 11 whp before on the "street" map). I'll post that up later when I can go get a copy of it from the TSM guys.

                            What's Next in the Mustang?

                            I'll post up more about the Mustang when we make changes, over the winter. So much going on I can't even get it all down on the screen. Still have a good plan for attacking STX next year - its all about getting the power to the ground. There are some new 265mm 140+ treadwear tires I want to test, and I have major rear suspension updates planned, with some additional weight loss, and of course - more horsepower. Too much is never enough!

                            PS: I love driving this Mustang on track so much I'm looking for another S197 chassis to build into a dedicated track car here at Vorshlag. I'll go into more detail when/if we find a car for the right price. If you have a line on a lower cost/theft recovery/stripped/drivetrain-less S197 Mustang (2005+), please drop me a line. Just don't tell my wife! A rolling chassis with no interior or drivetrain is OK, and even front end damage is fine. The stock drivetrain, front sheetmetal, hood, trunk, glass, brakes, wheels, interior, and lower K-member are all going away. V6 or V8 cars.


                            Plenty of 18x10" Mustang Wheels Still Available for Pre-Order

                            We are still trying to get the word out about the first batch of 18x10 ET43 wheels I ordered from D-Force for the S197 Mustang and GR Impreza chassis. It has been two weeks since we made the product announcement post and started taking pre-orders. We had high expectations for these wheels and thought they'd be met by the Mustang and Subaru enthusiast community with a warmer reception, even though this batch is being sold as a pre-order and not a direct sale straight from inventory.

                            The reasons we thought these wheels would be more popular are:
                            • This is an 18x10" size and offset that nobody else makes
                            • Makes for a square set-up, front and back, which is a very good thing
                            • Still a very lightweight wheel
                            • $309 is a very cost competitive price compared to Enkei, SSR and others (none of which make the right offset and bolt pattern)
                            • This 18x10" wheel is already both race and street proven, on hundreds of BMWs + our 2011 Mustang
                            • Direct fit for both the Mustang and GR Subaru - no spacers needed, no "poke", no rubbing.


                            We understand that there is a somewhat unknown economic outlook right now, and in the U.S. here there is the added pressure of presidential election news craziness, but this is still a very well priced wheel for what it is. This is the first 18x10" wheel made for this car that fits and doesn't cost over $600 per corner. It is less than HALF the price of the BBS wheel, which you cannot even find in stock at most times. The prototype set has been thoroughly tested on the street, autocross course and track.



                            If you are reading this Mustang thread then you probably care a little about what we do here at Vorshlag. We're trying to innovate, create and make better suspension & in this case wheel products that fit the enthusiast market needs. Ordering the huge number of wheels necessary to get an 18x10" direct-fit wheel made for S197 Mustang and GR Subaru chassis (and I've been told by very reliable sources this size + offset fits the RX8 as well) was a big risk for us. Future new wheel product offerings will depend on how this experiment goes. We do not need to pre-sell all of the wheels, but we had hoped that more people would be stepping up after two weeks than we have seen.

                            Please, if you or anyone you know has a 2005-up Mustang or 2008-up Subaru STI, please point them to this Product Announcement: http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8008 Use your social media outlets as well - Twitter, Facebook, Google+.

                            We are in love with these wheels. They are so light, so big, fit these cars so well, and I want them on all of my own cars. I can just only use so many myself, you know? Or order a set for yourself - you deserve a set of proper 18x10" wheels that do not weigh 30 pounds each!

                            Thanks for your help.
                            Last edited by Faerus; 12-22-2011, 12:02 PM.
                            Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
                            2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
                            EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

                            Comment


                            • Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

                              Project Update for Jan 26, 2012: Well we've been getting busier back in the shop area, performing various fabrication work, repairs and upgrades on customer cars. We have managed to sneak in some work on our 2011 Mustang since the last update, which I'll cover here briefly (we've also worked on our E30 V8 and our E46 330 recently, both of which need project thread updates). Hmm, after putting it all down there's actually a lot to show in this update - I probably should have broken this up earlier into 2 posts (and on some forums where I cross-post this thread its going to be 3 or 4 segments, so keep reading).


                              Exhaust V 2.0

                              First, the custom dual 3" exhaust we built here at Vorshlag has been heavily revised. The various 3" mandrel 304SS bends we had on hand the first time did not include a 120° bend, which is very helpful when making the over-the-solid-axle routing. Now that we stock a LOT more bends we were able to route it better and have lots more clearance at full bump travel. We confirmed the routing with the springs removed and the axle at full bump travel, then added even more room. The 3" tubes are routed over and through the panhard bar and structure with space to everything surrounding them.



                              It is crowded under there, but Ryan made it fit great and look beautiful with ample clearance everywhere. There's so much more room to the fuel line than before that this version didn't need header wrap insulation there. You can see how the left and right tubes are asymmetric - that's due to the panhard mounting and the fuel line differences side-to-side.



                              The two pre-axle "slip-fit joint" clamps were removed and a pair of flanged V-band clamp joints were welded in their place. This ensures a leak-free connection at this location. Much quieter now after driving the car - we will never use a slip-fit exhaust joint in this shop again. It was a test, after other shops had said they have used them successfully, but we're not going to do it again. V-bands or nothing.



                              The 409 stainless steel (it is magnetic so it has to be a 400 series) Flowmaster Series 44 mufflers came new with a silver painted finish (see above left pic) - it looks like the same coating they put on their carbon steel mufflers. Well of course this burns off and makes a stinky mess. While the exhaust was off for this re-work we used some Scoth-Brite pads and paint thinner to get the rest of this silver gunk off, which left the mufflers in their natural "bronze" finish (after several weeks of use). Don't know why they bother painting them - next time we use these FM mufflers we'll remove the finish completely before putting them on a car.


                              Boss302 Leguna Seca Splitter

                              So we've been looking at this OEM piece for some time and figured, what the hell? Let's try putting one on our Mustang and do some track testing to verify if it is working (adding downforce/lowering times). We'll use the aero test procedure detailed in Neil Roberts' ThinkFAST book, of course. These LS units sell for $700-750 and "bolt on" with the CS lower valance we added (that became optional mid-2011 model year).



                              Well it took some time to install it - figure 2 to 3 hours to be safe. The whole front bumper cover has to come off, more than once. The LS splitter is indeed made to fit this CS lower valance, and it shows, but the install was tedious with so many bolts/clips and the test fitting to line up the support strut "through holes". Once finished and put together for the first time, it can then go on and off in 2-3 minutes (which we might do to ease trailer loading/unloading and prevent an "oops!" on the street). We were missing 14 pieces from the hardware kit, so figure in a trip to a specialty hardware store if you get this thing. The counter-sunk mounting hardware is all M6-1.0, so are the 22 qty nut-clips they mate to; our kit was 14 clips short but Ford is supposed to be sending an extra hardware kit "soon". Zero instructions, so AJ looked online for some tips (not much help) then figured the rest out on his own. We might make an instruction guide for this in the future.



                              Of course we weighed everything before it went onto the car. Looks like the ABS plastic splitter itself (which is thick!) is 12.2 pounds, sticks out past the bumper 5" exactly (American Iron class limit), and the hardware and bolt-on strut mount for the splitter weighs another 5.5 pounds. So will this thing produce enough downforce to offset the $700 cost and 17.7 pounds of added junk? I don't know - what do you think? The AI class 2010+ Mustang racers seem to use this thing, as do the pro racers in the S197.


                              Shazam! That thing is big. But no, I wouldn't stand on it...

                              We've street tested it today and it works fine there. Only one light scrape on a very steep parking lot entrance incline that Amy had trouble with before the splitter, so we'll be extra careful there. If she scrapes it up too much in street driving we'll pull it off and only use it for track events, and install it at the track. Its not too low for street use even at our lowered ride height, really, if you drive carefully and have half a brain. Again with an electric impact it only takes 2-3 minutes to swap it on/off now that all of the brackets and nut-clips are installed.


                              Brake Pads + Cooling

                              After the track event last month at ECR, AJ swapped the rotors and pads from the Hawk DTC-70s back to the HP+ pads and the street rotors. The DTCs were melted to slag and are in the trash bin. The HP+ pads don't look much better. Me thinks these Hawk pads are full of filler - it would explain their low price point, and their low threshold of abuse.



                              I was only getting 2-3 hot laps on the DTC-70s at ECR before I noticed significant brake fade and had to take a cool down lap. We're going to switch to a higher cost set of race pads before the next track event. PFC 01, Ferodo R4S, something. We're also going to make a brake cooling kit for the car. After reading about the issues with installation on the Ford kit, plus the added hassles of making something that is STX legal (cannot cut the fender liners for cooling hose), we're going to take a stab at it here. According to many, cooling air to the rotors via the two 3" ducts on the CS lower valance helps tremendously when used on track.


                              Wait... Track Events???

                              Yes, track events. I am breaking my own, very sensible rule of no longer tracking this "still too new" car yet again. It just rolled 10,000 miles today, so I guess the new has worn off!! Hehe. I'm going to try to hit several NASA Time Trial events this year in the Mustang - I just had too much fun driving it on track with the extra grip and new horsepower in December. Due to the massive restrictions of the base classing that NASA levies against this car, I'm moving it out of TTB, skipping TTA completely (I added up 64 points of mods from aero, shocks and tires alone!) and slipping right into TTS (8.7:1 pounds per hp) - which is a simpler power-to-weight class. It probably won't do well against the modded Corvettes and other creations that show up in TTS but at least I won't be counting every point, taking 4 points for having no OEM wing, 2 points for the stock brakes, etc, etc. I could literally build an STX classed autocross car, still on street tires, that was up into TTS class on points alone. I know I know... those are the rules for TT, but I'm just going to bypass all of that and go have fun.

                              With the 315mm Kumho gumballs, the current 430 whp, and the added aero bits in store we might not be that slow, but who knows until we track it? I'm ALWAYS fast when bench racing! The car is under the power-to-weight limit with 3650 pounds (with driver) and 430 whp - but only just. I'll have my dyno chart and classing work sheet ready at the next NASA event, in case I screw up and stumble upon a competitive set-up. Bad part is that I'm missing the first two NASA Texas events, due to scheduling conflicts, which sucks (MSR-H and MSR-C). I'm not happy about this AT ALL but these two were unavoidable. I will be at the April TWS event and should have two more track test days before TWS (TK2K12/GSS and Pro-Touring/HHR). NASA Texas has 9 events planned this year in this region so we could have plenty of chances to go have fun in TTS.


                              315/35/18 Tires on 18x10 D-Force

                              If we're running in TTS we could use wider tires, right? We also had several S197 Mustang autocrossers ask if we knew if 315mm tires would fit the car on our new D-Force 18x10" wheels. I had my doubts about using a tire that wide on "only" a 10" wide wheel, but I gave it a try. Ordered a set of 315/35/18 Kumho V710 R compounds to see...



                              This set actually came free from Kumho - our spoils from winning the $2011 GRM Challenge (and our E30 V8 is on the cover of the next GRM mag!). So yesterday I took one of the 18x10s and mounted one of the 315mm Kumhos, which is shown above. It looks a bit squeezed on the wheel, to say the least. For me, I'd want an 11" wide wheel for a tire that big, or maybe an 11.5". But for some autocrossers, this is fine (look at some of the crazy squeezed stuff Stock class guys do). Today we stuck them on the Mustang, starting with the front and using a 5/16" spacer we had...



                              Monster room up front, both inboard and out, with this 5/16" spacer. It would work with as little as a 1/8" spacer, but to be safe I'm going to recommend a 1/4" spacer when using this massive 315mm tire up front with these wheels. If you stick with a more sensible 275 or 285mm tire it still needs no spacer on these wheels, front or rear.



                              Checked them at full lock, room for days. Now this is with -3° of camber up front, but that's not much in my book. That's what we use for the street on this car. Now on the rear it wasn't as ideal, but still "good enough for auto-x" in most people's eyes. So I would say "these tires fit" but I won't be running these 315s on a 10" wheel. Stick with 285s or smaller, as those tires fit the 10" wheel width properly - no squeeze.



                              I'm now pulling the 315mm test tire off the 18x10s and re-mounting the 275/40/18s. Damn, we need a tire machine here at Vorshlag. It would pay for itself in one racing season. On the prowl for a deal. So now I've got these massive tires with no wheels to use them on. So... once we get the panhard and upper control arm on later this week we'll measure for 18x11 front and 18x11.5" rear 3-piece wheels. Forgeline, CCW, something. These should fit with fairly different offsets front and back. Can't let these tires go to waste, and it sure would make for some monster TTS grip.


                              Rear Suspension Fixes - Quick and Dirty

                              Our first autocrosses for the Mustang are in early March, with a track event in mid-February, so we've got some new rear suspension bits to install and test before then. I feel that much our our low speed traction problems in this car center around the compromised rear suspension geometry. When you lower the car with this 3-link rear suspension the pinion angle on the axle gets out of whack.



                              Solid axle RWD cars have so many limitations when compared to an IRS set-up that the SCCA Street Touring rules give the stick-axle vehicles all sorts of leeway, and we're going to finally attack these issues. We did a lot of looking, thought about making our own stuff, then looked at the calendar and bought the Spohn Performance's upper control arm and panhard bar as a stop-gap solution. Their adjustable length upper control arm allows us to adjust the pinion angle properly at the lowered ride height. The adjustable panhard bar lets us center the axle relative to the car, when lowered. Each piece features their optional "Del-Sphere" joints , which allow for high angular movement without bind or noise, at least on paper. These are basically giant spherical joints made inside forged steel ends with Delrin material surrounding the steel ball joint. They are rebuildable - we bought the tool to do that. Seems like a neat little joint that could give you the best of a rod end but without the metal-to-metal street nightmares. Once these new arms are installed we will set the pinion angle for our lower ride height and do some before and after acceleration data logging. I'm hoping for some help in 1st and 2nd gear for STX use - keep hope alive!


                              Non-NASA Track Events?

                              The first event of the year we're trying to make is Feb 17th at Harris Hill Road in San Marcos, being hosted by Pro-Touring.com. It includes an autocross, speed-stop event, and a timed track day, with a trophy for the combined winner? At least - we think so. Details are sketchy at the moment, but it looks like fun. The problem is they have one rule - tire treadwear limit is 200 - which rules out damned near every tire we have for the car (all four sets of our ST legal stuff on hand is 140-180 treadwear).



                              The Dunlop Star Spec tires are 200 treadwear and I've had great luck with them on track before (in the EVO X, at April 2010 Tire Test we did, the December ChumpCar event, and my 265/40/17 rears that I've barely used in this car) and there are two other 200 TW tires that could be fast for this series (they use the Optima Challenge rules), including: Falken RT-615K (275/35/18 @ $275 or 295/40/18 @ $300) and the Nitto NT05 ($275/35R18 @ $213, 275/40R18 @ $202, 285/35R18 @ $223, 295/35R18 @ $243). I don't really want to spend $800-1200 on tires to run for one event (and they'd be pretty much useless for anything else other than street use - which I have the fresh 275/40R18 RE-11s for), so I might beg/borrow/steal a set. So if any of you have some fresh 275/35/18 Dunlop Star Specs or any of these other tires in the sizes listed you'd like to loan me for 2 days, please speak up! (I have a line on some 275 Dunlops, but they are anything but fresh) In a pinch I might use that pair of 17x9's and 265s we have for the rear, but I'd really like something wider in 18" that we could put on the D-Force 18x10s.

                              We've still got some work to do before then, including the brake cooling, the Spohn parts, and some rear aero. Anyone have a good used 2010-up Mustang trunk for sale?? I'll post up with an update when we've tackled that stuff. We plan on a before/after test of 2nd gear acceleration on a control set of tires (probably the 265/35/18 Hankook RS-3) when the Spohn parts are installed.

                              More soon,
                              Last edited by Fair!; 01-25-2012, 03:37 PM.
                              Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
                              2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
                              EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

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                              • Re: Vorshlag 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 - auto-x/track build

                                If you are only getting 2-3 laps before the brakes fade, then look into the FRPP brake cooling kit. Night-and-day difference on mine... and the 70s now last an entire session.

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