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S550 S16 Mustang Build Thread Profile - S550 Mustangs

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465
438
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
MD
Laguna next Tuesday, added some aerocatch hood pins for piece of mind. Hood was fluttering last time out, making me a bit nervous.

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They nest into the hood in this location quite nicely. No cutting of the underside hood structure needed. Sweet.

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Nice. Did you remove or change the position of the center latch in any way?
 
Nice and sanitary, have had the aeroquip hood pins on my last two Mustangs and they do add that extra bit of security --plus they look cool!

Thanks for the suggestion Bill.

Nice. Did you remove or change the position of the center latch in any way?

I thought maybe I would depending on how solidly the hood is planted with just the pins. While they will keep the hood from coming up if the latch lets go, they are mounted just into the hood skin and the hood can deflect vertically fairly easily with just the pins. So for now I will leave the latch on. On a carbon hood I bet the pins alone would be just fine.
 
Did another day at Laguna today. Perfect conditions, great time out.

The car is great, very well balanced and fun to drive. Well save for one thing, it just really feels like it needs to lose 600lbs. But I can’t do that without going full race car. Ah first world problems!

as I develop better feel for the car and how it’s moving I’m finding the steering lacking response. But most people I speak with say that’s probably mostly the NT01’s. Anyone else here found the same? Still trying to figure out what to go with next.
 
539
687
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
SoCal
Did another day at Laguna today. Perfect conditions, great time out.

The car is great, very well balanced and fun to drive. Well save for one thing, it just really feels like it needs to lose 600lbs. But I can’t do that without going full race car. Ah first world problems!

as I develop better feel for the car and how it’s moving I’m finding the steering lacking response. But most people I speak with say that’s probably mostly the NT01’s. Anyone else here found the same? Still trying to figure out what to go with next.
Not sure what type of tire you're looking for but I really liked the Supercar 3 (non R). Good pace and last awhile. I think a solid replacement for the NT01's
 
Thanks Eric. Those were top of my list till I saw they only come in decent widths in 19’s.

I can get a set of Nankang AR1’s for a decent price so think I’ll try those out in 315/30/18. Steering response on them is much better than NT01’s per my track buddies that run them too.
 
114
164
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Australia
Thanks Eric. Those were top of my list till I saw they only come in decent widths in 19’s.

I can get a set of Nankang AR1’s for a decent price so think I’ll try those out in 315/30/18. Steering response on them is much better than NT01’s per my track buddies that run them too.
Im putting a set of these in couple of weeks time on my 19" Apex in 305/30 so will see how they go on the track day that i have on 27 august
 
343
300
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Bulgaria
Thanks Eric. Those were top of my list till I saw they only come in decent widths in 19’s.

I can get a set of Nankang AR1’s for a decent price so think I’ll try those out in 315/30/18. Steering response on them is much better than NT01’s per my track buddies that run them too.
I run 305/30 AR1's on my S550 and I'm very happy with the performance from the tires. Only have like 10 laps on them but very happy with the grip from them.
 
This build has taken an abrupt left turn but first an update to get caught up.


August Laguna Seca, great time. Followed here by my buddy Rob in a super nice (and quick) EP Civic.
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Made some cribs and picked up the Caliper Garage 3d printed string alignment kit. Works great and I'm really enjoying doing my own alignments.
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Picked up a trailer, tired of my back tying itself in knots for 3 days after every track day driving to and from the track. Used to be able to do 9hrs straight on the highway in a race seat, but now 3hrs kills my back. Guess I'm not 18 any longer.
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Local Chevron started carrying E85! Already had a tune (to correct for my 4.09's) so it only took a $125 paypal to my tuner and we're good to go! Good bit more torque down low, and it takes forever to warm up now. So the cooling effect of E85 is definitely real.
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And now the left turn, drifting.

My first love in motorsports was drifting, pic below is my old 240sx, this pic is circa 2006.
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I've been getting the itch to go drifting again, had some buddies going to an event so decided to give it a go again.

When I first got my S550 a buddy who makes some steering rack spacers (for more steering angle) sent me a set. Had them lying around all these years in the tool box so threw them on. They allow a bit more travel of the rack which results in more steering angle.
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But 18x11 wheels already would rub at full lock, so needed to downsize to 9.5" width. Picked up a pair of 9.5's. This is the resulting angle with 18x9.5 with 265/35/18.
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A friend of a friend who campaigns a Formula Drift car had some extra tires for a good deal so picked up a few
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Aligned again with settings better for drifting (more front camber, less rear camber mainly)

Went drifting, had a blast
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This car is such a handful to drift, but I love it. It doesn't help that I'm super rusty, 15yrs since my last drift event. So much more power (duh), so much more weight (duh), but also a crap load more grip in the rear which is phenomenal and also will take some time to learn how to manage. I always wanted more side bite (forward drive while sideways) in my 240sx and this car has it in spades.

Anyways, I had so much fun I'm jumping back into drifting. I would love for this car to be dual purpose for circuit driving and drifting. But the setups are so different a car that did both would do neither well. Such is the case for almost all compromises right? Also the risk of injury is much less drifting. I've been getting increasingly uneasy with the potential consequences of track "grip" driving, so drifting is also a way I can continue to enjoy this car on track and not be freaked out about the risk.

So I'm not sure if you guys have any interest to follow drifting/the build, I know its fairly far astray of the main interest on this site. Maybe its interesting, maybe not. Let me know if you'd like to see more updates as I head down this path.
 
118
275
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Auckland, New Zealand
So I'm not sure if you guys have any interest to follow drifting/the build, I know its fairly far astray of the main interest on this site. Maybe its interesting, maybe not. Let me know if you'd like to see more updates as I head down this path.

I'm in for following progress with you drifting your car. it might not be everyone's cup of tea but it's a fun way to get on track and any info shared helps broaden the TMO community and adds to the diversity of the knowledge base.
 
So the car was SUPER hard to drive with the stock front suspension layout. The double ball joint LCA layout and the mass of the stock steering rack made it so there is virtually no "self steer" when drifting. self steer is very helpful when drifting in that when you throw the car sideways or especially from one direction to the other the steering will "self steer" into the direction of the slide to help you catch it. Without this you have to man handle the wheel like a bus driver.

So there are companies that make "angle kits" for most popular drift cars. These change the front suspension kinematics to provide more front steering lock angle, and on the S550 to also improve self steer. RTR makes such a kit, and I found a great deal during black Friday so in the shopping cart it went. This kit changes the front suspension to a single ball joint configuration, widens the front track considerably to provide more room between the tires and frame rail at lock, and provides ackerman adjustment, and corrects bump steer and roll center.

Installed:
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And with camber set at -8*:
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A boatload and looks goofy but serves an important purpose. Why so much? Without this much camber (especially with more caster which I added via my camber plates) the "lead" wheel in drift will gain massive amounts of positive camber by the time it reaches steering lock. You want a bit of positive camber by the time you hit lock as it creates jacking and that's beneficial for a couple reasons. But without this much static negative camber there would be a ton of positive camber at and near lock. To set static front camber for drifting you dial in as much negative camber as is needed for the wheel to be at zero degrees camber when you're at 2/3 of your steering angle.

So -8* static yields this at 2/3 of my steering angle now:
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Aligned it again and headed out to another drift event this Saturday. Started out pouring with a 30mph wind, but thankfully stopped raining at 10am and slowly dried out the rest of the day. The new angle kit transformed the car and I was able to drive it as I'd hoped pretty much straight away. This event had a low driver count so only one run group, spent the entire day driving save for a couple rear tire changes. The car has tons of grip in drift, I absolutely love it. Also with 305's in back a good traction match for the power, so well balanced. Have some tuning to do still but a great starting point.
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Once I was feeling more confident I started working to get closer to the two walls on this course. While the line taken drifting may not be the same as road racing, working tirelessly to hit/improve your line is just as much fun drifting as road racing.
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Was feeling much better by the end of the day and some buddies invited me to jump in on some tandem and I took the offer.

Still a long ways to go learning exactly how to get the most out of this car in drift, and subsequently getting closer in tandem but really stoked with how this car drifts. Boy howdy is it a riot, haven't had this much fun in this car since I got it.
 
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Given my distaste for replacing transmissions I put together a trans cooler to hopefully avoid killing this one. Took longer than I’d hoped but pleased with the final result.

Setrab series 1 fan pack, Marco UP3 pump and 8an lines with a filter and temp port. Time will tell but I’m really glad I found this pump. It’s basically the same price as a tilton continuous, considerably smaller, brass spur gears instead of a diaphragm, rated for the actual continuous temps these pumps see in this type of application, and 1/5 the noise of a Tilton. My diff pump is a tilton and so obnoxiously loud I may soon replace it with one of these.

Laguna this weekend to see how temps are with it.

View attachment 76634

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quick vid comparing noise of each. First is tilton diff pump and second is Marco trans pump.

Now that I'm drifting this ^^^^^^ trans cooler setup is not needed. Trans doesn't go beyond 180*F. Anyone interested in it? Full kit, I never exceeded 190*F in 30mins at 9/10. All you need to do is add 3 rivnuts in the front wheel well to mount the pump and cooler bracket. I'll include the gauge as well if you want it since the lines are already plumbed for it. Please message me if interested.
 
539
687
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
SoCal
Now that I'm drifting this ^^^^^^ trans cooler setup is not needed. Trans doesn't go beyond 180*F. Anyone interested in it? Full kit, I never exceeded 190*F in 30mins at 9/10. All you need to do is add 3 rivnuts in the front wheel well to mount the pump and cooler bracket. I'll include the gauge as well if you want it since the lines are already plumbed for it. Please message me if interested.
I'd be interested in your 9 lives wing if that's also something that is not needed for drifting 😆
 

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