I'm looking for someone who has "been there" and "done that" "and gotten the T shirt" An expert if you will.
-In a previous life I was a suspension engineer.
-In a previous life I was a multi championship winning road racer.

I'm looking for someone who knows what they're doing (not just "heard it on the internet") so I can pick their brain if they have a little time they can spare. Someone who has the capacity to go deep on subjects and understands nuance. If you're that person please raise your hand.

Thanks

Not that guy with GT 500 info, but you came to the right place and I am sure someone will chime in. Stan Whitney is quite fast and has the credentials to help you if he happens to post here?!

I don't own a gt500 but I know a couple guys that track theirs.

You certainly need to start by activating your camber plates. I believe they come pinned to street camber. You may want aftermarket plates if you need more than max OEM camber.

Many of us go to a square wheel setup.

Basically it is a very track ready Mustang.

One guy swapped out the huge brakes and 20" wheels to put on GT350 brakes and 19" wheels. He wanted lighter wheels and brakes and more affordable tire choices. Steve Luca does his work from a Mustang speed shop in Bowling Green.

Where are you located?

blacksheep-1 said:

Where are you located?

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Michigan

GTP said:

I don't own a gt500 but I know a couple guys that track theirs.

You certainly need to start by activating your camber plates. I believe they come pinned to street camber. You may want aftermarket plates if you need more than max OEM camber.

Many of us go to a square wheel setup.

Basically it is a very track ready Mustang.

One guy swapped out the huge brakes and 20" wheels to put on GT350 brakes and 19" wheels. He wanted lighter wheels and brakes and more affordable tire choices. Steve Luca does his work from a Mustang speed shop in Bowling Green.

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An even better play would be to swap the full Dark Horse R brake system onto a GT500 and run 18" wheels and tires. Expensive but would save a TON of weight. And weight is the enemy of the 500. Front end weight savings would be on the order of 125 lbs. with race tires. And the braking would be equal or better. With Bosch ABS upgrade, definitely better.

If you'd like to have a conversation, then let's have a conversation. If you'd like a race engineer, then go hire one.

TeeLew said:

If you'd like to have a conversation, then let's have a conversation. If you'd like a race engineer, then go hire one.

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It's interesting (but not surprising) how how the social media framework as we know it breaks down when you ask something simple like wanting to talk to someone who knows what they're doing.

And it's really funny how it unmasks and frustrates the people who like to talk endlessly about things they have no right talking about.

RoadRacer78 said:

It's interesting (but not surprising) how how the social media framework as we know it breaks down when you ask something simple like wanting to talk to someone who knows what they're doing.

And it's really funny how it unmasks and frustrates the people who like to talk endlessly about things they have no right talking about.

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It can, in some cases. In others, it just comes across as pissy. What's your issue? A lot of times you'll get good ideas from guys who don't have some crazy resume.

For the record, I've raced more cars than you've made shoes smell and I've done it since you were on your momma's titty. Tone things down a little. No one is impressed with the resume. You're here looking for advice. Mind your manners.

TeeLew said:

It can, in some cases. In others, it just comes across as pissy. What's your issue? A lot of times you'll get good ideas from guys who don't have some crazy resume.

For the record, I've raced more cars than you've made shoes smell and I've done it since you were on your momma's titty. Tone things down a little. No one is impressed with the resume. You're here looking for advice. Mind your manners.

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We interacted once in the past. I thought I made it clear at the time that I wanted nothing to do with you. Clearly I did not. Now I am.

Stay away from me. I will never be interested in anything you have to say.

What ruleset are you working towards? R-tires or 200tw? My build is focused for TT style hot laps (really limited by the tires) but has been reliable, drivable and fast in its mod stages. It is now very capable with basic aero, MCS coilovers, sphericals, GT350R front knuckles and brakes, running 19x12s with 325/19 or 20x11.5 with 325/20. Have data for Nankang, yokohama, bridgestone, Hoosier A7, vitour P1 to suggest setups for them.

Stan Whitney said:

What ruleset are you working towards? R-tires or 200tw? My build is focused for TT style hot laps (really limited by the tires) but has been reliable, drivable and fast in its mod stages. It is now very capable with basic aero, MCS coilovers, sphericals, GT350R front knuckles and brakes, running 19x12s with 325/19 or 20x11.5 with 325/20. Have data for Nankang, yokohama, bridgestone, Hoosier A7, vitour P1 to suggest setups for them.

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No rule set perse'. Just me throwing down some fast laps at a track days. I'll be picking up a second set of wheels (OEM sizes) with more aggressive rubber. What rubber? No idea. Something more aggressive than the 4S's on it now. But not so aggressive that they can't be warmed up in a lap and won't require damper changes or the OEM "tune" can cope with. I'd love suggestions.

I'm looking for a few basic mods with good bang for the buck that won't ruin how it drives on the street. Call it "Stock +1". I'm guessing camber plates are on the list. Adjustable ARB's? What are the easy weak points to go after?

If I wanted anything more aggressive than that I would get a dedicated track car.

Thanks!

RoadRacer78 said:

No rule set perse'. Just me throwing down some fast laps at a track days. I'll be picking up a second set of wheels (OEM sizes) with more aggressive rubber. What rubber? No idea. Something more aggressive than the 4S's on it now. But not so aggressive that they can't be warmed up in a lap and won't require damper changes or the OEM "tune" can cope with. I'd love suggestions.

I'm looking for a few basic mods with good bang for the buck that won't ruin how it drives on the street. Call it "Stock +1". I'm guessing camber plates are on the list. Adjustable ARB's? What are the easy weak points to go after?

If I wanted anything more aggressive than that I would get a dedicated track car.

Thanks!

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Guys at Middleton Motorsports are the folks you want to speak with about GT500 track day mods. For rubber I would look at the Hoosier R8. They make a 305 and a 335 in 20" You will get between 10-15 good fast cycles.

RoadRacer78 said:

No rule set perse'. Just me throwing down some fast laps at a track days. I'll be picking up a second set of wheels (OEM sizes) with more aggressive rubber. What rubber? No idea. Something more aggressive than the 4S's on it now. But not so aggressive that they can't be warmed up in a lap and won't require damper changes or the OEM "tune" can cope with. I'd love suggestions.

I'm looking for a few basic mods with good bang for the buck that won't ruin how it drives on the street. Call it "Stock +1". I'm guessing camber plates are on the list. Adjustable ARB's? What are the easy weak points to go after?

If I wanted anything more aggressive than that I would get a dedicated track car.

Thanks!

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Your best bet is to just copy the basics of the track pack cars then. Get the track pack specific rear springs, handling pack/track pack camber plates or an aftermarket equivalent, move to a square wheel and tire setup with the 315 cup 2's at all 4 corners, and maybe add in a set of good brake pad and fluid. If you want to add on gurney flap and front splitter fences from the GT500 handling pack, those would be minimally invasive and somewhat beneficial as well. The stock Magneride damping is capable of handling all of that to a decent degree. Middleton Motorsports in Wisconsin can help get you sorted on all of that pretty easily.

Other than that the car suffers from all of the typical S550 issues that plague everything from the ecoboost to the GT500. A good set of IRS braces (I prefer Steeda) and their associated IRS centering dowels, and IRS bushing lockouts greatly benefit the feeling that the rear of the car is actually attached to the car and not just in a friends without benefits relationship with it. This introduced next to nothing in the way of additional NVH into the car.

The owner's manual has recommended alignment settings for the car on track and that's a good place to start with your very basic build. Then you can decide if you want to keep chasing the lap time rabbit or keep it where it currently is as a lightly modded street car that doesn't embarass itself on track.

RoadRacer78 said:

Michigan

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Walk over to Watson in Dearborn, they prolly have a bunch of take off parts from the Darkhorse series as well

This setup has run on 3 of our local TX cars with good success. It's similar to what Middleton does. Its a good start that calms down the chassis motions, has good grip and is fun and controllable with the power.

Steeda dual rate springs
Steeda 38mm front bar (its larger than the normal 550 kit bar)
Steeda 25mm rear bar
2.5-3.5* front camber - 0 toe. You can get 2.5-3 with the oem handlng pack camber plates and slotting the strut to knuckle hole 1mm. * Anything more requires aftermarket plates and drilling out the strut tower.
1.5-2 rear camber , 1/8-1/4" toe in.- no special parts needed.

Tires - in order of speed
Goodyear Supercar 3R - 305/30/20 - fastest but comes with only 4/32, and needs heat to work
Nankang CRS 325/30/20 - will work on 11-11.5 wheels - fast all around 200TW that you can drive to track
Vitour P1 325/30/20 - similar to nankang, a little bit slower, but still good. More like oem cup2 pace.

Brakes - stock, but switch to better fluid - AP R4 works great and needs very little bleeding

Aero - I would do this next, before more suspension/chassis - the car really wants to have some rear wing because of the straightaway speed it can generate between elements. It really helps with corner entry stability. The OEM cftp style wing or a Anderson clone is very good but pricey. APR 250 or 9LR are good budget options.

I'm fortunate enough to live in the same area as Stan so get to hang out with him occasionally at the track - he knows what he's doing on these cars.

I have a CFTP I’ve done just 5 days with and it doesn’t need anything from stock other than taking off the rain tray, brake fluid and an alignment to run A group pace other than lots of fuel. I do like the Carbotech pads in my build thread and they don’t make the ABS crazy.

Bouncing Soul said:

I have a CFTP I’ve done just 5 days with and it doesn’t need anything from stock other than taking off the rain tray, brake fluid and an alignment to run A group pace other than lots of fuel. I do like the Carbotech pads in my build thread and they don’t make the ABS crazy.

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Can I get more details on this from your build thread? Thanks...........

"the fill level Tremec suggests for the DCT is to maximize fuel mileage. Tremec suggest an overfill for high HP track use, which PBD optionally did during the build. This is in the manual for Corvettes but I don’t see many Mustang folks talking about it, so worth pointing out."

I realize we don’t have corvettes but my shop did it and says it’s the same.