S197 2008 American Iron Mustang GT Build Thread Profile - S197 Mustangs

[Badger]

Talking about a sleeper here. I spend half the weekend walking by your car and had no idea how much suspension work is in it. So awesome!

 

[Ludachris]

Talking about a sleeper here. I spend half the weekend walking by your car and had no idea how much suspension work is in it. So awesome!

I want to see some pics from the event!

 

[Don Lariviere]

Talking about a sleeper here. I spend half the weekend walking by your car and had no idea how much suspension work is in it. So awesome!

Yup! That is mainly why I can hang near the front of the American Iron field with only a 330rwhp and 308ftlbs 3V. At Buttonwillow I finished ahead of 400hp Coyote powered cars. At Willow Springs it was a much bigger difference (75% of the track is full throttle!), I could only get within 2 seconds of Ryan who has 370hp in a 3000lb Fox.

By the American Iron rules - 9lb/hp 8.5lb/ftlb - I'm at 3280lbs (with a 250lb driver...) so I can be at 365hp and 388ftlbs. There is no way I'm going to make that with the 3V, I've been trying to decide what engine to do Coyote or 2.3L Ecoboost. Or I'll try and cut another 300lbs out of the car!! Either way if we don't have more cars showing up in class I'll probably sell it instead of putting a different engine in it. Having only 2, sometimes 3 cars in class isn't much fun, nor warrants the investment.

 

[67GTA]

Yup! That is mainly why I can hang near the front of the American Iron field with only a 330rwhp and 308ftlbs 3V. At Buttonwillow I finished ahead of 400hp Coyote powered cars. At Willow Springs it was a much bigger difference (75% of the track is full throttle!), I could only get within 2 seconds of Ryan who has 370hp in a 3000lb Fox.

By the American Iron rules - 9lb/hp 8.5lb/ftlb - I'm at 3280lbs (with a 250lb driver...) so I can be at 365hp and 388ftlbs. There is no way I'm going to make that with the 3V, I've been trying to decide what engine to do Coyote or 2.3L Ecoboost. Or I'll try and cut another 300lbs out of the car!! Either way if we don't have more cars showing up in class I'll probably sell it instead of putting a different engine in it. Having only 2, sometimes 3 cars in class isn't much fun, nor warrants the investment.

View attachment 65618

What about an 3.5L Ecoboost? I haven’t seen one in a Mustang, but there’s a lot of them out there and the potential has certainly been proven in the GT. After talking to you about your BIW, my mind immediately wandered towards the 3.5L.

 

[Badger]

Yup! That is mainly why I can hang near the front of the American Iron field with only a 330rwhp and 308ftlbs 3V. At Buttonwillow I finished ahead of 400hp Coyote powered cars. At Willow Springs it was a much bigger difference (75% of the track is full throttle!), I could only get within 2 seconds of Ryan who has 370hp in a 3000lb Fox.

By the American Iron rules - 9lb/hp 8.5lb/ftlb - I'm at 3280lbs (with a 250lb driver...) so I can be at 365hp and 388ftlbs. There is no way I'm going to make that with the 3V, I've been trying to decide what engine to do Coyote or 2.3L Ecoboost. Or I'll try and cut another 300lbs out of the car!! Either way if we don't have more cars showing up in class I'll probably sell it instead of putting a different engine in it. Having only 2, sometimes 3 cars in class isn't much fun, nor warrants the investment.

View attachment 65618

I`m currently looking into caging my car, which would open up multiple w2w opportunities. What tires/size do you guys run and what times is the field running at BRP? Mine is definitely on the hefty side right now, but that can be fixed.

On another note, how did the cambered rear improve your driving and lap times?

 

[Don Lariviere]

What about an 3.5L Ecoboost? I haven’t seen one in a Mustang, but there’s a lot of them out there and the potential has certainly been proven in the GT. After talking to you about your BIW, my mind immediately wandered towards the 3.5L.

I was thinking about the 3.5L, but it really isn't any lighter than the coyote, the CG is a lot lower however. If I decide to run the car in ST/TT2 I would probably do the 3.5L because I would need even more Hp. For AI I would love to get another 100lb off of the nose with the 2.3L, would pick up a fair amount of apex speed. That would move the car from 56% front weight to 54%. Pretty significant.

 

[Don Lariviere]

I`m currently looking into caging my car, which would open up multiple w2w opportunities. What tires/size do you guys run and what times is the field running at BRP? Mine is definitely on the hefty side right now, but that can be fixed.

On another note, how did the cambered rear improve your driving and lap times?

The cambered rear is magic in the live axle car. I can trailbrake the car better and get on the power earlier. I swapped it in with the Cortex front at the same time so no direct comparison, but I dropped 2-3 seconds a lap at BW with the same engine and gearing. As I have learned to drive the setup better it just keeps getting faster and it is way faster through sweepers, I can reel in 3 car lengths on straight axle cars in Riverside alone going CW and at ACS I'm flat through 1&2 at about 150mph and it has a lot of reserve grip so would probably do 160 flat out (on Toyo RRs!)

The rim rules are a little crappy in AI, 18x9.5" maximum rim size, and have to run on 275 Toyo RRs. On those tires my best at BW #13CW is a 1:57.2 and I think there are still another second to be had if I could actually put a good lap together! ACS best is 1:50.4, but I have never run at ACS with new tires...

If I ever get the car up to the allowable torque that alone would probably drop 2 seconds a lap, the 3V is a total dog coming out of the slower corners. Or get a close ratio gearbox!

Don

edit - fixed rim width

 

[ChrisM]

Does the Ford Racing intake seal against the Tiger Racing hood you have?

 

[Don Lariviere]

Does the Ford Racing intake seal against the Tiger Racing hood you have?

The ford racing cold air cleaner assembly? No it does not. One of the louvers opens up the back of the air filter housing. I tape it up so it seals better and I gutted the left headlight and put a hole in it so I have a 5" air hose going into the air cleaner assembly.

I'll take some pictures next time it's open. Might be a while, some a$$hat broke into my trailer and stole some tools, and the steering wheel off of the car...

 

[ChrisM]

The ford racing cold air cleaner assembly? No it does not. One of the louvers opens up the back of the air filter housing. I tape it up so it seals better and I gutted the left headlight and put a hole in it so I have a 5" air hose going into the air cleaner assembly.

I'll take some pictures next time it's open. Might be a while, some a$$hat broke into my trailer and stole some tools, and the steering wheel off of the car...

I see. My Trackspec louvers are the same way.

That really sucks, sorry to hear that. No respect these days.

 

[LCA1971]

Very nice build!

 

[blacksheep-1]

Running with NASA so the AI race schedule is usually a few times at Buttonwillow, and once at Willow Springs, Chuckwalla, Sonoma, and sometimes Calf. Speedway. WS is closest to me, but I usually test out at Buttonwillow due to the track not being just a top speed test session!

I'm heading to Buttonwillow for a track day test tomorrow, but I'm taking my new TA2 car. It's the wrong brand so no thread on it here...

View attachment 57803

Even if was the right brand, it would still have the wrong engine, if I'm not mistaken

 

[Don Lariviere]

Even if was the right brand, it would still have the wrong engine, if I'm not mistaken

You are correct! It has a 575hp LS3. The thing I have fallen in love with is the transmission - Andrews A431. They are just magic compared to the other dog ring gearboxes.

I'm was actually thinking of sticking an LS3 in the S197 Mustang and running it in NASA AIX. That would be a fast car! But I have way to many other things going on, I'm thinking I'm just going to put the Mustang back together and sell it. Or I might just sell the parts, I can probably get more for the suspension separately than in the car!