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S197 2014 Mustang GT Track Pack Build Thread Profile - S197 Mustangs

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Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,425
8,352
Exp. Type
Time Attack
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20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Beautiful color, of course, ha , and nice mods. Bet you are having a great time with it in TT3 and I am envious of where you get to run the White Stallion. My two absolute favorite tracks in the US are Utah Motorsports Park ( Miller just sounds better , though) and Road Atlanta. There are plenty of others that I really enjoy , but getting to run the entire 4+ mile track is really at hoot there in the high desert close to the Great Salt Lake. Looks to me like it is time to cage and thanks for posting the machine , she is a quality clone!
 
179
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Utah
Beautiful color, of course, ha , and nice mods. Bet you are having a great time with it in TT3 and I am envious of where you get to run the White Stallion. My two absolute favorite tracks in the US are Utah Motorsports Park ( Miller just sounds better , though) and Road Atlanta. There are plenty of others that I really enjoy , but getting to run the entire 4+ mile track is really at hoot there in the high desert close to the Great Salt Lake. Looks to me like it is time to cage and thanks for posting the machine , she is a quality clone!

Thanks Bill. I started driving at Miller Motorsports park after a few days at the Racing School. I too liked that name best, but at least the track is still open! The NASA Utah club rarely gets to run the full course as it takes quite a bit of time in the daily schedule to clear the track between groups. But once a year we have the "Tresduro" where we get to run three configurations in TT, East, West and Full and race for combined times. It is one of my favorite days of the year.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,425
8,352
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Now that sounds like a bucket list event. I definitely want to get back there in the next couple of years, as the track has really good memories for me and some friends. Plus I love the flow of the track, especially the West Track! If you have any videos , do drop a few on us here, as the old Ford Performance School Track holds a spot in the annuals of Blue Oval Bench Racing , ha!!!
 
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What pads are you running?

Do you have a torque arm or watts?

To be honest I have struggled to find brake pads to my liking as I have gotten a bit faster. I am in the camp of "improve the car until the driver catches up, then improve the car, until the driver catches up again." About three years ago, I went from Hawk HP+, which worked very well for me until I got too fast for them, and went to a Hawk HT-10 (very aggressive). I have a massive spin under braking to show for it. I think part of it is that the stock ABS doesn't know what to do with a very aggressive pad. (I might get flamed for that, but it is an opinion...)

At that point my braking confidence was shot. Since then I have tried a few different pads, settled on the G-Loc R12 in front and R-8 in back for a while. It was better, but I am still searching for something that will help me get confidence back. And, yes, I know most of the problem is behind the steering wheel but if I can find a setting that I can regain confidence, I am all for that.

This last track weekend, I dialed it back a bit more and put Hawk Blue on the front and Hawk HP+ on the back. By the end of the weekend I was feeling pretty good. I have to work with them more. (How is that for a long story about brake pads...)

I am running a Cortex Watts Link, no on the torque arm. Honestly, I can't say that I felt a difference going from the pan hard rod to the Watts Link. I get more response out of the rear by adjustments to tire pressure and rebound/compression damping.

Full setup for reference:
Ground Control Koni D/A
550 lb Front, 250 lb rear
FRPP from swaybar - stiff position
18mm rear swaybar.
Cortex Watts Link
 
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Utah
Tell us more about how the spin happened - where at on the track; straight-line braking, trail braking, front locked, rear locked, etc.

It’s one thing to make a mistake on track, it’s another to have everyone that has a camera somehow looking at you when you do it! The spin was on the back straight, West side of Utah Motorsports Campus, going into Black Rock Hairpin, so it is like 110 mph to about 55 mph. I was chasing down a friend in the blue Mustang ahead. He is usually much faster than me, but was on street tires at the time. I was braking in a straight line, and from the video it looks like the left rear locked. As far as the mistake I made, I think I left on too much brake pressure as the car slowed, trying to brake late and make up time.

The car spun right toward the outside wall, I corrected and it spun back to the left. I went two feet in and the car did a very nice 360, straight out into the runoff, but did go 4 wheels off. But I didn’t collect my friend’s car or hit a wall.

Here is the video and a few pictures from the track photo guy. I do remember distinctly out of the corner of my eye, the flagger ducking for cover and the photo guy standing firm, getting the picture. The spin is at the end of the video with I think three different angles.


75931959-NASAUtah2018Rd1SaturdayCAM-77.jpg

75931960-NASAUtah2018Rd1SaturdayCAM-76.jpg
 
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Utah
Sounds like the rear started hopping a bit from lockup.

I'd look into raybestos ST47F/43R.

I have read a few threads here about rear hop under braking. I haven't felt what they are describing, but it does make sense what you are saying. I didn't experience any noises at the time that I can remember.

I have heard good things about the Raybestos pads as well.
 
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Utah
2014 Mustang GT Track Pack

Well I made the switch from the 2006 Mustang GT (FR500S Clone) with the 3V to a 2014 Mustang GT Track Pack car. I have had the car since June, but wanted to document the purchase and build so far. I had been looking at salvage cars and even bid on a few, but had planned out the build and limited myself on the cost of the donor car.

Then I saw this ad on racing junk, with some pictures on Facebook marketplace:

<begin ad>
Car is located in Tampa with builder. Some of the spare parts are located in Texas with me. Can gather everything in either location for sale.

2014 mustang GT trackpack. 60k miles I believe. Project stalled out and I'm ready to let it go. Car ran and drove when left with the builder. Probably needs a battery and fresh gas at this point. Car is gutted to prepare for a cage

Parts currently on the car:
Cortex Racing Front SLA
Cortex Racing modified OEM knuckles
Ford Racing hubs with ARP extended studs.
Penske 8760s all around
Cortex watts link and breather
Maximum motorsports LCA
Multimatic UCA(modified OEM piece that uses a spherical bearing)
Torsen t2r diff and 3.73 gears
ARH longtubes with Catted h pipe
Stainlessworks Retro-Chambered cat back
Ford racing upgraded aluminum radiator
Morris engineering lightweight battery mount
Morris engineering brake rotors
Ford racing ABS module
Sparco evo drivers seat.
Forgestar f14 19x10 wheels.
MGW race spec shifter

Parts that come with the car:
2 sets of forgestar f14 18x11 wheels
Dailey engineering dry sump pan-New, never installed
Used gt350 tremec TR3160-bought to replace the mt82 but never installed
Carbon dash shell-New in shipping crate
Dry carbon roof panel- New still in shipping crate
Bolt in 4 point roll bar
<end ad>

I was very interested and contacted the seller right away. Most may have been turned off by the condition of the car, but this whole track driving thing has changed me as a car guy. The seller was a great guy and we connected right away on a shared passion of tracking cars. The car had been sitting for about 3 years in Omaha and Florida, but the seller was willing to have the builder prime the engine and verify it ran, and it ran like a top!

The seller had parts in Houston, the car was in Florida and other parts in Omaha. We agreed that I could pick up the car in Omaha. Much closer to Utah. Took about 4 weeks to get a weekend where we could meet after he got the parts together. Seller was great to work with.

Picked up the car the on Monday, May 24th and trailered it back to Utah. My good friend and fellow track rat went with me. For some reason the wife was not quite as interested in driving 12 hours one way, overnighting, picking up a car and driving 12 hours back... Wonder why?

So far so good! More to come.

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Car at the builder in Florida

C47B2FF9-9BBA-46F0-AEBA-C32DF728A70D.jpeg
Mostly stripped to be readied for a cage.

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A Coyote to match my truck!

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Metal art work?

IMG_6027.jpeg
Couple of duffers with ear to ear grins!
 
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Now with the car home, May 25th, it was time to assess what I had to do to get it on track. Having sat for 3 years, I needed to go through and refresh the parts that would go bad. The builder where the car was had primed the engine and started it as a condition of sale. It ran good.

The goal was to take the car to the June 19th NASA weekend at Utah Motorsports Campus. About three weeks. I wanted to get it on track and start to work on dialing it in. Also, in needed to get my other car up for sale.

I had started pre-ordering parts so I would have most of them when the car arrived at the house, figuring that if the sale fell through I would be returning items.

Radiator hoses, o-rings and seals
Water Pump
All fluids, spark plugs
Mishimoto oil cooler
Trackspec hood vents
Brake ducting

One problem was the dash. I didn’t feel like running it with the dash half ripped out and the dash steel structure exposed was safe in the case of an accident. Also, based on my TT classification, I knew I would need to add some weight to make TT3 figuring that the car as it sits was underweight. So I started looking at the local wrecking yards for an answer. The local pic-a-part had a 2012 Mustang V6 convertible with almost the entire dash in place. Only missing a few bezels. So about 3 hours on a Saturday morning and I had an almost complete dash, HVAC, center console. Time to prep and install!

With much help from my friend, we were able to get the car running and ready with the dash installed, Watson roll bar and other bits. Starting to come together!

I wasn’t too concerned about suspension setup yet, other than damper settings. From what I was told the car was setup by the builder so it should be pretty close (more on that in a later post…)

With my deadline for running the car at the track looking like a reality, I had to schedule a dyno run just a few days prior to class the car, which meant I had to have the car drivable and at least licensed with a temporary permit as I don’t own a trailer and typically drive to the track. I set that up for the Wednesday before the event.

Dyno day arrived. I had the car on a temporary, and had taken it for some local drives, but had not been on the freeway yet. Man was the ride great! Any other human would have hated it! Super stiff with the current autocross setup, loud as hell! Also, I didn’t have any of the HVAC hooked up yet and lucky me the heater was stuck on! Boy that was a hot ride!

Having researched stock dyno charts, I was hoping to come in at about 380 HP (has a Lund tune, long tubes and 3” exhaust, but otherwise stock) which would allow me to finish the season where I started in TT3. Well, the car dynoed at 413 HP 6,500 RPM and 399 Torque at 4,400 RPM. Pretty healthy, but I had some juggling to do before I could make TT3. Running Toyo RR tires (+.6), and classing as Base Trim Aero by remove the splitter and run no wing (+.4) I could make the average 402 HP at 3500 lbs.

Done!

Next up - To the track!

IMG_6112.jpegIMG_6129.jpegIMG_6143.jpegIMG_6153.jpeg
 
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Utah
First track weekend was the NASA Utah event at Utah Motorsports Campus running the West Track. The west track is a fast layout, very sweeping and not as technical as the East Track. Not necessarily a horsepower layout (that is the Outer Track). Going into it I wasn’t going to run the car hard or try for a personal best or anything. I just wanted to get a feel for the car. Having come from riding motocross all my life I have seen a few too many broken collar bones taking a new bike to the track and riding it like you did your old bike.

The car was setup for CAM-C autocross. I am not sure what that means as I have never autocrossed a car, but in this case it meant very stiff springs. Here is the setup as I ran the first day:

Front:
Cortex SLA
Penske 8760 dampers
1200 lb spring
Cortext 35mm swaybar (4 positions) 2nd from full stiff

Rear:
350 lb spring
Cortex Watts Link (2nd hole from the bottom)
Penskey 8760 dampers

Toyo RR 315/30-18 tires on Apex 11” wheels.

I started the day with the dampers on full soft and quickly had to roll in some damping as the car was very “darty” and unstable, both at speed on the straights and under braking. I basically drove the car as is and learned that it wasn’t very close for this kind of driving.

After dialing in some damping the car settled down a bit, but was still twitchy on the straights and under braking. So I have some work to do to setup the car. The car was pretty balanced in the corners, close enough to be able to balance it further with damping.

All in all a great weekend. The Coyote power is amazing compared to my trusty 3V. Car weighed the same, but had almost 110 lb/ft of torque more (399) and about 80 horsepower (413). The power was awesome! If you don’t have one and can afford one, you are missing out.

I did end up setting a personal best on the weekend, even not driving very hard. How could I not with what seemed like all the power in the world!

Now to start working on the setup with the help of some great drivers on TMO.

IMG_6162.jpeg
Setting the ride height takes finding the cute lady that roams around the house (with a LOT of ballast under the seat) and convincing her you will be done in a few minutes... more...

IMG_6172.jpeg
Here is the Mustang group in the West Day Garage at UMC.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,425
8,352
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
I would have to think the front springs are a bit too high for the car, but that is just based on my car and some of the other Bosses/S197s I have driven while Instructing. Part of the initial issue may be the Toyo RRs also, some folks find them to be a bit darty ( as you describe it ) and I would concur after having stuck them on my car. What camber are you running along with your tire pressure?
 

Dave_W

Cones - not just for ice cream
984
1,277
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Connecticut
I would have to think the front springs are a bit too high for the car, but that is just based on my car and some of the other Bosses/S197s I have driven
This would be true only if the Cortex SLA front suspension has the same motion ratio as the factory McStruts. I think @Fabman has the Cortex SLA front end, so he may have input on spring rates.
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
This would be true only if the Cortex SLA front suspension has the same motion ratio as the factory McStruts.

…which it doesn’t. Even just eyeballing it, the rates are consistent with CorteX suspension tuning philosophy, IMO.



Take your time tuning the dampers. Or more importantly spend the time to understand how to tune them. It’ll be worth it in the end. I suggest finding an area the you can test safely. And write everything down. Specific settings and your notes about how the car behaves at each setting.

Good luck, and congrats on the new car.
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,519
8,154
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
This would be true only if the Cortex SLA front suspension has the same motion ratio as the factory McStruts. I think @Fabman has the Cortex SLA front end, so he may have input on spring rates.

Cortex offers both 850# and 1000# setups. I know some very fast cars with both. I’m at 1000# and the car feels very soft to me but the front end has always been so good I have resisted springing it up. So I am considering a few different routes. The new cambered rear end threw a wild card into the setup and I have to re evaluate how best to handle the new developments. (Pun intended)
 
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Utah
I would have to think the front springs are a bit too high for the car, but that is just based on my car and some of the other Bosses/S197s I have driven while Instructing. Part of the initial issue may be the Toyo RRs also, some folks find them to be a bit darty ( as you describe it ) and I would concur after having stuck them on my car. What camber are you running along with your tire pressure?
I think you are correct in that the Toyo RR is not enough tire for this heavy of spring rate. I ran the RR on my 3V and didn't have any of the same handling feel. In subsequent track days I start to move down on the spring rates and with some great advice on setup, it get's much better.
 
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Utah
…which it doesn’t. Even just eyeballing it, the rates are consistent with CorteX suspension tuning philosophy, IMO.



Take your time tuning the dampers. Or more importantly spend the time to understand how to tune them. It’ll be worth it in the end. I suggest finding an area the you can test safely. And write everything down. Specific settings and your notes about how the car behaves at each setting.

Good luck, and congrats on the new car.
Thanks, it has been a learning experience, especially with the setup. With my old car there was only so much I could do to change the geometry and other aspects of the setup. I have learned by much trial and error (an a lot of help from @Fabman) that the more you can change, the more you can do it wrong! Still learning for sure, taking it slow and working on one thing at a time testing and on track.
 

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