Build suggestions for track noob

[JoeRedfire3V]

Recently did my first track day in my 06 3v 5 speed at NJMP lightning, and quickly realized I'll be doing a lot more, but have some questions as to the direction to take the car. Mods as follows:
C&L Cold air intake
Pypes long tube headers
Comp NSR cams
Pypes X pipe with high flow cats
Flowmaster 40 series mufflers
Steeda underdrive pulley
SCT brenspeed tune
Steeda charge motion delete plates
Hurst short throw shifter
Clutch (spec 2 or 3?)
Flywheel (lightened steel)
Eaton Trutrac rear differential
Frpp differential cover
4.10 gear
Frpp ksport springs
GT500 strut mounts
GT500 rear lower control arms
FRPP strut tower brace
Whiteline adjustable fr sway bar end links
Koni STR.T struts
Rear lower control arm relocation brackets
GT500 4 piston front brakes
13/14 gt500 rear 13.8 brake conversion
Boss 302 brake lines

Previous owner set the car up for drag racing and it ran high 12s, so I'm content with power.
My concern is that I'm running AMR 18x10 wheels with Federal RSRR tires and I'm happy with the tires, but am slightly nervous about the wheels. I've read that these aren't good track wheels, and have read suggestions to get a better track wheel such as apex. I'm also having a difficult time finding somebody who can balance them because the larger brakes don't offer enough clearance to put weights where they need to be. I'm slightly budget conscious, and would rather not spend money in areas that I don't need to. I do have OE powdercoated black 07-10 GT500 18x9.5 wheels that give me the room to balance on these brakes. Are the factory GT500 wheels strong enough to be good track wheels as opposed to buying a dedicated set of track wheels?
While I feel that seat time is the most important mod, in the 6+ months until the next time I get to the track, should I put more consideration into sway bars and a panhard bar, or would it benefit me more continuing to learn to drive the car as is?
Thanks for any advice

 

[Mad Hatter]

Sway bars are always nice. But track time rules!
How about a Roll Bar?? fire suppression system....
Maybe log the car and check the tune too make sure you are not lean.

 

[JDee]

Ford OEM wheels are strong but heavy AF, and rotating weight is the worst kind, especially for a road course car. Your AMR wheels are probably OK if they're flow formed and in good shape, just clean them well after every track day and inspect them thoroughly. Any cracks or chunks or other defects and they're scrap. A good flow forged 19X11 wheel should be 20-21 lbs. Then there's real forged wheels, but that's in another stratosphere of price.
Welcome to the site!

 

[ChrisM]

Your wheels are probably fine, but the GT500 wheels will work too. You probably won't be able to tell the difference unless you get more experience.

On the other hand, I cracked a set of Forgestars, so anything can happen, but I probably abused the rumble strips a bit...just use either set, inspect them after each run, and save for better wheels. Wheels are a "disposable item," whether we can afford it or not, so just treat them as such and you shouldn't be surprised by any additional expenses.

As for mods, unless you don't have sway bars or a panhard bar at all, I wouldn't change anything and just focus on seat time. Except brake cooling ducts. Get those. Cool that @#$% down and make sure you're running better fluid. Frequently inspect the bushings and replace with upgraded parts as needed. Recommendations for roll bar, seats, and harnesses are spot on too.

 

[Dave_W]

What camber are you running, and how was the track wear across the tire? Didn't see a set of camber/caster plates in your list of mods. You could also upgrade the mediocre Koni STR for the better, and rebound adjustable, Koni Sport (aka Yellows). Or you could spend more money on a "coilover" package from Cortex, Maximum Motorsports, Vorshlag, Ground Control, etc., that uses racing-style 2.5" or 2.25" diameter springs. Note that some folks don't like using a true coilover in the rear because they argue the shock pickup point wasn't designed for the full suspension load; there are adjustable perches available for the factory rear spring mounts.

How was the car's balance with the current suspension? Was it overly loose or pushing in steady-state corners, that could be fixed with swaybars? Getting 2.5-3 degrees negative camber in front will probably improve grip on that end. The stiffer damping of Koni Sports can help "floppiness" in transition. Dive under braking, and squat on acceleration, can be fixed with geometry, stiffer springs, and/or shock damping.

If it were me, camber/caster plates first so tires last longer, then more seat time, then shocks when the current ones feel tired or you want to move to coilovers. Other items only if needed to obtain/maintain handling balance. I'm a proponent of starting on narrower, harder tires with less grip, so you can learn to drive at the limits of adhesion at lower, safer speeds. Super-sticky tires can hide a multitude of driving sins.

 

[JoeRedfire3V]

What camber are you running, and how was the track wear across the tire? Didn't see a set of camber/caster plates in your list of mods. You could also upgrade the mediocre Koni STR for the better, and rebound adjustable, Koni Sport (aka Yellows). Or you could spend more money on a "coilover" package from Cortex, Maximum Motorsports, Vorshlag, Ground Control, etc., that uses racing-style 2.5" or 2.25" diameter springs. Note that some folks don't like using a true coilover in the rear because they argue the shock pickup point wasn't designed for the full suspension load; there are adjustable perches available for the factory rear spring mounts.

How was the car's balance with the current suspension? Was it overly loose or pushing in steady-state corners, that could be fixed with swaybars? Getting 2.5-3 degrees negative camber in front will probably improve grip on that end. The stiffer damping of Koni Sports can help "floppiness" in transition. Dive under braking, and squat on acceleration, can be fixed with geometry, stiffer springs, and/or shock damping.

If it were me, camber/caster plates first so tires last longer, then more seat time, then shocks when the current ones feel tired or you want to move to coilovers. Other items only if needed to obtain/maintain handling balance. I'm a proponent of starting on narrower, harder tires with less grip, so you can learn to drive at the limits of adhesion at lower, safer speeds. Super-sticky tires can hide a multitude of driving sins.

No plates but I can visibly see negative camber, and visually don't see any uneven tire wear after inspecting them off the car. I'm still inexperienced in what I'm feeling, but I felt like the car did everything I asked it to do. I'm not sure if it's worth mentioning. But I am running a 275 square setup, so I never felt like grip or understeer was an issue, but it was only 3 hpde 1 sessions, so it wasn't any kind of hardcore thrashing I was doing. The replies confirm what I already figured - I think I need a lot more seat time to understand what the car does well and what it doesn't.
Thanks for the advice

 

[ChrisM]

What camber are you running, and how was the track wear across the tire? Didn't see a set of camber/caster plates in your list of mods. You could also upgrade the mediocre Koni STR for the better, and rebound adjustable, Koni Sport (aka Yellows). Or you could spend more money on a "coilover" package from Cortex, Maximum Motorsports, Vorshlag, Ground Control, etc., that uses racing-style 2.5" or 2.25" diameter springs. Note that some folks don't like using a true coilover in the rear because they argue the shock pickup point wasn't designed for the full suspension load; there are adjustable perches available for the factory rear spring mounts.

How was the car's balance with the current suspension? Was it overly loose or pushing in steady-state corners, that could be fixed with swaybars? Getting 2.5-3 degrees negative camber in front will probably improve grip on that end. The stiffer damping of Koni Sports can help "floppiness" in transition. Dive under braking, and squat on acceleration, can be fixed with geometry, stiffer springs, and/or shock damping.

If it were me, camber/caster plates first so tires last longer, then more seat time, then shocks when the current ones feel tired or you want to move to coilovers. Other items only if needed to obtain/maintain handling balance. I'm a proponent of starting on narrower, harder tires with less grip, so you can learn to drive at the limits of adhesion at lower, safer speeds. Super-sticky tires can hide a multitude of driving sins.

This is good advice.

 

[TMSBOSS]

Not to throw a wet blanket on the "Spend the others guys Money Party" but.....
I would look for wheels and tires, brake pads and fluids then a good driving coach. Make the car safe (Brakes), make it grip, learn to drive the car to that level/limit then start the printing press. Then I would add brake cooling for the front, camber plates and more seat time. Did I say seat time. LOL.

Welcome to the club.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Recently did my first track day in my 06 3v 5 speed at NJMP lightning, and quickly realized I'll be doing a lot more, but have some questions as to the direction to take the car.

Are the factory GT500 wheels strong enough to be good track wheels as opposed to buying a dedicated set of track wheels?

I ran my first half dozen events on those same wheels, with 1st gen Goodyear Asymmetric tires in 255/45-18 all around. In my case, it was because that had been the choice I'd made purely for street duty a couple of years before.

While I feel that seat time is the most important mod, in the 6+ months until the next time I get to the track, should I put more consideration into sway bars and a panhard bar, or would it benefit me more continuing to learn to drive the car as is?
Thanks for any advice

Brake pads. If this car is going to see any significant amount of street driving, I'd look at Carbotech XP10 of G-loc R10, as those have the fewest downsides in street driving. There are other pads that are probably comparable, but those are the ones I have experience with on my '08. XP8/R8 isn't quite enough pad for an S197 even at NJMP - which isn't all that hard on brakes with the only two hard braking zones (T1 and T5) being nicely-spaced and not a lot of work for the brakes in between. Thunderbolt isn't much different in this respect (NJMP is my home track).

Shocks & struts - no hurry here, but you may find you want more damping than what STRt's can provide. I've been running yellows on mine since about 2010 (before I started this track day thing).

Your car already has somewhat firmer springs, so you can probably hold off a bit on sta-bars, like until you can at least begin to feel that more roll stiffness or a different handling balance is going to help. And as long as you're running wheels 10" wide or less there isn't any need to do anything about the PHB. I didn't touch the PHB on my car until I moved up to Forgestar 18x11 wheels and 285/35 MPSS tires (and all I did then was DIY-stiffen the bushings in the OE bar).


Norm

 

[Opolis]

I've basically been following the path of advice from everyone above and can confirm it is spot on. First track day, my only mods were shocks/struts, springs, and a brake fluid flush. Over time I have added better brakes/brake cooling, more negative camber, square wheel setup with better tires...it has made a huge difference. Each track day I get a better feel for the car and take note of any changes that could be made to improve it.

I would say the STRTs are the only thing I wish I would have done differently, but they are okay for just starting out. As the grip level goes up from other mods, it becomes more apparent how soft they are.
I had some SVE wheels, another budget "house" brand option, and one developed a crack on the inside lip after a few track days. Picked up some Apex's and it had been the most significant improvement I've made so far.