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S197 Building A Track Capable 3v Mustang Build Thread Profile - S197 Mustangs

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Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,518
8,154
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
303
371
CA
TEN events deep on my Continental ECF's.....

This is officially the longest lasting tire I have ever ran. Extremely impressed in all regards. Will shoot for two more events out of the tire even tough it is running slower. Trying to get my moneys worth....CWW_1415.jpgCWW_0604.jpg

Found myself at Thunderhill for the first time a couple weeks ago. Battling traffic all day, I was finally able to get the rhythm of the track in the last session and ended up with a 2:01.65. Happy with that given it was my first time at the track, I have yet to see another 3v go faster.

I also did another track day at Sonoma. Ended up placing well in the Time attack event, 1:53.5. My PB at Sonoma is 1:52.7
 
303
371
CA
I had a fellow awesome TMO member install some parts for the Bullitt:

1.) Mezeire Electric Water Pump
2.) FRPP One Piece Driveshaft
3.) Fluidyne Triple core triple pass radiator
4.) FR500C ABS Module and GT500 ABS pump
5.) Super sweet custom splitter
6.) MGW shifter

The result? A massive PB of over 1.3s, on tires with 44 heat cycles. Lol. The above mods work!!!!!

Previous fastest ever lap at Buttonwillow was a 1:59.98. Barelyyyyy squeaked into the famous "sub 2" range. That lap was on a fresh of Continental ECF's back when I first got the tire. No aero. It was a "perfect" lap that I could only do once every 10 laps....

Last weekend I ran a 1:58.61 on the 44th heat cycle of my ECF's and it was a really messy lap. Car easily has a 1:57.x in it, but I wasn't able to realize that before my tires corded on their 45th heat cycle and I parked the car due to safety reasons. RIP continental ECF's.

Thoroughly impressed with the top end power gains the EWP offers as well as the front aero on the car. Both were very noticeable from the driver's seat.

I don't know of a street legal 3v on 200tw tires which has gone faster, but I am really excited to push the S197 in 3v form to the absolute limit over the coming years. Stay tuned.....
52657462646_7e7e40bc6f_o (1).jpg52657958873_f44e4f038f_o (1).jpg
 
303
371
CA
Had a great day at buttonwillow raceway chasing all sorts of cars. Clicked off a 1:57.2. As far as I know, that is the fastest lap time a street legal 200tw tire 3v has ever put down at Buttonwillow. Put the kenny brown triple pass, triple core radiator and meziere water pump to the test running 10/10ths laps at ~80°F ambient temperature. Cooling system never missed a beat. Finally got it figured out thanks to @Tri-bar !image0.jpegimage1.jpeg
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,518
8,154
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
Had a great day at buttonwillow raceway chasing all sorts of cars. Clicked off a 1:57.2. As far as I know, that is the fastest lap time a street legal 200tw tire 3v has ever put down at Buttonwillow. Put the kenny brown triple pass, triple core radiator and meziere water pump to the test running 10/10ths laps at ~80°F ambient temperature. Cooling system never missed a beat. Finally got it figured out thanks to @Tri-bar !View attachment 85592View attachment 85591
Thats awesome!
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,518
8,154
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
I see we wear the same racing goggles….lol.



IMG_3173.jpeg
IMG_3174.jpeg
 
42
26
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Los Angeles
Had a great day at buttonwillow raceway chasing all sorts of cars. Clicked off a 1:57.2. As far as I know, that is the fastest lap time a street legal 200tw tire 3v has ever put down at Buttonwillow. Put the kenny brown triple pass, triple core radiator and meziere water pump to the test running 10/10ths laps at ~80°F ambient temperature. Cooling system never missed a beat. Finally got it figured out thanks to @Tri-bar !View attachment 85592View attachment 85591
Such a nice build. Love seeing your car getting faster and faster. 👏
 
539
687
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
SoCal
303
371
CA
AP calipers?! Gosh, might as well be a real race car now 😆 👌
I'm rooting for you to get that 1:55!
The weight savings compared to my existing setup was too hard to ignore.... Between the Cortex goodies and the AP's I dropped ~65lbs off the nose of the car....The price was embarrassing though NGL.

Still hoping to add lightweight battery and lightweight radiator support to drop an additional 35lbs off the nose.
 
303
371
CA
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Had a fantastic time going to Laguna Seca for my 2nd ever track day there. This funny little 3v threw down a 1:39.30, 6 tenths off the pace of spec mustang RACE cars (which have more horsepower, less weight and better aero than me). Very happy with how the car performed and the lap times. Proud of myself for being able to pick up the track so quickly; this car is so dialed in for my driving style it makes it easy. 4 years of R&D paid off!
 
303
371
CA
It's been a while since I've been here!

Changes to the car: tires

After only 24 heat cycles, I chorded my 295/35/18 RE71RS tires. They were a huge step up in grip compared to the continentals, but boy did it sting to see a chord after such a short amount of time. 24 heat cycles. Ouch. With that in mind, I knew I loved the pace of the RE71RS, but disliked the lack of life. So in my research I came across the revised Nankang CR-S, which has been tested to be similar pace as the RE71RS, but 20-30% longer lasting. Grassroots motorsports has a great comparison article between these two tires. With that decided, I pulled the trigger on 315/30/18 CR-S, got them mounted up, and headed to Buttonwillow raceway park. And oh MAN did those Nankangs throw down!!!

We clocked off a 1:55.2. A 1.4s PB compared to my last time at the track. I am very confident that this is the fastest lap time a 3v mustang on a 200tw tire has EVER put down at Buttonwillow raceway park. Perhaps the fastest 3v lap at BRP on any tire. First in class in time attack, third fastest lap of the day despite being literal hundreds of horsepower down from the competition. The only people who beat me were fellow TMO'ers @67GTA and @flyhalf, so, I would say I was in the company of royalty!

What's next for the car? Well, tmo legend @Tri-bar is helping me take this mustang from what was a pseudo street car and moving the scale towards "full race car". My goal is to join NASA TT3 and start resetting their lap records, and compete in nationals if/when they decide to come back to a CA track. Weight reduction, new aero, and some new suspension are in the books. Stay tuned but in the meantime, enjoy these pics of some awesome S-197's.

IMG_5795.jpgIMG_5872.jpg

Black - Sweeper (Session 1) - BW3_0284_Dec1623_847AM_CaliPhoto.jpg
 
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