Building it right for road course!

[MachUno]

Hi. I am new to the site and new to road course driving.
I've done an HPDI at NCM in KY and & 1 track night.
I could really use some advice on how to CORRECTLY build this car for 75% track use.
What does the S550 need to be competitive and safe. Are heat issues a serious problem?
Here is the set up so far....
* 2015 GT manual trans. w/performance package
* Michelin Pilot 4s 255/40/19 and 275/40/19
* Brembo at all 4 corners
* Eibach drop springs 1.25" front 1" rear
* Koni yellows front and rear
* Eibach front and rear sway bars
* Oil separator
Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[Ewheels]

Hi and welcome to the site! Hopefully I can help here as I went through the same issue not too long ago.

I'd say the biggest things are wheels/tires and brakes.
If you can budget it, get a track-dedicated set of 19x11 +50 wheels and some 200tw 305 tires. These cars benefit drastically from 305 at every corner. You will need extended studs and 25mm spacers for the front so you can rotate tires. This will extend the tire life. A set of camber plates will extend your tire life as well and additionally, give you better turn-in.
Next, brake pads. Everyone has their favorite but I use G-Loc for the track and they aren't overly harsh on the street. You could run these pads year round without issue.
Get the Vorshlag brake deflectors as well for some brake cooling. Will make pads and rotors last longer.

I don't have heat issues if ambient temps stay below 75° or so. Over that, you'll get 1 or 2 laps before your water temps or oil temps are too high. That being said, I wouldn't modify cooling until it's an issue. It may take you some time to build up speed to the point where cooling is a concern. No point fixing a problem you don't yet have.

 

[TMSBOSS]

"Building it Right" is so subjective. It has much to do with budget, driving style(Experience) and what 75% means.

Will the car be street driven? Is a back seat important? Budget? Who is doing the work? How many events in a year will you attend?

A more deliberate approach may be the best route. Make sure the car is safe; brakes, belts/harnesses/Hans, tires and wheels. This should be your first "Spends". Then SEAT TIME with good instruction. We can help you spend money on the car After you are safe and comfortable in the car. Get with NASA, SCCA or any local organization which guide you through the learning process.
This sport is not cheap. You can save a bunch by learning from others mistakes/learning processes.

Welcome to the site and the Sport!!!

 

[blacksheep-1]

check the rule book first.
Also, although the 19s may show an improvement, IMO 18 inch is the way to go because there are literally thousands of 18 inch take off from the Pirelli, Michelin and SCCA series for you to use.
Since you have started by using Eibach parts, I would recommend that you stay with their products throughout the build. If at some point, you choose to go with coil overs, you should probably stay away from anything that costs less than about $5K. The off the spring shocks will be fine, in the future, you may want to invest in some adjustable ones. Stay conservative in your mods, concentrate on things like driving ability, and vehicle reliability.

 

[MachUno]

Thanks For the advice. I bought this car specifically to learn HPD. I‘ll concentrate on stopping and turning first. I’ve lined up a few driving days at Road Atlanta and NCM just to get some seat time.

 

[ncpeds]

I would concentrate on brakes first. Get good pads and maybe even rotors. Also consider front brake cooling. Mustangs are heavy cars that are hard on brakes. After that I'd do safety- HANS, etc. Then tires and the many other things down the rabbit hole of tracking a car. It's addicting.

 

[TMSBOSS]

I’ve lined up a few driving days at Road Atlanta and NCM just to get some seat time.

Interesting. When will you be at RA?

 

[JP X]

Hi. I am new to the site and new to road course driving.
I've done an HPDI at NCM in KY and & 1 track night.
I could really use some advice on how to CORRECTLY build this car for 75% track use.
What does the S550 need to be competitive and safe. Are heat issues a serious problem?
Here is the set up so far....
* 2015 GT manual trans. w/performance package
* Michelin Pilot 4s 255/40/19 and 275/40/19
* Brembo at all 4 corners
* Eibach drop springs 1.25" front 1" rear
* Koni yellows front and rear
* Eibach front and rear sway bars
* Oil separator
Thanks for any and all advice!

These guys have great advice. One thing I’d add other than seat time is that if you have the same slip-sliding’ leather seats that I did...get something stickier. Makes a big difference in how you “feel” the car. That said...it really opens you up to the go-fast crack-pipe. “Well if I get seats, I need harnesses and a HANS, which means I need a half cage, which means a rear-seat delete, and I now have a great place to mount a GoPro, and a good GPS is only $175 so why not, and since it will be in the shop for the cage might as well do full suspension, and...”
In hindsight I wish I had slow-rolled the upgrades. I added everything at once and the next time on track I was struggling to understand the car. For instance, I wish I’d done anti-roll bars without coil-overs so I could learn what they were doing vs. what I was familiar with. But I am a noob, so there’s that.

 

[TMSBOSS]

Battling the wars between wants, needs and like to haves are are always fun. Add in time available and one tends to throw stuff at the problem and then wonder where the money went. Thankfully, my wife has always been able to point out exactly where I spend my fun money.
Our cars come fairly well sorted out for the beginner. Make it safe, then learn what you and the car can and can't do. We will help you spend from there.

Firtst question to ask is "What do I want the car to do". When you have the answer, write it down or scope crepe will take over.

 

[MachUno]

Mostly I want the car to stay planted in the corners and stop me before a wall does.
I’m a mechanic by trade and don’t mind doing the work. I just want to do it in the right steps, so thanks for all your input.
When I was at HPDI at NCM I was mainly using 3-4th-5th gears and I was down-shifting more than I was using the brakes. Is this a good form or should I be just On the brakes more. Does it matter or just personal preference.
Because of COVID restrictions my Instructor was in his car ahead of me and it was just “follow the leader” so I was just kind of figuring it out as I went along. and having a blast doing it!
( sorry TMSBOSS, I meant AMP, not Road Atlanta. I will be there this Sunday with Chin)

 

[TMSBOSS]

No worries. I need to get to AMP also. Just not this weekend. I am heading North for a week.
I do most of my own work also. The only thing I have not down personally on my cars are the alignments, no equipment. Brake, suspension, clutch, roll bars all taken care of at my home shop. The mods are half the fun of ownership.

 

[MachUno]

Agreed! I've restored-rodded or resto-moded nearly every mustang from '65 - 90. I always had more fun building them than driving them....until now!

 

[PaddyPrix]

I tried to do it with my 2019GT before that 75% had me lusting after 100%, and so I ended up selling it and buying a straight up POS.

You've got the performance pack, which gives you a much better rear and braking setup than the base GT (lucky) so if I were to do it again...

First up, brakes, our cars are very powerful, and they are very heavy. Get yourself some better brake fluid (Motul RBF-600, RBF-660, Castrol SRF) because depending on your local course layouts, these things can stop remarkably well but they will also generate and build up some heat in doing so. Some aren't bad, but the more speed you have the scrub, the worse they'll get. I'll go as far to say that it's impossible to find a set of brake pads that can do double duty, easier to just get another set of track pads (G-LOC R12, Hawk DTC-60) and track rotors, because it's not too much of a hassle to switch them in/out the night before and after the events. Sounds silly, but it'll keep costs down when you then just get a set of cheap factory blank rotors for street duty to use with your stock pads, extending the life on the pads which are a few hundred.

Next up, tires. If you can afford such, perhaps following a similar logic to the brakes, would be to have two sets of wheels and tires. You can stick a set of tires in the car, 18" much easier than the 20's that I used to use (I'm an idiot). Apex makes some solid and economical 18x11 which unlock the 315/30-18's, and echoing others, they're a popular size with race teams where scrubs can be had for $100/tire which isn't bad for cheap seat time. For some reason, 295/30-18 Toyo RR's are silly cheap at just over $200/tire, certainly worth looking into if you can get 20-24 cycles out of them. Should you bend/damage the Apex, replacement rim is only half the price, which is great.

Cooling might be another thing to look at, something like a larger Mishimoto radiator is a cheap way to increasing your cooling capacity and lower the temperatures, although my base GT didn't really have problems until the 100F+ days which I hope you don't get as often as we do out here.

 

[Nick20GTPP]

All great points but I'd like to emphasis TMOBOSS's quote " Our cars come fairly well sorted out for the beginner. Make it safe, then learn what you and the car can and can't do".

You have a Performance Package car so your engine cooling and braking are already a good improvement over the base GT. I would first focus on:

• Oil: make sure you are running the proper oil weight based on track use and temp, a search of this forum will give you lots of info regarding this topic
• Transmission Fluid: Motul and AMSOIL make great DCT fluid for the MT-82 transmission
• Rear Differential Fluid: Higher weight w110 or w140 based on temps and driving characteristics
• Flush and bleed the brakes with a proper Racing Brake Fluid (Motul RBF-600, Castrol SRF)
• After your factory pads are below 50% change based on others comments and/or search the forum. Lots of good options.
• SAFETY
  • Helment
  • HANS or Simpson Hybrid S (if wearing factory seat belt)
  • Harness
    • Schroth Quick Fit Pro; or
    • Schroth 6 point harness with Watson or CMS half cage or roll bar
  • Consider clothing (e.g. driving pants or suit, shoes, gloves, etc.)
• Invest in seat time and quality instruction with good organizations such as Chin, Just Track It, and many others based on your region.

I am at Road Atlanta several times a year. I try and post events I am attending in the events section. Hope to see you there sometime!

Welcome to the forum and the sport!! Make your car safe and enjoy the process. Learn the car and have fun along the way . When it's time to invest in upgrades you will know (temp issues, brake issues, etc.).

Cheers

 

[bnight]

To add to the point I drove my first season completely stock GT PP with the Pirelli PZero (terrible tire but durable). I was slower than what the car could do so instead of improving it I wanted to see how fast I can go with that setup. My local track is 2 km long And my times first time out were 1:19.4 by the end of the season was down to 1:14 and I considered this a great success.
First Season I went trough a set of break pads (OEM Ferodo DS2500), a few oil changes and one diff oil change.

For the Second season I added better Tires 275/35 semi slicks, Camber Plates (got sick of trashing my tires outer edge), and a Front Swaybar for Steeda. And this dropped my times bellow 1:10.

Now in my 3rd Season with the car I added better brake pads R10/R8 and harder semi slicks.

What issues I faced with the car:

First Wheel hubs (but this was not because of track though rears will brake on track). I replaced all 4 now and replaced rear left twice.

MT82 in the second season had an oil leak and a small tick at exactly 60 km/h and only there. New oil and a rebuild and it's good as new luckly shift forks were ok.

Overall I suggest get to know the car before investing a lot of money in upgrades.

 

[MachUno]

I did My first track day with Chin at AMP Atlanta yesterday. To get ready, I changed the engine oil to 5w50. Amsoil in the trans and rear diff. and racing brake fluid as you all suggested. The temps got over 90 but the car did great. Never got above normal coolant temp. I was able to do about 5, 30 minute sessions and learned a lot about TI TO and Apex.
The pilot 4s tires hooked great until the end of the day when I was picking up other people’s rubber. lol
my next move will be some better brake pads and disks for sure.
Thanks again everyone!

 

[TMSBOSS]

Fantastic. As you get better, things will get warmer. Rear diff and trans along with coolant and brakes.
Keep an eye on temps and have fun.

 

[Tonymustang302]

The one thing i would recommend is taking all the nannies off….you will get a better feel for the car. i drove in sport mode last year on my gt350 and i didnt realize how much the car held me back with traction control etc etc…

 

[MachUno]

Yes, I’m seeing that Already. I turned the traction control off and it was instantly better.

 

[BluPil]

Yes, I’m seeing that Already. I turned the traction control off and it was instantly better.

Just the traction control? Or the accutrack also? You have to hold the button up for about 10 seconds to turn it off.