S197 First stang Build Thread Profile - S197 Mustangs

[Tim.ocon]

This is the Build Thread for First stang. Reply below.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Are you near Halifax so you can run your car over at Atlantic Motorsports Park that is Northwest of the city? We have some folks from NS on here and plenty of Canadians from all over the Provinces. Welcome and feel free to ask members of TMO questions, we are a fun, friendly group though a few of us are certifiable !

 

[Tim.ocon]

Are you near Halifax so you can run your car over at Atlantic Motorsports Park that is Northwest of the city? We have some folks from NS on here and plenty of Canadians from all over the Provinces. Welcome and feel free to ask members of TMO questions, we are a fun, friendly group though a few of us are certifiable !

That’s actually the only track I go to!
I ran my dads S197 there last season to get my lapping license

Cornerz a member of this group who you have apparently talked to before is actually my dad and if the one who suggested I join this forum

 

[Tim.ocon]

Got the suspension (almost) all put on Sunday!
After waiting for my front struts on back order for what felt like years they finally came in. Full adjustable koni yellows matched with a set of Eibach sportline springs. With the springs and a pair of Eibach camber bolts I achieved 2.2-2.4 degrees of negative camber on the front which is exactly where I was hoping to be.
BMR control arm relocation brackets should be in by the end of the week so that will complete the set up.

unfortunately I forgot to measure the wheel gap before and after but Eibach says it should lower the front 1.2 inches and the rear 1.7 inches

 

[blacksheep-1]

View attachment 95314
Got the suspension (almost) all put on Sunday!
After waiting for my front struts on back order for what felt like years they finally came in. Full adjustable koni yellows matched with a set of Eibach sportline springs. With the springs and a pair of Eibach camber bolts I achieved 2.2-2.4 degrees of negative camber on the front which is exactly where I was hoping to be.
BMR control arm relocation brackets should be in by the end of the week so that will complete the set up.

unfortunately I forgot to measure the wheel gap before and after but Eibach says it should lower the front 1.2 inches and the rear 1.7 inches

Eibach is pretty good about things, their measurements are prolly legit, and FWIW that's also what the Ford Racing springs are which might actually be made by Eibach.

 

[Tim.ocon]

Eibach is pretty good about things, their measurements are prolly legit, and FWIW that's also what the Ford Racing springs are which might actually be made by Eibach.

I had a feeling they were made my eibach because the spring rates are exactly the same between the sport lines and the k springs

 

[Tim.ocon]

First autoX event in the books. Very happy with the Eibach Sportline springs and the koni adjustable. Have to make sure to reset the struts back to soft before driving home. (especially when the girlfriend has to pee)

New tires are definitely in order as my 7 year old Goodyear eagle F1 Supercars are not cutting it

been looking into a few different options
BFGoodrich G-Force Rival 1.5s (first choice)
Falken RT615K+ (second choice)
Falken RT660(third choice)
Kumho V730 (cheapest option)
The main reason I’m leaning toward the BFG is I recently started working for Michelin and will be able to get them cheap

 

[blacksheep-1]

Time to contact @Bill Pemberton

 

[Tim.ocon]

finally installed my exhaust today aswell as got my new (to me) temporary autocross and track tires mounted. Set of 265/35R18 Michelin pilot sport 4s which are definitely worn but for $100CAD I couldn’t say no
Even if they suck they can’t be worse then the 7 year old Goodyears…

 

[302BOB]

Good Buy!!!!!!!!!!!!!........A step in the right direction, for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!.......Good cars need good shoes to get where they're going......................

 

[Tim.ocon]

Good Buy!!!!!!!!!!!!!........A step in the right direction, for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!.......Good cars need good shoes to get where they're going......................

I’d heard mixed reviews on them but for $100 I’ll drive them till they cord

 

[302BOB]

Something better than nothing goes a long way sometimes........Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tim.ocon]

First track day complete!

In between races at Atlantic Motorsport Park this past weekend they held some lapping sessions.
I found out that the street pads I had on were great! For about 30 minutes and then they disintegrate. Luckily I picked up my centric slotted rotors this weekend for my big brake upgrade.

I was pleasantly surprised by the used Michelin PS4S I picked up a few weeks back. Obviously they weren’t perfect but they were better then expected.

Koni adjustables set at full stiffness with my Eibach Sportline springs make the car a “f***ing disaster” quote directly from @Cornerz. I dialled them down it was actually quite comfortable. I went from session one on full stiffness to session two being full soft. My plan had been to do the third session at half stiffness but my brake pads (or lack there off) had different plans.

overall a very positive result!

 

[Dave_W]

The single-adjustable Koni Sport "Yellows" pretty much only changes rebound stiffness when you adjust it. If you crank them all the way hard with relatively light springs, especially if the track surface has some "patter" to it, you can end up "jacking down" the suspension and running on the bumpstops. If the tire feels like it's skipping on the pavement, soften the shocks.

 

[Tim.ocon]

The single-adjustable Koni Sport "Yellows" pretty much only changes rebound stiffness when you adjust it. If you crank them all the way hard with relatively light springs, especially if the track surface has some "patter" to it, you can end up "jacking down" the suspension and running on the bumpstops. If the tire feels like it's skipping on the pavement, soften the shocks.

Yea I definitely felt that. Just gotta do some trail and error to figure out what the best shock settings are

 

[Tim.ocon]

Track day number 2 and 3 completed!

Got back out to AMP for some more lapping this past weekend and had a great time. Set my fastest lap with a 1:22.20 which I’m very happy with considering my lack of competition tires and track pads. That being said the Big brake kit was a MAJOR improvement. Crazy how much faster you can go when you can actually stop. Just running street pads for now but my EBC blue stuff shipped out on Monday.

on a less happy note. My $100 Michelin PS4S did not stand up after day 1, the pre existing camber wear decided to show its true colors and I’m now showing cords on the inside of one of the front tires. Going to check my alignment tomorrow and make sure everything is how I want it.

As I said above my front brakes worked great. Unfortunately I blew a rear piston seal. Got a new calliper on and bled and only missed 1 session. Brakes feel a bit spongey now. Am doing a fluid flush in the next coming week.

 

[Tim.ocon]

Everything is terrible.
Okay well that is a bit extreme but I’m realizing that some things are wrong with the suspension set up. And there is lots I need to sort out.

Issue #1
I’m absolutely EATING the inside of the tires with my street driving which definitely needs to be fixed. Still need to figure out how to do this any input is welcome and helpful.
Ideas currently are as follows

Need an alignment-
could possibly be that I’ve got a wonky toe setting, set it to 0 for a while back but definitely something to check.

bumpsteer causing inside wear?-
I believe that I could have some bump steer happening which could be scrubbing the inside of the tire when driving not just on track but on the street too. Have eibach sportlines on the car which gives quite a drop. Probably to much so that could cause the issue aswell so either new springs or bump steer kit

normal regular everyday camber wear?-
Maybe I’m just insane and the fact I drive the car every day everywhere I go the 2.4ish degrees of negative camber is just going to wreck tires. If that’s the case then maybe camber plates are in order to be able to have limited camber on the street and maximum camber for autoX and track with easy adjustability

issue #2
The car is LOW. Like to low I believe. The eibach sportlines say a drop of 1.5-1.7 inches in the rear which is exponential. I’d love to not have to buy new springs but I’m not sure if there is a way to raise the rear of the car without changing the springs. Something I need to look into. I like the spring rate for street driving and it’s not bad on track either. Just a bit low for my liking.

The conclusion I’m coming to is I need the car to not eat tires so when I buy nice tires I don’t destroy them immediately. Any input on how to make it not eat tires is welcome and helpful

 

[CobaltFilly]

@Tim.ocon SO glad to see a fellow young V6er on track/autox!!! Let's butt heads every once in a while, bet we could learn from each other real quick.

As for the tire eating, a REAL track alignment is in order. I currently run -2.9* of camber in the front and -1.9/2.0* in the rear. I run this daily on 19x11s Michelin 4PS 295/35/ZR19s squares and I am lowered 1-1.5". I run 0 toe but might change that to the smallest amount I can...not sure yet. I rotate my tires every 1-2k miles/every HPDE or track event. I have asked a couple times on the Mustang6G forum how my tires are and they are wearing beautifully. Of course this is on the S550 chassis, not sure how much difference there between IRS and S197s...but I have no issues (this is my daily driver). What are your tire pressures looking like? Hope this helps!

 

[Tim.ocon]

@Tim.ocon SO glad to see a fellow young V6er on track/autox!!! Let's butt heads every once in a while, bet we could learn from each other real quick.

As for the tire eating, a REAL track alignment is in order. I currently run -2.9* of camber in the front and -1.9/2.0* in the rear. I run this daily on 19x11s Michelin 4PS 295/35/ZR19s squares and I am lowered 1-1.5". I run 0 toe but might change that to the smallest amount I can...not sure yet. I rotate my tires every 1-2k miles/every HPDE or track event. I have asked a couple times on the Mustang6G forum how my tires are and they are wearing beautifully. Of course this is on the S550 chassis, not sure how much difference there between IRS and S197s...but I have no issues (this is my daily driver). What are your tire pressures looking like? Hope this helps!

I’ve got to figure out where around me can do a real track alignment. Just a matter of asking the right people I guess.
Camber caster plates may be in order to get everything dialed in

 

[Dave_W]

My Google-Fu is only mediocre, but I found these guys that may be in your area. They seem focused on Legends, Bandoleros, and assorted roundy-round stuff, and probably know what shops are most capable of doing performance alignments and corner balancing in the province (if they don't themselves).

R&D Performancenter Ltd Site Map