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Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,426
8,356
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Dang Mad , I have a Boss 302S , but you have the even more expensive version Boss 302SS ( Super Swine ). Heh, no worries , anyway , we are all right there with you brudder ------- pig out!!!
 
118
155
MD
If you like to tinker and plan to change out the PP parts for more race oriented parts, the base is fine. If you want a factory track car with factory support and some minor mods that you can update with track specific consumables, the PP is ideal. Mine is a base and it would have been easier to start with a PP.

PP1 = brembo brakes, 380mm rotors, supposedly ferodo ds2500 pads, front splitter, undertray with ducts for scoop and flap brake cooling with control arm deflectors, strut tower brace, k brace, gt350 radiator, 19x9 and 19x9.5 wheels with 255/275 tires (mps4s tires on 18+), oil temp and pressure gauges, PP sway bars and shocks/struts, 3:73 w/ torsen diff, diff temp sensor, rear spoiler delete, etc.

Factory PP parts: brakes calipers can be had for $600, rotors for another $100, pads for $275, used diff for $900, front splitter and undertray for $300, control arms with deflectors for $400, radiator $200... The PP is a good value and with suspension, track pads, and 305 square wheels/tires it's a strong contender.
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
1,797
2,001
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
My car is a 300A base with PP1, and that is the only option it came with. I was looking for that combination and found exactly 1 car equipped this way in the whole province. There was 1 other 300A with PP1 but it had a radio upgrade. Loser.

My plan from the beginning was this car was going to be a track day car with appropriate mods and generally it is very good at that task especially with the Ford Racing FR3 track suspension and a host of other aftermarket parts. Very well balanced and mild mannered but extremely quick. Blowing off mega buck super cars at Mosport in a $33K Mustang is great fun. Now after 3 years of track days stuff is breaking and wearing out, as expected, but it's still not an unreasonable cost for what the car can do.

It's too bad Ford didn't offer an even more stripped model, I'd be a customer.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,426
8,356
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
I ordered a bunch of strippo Mustang GTs with nothing else but PP1 and they came in under 40K MSRP in the US. With some incentives, later , they ended up being sold in the lower 30s and like JDee, many of these machines ended up with track minded enthusiasts ( both for autocrossers and track maniacs ). I am saddened to see the PP2 option being discontinued since I was able to get our Omaha Store ( Woodhouse Ford ) to order quite a few this year and they went pretty quick! No stripes , no upgraded radios, no options at all, except what Ford required to order. Most of them listed around 45K ( few were higher with striping ). Like JDee's situation, folks looking for this kind of serious Mustang could not find one hardly anywhere, so once found at Woodhouse Ford they did not last long.

I think it is a mistake on Ford's part to discontinue , especially since the tooling for the Mach 1 is taken largely from the Bullitt and the GT 350, so why not take advantage? Sadly they want to make the Mach 1 super special in the view of the folks in " Marketing " but they are missing the point to keep the brand vibrant. Hate to say this, but the perfect example is the Dodge Challenger, which is starting to be like the VW Beetle -- been around since the beginning of time! The Key is many of those buyers want a " Hellcat " but they can't afford it at this time in their life, so they end up getting a TA , aShaker, RT, or Widebody, or....................... You get the idea, and Ford should be viewing that some folks want a performance model , but the Mach 1 or the GT 500 are out of their price range. The PP2 fit the bill for many , got them close to their aspirations and now there really is no factory mid range choice ( imho ). The parts are there , the advantage should be apparent, but my feeling is some Marketing Mavins are doodling ideas behind desks and are missing the opportunity those in the trenches can easily see!
 
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90
113
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
20+ Years
MN
I ordered a bunch of strippo Mustang GTs with nothing else but PP1 and they did come in under 40K MSRP in the US. With some incentives later they ended up being sold in the lower 30s and like JDee, many of these machines ended up in track minded enthusiasts ( both for autocrossers and track maniacs ). I am saddened to see the PP2 option being discontinued as I was able to get our Omaha Store ( Woodhouse Ford ) to order quite a few this year and they went pretty quickly. No stripes , no upgraded radios, no options except what Ford required to order and they were mostly listing around 45K ( few were higher as we did do a few with stripes). Like JDee's situation, folks looking for this kind of serious Mustang could not find one hardly anywhere, so they did not last long in most cases.

I think it is a mistake on Ford's part to discontinue , especially since the tooling for the Mach 1 is taken largely from the Bullitt and the GT 350, so why not take advantage? Sadly they want to make the Mach 1 more special in the view of the folks in " Marketing " but they are missing the point in keeping the brand vibrant. Hate to say this but the perfect example is the Dodge Challenger which is starting to be like the VW Beetle -- been around since the beginning of time. The Key is many of those buyers want a " Hellcat " but they can't afford it at this time in their life, so they end up getting a TA , or Shaker, or RT, or Widebody, or....................... You get the idea, and Ford should be viewing that some folks want that performance model , but the Mach 1 or the GT 500 are out of their price range. The PP2 fit the bill for many , got them close to their aspirations and now there really is not a factory upgraded choice ( imho ). The parts are there , the advantage should be apparent, but my feeling is some behind desks are missing the opportunity those in the trenches can easily see!
Couldn't have said it better myself.... however Ford has turned their R&D focus to EV. The trucks and SUV's are the bread winners and the Mustang is just a side show at this stage. I don't think they even look at it as a traffic generator for showrooms like it used to be.

I think the issue with the PP2 staying around was the possibility of the PP2 running within a reasonable time of the Mach I at a much lower cost on track. A 20 HP difference on a road course will not be Earth shattering, and if all you want is a single hero lap, the PP2 would probably come close enough to make buyers question their decision. Ford might have learned their lesson (maybe) when it comes to touting the performance of the PP2 only to get flamed by media that it went belly up after 20 mins in the heat as well.

In regards the OP, I would start with a higher mileage used 2018-2020, or a very straight salvage car. If you indeed want to build a dedicated track car, most of what you start with will be discarded in the end, IMO. Pay as little as possible.
 
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sfo
In regards the OP, I would start with a higher mileage used 2018-2020, or a very straight salvage car. If you indeed want to build a dedicated track car, most of what you start with will be discarded in the end, IMO. Pay as little as possible.

I have a different opinion. I just did this and bought a new 2019gt off the dealer lot in October 19' to turn into a racecar for the most stock class possible called SCCA T2. I have raced T1 and T2 for about 10 years and raced the last 5 Runoffs. These cars have huge incestuous electronics. That means don't buy a straight salvage car that has been flooded for example unless you gut out to the bare chassis and go aftermarket wiring harness. Only a few classes allow that and you can't run aftermarket ECU's on the street because of smog. If the car is a bent salvage car then you have to assume the rebuilder knows what he is doing. No thanks!

The reason to buy a 2018-2020 chassis is to get new OEM reliability with few to no miles on the chassis and drivetrain so you have that reliability. I have raced for many years and my last two builds were from brand new cars. Reliability is awesome where I do nothing but gas and oil for many years. I sold my vette racecar built from new for the new mustang because it was getting tired. My vette was really good but you never knew what was going to break next. Nothing big just little annoying things. So off to the new mustang I went.

I'm not a fan of the Mustang. I bought it because I could buy it as a reliable new car and fit in my race class. I bought it because I travel race around the country and like to be able to go to any Ford dealer to get parts. I like new cars because the rarely break.

If I did it again I would buy a stripped car no PP1 because you take all that stuff off anyway for better parts plus adding more. In fact there is a stupid piece of Ford engineering where they increase the rate of the front sway bar by bonding the bushings to the bar!! This means you can't properly corner balance the car and the bar is passively stuck in 1 position so don't bother with an adjustable endlink. Oh wait you can't corner balance a mustang unless you convert to coilovers or klude the current Ford kludge. That's right this is just the beginning of No Joy in the Mustang suspension. So basically no matter what you do you have to redo the entire suspension. There is no advantage to PP1 except the big brakes which can be purchased cheap as takeoffs or full retail at any vendor for way less than the PP1 package price. I have seen take off Brembos under $900. Better still is if your race class allows a different set of brakes altogether like real race brakes like AP's from Essex. So I just saved you $5000 you can spend on some MCS double adjustable coilovers.20201025_084900.jpg20200430_173615.jpg
 
8
1
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
San Jose, CA
I think ill be going the base model route or the pp1. Or i can save my ass off another year or so and get a used gt350. But would it even be worth it saving to buy out a used gt350 instead of getting a pp1 or base with mods?? also is the torsen that much better for track then whatever the base comes with. Id only be getting the pp1 for the torsen as I dont really wanna do a Diff swap job lmao
 
539
687
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
SoCal
also would a pp 15-17 worth looking into? or is 2018+ worth the extra 10grand
The only mechanical changes to the 18+ is 25 more horsepower, different ratios in the trans (4th is 1:1 rather than 5th), bigger oil pan (10qts rather than 8), one of the front control arms is a bearing rather than a bushing, you get a diff temp sensor, and I think that's it.

Oh and in 2019, they added auto rev match to the manual
 
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JDee

Ancient Racer
1,797
2,001
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
I think ill be going the base model route or the pp1. Or i can save my ass off another year or so and get a used gt350. But would it even be worth it saving to buy out a used gt350 instead of getting a pp1 or base with mods?? also is the torsen that much better for track then whatever the base comes with. Id only be getting the pp1 for the torsen as I dont really wanna do a Diff swap job lmao

The torsen absolutely is way better on track than the standard diff. There's plenty of threads on here that detail how it works and why it's better. The word torsen is short for "torque sensing", and that's the key to why it's better.

Buying a used gt350 without a 100% solid warranty might be a bit like playing with leaky dynamite sticks, IMHO. For sure you want to avoid anything that doesn't have the full suite of driveline coolers. Early cars in particular had some serious issues.
 

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