S550 Honey Badger GT350 Build Build Thread Profile - S550 Mustangs

[dragoon]

. Yeah - car felt so good on the first day with the decent grip. it really got my hopes up, but then just fell off every session, ha. No worries. I'll have to come back when the car is fully sorted and use up some fresh tires to see what it can do. Data says a 57 is .pretty doable once I get the brakes dialed.

Not sure how clear it is on camera to those who haven't heard it in person, but it makes the most heavenly flames and "bangs" on every up shift. It's so savage and it's really hard not to just overshift the car for the fun of it.


yeah - it really builds speed fast out of corners and through technical sections. and I'm finally getting truly comfortable. still has no TC, so I'm being careful. no need to lose the rear end in the climbing esses at 140+ ha


Ha. i seriously felt bad for a lot of those other drivers. Some of them mustve given me 25+ point bys over the weekend. Car was super quick and the closing speeds with street cars is pretty intense. I only gave one point by all weekend and it was to a 900whp ZL1 1LE on slicks - but he could only do 1 lap at a time

Great stuff in all your posts Kevin !! Will be looking forward till next 4th of July at Road America to hear the new exhaust set up !!
GO LIKE HELL

 

[Dave_W]

Do you think you'll have the TC sorted by Oct. 24?

Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge

The ultimate test for track cars. The UTCC is a no-holds-barred race to find the fastest race cars in the US.

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Maybe plan ahead for 2025, as it shows 2 cars waitlisted now. Looks like @Fair will be there with his LS-swapped Mustang "Trigger"

Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge Entries — Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge

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[honeybadger]

Okay - so catching up a bit. Before the trip to VIR, I had a couple of things I wanted to address.

First, I needed to fix the exhaust and get the driveshaft replaced. DSS was able to get a smaller diameter DS with one less adjustable CV - which would have less vibration issues. After that, I needed to get the exhaust figured out. given how loud the "bullet resonators" were, I wanted to try something a bit less chaotic. The resonator-only setup was ridiculous and fun, but it was really fatiguing if you were tired - and I'm always tired on the days I'm instructing.

So I bought some TICON oval race mufflers - these are the 12 overall length ones. I also added a slip joint to help with expansion and give more clearance to the drive shaft.





Here's how the system turned out - basically slip joint to v-band is Ti and everything else is stainless.



This was my first time welding Ti and I'm not a real fabricator to begin with, but I was happy enough with these. As always, fitment matters more than you're welding skill and Ti makes that even more obviously than stainless. Lessons learned for next time - it's better to throw a cut away and get a perfect fitment with a new one than work with gaps if you can help it.




Another thing I wanted to do was change up the cooling system a bit. A couple events ago, I changed from a single 16an outlet out of the driver-side head to dual 12an lines -- one from each head. They then wye into swirl pot. This seemed to help keep temps under better control - specifically at wide open throttle and extended idling.


I used to measure coolant temp and pressure on the radiator, but the angle and placement always had me worried i was going to be capturing an air pocket. So I added a bung to the swirl pot that I know 100% is submerged in water. Got some good data that I'll share in the next post.



Finally, with the SPL arms up front, my previous brake cooling solution wasn't super secure. I had my own version of the brake deflector plates that other vendors sell (like those from Vorshlag). The problem is they're designed to bolt into the three holes in the OEM front tension arm. I was doing some research online for what Porsche does on their GT3s and realized their OEM deflector would probably work since their front OEM arms are round like the SPL parts. I ordered up a set and installed them. Direct zip-tie on!



I have my own version of the OEM brake duct - but the idea is the same. Airflow from the front bumper is directed into the deflector along with air como



Unlike many of the solutions on the market, these direct airflow right into the rotor - not just in the general direction

 

[honeybadger]

VIR - as always - truly is heaven on earth. A track with unparalleled flow and really only equaled by Road America and Road Atlanta.

For those that haven't been, the grounds are beautiful - I can't even imagine how much they spending mowing this place. Uniquely Virginian for sure. Reminds me a lot of Road America.


This was the first event with the new build were I got multiple sessions--in a row--where nothing really went wrong. Each night I did have to lift the car up and tweak the exhaust, but outside of that, she was flawless - as evident by the 140 gallons of e85 I burned and the 9 hours of run time on the track. Ironically, I have fairly limited video as I forgot the SD card for my Aim Smartycam system - I did grab some helmet cam stuff with a new camera. General thoughts:

1. New exhaust makes the car sooooooooooo much more driveable. I hate to admit it because I love loud racecars, but it's not even close to a subtle difference. Its monumental.
2. The car is getting very quick as we dial it in and I get more comfortable driving. Still no TC, so I was being careful. Even then - closing speeds were intense and where it builds speed takes some getting used to. Coming out of snake, I could eat up a couple hundred foot gap on most cars like nothing before the climbing esses
3. This led to another observation - the car is VERY approachable for how much its changed. I found myself comfortably pinching the apex of the first part of the esses at 130mph and still sending it into the esses. I could pretty much pass anyone, anywhere comfortable because the car is so predictable and forgiving
4. Still fighting brake issues - all my brake markers were where they would be in a street car. I've narrowed the issue down - my brake balance is dynamically changing with pedal presssure, causing the ABS to have to step in a lot and keep it from locking tires. Working with tilton now on identifying the issue
5. Even with the aero, this car has plenty of top end - I've 160+ on every big track with it so far (Road America, COTA and VIR). While these are obviously fast tracks, a similarly aero'd GT350 would be in the 146-148 range.

Here are some flybys

Main straight - exhaust sounds great

140 mph into the esses

Other rando photos -

The air jacks and extension stands really got their workout - I had to keep messing with the exhaust. These make it so much safer and easier to work under the car.



One thing I didn't account for is the weight of the new mufflers and the slip joints. It was too much and it kept pulling the mid pipes out of the slip joints. This is a pic of when I got the car home and on the lift - whoops



At least my welds held :crackup:



In other rando stuff -

Front brake pads are done after 15 hours of track time. It might look like a good bit is left, but these started out as 1in thick pads


Cooling is working KILLER now. Coolant temp is peaking at 187 and oil temps at 210 (going into the engine). ONot shown, but oil is 265 coming out of the motor. and CHTs are staying low too. I'm logging at 20hz - which is 20x what the OEM ecu logs, so my numbers are higher than they would be at 1hz (10-15 degrees in my experience). Cooling is absolutely dialed - this was in 93 degree temps with 80

 

[dragoon]

Data is your friend !!

 

[Dave_W]

Love the exhaust and shifting sounds. The fact that Tilton is working with you on the brake balance issues speaks volumes on their customer service and orientation to support racers rather than just churning out parts. And if you ever do a 24-hour enduro, now you know you do need to change pads partway through.

Are you using springs to hold the slip joints together like this?


TiCon makes kits with Ti wire tabs & SS springs.

Titanium Exhaust Hook and Tension Spring for Slip Connector

Ticon Industries Titanium Weld Tab and Tension Spring Kit are perfect for securing your Titanium slip fit joint connectors on your motorcycle or racing exhaust. Designed specifically for racing environments our Titanium weld tabs are CNC bent from high quality 3mm/ .12" thick CP1 Grade Titanium...

www.ticonindustries.com

 

[honeybadger]

Spent a good chunk of my evenings this week working on the replacement Ti exhaust. I don't any full length images right now to share, but here are some pics of my welding progress. definitely getting better

this is the mid pipe connecting to the stainless steel headers/collector





Here's part of the x pipe - the top is one of the most recent joints I welded (last night) and the bottom is a joint a I welded on v1 of this exhaust (probably the 5 or 6th Ti joint I ever welded). Definitely making progress

 

[honeybadger]

Love the exhaust and shifting sounds. The fact that Tilton is working with you on the brake balance issues speaks volumes on their customer service and orientation to support racers rather than just churning out parts. And if you ever do a 24-hour enduro, now you know you do need to change pads partway through.

Are you using springs to hold the slip joints together like this?
View attachment 98481

TiCon makes kits with Ti wire tabs & SS springs.

Titanium Exhaust Hook and Tension Spring for Slip Connector

Ticon Industries Titanium Weld Tab and Tension Spring Kit are perfect for securing your Titanium slip fit joint connectors on your motorcycle or racing exhaust. Designed specifically for racing environments our Titanium weld tabs are CNC bent from high quality 3mm/ .12" thick CP1 Grade Titanium...

www.ticonindustries.com

I didn't on the previous version - honestly not sure it would have been enough to help. There was so much stress on the joints that it bent stuff. This time I'm focusing the supports on the mufflers directly (which is what I should have done to begin with). I did buy a set of springs for the slip joints this time, tho

 

[Fabman]

Spent a good chunk of my evenings this week working on the replacement Ti exhaust. I don't any full length images right now to share, but here are some pics of my welding progress. definitely getting better

this is the mid pipe connecting to the stainless steel headers/collector

View attachment 98515
View attachment 98514


Here's part of the x pipe - the top is one of the most recent joints I welded (last night) and the bottom is a joint a I welded on v1 of this exhaust (probably the 5 or 6th Ti joint I ever welded). Definitely making progress

View attachment 98516

MUCH better….titanium is very difficult to do well and what I see here is very good.