The Mustang Forum for Track & Racing Enthusiasts

Taking your Mustang to an open track/HPDE event for the first time? Do you race competitively? This forum is for you! Log in to remove most ads.

  • Welcome to the Ford Mustang forum built for owners of the Mustang GT350, BOSS 302, GT500, and all other S550, S197, SN95, Fox Body and older Mustangs set up for open track days, road racing, and/or autocross. Join our forum, interact with others, share your build, and help us strengthen this community!

Initial mods are done. Just need 500 more miles.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
I must have read that they were updating from your previous posts, then.

I have their plates on my 06 and they work great. Caster adjustment is not important to me, these cars have almost 7* dialed in from the factory which is pretty good. We never touched the caster adjustment on our race cars that use the maximum motorsports plates.

I got J&M's 05-10 design from American Muscle for like $230, IIRC.
 
cloud9 said:
It's already supposed to have an oversized radiator and the front splitter is supposed to channel air to it better I thought.

I can't say whether or not the radiator in the Boss is an upgrade to the GT but it not the same as the one I saw in Rousch Racing 302R. Theirs was bigger with aluminum tanks. Sounds like a racing radiator my be on the short list for extended track work.

How long were your track session?
 
BossJockey said:
cloud9 said:
It's already supposed to have an oversized radiator and the front splitter is supposed to channel air to it better I thought.

I can't say whether or not the radiator in the Boss is an upgrade to the GT but it not the same as the one I saw in Rousch Racing 302R. Theirs was bigger with aluminum tanks. Sounds like a racing radiator my be on the short list for extended track work.

How long were your track session?
We ran green all day since there were a limited amount of cars. I only ran for about 20 minutes at a time though. I put in 165 miles which is about 75 laps, or about 135 minutes of track time. That's starting around 9:00 a.m. an hour at lunch and finishing around 5:00 p.m.
 
BossJockey said:
cloud9 said:
It's already supposed to have an oversized radiator and the front splitter is supposed to channel air to it better I thought.

I can't say whether or not the radiator in the Boss is an upgrade to the GT but it not the same as the one I saw in Rousch Racing 302R. Theirs was bigger with aluminum tanks. Sounds like a racing radiator my be on the short list for extended track work.

How long were your track session?
Here's an excerpt from the Boss writeup: Up front, a unique fascia and grille are highlighted by the blocked-off fog lamp openings and aggressive lower splitter, a version of the design used – and proven – on the Boss 302R race car. The front splitter is designed to function at high speeds by efficiently managing the air under and around the car. It helps to reduce underbody drag and front end lift while more effectively forcing air through the Boss-specific cooling system.

Would be nice to know if the 302R radiator was available and an improvment over the stock one. Dean can you find out from your engineer buddy?
 
cloud9 said:
Would be nice to know if the 302R radiator was available and an improvment over the stock one. Dean can you find out from your engineer buddy?

Maybe it's the same as the one from an FR500C. It's still an S197. Maybe call Ford Racing Parts?

http://www.fordracingparts.com/parts/part_details.asp?PartKeyField=8569

Yes, the regular Boss 302 radiator is bigger and is also available at Ford Racing Parts, so the GT's can upgrade. ;D

Jimmy
 
cloud9 said:
Here's an excerpt from the Boss writeup: Up front, a unique fascia and grille are highlighted by the blocked-off fog lamp openings and aggressive lower splitter, a version of the design used – and proven – on the Boss 302R race car. The front splitter is designed to function at high speeds by efficiently managing the air under and around the car. It helps to reduce underbody drag and front end lift while more effectively forcing air through the Boss-specific cooling system.

Would be nice to know if the 302R radiator was available and an improvment over the stock one. Dean can you find out from your engineer buddy?

That's funny. The 302R's used in Grand Am don't have splitters.

Boss%20302R-13.jpg


Boss%20302R-2.jpg
 
175
0
They aren't allowed by the rules. You have to look very closely as most racing rules are about making cars slower not faster. :( Checkout the FIA GT1, GT3 and DTM cars while they have limiting rules too they have more advanced aero packages. 8)

01-tiger-racing-boss-302s.png
04_davisacsmustangd.png
 
cloud9 said:
Would be nice to know if the 302R radiator was available and an improvment over the stock one. Dean can you find out from your engineer buddy?

Hopefully I will talk to him soon. I had emailed him the other day, he commented on a few things but wanted me to call him to talk about it. Unfortunetely, I was out driving the LS so I didn't get his request to call him until late. Now he is in California on business so I don't know when we will get to talk. I will ask him about the radiator though.
 
Dean#4AI said:
cloud9 said:
Would be nice to know if the 302R radiator was available and an improvment over the stock one. Dean can you find out from your engineer buddy?

Hopefully I will talk to him soon. I had emailed him the other day, he commented on a few things but wanted me to call him to talk about it. Unfortunetely, I was out driving the LS so I didn't get his request to call him until late. Now he is in California on business so I don't know when we will get to talk. I will ask him about the radiator though.

I have noticed from the specs that the Boss radiator is bigger than the GT's. If you check the cooling capacity in the owner's manuals, you will see the Boss uses 2.1L more than the GT. (14.4L vs 12.3L)

An engineer friend asked me to suggest that on track days you consider removing the upper grille to improve airflow to the rad, though removing or opening up the faux fog lights in the grille should be sufficient.
 
Beat me to it Jimmy. Here's the S and it has the same grille as the Boss 302


While removing the upper grille is worth a look, I wonder what it does to aerodynamics? How difficult is it to remove? My car's at the shop getting a clear bra on the front of the hood and fenders or I'd go look at it. If the upper grille is like my GT500, it is closed off at the outside and open in the middle right where the radiator sits to force all the air onto the radiator. If you removed my GT500 grille you'd actually flow more air around the radiator than directly onto it.
 
If you need to keep a grille in place, you probably could go with the standard GT grille without the fogs installed, as per Jimmy's post. The part is around 50$, and will save you having to hack up a ridiculously priced Boss part.
 
It would be interesting to know what percentage of air that goes through the radiator actually comes from the grille area. I would think more would come from the area below the bumper. Looking at my grill tonight, there is not much open area there. Air flow is not always logical.
 
175
0
The grill is more than big enough stock. The problem if there is one is the air is not damned up around the radiator. Air takes the path of least resistance so much of it spills off the sides and goes through holes into the engine compartment without going through the radiator at all. you want to put a box around the radiator so that the air has to dam up in front of it before it spills off the sides.

This is only partially done for a supercharged car.

IMG_1515.png
 
908ssp said:
The grill is more than big enough stock. The problem if there is one is the air is not damned up around the radiator. Air takes the path of least resistance so much of it spills off the sides and goes through holes into the engine compartment without going through the radiator at all.
Let's not get too worked up about this being an issue yet. Like I said, it was very hot and late in the day when the issue popped up. I believe I was "overdriving" the car by being effectively two gears down from where I drive that track in my GT500 due to the transmission ratio. Driving one gear up produced no overheating issues, and I recorded lower lap times. I agree with the above and that's why I pointed out the grille design inherently channels more air directly to the radiator by blocking off the sides from the fake fog lamps on out. If you remove the grille I think you'll just flow more air around the radiator instead of directly onto it. 908ssp's point is another option that you could explore to improve by boxing it in further.

I still think it's worth Dean talking to his engineer friend to explore options IF this becomes an issue. I also think TracKey will allow driving in a higher gear by bringing up the low end of the torque curve, if it actually does what's been advertised.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
For reference, I know the FR500S has "Spats" on the side of the radiator that help channel air into the radiator instead of around the sides. That's combined with a grille that only has holes cut out directly in front of the radiator.
 
I looked over my radiator and front grill and from what I can see this is the best box in job I have ever seen on a stock Mustang. I don't see much air going around the radiator.
 
ORANGE CRUSH said:
I looked over my radiator and front grill and from what I can see this is the best box in job I have ever seen on a stock Mustang. I don't see much air going around the radiator.

Must of been Gary bad driving then. ::) J/k
 

TMO Supporting Vendors

Top