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Since picking up the car new in December 2012, this project has been a wild ride. Up until the last year or so my original goal was to build a show car. I've always raced cars, always loved cars and to a certain extent I was tired with going to car shows rather than going on the track. Now my #1 goal is to do a complete 180 and build this car the way it should have been done.
Below I have some of my exploits over the years with different parts I've installed, and more importantly, what I plan in the future
First thing on the list was getting rid of that nasty ride height. KW V3 Coilovers were shortly installed along with a Flowmaster Outlaw exhaust and a few goodies from Hotchkis (LCA, UCA, Panhard bar).
These should certainly help out
After parts were installed
Once I had some time to play around, it was time to get serious. I was lucky enough to know the guys at APR Performance who were in need of a 2013 Mustang. They had just completed the widebody kit on their 2012 model but due to the differences in the body style, they needed a 2013 to develop and modify their 2012 kit. Here are some photos of the progress through their development. (Wheels were installed too - Forgestar CF10's 20x10 ET41 20x11 ET55 w/ 275/315 Falken 453 Tires - had to use 45mm spacers to push out the fitment to the proper offset at the time).
Once I had picked it up, it was ready for some color. I hopped on over to the guys over at Impressive Wrap (El Monte), and shortly after we did a quick photoshoot.
At this point the car needed more power. What better than to add a Vortech Blower? I didn't want a turbo. I knew in the long run that if I was to ever put this car on the track, that it should be a centrifugal blower for the power delivery. I didn't want lag, I didn't want anything to badly heat soak, so Vortech was my #1 choice.
I was pretty sick of using 45mm spacers by this point. I took them off and upgraded to a set that would fit without spacers. Came up with a 20x10.5 ET5 and 20x12 ET25 set of Forgestar F14SDC in Satin Black. Came out nice, but definitely not track worthy as you'd imagine. Don't worry, new wheels are coming.
Photos from Autocon that year.
And Fabulous Fords...
Had a professional shoot of the car. (There are more photos, but there are already a ton of photos so far)
Picked up a nice trophy from Extreme Auto Fest
I then decided that I would be crazy and install some Airrex Air Suspension
She certainly looked cool, but obviously I lost a significant amount of handling because of it:
Don't worry though! I got my ducks in a row and made the decision to finally turn this build around to a track beast. Thanks to Eibach for the custom spring rates on the R2-Multi Pro Coilovers with camber plates:
Around the same time I brought my car to a buddy of mine who does cages and roll bar set ups. I told him safety was my #1 concern, but I gave him free will to do what he wanted to so here's what he came up with. Also installed (previously), Sparco Pro.ADV seat and hardware with Sparco Steering wheel as well.
The suspension needed supporting actors to really help out the Eibach's do their thing on the track. With a little help from BMR I ordered up their Watts link, K-Member with lowered SOLID motor mounts, A-arms, A-arm support brace, Chassis brace/radiator support, Control arm relocation, Lower control arms, DOM, Double adjustable rod ends (to replace the non-adjustable Hotchkis), and their strut tower brace. Had some help from TAG Motorsports in Vista, CA with the install.
After TAG Motorsports installed everything and aligned the car I finally had a chance to drive around and get a good feel for things. Instantly the first thing that popped into my head after taking a couple corners was 'stability.' Just driving around normally you have this feeling of stability, it's a weird sensation since this car is completely void of any stability in factory form. The car feels way more agile, that's to say the least, but the way the car responds in extreme situations is actually very smooth, it's surprising. To elaborate what I mean by smooth, I'm referring to those guys who also road race like myself, and coming out of a corner and putting the power down with these cars is usually a game of balance to make the rear end not so twitchy. Coming around corners now it feels substantially more stable, but it's also much more predictable when you start to loose traction. Getting that traction BACK once you loose it is also much easier than it was without this equipment. Of course that's just the rear end though, now the front end is properly set the way it should be. Turn in feels more precise, it feels more balanced and feels more nimble, much easier to turn in now and you can feel the grip a bit better as well. Driving around you feel more at one with the car, like it's an existential part of you, which I know sound weird, but that's the feeling I get, and there's no better feeling than that if you ask me.
All in all, I'm extremely impressed. I should have done this YEARS ago, but clearly I put my priorities on other things first. I'm glad to have finally put this car together the way it should and I couldn't have been able to do it without BMR. Thanks to everyone at BMR for bringing all these products to the market, I couldn't be happier with the results.
And finally we're all caught up with what's happening now. Only with a few minor exceptions like my wheel set which is currently in production (should be done within the next week), and a lovely set of Toyo R888's to test out before I jump onto full slicks.
Toyo R888 305/35/18 335/30/18
Also pulled the trigger on Kenny Browns' Brake Duct kit, Tubular bumper w/ tow hook, Auto-Blip since I see a lot of you guys using them, and the last piece of the puzzle before we can test on track, getting that oil cooler set up working just right ;D
