Obsolescence to Obsession – Tales of the Rented Mule (FPRS GT350 Track Attack #14)

[Muligan]

In this installment, the Mule gets something cool...... brake cooling, that is.

After a bunch of research and based on some positive results posted by @honeybadger a while back, I decided to go with the Vorshlag brake cooling deflectors, instead of the full-bore Watson cooling duct kit. Given that the Mule will most often be doing nothing more than 20-25 min sessions, not running endurance races, I think this is a good compromise.

Like all their products, these are well made. They come in raw aluminum, so I had them powdercoated with a black sand finish - sometimes referred to as "camera case" - and they came out great. The lower control arms are pre-drilled, but needed to be threaded with a 1/4x20 tap. Some stainless steel serrated flange nuts finished off the install for a factory appearance.

But, wait...... there's more; how about a pair of FP350S-style brake duct extensions? I dug through my scrap pile and found a couple pieces of aluminum sheet, trimmed them to fit based on a cardboard template I mocked-up, bent a top and bottom flange using my Harbor Fright (sic) benchtop brake, and formed the upper flange using a pair of pliers so that it would follow the curvature of the underside of the bumper cover. After some more black sand powdercoat, I attached them to the opening using "peel" rivets. These are aluminum pop rivets designed for use on soft materials (like the bumper cover) that are sliced so that when they pull, they actually roll back on themselves.

More to come as the days to the Mule's debut count-down.

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[azshelby350]

Wow! And I thought I was putting a lot and time into #9, haha. I love how detailed your photos and commentary are. Looks like everything is coming together nicely!

 

[Muligan]

Each day, the Mule inches closer to 4.048 miles of fun.

Lunchtime project today was to get the nose buttoned up, including the original splitter from JR265, my former base-R (thanks @Goz To 11). And, given the damage on the OEM splitter it was wearing previously, I added a set of ZL1-Addons wear pucks to the underside.

Sorta nice to have a piece of my old R back home.

Finally looking like a car again - and one with a bit of track-focus.

And I also recently installed a new coolant tank - the old one was cloudy and discolored, making it hard to see the level. I picked up a new OEM tank and, as part of the process, it also got fresh coolant. Not sure why Ford calls this stuff "yellow," sure looks green to me.

 

[Muligan]

As the saying goes; "a picture is worth a thousand words."

As you can tell by the rubber scuffs and dead bugs, the Mule saw it's first track outside of Utah and Charlotte this past weekend when it visited Road America.

Before we jump in, here's a summary of where the car stands now:

From FPRS, it had the following mods -

• Caliperfexion brake caliper studs
• Watson Racing bolt-in four-point rollbar
• Safecraft four-point harnesses
• Rear seats and belts removed
• R rear seat delete panel
• ARP long wheel studs with open lug nuts
• Maximum Motorsports camber plates
• Castrol SRF “React” high-temp brake fluid
• Non-drilled brake rotors with OEM pads
• '19 Gen2 engine replacement

And to those, I've added -

• FP "swing" rear spoiler
• R splitter
• R grille with extra opening to the left side allowing more air to intake funnel
• R exhaust (take-off OEM from clamps near cats to tail pipes - valves always open
• Gutted trunk
• Enlarged louver openings in the front wheel well liners (1/4" wire mesh at front for coolers)
• FP tow rings (front and rear)
• Sparco seats - Pro ADV (dr) and Pro2000 (ps) with sliders and Planted base brackets
• Anti-sub straps (FPRS harnesses were just four-point)
• FP air/oil separators (left & right)
• Vorshlag brake cooling deflectors on lower control arms
• FP350S-style brake deflectors in lower grille area
• Motorcraft lightweight AGM battery
• All fluids replaced

Although the Mule isn't stock, none of the mods so far should have a significant impact on lap times. They do add up to increased safety, reliability, and maybe a bit of mild performance enhancement, but I figured this would be a good time to baseline the car. Therefore, I held-off on installing the FP springs and sway bars and just left the alignment where it was from FPRS. I was even running on the stock MPSS tires that had a bit of wear from FPRS - 28 psi cold / 35 hot.

So, how was it? Well, this was my first real track event in years - aside from one with my '17 and the day out at FPRS in '18 when I first drove this car. I was pretty sure that any skills I may have had dried up long ago. Because of that, my goal was to simply not do anything stupid, ease back into it, and get some baseline impressions and lap times.

First impressions:

• This thing is fast and way more capable than me;
• Everybody else is faster..... and seems to be driving a McLaren, GT3RS, or something similarly expensive and rare (see above; "don't do anything stupid");
• It leans... so much so that the Bill Withers song kept going through my head;
• And it's floaty.... probably in large part due to the fact that I kept it in "sport" mode to ensure that some of the nannies were around to save me if I forgot the rule about not doing something stupid;
• That exhaust..... oh my giddy aunt, that exhaust note at full chat; and
• It can make a duff of a driver like me look like a hero;

I didn't record any times on Saturday - no reason to do so as I was very, very slow. In fact, I declared it to be "national celebrate your rear view mirror day," as that's pretty much all I looked at the whole time. I gave so many point-bys it would have been nice to have a mannequin arm to just hold out the window to avoid cramps. I gave serious thought to asking if I could move down to the intermediate group (they were running two advanced groups, so lots of fast cars), but the weekend was a complete sellout and there wouldn't have been room. Oh, and passing was allowed anywhere - and I mean anywhere - with a point-by. Yep - two wide through the Carousel and even going into the Kink on a couple of occasions!

Sessions were 1/2 hour, so plenty of time to work on things. The first session was spent getting to know the car and reacquaint myself with the track. I did some decent pulls on the straights, so as to avoid being a complete speed-bump, too. The second session I slowed a bit on the straights - back to what I was used to in the "old days," and worked on higher cornering speeds. In the third session, I put it all together, but still at reduced overall speeds.

On Sunday I uncorked it a bit and had an absolute blast. I spent each session running with my friends and trying to keep up, one of whom captured much of our exploits on video and will be posting them on YouTube sometime soon - link to come. The Mule performed really well and I finally connected an Aim Solo for the last session. My three fastest times for that session were 2:40.64, 2:41.10, and 2:41.19 - separated by just over 1/2 second. Given that I was on street tires and still running in "sport" mode (nannies cutting power every so often), I'll take those as very respectable times. More importantly, they're fairly consistent; a sign of good things to come.

As for issues, two things cropped up. First, I have the expected stumble or surge which feels almost like a very momentary application of traction control. I noticed this mostly during steady state throttle around 120 mph - 140 mph. I'm guessing this is the "loose tone ring nut" issue that involves the transmission output shaft flange nut. There was no DTC associated with this, and I haven't tried the cruise control yet (it appears that inoperable cruise is another symptom according to the TSB). The other issue was a DTC related to the evaporative emissions purge valve, which I recall another school car owner encountered. I cleared that code and it didn't return, but I'll look into what this means from a repair perspective. Neither of those issues threw a wet blank on the weekend, though, so I'm calling it a very successful first outing.

EDIT to add temps -

During the harder running on the second day, max temps were as follows. My oil temp seemed lower than a friend who was there with his R, so I'm thinking that the larger louver slots were a good idea (thanks @Tractor Junk).

• Oil - low 250s
• Transmission - upper 170s
• Differential - mid 220s

Next up will be installation of the the FP springs and sway bars, as well as the Apex SM-10 wheels with scrub Pirelli DH slicks, then a really good alignment. Not sure I'll get those done before the next event, which is a full-course bash at Autobahn Country Club (21 turns and just over 4 miles), or if they'll have to wait a bit. In the mean time, here are some pictures from this past weekend.

Loaded up and ready to head to the track - yes.... I still have the wimpy 4Runner tow vehicle.

Morning at Road America.

Proof is in the pudding - the Mule has potential.

The Mule is most satisfied.......

 

[Epiphany]

When I read these posts I forget about everything else going on in the world.

 

[Goz To 11]

Yeah.... I get all the stuff with the car, but where is a picture of you in that sweet ass race suit? You looked svelte! You're like the automotive version of Zoolander.

Joking aside, it was really great to have you back out there and back in the saddle. The mule should be a trusty and worthy sidekick for many years to come.

Nice work brother......

 

[Muligan]

Finally got the pics from the photographer that was at Road America, so without my usually blah, blah, blah intro........ for your viewing pleasure.

 

[Muligan]

...... and more!

 

[Muligan]

....... and just for @Goz To 11, a show of how fast the Road America safety team is - here they are out-braking me into Canada Corner - that Silverado must have gone by me doing a buck-sixty! That's my former Bondurant car in the foreground, too.

 

[Muligan]

Another for @Goz To 11 ..... he was sorta quick that day, but I think it was just due to a lack of brakes.

 

[Goz To 11]

....... and just for @Goz To 11, a show of how fast the Road America safety team is - here they are out-braking me into Canada Corner - that Silverado must have gone by me doing a buck-sixty! That's my former Bondurant car in the foreground, too.

To be fair, that Silverado Safety truck was not stock... It's not a fair fight when you're on street tires...

What a great weekend. Really glad you're back in the sport.....

Scott

 

[Muligan]

It's about time to start getting the Mule ready for it's second outing coming up in a couple of weeks - full course at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL.

In the mean time, while I toil away in the heat of a steel building, here for your viewing pleasure is a video from our first outing back in May at Road America. This is the last session I ran on Sunday when I got a chance to mess about with three friends, all instructors at the MVP Tracktime event. Camera cars are a Camaro SS 1LE (Dave) and BMW M3 (Jeff), joining me in the Mule and Scott (@Goz To 11) in JR265.

 

[Tomster]

Hey Chris,

Whats the plan for the wheels? Thoese OEM 350 wheels are boat anchors.

 

[Muligan]

Hey Chris,
Whats the plan for the wheels? Thoese OEM 350 wheels are boat anchors.

They sure are!!!! I have a set of Apex SM-10 wheels in an 11x19 square set-up so that I can rotate them around the car, which are currently mounted with a set of take-off Pirelli DH slicks from the Ferrari Challenge series. I didn't run them for the first event because I was still on the stock non-R suspension and the school alignment.

After this next event, I'm going to install new springs, sway bars, and endlinks, then go to a full-on track alignment and will then be able to run the new wheels & tires.

The SM-10 wheels are somewhere around 8-9 lbs lighter than the factory wheels, but still a couple pounds heavier than good forged wheels. I'm giving serious thought to doing the AP Racing front brake swap so that I can run 18s due to the greater availability of take-off slicks in that size. Gotta give that one more thought, but it's at the top of the list right now for upcoming winter upgrades.

 

[Tomster]

There is a complete set of CF wheels on ebay right now complete with PS4 tires for a buy it now of 9K.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-Of-4-F...=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

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