Anybody here track the Mach 1? Considering getting one

[VictorH]

The Mach 1 is a great track car. Can't really beat it for the $$. What does it need?

Stage 1 - Casual track driver- Maybe better brake fluid and a good alignment (try to get as much neg front camber as possible, you won't get much). Stock brake pads are pretty good.

Stage 2- Occasional track maybe 1-3 events per year. Stage 1 plus, solid rear sub-frame inserts (multiple options from various vendors). Easy DYI and prevents tail wandering over bumps or dips on fast sections of track also eliminates the rear-end wiggle when you do max braking from triple digit speeds.. Would also do camber plates for decent amount of front neg camber. Try to run -3.0 to -3.5 camber up front for track days. Get decent brake fluid. I still think stock pads might be okay at this level or depending on your driving style consider track pads front and rear.

Stage 3- you might be turning into a track junkie. Stage 2 plus, Front tension arm mono-ball, might not be dyi for most as the press fit of the stock bushings is crazy tight. Rear lower camber arm outer bushing monoball (ford performance part). Decent track pads at this stage, I run either Pagid RSL29 F&R or Cobalt Friction XR2 front and XR3 rear, which is good for R-comp or street tires. Also, time to spring for decent 2-piece rotors front and rear (rear is optional). I run PFC front and rear but Girodisc and others are good too. High quality brake fluid with regular changes. This still leaves a nice quiet suspension but improves track performance.

Stage 4 plus- Lots of options here. I have front and rear coil-over springs 300 F and 1300 R with MagnaRide still intact and adjustable front sway bar, rear adjustable camber arms, vertical links and other parts. At this point your suspension is starting to be a compromise, it will be noisier than stock and be firmer as well but if you want to run with some of the big dogs you'll need to add some of this other equipment. Things can get real serious and expensive here.

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[Aonarch]

The Mach 1 is a great track car. Can't really beat it for the $$. What does it need?

Stage 1 - Casual track driver- Maybe better brake fluid and a good alignment (try to get as much neg front camber as possible, you won't get much). Stock brake pads are pretty good.

Stage 2- Occasional track maybe 1-3 events per year. Stage 1 plus, solid rear sub-frame inserts (multiple options from various vendors). Easy DYI and prevents tail wandering over bumps or dips on fast sections of track also eliminates the rear-end wiggle when you do max braking from triple digit speeds.. Would also do camber plates for decent amount of front neg camber. Try to run -3.0 to -3.5 camber up front for track days. Get decent brake fluid. I still think stock pads might be okay at this level or depending on your driving style consider track pads front and rear.

Stage 3- you might be turning into a track junkie. Stage 2 plus, Front tension arm mono-ball, might not be dyi for most as the press fit of the stock bushings is crazy tight. Rear lower camber arm outer bushing monoball (ford performance part). Decent track pads at this stage, I run either Pagid RSL29 F&R or Cobalt Friction XR2 front and XR3 rear, which is good for R-comp or street tires. Also, time to spring for decent 2-piece rotors front and rear (rear is optional). I run PFC front and rear but Girodisc and others are good too. High quality brake fluid with regular changes. This still leaves a nice quiet suspension but improves track performance.

Stage 4 plus- Lots of options here. I have front and rear coil-over springs 300 F and 1300 R with MagnaRide still intact and adjustable front sway bar, rear adjustable camber arms, vertical links and other parts. At this point your suspension is starting to be a compromise, it will be noisier than stock and be firmer as well but if you want to run with some of the big dogs you'll need to add some of this other equipment. Things can get real serious and expensive here.

Love this list.

For me the rear end subframe inserts were day 1 mods. Maybe it is just me, or my car, but my rear end had a bad wiggle over bumps, noticeable even on the street.

On track it could turn into disaster.

@VictorH what is the best (High boil point) brake fluid that is compatible with the Mach 1's clutch and other seals?

 

[VictorH]

Thank you for the compliment! I’m not a brake fluid expert but I’ve run Motul 600 and 660 with no problems. Currently I run PFC 665 also with good results. I’ve never run the “change once a year” Castrol stuff, but I think these are all good and there’s plenty more.

To me brake fluid problems are more of a “driver might be at fault” issue. I’ve never boiled brake fluid. Yes, I’ve had brake fade (not with the set-up described above) but to me that’s warning that you better back off, bring back the braking zone and let things cool down a bit (works every time).

You’ll note those fluids are not the cheap ones. Brake systems are sort of important, and a 4,000 pound missile at 152 mph (back straight at VIR) is a heck of a lot of kinetic energy, so don’t really want to save my $$ on that part.
I think others have perfectly suitable experience with other fluids and no problems either,

 

[23GreenGremlin]

Since you are shopping Mach 1s with the intention of track time something to consider that hasn't been mentioned yet, you can save money by buying a non-HP Mach 1 and adding a few mods like springs, adjustable camber plates, and sway bars that you would probably be changing anyway on an HP. HPs cost a premium but for a track car you are going to replace most of the parts that make an HP different from a regular Mach 1. Other big differences would be the rear wing and front lower spoiler but all-in you would be ahead starting with the less expensive non-HP as a platform and adding the mods you feel are necessary. Used HPs command a couple of thousand over a similar non-HP. Recaro seats were available in any configuration but you lose heating a cooling with the premium package. Also, the Recaro seats in the premium package cars are leather and many who track prefer the cloth ones that came in the non-premium cars.

 

[GTP]

Also, a non-HP car comes with a more sensible set of wheels for daily driving. Then you can put together a square set of 11" rims with 200TW tires for track days. Whereas the HP car comes with Cup2s on staggered and heavier rims that aren't good as daily, nor are they square for rotating, especially for high-wear track time.

 

[Aonarch]

Since you are shopping Mach 1s with the intention of track time something to consider that hasn't been mentioned yet, you can save money by buying a non-HP Mach 1 and adding a few mods like springs, adjustable camber plates, and sway bars that you would probably be changing anyway on an HP. HPs cost a premium but for a track car you are going to replace most of the parts that make an HP different from a regular Mach 1. Other big differences would be the rear wing and front lower spoiler but all-in you would be ahead starting with the less expensive non-HP as a platform and adding the mods you feel are necessary. Used HPs command a couple of thousand over a similar non-HP. Recaro seats were available in any configuration but you lose heating a cooling with the premium package. Also, the Recaro seats in the premium package cars are leather and many who track prefer the cloth ones that came in the non-premium cars.

Spot on.

I picked a non-HP Mach 1 with the cloth Recaros.

The HP cars look fantastic, but I don't want those boat anchor heavy wheels and crazy wide front Cup 2s.

The HP front splitter is a bit too aggressive for my taste too.

 

[KilgoreLSU]

Victor,

I'm slowly doing the things on your list.. I'm installing camber plates, put on racing pads, squared 305 setup with longer studs.. Better tires as well.

Looking forward to another HPDE event with an instructor.

I experienced the rear end shudder on hard breaking from about 135 down to 50 to a hair pin. It's fine as long as I keep it in a straight line during braking. Which the instructers are good about telling you.

I see different options on bushings. Steeda offers stiffeners or solid.

My question, how much noise do the solids generate. I do use the car sometimes for making work related calls.

Thanks and I love your list!

 

[S550HPP]

Heavy cars are not good track cars period and the weight translates into many, many thousands in mods and consumables plus accelerated wear on everything.

Better to buy a heavily modded one at .60 on the dollar from someone who's been fiscally exhausted by the romantic vision of tracking a 3,800 lb car with poor weight distribution.

 

[VictorH]

Hi KilgoreLSU, I'm not a suspension expert by any means, I only know, what I know from talking to experts, or much more experienced people and more importantly, my own personal experience.

On a prior street car that saw a lot of track use, I replaced the bonded rubber sub-frame bushings with solid, billet aluminum bushings. On the Mustang the fix is much easier, with more options, but end-result is basically solid mounting of the rear sub-frame. In both cases, I could detect no difference in noise, vibration or any other daily-driver characteristics. At the time of that upgrade there were no other changes to the suspension and am pretty sure you won't notice a change. Now, I bet if you had some sensitive instrumentation there's probably a change in low frequency vibrations coming through the cabin, but I don't think it's detectable by normal people.

As it relates to the weight of cars used on track, the trend over time has obviously been going up. And, yes consumables get eaten up faster, no doubt. Remember the era of the NIssan GT-Rs? They were at every track event and they were fast. Now I almost never see them. Even the Porsche 911 series (GT3 too) has gotten bigger and heavier over time. I've been tracking for 15+ years and I still have no plans to buy a track car, trailer and tow vehicle. Now if you want to experience what a really good track vehicle is like, then you need to try a full-on, factory race car. Absolutely, incredible experience and performance (corners and braking), and much easier to drive at advanced HPDE levels than anything else you will experience.

For me, I have to have a dual-purpose street-track car. A non-streetable track car and trailer is just not practical. I have a friend who has a highly modified GT3-RS which gets trailered every where. He likes it that way, it's just not for me. Right now I'm still faster than he is (just barely) and he's starting to run slicks now, so we'll see at the next two events what happens. Probably (highly likely) I'll be eating his dust now, but that's okay too. The last point, you can't touch with a dedicated track car. After the event is over, you pull off your numbers, air up the tires and hit the road. Turn on the stereo, crank up the seat cooling and enjoy your ride home while your friends are still tying down their cars to their trailers.
That's how they did it in the 1960s (way before my time), but I guess I'm old school that way.

 

[EFI]

Occasional track maybe 1-3 events per year.

I don't think the amount of events matters as much as types of events. I know a guy who does a handful of events, but they are all pretty much as hardcore as they get for being in a non-professional or sanctioned league. I also know a guy that is pretty much out there every other weekend during the summer doing 15-20 events...but all he does it literally putt around for 20 minutes at 3/10ths and calls it a day. He's having fun no doubt about it, but he isn't anywhere near at the level of the first guy even though he does 4x as many events as him.

 

[luc]

I have raced/tracked a lot of different cars, from 60hp open wheels Formula V to Roush Mustang Trans Am car and to me lap times are pretty much irrelevant to how much fun i have
What do it for me is driving a car to it’s limits. Obviously some cars have higher limits than other but the fun is the same

 

[VictorH]

Totally Agree!! Go-Karts are fun too, probably for most of us, if it has 4 wheels and an engine, we'll like it.

 

[RPDBlueMoon]

Quick update. Hopefully I don't get flamed but ultimately ended up getting a BRZ. I'd get a Miata but I don't fit comfortably enough in one.

Definitely doesn't have the same cool factor as a Mach 1 or a GT350, or even a Mustang GT lol but it was really hard to ignore its price tag and how long lasting the consumables are and how inexpensive it is. $780 for a set of Hankook RS4s vs nearly double the price for ones that fit the Mach 1 is nothing to sneeze at. I am going to the track alot and its already done its damage to my bank account. I'd rather have something that I can afford and take to the track for 15 days a year vs something I can afford for only 5. I love the Mustangs, but the reality is that it just takes a lot to run these cars, and my pockets aren't that deep for how much I plan to be at the track.

Also I am not an experienced driver and Im going to be honest, theres no way I can fully extract the performance of the Mach 1/GT350, I have seen those guys on the track and there's nothing wrong with that, its just that I don't want to be that person. The measly hp and balanced chassis of the GT86/BRZ make it a perfect car to learn RWD on. I've already learned alot with my CTR and excited to get better with my BRZ.


Please feel free to engage in discussion though, I am lurking and enjoying the discussions

 

[VictorH]

Nothing wrong with that at all. Have fun, best wishes and enjoy the new ride.

 

[GTP]

...
As it relates to the weight of cars used on track, the trend over time has obviously been going up. And, yes consumables get eaten up faster, no doubt. Remember the era of the NIssan GT-Rs? They were at every track event and they were fast. Now I almost never see them. Even the Porsche 911 series (GT3 too) has gotten bigger and heavier over time. I've been tracking for 15+ years and I still have no plans to buy a track car, trailer and tow vehicle. Now if you want to experience what a really good track vehicle is like, then you need to try a full-on, factory race car. Absolutely, incredible experience and performance (corners and braking), and much easier to drive at advanced HPDE levels than anything else you will experience.

For me, I have to have a dual-purpose street-track car. A non-streetable track car and trailer is just not practical. I have a friend who has a highly modified GT3-RS which gets trailered every where. He likes it that way, it's just not for me. Right now I'm still faster than he is (just barely) and he's starting to run slicks now, so we'll see at the next two events what happens. Probably (highly likely) I'll be eating his dust now, but that's okay too. The last point, you can't touch with a dedicated track car. After the event is over, you pull off your numbers, air up the tires and hit the road. Turn on the stereo, crank up the seat cooling and enjoy your ride home while your friends are still tying down their cars to their trailers.
That's how they did it in the 1960s (way before my time), but I guess I'm old school that way.

My situation and viewpoint is the same. No truck, no trailer, DD car, etc.

I have yet to drive a lighter car or mid engine car on track. I know my car is both powerful and heavy, but I really enjoy having to drive smooth to keep it under control.

I hope to drive my friend's Evora on track this season. Should be an interesting comparison.

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