S550s are pretty damn reliable and basic in the tech department. Between Forscan and HP Tuners, you can diagnose or fix a lot of issues. And with all the ones that find a curb leaving Cars & Coffee, the used parts market is alive and well.
If youâre hell-bent on a 350, just know youâre buying a...
If youâve got the extra time and mental bandwidth to deal with the stress of fixing this or upgrading thatâhave at it. Just know that no matter how âdoneâ the car is, unless youâre dropping Revology money, youâre gonna be chasing gremlins, redoing shop work, and finding new creative ways to...
This is a choice between apples, oranges, and a potato. Iâve logged seat time in every Mustang generation and a couple of Backdraft Cobras.
S550 Mustang: Comfortable, modern, daily-drivable, and handles great.
â60s Mustang: A gorgeous bucket of bolts thatâs never truly âdoneâ â and youâre...
Spend the money on
1. Camber plates
2. Brake pads
3. Track time
4. A diff cooler so you're not limited to 5 minute sessions once you're capable running decent lap times
Yes took everything I could throw at it to keep mine cool. I ran water / water wetter with a splash of antifreeze in a Mishi radiator. Switch to back to antifreeze during winter.
I completely gutted my shroud with a mishimoto radiator. I used some weather stripping to fill the ~3/4â gap around the 2 fans so they were pulling air through the radiator more effectively. I also had a monster oil cooler.
But 95F idling in bumper to bumper traffic. 36k miles of street driving...
I wouldnât go near a road course with a boosted coyote.
If driven near limit, theyâll just barely stay cool stock after throwing every cooling mod in the book at them.
Every time I've strayed.. started in Miata's then BMW's caught my eye. Then back to Miatas. Then 2 S550's because I'm done with trailers and track only cars. Now I'm back in a turbo Miata with trailer for track only.
I accept my fate as someone who appreciates the raw, connected, light weight...
I wouldnât switch from a Mustang youâve poured time into to any of those options. Not a drastic enough difference to warrant the cost.
Miata is differentâyou can buy turn key rockets for 15-20k and run with cars that have brake jobs that cost more than my whole car.
I haven't put a lap timer in the Miata yet... My highly calibrated ass dyno says I gave up a little on the longer straights but I'm a couple seconds faster per lap due to higher average corner speeds.
I'm only racing for the HPDE trophy. So it's personal preference. I get more smiles per lap...
My experience with âmomentum carsâ was racing spec Miata for a few years. it is a crazy scary, exciting, and immensely humbling experience.
My current Miata weighs 2250lb and has same power/weight ratio as my â21 GT. I donât think itâs technically a momentum car anymore.
I switched to turbo miata. Every consumable costs half as much and lasts twice as long. I love mustangs for the street but the mustang track tire budget was getting absurd.
Hey. The scroth sub you can purchase separate through scroth has clips so I would just clip it in and slide it through the seat for track days then remove it completely when done.
my mustang track days are done for a bit. I got tired of trying to get a heavy street car to do track car thingsâŠ...
I've never noticed either track as that hard on tires compared to any other track. Maybe PittRace is a little harder on brakes per lap than MidO.
By the looks of those tires, a tire temp probe and some camber work would be a wise investment.
I dailies r18 in fronts for 35k miles-probably 10+ sets during that time
Using the titanium shims from opmustang really quiets them down.
Still an on off switch when cold but they are no where near as loud as other cars Iâve run these compounds in.
Not end of world for road car, but would bug me
Inspect everything, measure ride heightâmaybe you have a torqued bushing from the spring install throwing off ride height?
shift the subframe to equalize.
Or just throw a crash bolt In there