Brent Dalton
Sua Sponte
- Thread starter
- #1
I sold my 2011 BMW M3 back in the summer before moving from TX. Still love the M3, but I was ready to try something else. I started looking for a new car in the late summer. I've always had a thing for 93-95 RX-7's and have owned many over the years(and currently own a LS1 RX7 track car), but there are a ton of awesome cars out there. I try to branch out as much as I can when I have the opportunity.
I wanted a base model GT with the performance package (PP) as the only option as my new car (to keep it as light as possible). I think it's a lot of bang for the buck. I picked up a 2016 Mustang, Base GT, Deep Impact Blue with PP at the start of October from a high-volume dealership in Virginia after shopping around for the best deal.
I want the car to be something that is fun to drive on occasion on the street/AutoX/track day. It is not my daily driver, but I don't want a car that is not fun or comfortable to drive on the street. While I have a dedicated track car, it's nice to be able to drive my car to the track as well as instruct students. Sometimes keeping up with race car maintenance, pulling the enclosed trailer to the track, etc... gets old when work is really busy(which it has been for the last many years).
At the dealership:
Arriving after transport:
The first thing I did was install the Steeda Heel/Toe pedal and jacking rails. Both of which work great!
I use these esco jack stands with the rails and it is super easy to get the car up on jack stands in no time at all:
I then took it to Raceway Park of the Midlands (formerly MAM) in Iowa. It was there end of year event and, as a thank you to the drivers, had a $50 track day. Hard to pass that up. My parents were in town so they went with me and my wife. New track, new car. I put it in 4th and just worked on learning the track and feeling out the car a little:
[ame]
We had a baby shower in Tennessee back in November. I had planned to drive my truck or my wife's car, but decided to just drive the mustang the 10 hours/650 miles each way. Whatever I couldn't fit in the car, I'd box up and ship home. Much to my surprise, I fit it all in the car along with me, my wife, and both of our suitcases.
I switched out the chrome pony emblem on the front grill and the chrome 5.0 emblems on the fenders for black ones. I also put in all weather mats to include the trunk, which I like.
I also changed the oil for the first time at around 2000 miles. I'm using amsoil signature series, 5w20.
I also noticed I did a number on the outside edge of the front tires while at the track. They should be fine for street use, but I'll def. need some camber before the next track day.
My father-in-law came into to visit back in October. He is a big mustang guy. He has four 66 mustangs and some 80's and 90's mustangs. He has never purchased a new car. After he rode around with me one day and drove the car literally 2 miles, he was hooked. He bought a ruby red 16 GT. His is a premium model with performance package and more bells and whistles than mine. 3 of the 4 in the picture are his. Can you tell he likes red mustangs?
I meant to get a picture with his and mine, but was just too busy.
I switched out the chrome pony emblem on the front grill and the chrome 5.0 emblems on the fenders for black ones. I also put in all weather mats to include the trunk, which I like.
I also changed the oil for the first time. I'm using amsoil signature series, 5w20.
I also noticed I did a number on the outside edge of the front tires while at the track. They should be fine for street use, but I'll def. need some camber before the next track day.
My GT350 wheel showed up at the start of December:
Picked up a Kognition wing.
Here it is on the full race mustang:
I'm looking for another trunk lid at a junk yard that is already my color for a couple hundred bucks that I'm going to mount the wing on so I don't have to drill my original.
I patiently waited in preparation for black friday.
I picked up an APR carbon fiber splitter on black friday for a good deal to help balance the wing. On the aFe car:
I searched around and researched coilovers. I'll spare you most of the details. I went with aFe/Pfadt coilovers and sway bars. Aaron Pfadt is a mechanical engineer that is a hardcore racer. That's a rare combo. He has made really nice products for Corvettes for many years. I always liked the Pfadt stuff on my corvette and they also had a really nice contingency program. A good bit of my really fast Corvette racer friends have ran Pfadt stuff for many years with great success. The ST2 East Coast Champ is running them. I found a killer black friday deal on them and pulled the trigger. They haven't arrived yet, but here are a couple pictures they've posted. They're coilovers. Who cares how they look! I don't have weights for them yet, but will hopefully get them soon.
Corresponding camber plates from maximum motorsports:
Stock performance package wheels, while they look great, are really heavy at 33lbs. Apex wheels are super popular track wheels in the BMW track crowd. They are fairly light, strong, and cheap. I saw they made an 18x10 wheel and are 22lbs each. Waited until black friday and got them on sale and with free shipping. 44lbs of unsprung weight savings
Corresponding tires. I had to dig around a little to find tires that worked with gearing as the stock rear tires are 27.7. These are pretty close at 295/40/18 and 27.2. I save an additional 26lbs of unsprung weight over stock tires:
Test fit. I had a 10mm spacer on the front and it was really close. I could slide a piece of paper between the tire and the strut and that was about it. I'll probably go with a 19mm spacer that some of the mustang racers use in World Challenge. I'll need to get the ARP extended studs as well.
I also got a killer deal on a borla atak with black chrome tips exhaust on black friday from [MENTION=10926]beefcake[/MENTION]. I also picked up the resonator. I'll run the resonator most of the time, but will have the x-pipe to put on whenever I want it loud. Stock catback is 72lbs. This one is 42lbs. Another 30lb weight savings. Not as significant as the others, but it should sound good!
Right now, the plan is to leave the coilovers on all the time. Stiffen them up for track. Before the track I'll change the brake pads, wheels/tires, throw the trunk/wing on, and front splitter. It should take a couple of hours of prep. We'll see.
Waxer life:
Waxer life:
Shelf prepped for once I move the mustang to the basement garage to work on it!
Fast forward to this weekend. My wife is a few days past her due date. I spent yesterday installing the coilovers and sway bars. I had installed the exhaust last week one night after work.
Coilovers and sway bar:
I've only driven around on the coilovers and sway bars a little. So far, I'm happy with them. On the street settings, they aren't bad at all. I still need to dial in my alignment, but ran out of time. I went with the aFe base setting for height. I'm happy with the fronts, but need to raise the rears a little. No big deal.
As mentioned, I got the Borla ATAK... but also ordered the resonator to replace the X-Pipe for most of my street driving. It is a little louder at idle, but really wakes up once you are on throttle. From inside the car, it really doesn't sound much louder than stock:
Sound clip:
[ame]
Obligatory GT350 Steering Wheel(best $160 I spent on the car) shot:
Black emblems:
Few Exterior pictures from today:
First track day of the year is COTA at the end of February with MVP. Should be a fun time!
Here is a video of COTA in my M3 with some worn out tires from a couple years ago:
[ame]
Just for fun, one of my RX-7 from Road Atlanta from 4 or 5 years ago. The GTR was in TTU(5.5:1 ratio) and I was in TTS(8.7:1 ratio) so he is in a faster class.
[ame]
And a couple of the RX7:
I wanted a base model GT with the performance package (PP) as the only option as my new car (to keep it as light as possible). I think it's a lot of bang for the buck. I picked up a 2016 Mustang, Base GT, Deep Impact Blue with PP at the start of October from a high-volume dealership in Virginia after shopping around for the best deal.
I want the car to be something that is fun to drive on occasion on the street/AutoX/track day. It is not my daily driver, but I don't want a car that is not fun or comfortable to drive on the street. While I have a dedicated track car, it's nice to be able to drive my car to the track as well as instruct students. Sometimes keeping up with race car maintenance, pulling the enclosed trailer to the track, etc... gets old when work is really busy(which it has been for the last many years).
At the dealership:
Arriving after transport:
The first thing I did was install the Steeda Heel/Toe pedal and jacking rails. Both of which work great!
I use these esco jack stands with the rails and it is super easy to get the car up on jack stands in no time at all:
I then took it to Raceway Park of the Midlands (formerly MAM) in Iowa. It was there end of year event and, as a thank you to the drivers, had a $50 track day. Hard to pass that up. My parents were in town so they went with me and my wife. New track, new car. I put it in 4th and just worked on learning the track and feeling out the car a little:
[ame]
We had a baby shower in Tennessee back in November. I had planned to drive my truck or my wife's car, but decided to just drive the mustang the 10 hours/650 miles each way. Whatever I couldn't fit in the car, I'd box up and ship home. Much to my surprise, I fit it all in the car along with me, my wife, and both of our suitcases.
I switched out the chrome pony emblem on the front grill and the chrome 5.0 emblems on the fenders for black ones. I also put in all weather mats to include the trunk, which I like.
I also changed the oil for the first time at around 2000 miles. I'm using amsoil signature series, 5w20.
I also noticed I did a number on the outside edge of the front tires while at the track. They should be fine for street use, but I'll def. need some camber before the next track day.
My father-in-law came into to visit back in October. He is a big mustang guy. He has four 66 mustangs and some 80's and 90's mustangs. He has never purchased a new car. After he rode around with me one day and drove the car literally 2 miles, he was hooked. He bought a ruby red 16 GT. His is a premium model with performance package and more bells and whistles than mine. 3 of the 4 in the picture are his. Can you tell he likes red mustangs?
I meant to get a picture with his and mine, but was just too busy.
I switched out the chrome pony emblem on the front grill and the chrome 5.0 emblems on the fenders for black ones. I also put in all weather mats to include the trunk, which I like.
I also changed the oil for the first time. I'm using amsoil signature series, 5w20.
I also noticed I did a number on the outside edge of the front tires while at the track. They should be fine for street use, but I'll def. need some camber before the next track day.
My GT350 wheel showed up at the start of December:
Picked up a Kognition wing.
Here it is on the full race mustang:
I'm looking for another trunk lid at a junk yard that is already my color for a couple hundred bucks that I'm going to mount the wing on so I don't have to drill my original.
I patiently waited in preparation for black friday.
I picked up an APR carbon fiber splitter on black friday for a good deal to help balance the wing. On the aFe car:
I searched around and researched coilovers. I'll spare you most of the details. I went with aFe/Pfadt coilovers and sway bars. Aaron Pfadt is a mechanical engineer that is a hardcore racer. That's a rare combo. He has made really nice products for Corvettes for many years. I always liked the Pfadt stuff on my corvette and they also had a really nice contingency program. A good bit of my really fast Corvette racer friends have ran Pfadt stuff for many years with great success. The ST2 East Coast Champ is running them. I found a killer black friday deal on them and pulled the trigger. They haven't arrived yet, but here are a couple pictures they've posted. They're coilovers. Who cares how they look! I don't have weights for them yet, but will hopefully get them soon.
Corresponding camber plates from maximum motorsports:
Stock performance package wheels, while they look great, are really heavy at 33lbs. Apex wheels are super popular track wheels in the BMW track crowd. They are fairly light, strong, and cheap. I saw they made an 18x10 wheel and are 22lbs each. Waited until black friday and got them on sale and with free shipping. 44lbs of unsprung weight savings
Corresponding tires. I had to dig around a little to find tires that worked with gearing as the stock rear tires are 27.7. These are pretty close at 295/40/18 and 27.2. I save an additional 26lbs of unsprung weight over stock tires:
Test fit. I had a 10mm spacer on the front and it was really close. I could slide a piece of paper between the tire and the strut and that was about it. I'll probably go with a 19mm spacer that some of the mustang racers use in World Challenge. I'll need to get the ARP extended studs as well.
I also got a killer deal on a borla atak with black chrome tips exhaust on black friday from [MENTION=10926]beefcake[/MENTION]. I also picked up the resonator. I'll run the resonator most of the time, but will have the x-pipe to put on whenever I want it loud. Stock catback is 72lbs. This one is 42lbs. Another 30lb weight savings. Not as significant as the others, but it should sound good!
Right now, the plan is to leave the coilovers on all the time. Stiffen them up for track. Before the track I'll change the brake pads, wheels/tires, throw the trunk/wing on, and front splitter. It should take a couple of hours of prep. We'll see.
Waxer life:
Waxer life:
Shelf prepped for once I move the mustang to the basement garage to work on it!
Fast forward to this weekend. My wife is a few days past her due date. I spent yesterday installing the coilovers and sway bars. I had installed the exhaust last week one night after work.
Coilovers and sway bar:
I've only driven around on the coilovers and sway bars a little. So far, I'm happy with them. On the street settings, they aren't bad at all. I still need to dial in my alignment, but ran out of time. I went with the aFe base setting for height. I'm happy with the fronts, but need to raise the rears a little. No big deal.
As mentioned, I got the Borla ATAK... but also ordered the resonator to replace the X-Pipe for most of my street driving. It is a little louder at idle, but really wakes up once you are on throttle. From inside the car, it really doesn't sound much louder than stock:
Sound clip:
[ame]
Obligatory GT350 Steering Wheel(best $160 I spent on the car) shot:
Black emblems:
Few Exterior pictures from today:
First track day of the year is COTA at the end of February with MVP. Should be a fun time!
Here is a video of COTA in my M3 with some worn out tires from a couple years ago:
[ame]
Just for fun, one of my RX-7 from Road Atlanta from 4 or 5 years ago. The GTR was in TTU(5.5:1 ratio) and I was in TTS(8.7:1 ratio) so he is in a faster class.
[ame]
And a couple of the RX7:
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