2018 GT Daily Track Driver

[txgt]

Track Date: June 14, 2021

My first track day! This HPDE event was put on by Edge Addicts at Motorsport Ranch Cresson on the full 3.1 mile course.

Despite being nervous for my first track day, I actually did get a good night‘s sleep. According to Edge Addicts, the track gates open at 6:30am, so I made sure I was there exactly then. I’m really happy that I arrived so early as I quickly learned that the covered spots are first-come-first-served

My buddy down in Austin also came up for this event in his 2016 Corvette (such a beautiful car!) He’s not a stranger to HPDE events, but being new to Edge Addicts he was in the novice group along with me.

So, being in the novice group I had a full time instructor with me for all five of my 25 minute sessions. The first session of the day was a moderate speed “learn the track” lesson with lots of instruction. My instructor has a 2019 PP1 Mustang and offered for me to ride with her during her instructor session to see her track lines. Holy $#!^… I thought I was going to die! After the warm-up lap she really put the hammer down. Having never ridden as a passenger in a track setting, it was definitely a learning experience to see what a capable driver could do in a car almost exactly like mine. It was a great lesson in grip and braking.

As the day wore on my car performed great, even with the stock GT front brakes (albeit with Motul 600 RBF and track day pads) and the original 255/40-19 Pirelli’s that shipped with the car. The only issue came up in the last session where on the cool-down lap I noticed the check engine light was on

We plugged my buddy’s BlueDriver scan tool into my OBD-II port and checked the codes which turned out to be a P0300 random misfire. Although I was concerned about the code, I never actually noticed any issues during that session. So, being finished with the last session of the day I packed up the car and headed home. At some point during the drive home, the check engine light disappeared and I just chalked it up to maybe having been caused by high cylinder head temps, but would keep an eye on this in the future

All-in-all a really great first track experience and I really looked forward to my next one!

 

[Ewheels]

Sub'd!

This reminds me a lot of my track journey and almost exactly how I started out. I would do the exact same thing: swapping street brakes for track brakes and vice versa for every track weekend. As soon as I got a daily driver, things escalated quickly.

Interested to see where your journey takes you! Not that I'm an expert or anything, but feel free to reach out with any questions you may have.

First track day:

Most recent track day:

 

[txgt]

@Ewheels greetings sir! I’ve definitely lurked your build thread and will definitely hit you up for advice as I continue on my journey!

I love your car and understand how things can escalate when you turn your daily into a dedicated track car. I always envision a future where my car ends up going that same route. All I need is a truck for a daily driver, a trailer, and a bigger garage to house everything

 

[txgt]

Track Date: August 21, 2021

Track day #2, with APEX Driving Academy at Eagles Canyon Raceway. This event was the full 2.7 mile course in the clockwise direction, which is opposite the normal flow. Being my first time at this track, it really didn‘t matter that it was CW instead of the ”normal” CCW direction. Again, my buddy from Austin was able to come up with his ’16 Vette to have some track fun with me .

The only mod (that I can remember) for this event was ditching the factory OEM Pirelli’s for Continental ExtremeContact Sport tires in 200tw. I’d like to say that they were amazingly better than the Pirelli’s, but honestly I was way too green to really notice a difference. But... the original tires did need to be replaced so there you go.

Still in the novice group, I again had a full-time instructor who was immensely helpful in guiding me on the intricacies of this new-to-me track.

Was a really great event, but during the last session I again had the check engine light come on… Again, the code was related to a detected misfire, this time specific to cylinder #6. These misfire codes will continue to be a common occurrence on hot summer track days…

 

[txgt]

Build Date: September 25, 2021

As mentioned in post #5, I had no idea that there were more pieces to the PP1 strut/cowl brace puzzle. After reading up on this thread, I ordered the cowl extension as well as the lower k-brace.

An added (and welcomed) benefit is the flap for easier access to the oil filter for oil changes. When I do oil changes now, I’ll use a piece of masking tape to hold that flap back and then use some aluminum foil to protect the wiring harness directly below the oil filter. The aluminum foil works great to keep that harness oil-free and redirect the oil into the drain pan

Also picked up a K&N reusable air filter, and more importantly… my very own helmet! No more renting helmets at HPDE events!! 🪖

This RaceQuip open face helmet meets Snell SA2020 standards so it will last me quite a long time for many years of HPDE events. I opted for the open-face design for comfort. If I ever turn my car into a dedicated track machine, I’ll move to a full-face helmet.

 

[txgt]

Track Date: November 8, 2021

Another “Monday Funday” with Edge Addicts at MSR Cresson on the full 3.1 mile course. Again, my buddy from Austin brought his ‘16 Stingray to play.

What was really interesting was a bunch of McLaren 720S cars at the event. They weren’t actually participating that day and no one seemed to be advertising anything… just a bunch of really cool cars for everyone to gawk at

After the event, we headed down to Granbury, TX for some food and beers. We spotted this first gen Corvette and snapped a photo with my buddy’s C7 Vette.

Super fun day!!!

 

[txgt]

Build Date: December 10, 2021

So, I love to mountain bike. Ok, in all fairness we really don’t have mountains in Tejas, so it’s actually “trail biking” but that doesn’t sound as cool Nevertheless, we really do have a lot of amazing biking trails in the DFW area.

Before I got the Mustang I was driving a gently used 2008 Honda Accord that I equipped with a trailer hitch receiver so I could use a bike hitch rack to transport my bike to and from the trails. When I traded that car in for the Mustang I kinda stopped riding my bike as much as I had been. The main reason was that I absolutely refuse to put a trailer hitch receiver on the Mustang!

So, I stated looking at other options such as the suction cup mounts… I’m sure they work as well as people say they do, but something seems so inherently wrong with mounting a bicycle to a car using suction cups!

Well, as it turns out, all I needed to really do was look to the Mustang6G forums where a member stated that you could actually fit a full-size 29” bike in the back of a Mustang

Turns out, you can! I flipped down the rear seats, laid down a moving blanket for protection, and voila!

The More You Know!

 

[txgt]

Build Date: December 25, 2021

Merry Christmas!!! My very lovely wife gave me the gift of new track brake pads! (OK, so I sent her the link and she ordered it for me )

Nothing against the PowerStop Track Day pads, but I got a good recommendation to try out the Hawk HP+ pads.

 

[txgt]

Build Date: January 8, 2022

A cool New Year for a cool new mod! The stock GT radiator is perfectly fine for street use, but obviously Ford acknowledged that a bigger radiator was needed for the track as the PP1 and higher models got bigger radiators.

Now, I’m a huge fan of Ford Performance products and will usually tend towards their solutions before going aftermarket. Their quality is always fantastic and you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the parts will fit perfectly and work with the rest of their products. However, I wanted to “go big” in the cooling department and so I decided to pickup a Mishimoto (MMRAD-MUS8-15) radiator.

Man… this thing is beautiful! Even the packaging was really well done! The removal of the stock radiator went very well. The only tricky part was de-coupling the AC condenser from the radiator, but with a little patience and finesse it came out un-scathed.

Comparing the stock GT radiator with the Mishimoto clearly shows how much larger this radiator is! The stock GT radiator measured in at 1 1/4” deep while the Mishimoto is a full 2 Inches!

The new radiator went in very smoothly and after a jug-and-a-half-ish of additional 50/50 coolant the install was complete!

Remember when I commented on “Ford Performance products … blah blah blah… perfect fit… blah blah blah”? Well turns out the size of the new Mishimoto radiator might just be a little too big to play nice with my Ford Performance oil separator

The larger radiator pushed the coolant expansion tank right up against the FP oil separator. I’ve heard the term “rubbing is racing” before, but I’m not sure that applies to things in your engine bay. So, until I could solve for this problem, I removed the FP oil separator and installed the original tube.

 

[txgt]

Build Date: January 22, 2022

As stated in the previous post, that big ‘oil Mishimoto radiator was pushing the coolant expansion tank into the FP oil separator. I took it off temporarily while I figured out a new solution.

I started out by looking at other after-market oil separator products on the market and where they mounted. Certainly, all the options looked like they would locate their oil separator in an out of the way place that would not interfere with anything.

But.. I’d already invested in the Ford Performance unit and really wanted to keep it if at all possible. Enter @StangTime and his amazing FP Oil separator relocation kit!

The quality of the hoses, Gates hose clamps and the mounting bracket (not shown) are superb! This kit re-uses the hose connectors from the original FP kit, and attaches to the new braided hoses using Gates heat-shrink hose clamps.

The fit and finish after the install is perfect. It really does look like it could have come directly from Ford this way!

 

[txgt]

Build Date: January 29, 2022

Disaster!!

Stupid two-piece lug nuts! Now, in all fairness, I do take off and on my wheels a lot as I modify her and prep her for track days. And… I may have been using the 21mm socket instead of the correct 13/16” socket this whole time.

So, I ordered the 1 piece lug nuts from Gorilla to replace all the factory 2 piece lug nuts. But first, I gotta remove the jacked-up lug nut and this was my approach:

1. Put some black duct tape around the lug nut to protect the wheel finish
2. Drove a punch through the lug nut cap to start a pilot hole
3. Used a socket to help center the drill bit, drilled the pilot hole larger
4. Hammer and screwdriver to ”cut” and peel back the outer shell
5. Remove inner lug nut with a lug extractor socket
6. Place destroyed socket in world’s smallest vase and display in living room for your wife to enjoy