Ewheels Road Course Build

[Ewheels]

The transmission isn't so much to blame as the two pieces external of it are. The shifting is because our shifters are remote and dangling far behind it, and the transmission moves here and there, as does your shifter. The first time out with the MGW, I broke my 3-4 shift fork, not that it's MGW's fault, but rather I had gotten used to dealing with the slop. The MGW is very much firmer and almost feels as if you're directly in the transmission.

The high speed lockout is likely the fault of the clutch, which if you're stock, it sucks and it's heavy. The likely cause of the high rpm lockout is that it's spinning so hard and fast that the pressure plate is just not strong enough to push with all the centripetal force with it swinging around so fast. It "magically" going away 1-2k rpm lower suggests that to me, anyhow. I fixed that by going with a Mantic clutch/flywheel (thanks Geoff!), which also shed 30# from the rotating mass, as the dual mass flywheel becomes a really nice lightened billet flywheel. Combination of being 30# lighter, it will accelerate faster, and noticeable grip difference too, wish I had more time on it, but it won't slip, something I did for most of the 2021 season. Definitely worth a call if it bothers you that much, I can't believe I had waited so long to do so.

I remember your review of the clutch when you first got it on track; something I'd be interested in.
Though, I'll just change mine out when the time comes for a new clutch.

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[plresultsman]

Finally getting some fun work done on the car! I've been wanting to add hood venting for awhile now and decided today was the day.

Now, I've never cut up a car before and I only have minimal metal working experience so this was quite the pucker! The instructions supplied are very clear and the template works great. I have to add, Race Louver customer support is second to none! I've been annoyingly emailing Albert for months now with various questions and he is beyond helpful. I called him halfway into cutting and he was quick to answer my questions. He even called me back later in the day to check on my progress and see if I had anymore questions before he left for the day. Albert, if you see this, THANK YOU!

The entire process was quite straight forward. Time consuming, but straight forward. I HIGHLY recommend taping the entire hood as metal shards and fragments get everywhere. I then used moving blankets to cover the engine and the windshield.
For finding dead-center, I used a long strip of floss and taped it to the center of the windshield (small decal label there perfectly in the center) and then pulled it tightly over the hood and lined it up with the crease line in the front bumper. Then simply measure about 17 different times and tape down the template.
I used a Dremel to cut the whole thing. Took 1 diamond cutting disc (or whatever the more expensive disc is made of) and 2 regular metal cutting discs. I tried to cut it all with the hood still on the car but getting the bottom layer cut correctly requires the hood off. After that, it's cut, trim, measure, and repeat till it all fits snug.

Are the louvers movable up and down ie track v street and do they stay in place once moved? I have a Roush stage 1, and my regular tech mentioned it was warm under my hood. I have stock '16 vents reversed to capture air and my insulation blanket remains in place.

 

[Biggsy]

Are the louvers movable up and down ie track v street and do they stay in place once moved? I have a Roush stage 1, and my regular tech mentioned it was warm under my hood. I have stock '16 vents reversed to capture air and my insulation blanket remains in place.

They are stationary. Once you make that cut/hole, no going back. Race Louvers offers different “levels” of trim: Street, Track, Extreme. For non track use you may go with the street trim.

 

[Ewheels]

Are the louvers movable up and down ie track v street and do they stay in place once moved? I have a Roush stage 1, and my regular tech mentioned it was warm under my hood. I have stock '16 vents reversed to capture air and my insulation blanket remains in place.

As @Biggsy mentioned, they do not move.

Couple things:
1. Engine bay temps, directly, mean nothing. If your engine bay is hot, that's because your coolant or oil is hot. It's much more effective to cool those directly than the ambient air around the engine.
2. I would recommend against pushing air into the engine bay. It's not cooling anything directly and increases under-hood pressures. Instead, try to get more air flow through your radiator/intercooler/oil cooler. This can be done via ducting and hood venting.

 

[Egparson202]

[snip]
I would recommend against pushing air into the engine bay. It's not cooling anything directly and increases under-hood pressures. Instead, try to get more air flow through your radiator/intercooler/oil cooler. This can be done via ducting and hood venting.

I agree. And, I’m progressing along this path. Right now the sticking point is the radiator ducting. I’m looking for a good recipe for the ducting.

 

[shogun32]

I agree. And, I’m progressing along this path. Right now the sticking point is the radiator ducting. I’m looking for a good recipe for the ducting.

I'm going to use corrogated plastic sign-board with the slats angled like you see on motorcross bikes. But the bigger win is IMO back-side ducting to maximize draw and worry less about front-side. That's where TrackVents etc. are supposed to do their magic but the data doesn't seem to show huge winnings unfortunately.

 

[Egparson202]

Can it be made to work with the AC condenser in place?

 

[Biggsy]

I’m looking for a good recipe for the ducting.

Lol aren’t we all.

I know it’s necessary but Im not looking forward to doing it

 

[tosha]

Can it be made to work with the AC condenser in place?

check out this post for inspiration: https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/track-time-limited-due-to-high-cht.166499/post-3611047.

it's pretty straightforward, just time consuming, as long as you have some basic power tools and feel confident about taking front bumper off. I made it work with AC condenser AND SC intercooler sitting in front of it. made massive difference in temps, when combined with racelouvers and more open lower grille.

 

[Egparson202]

check out this post for inspiration: https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/track-time-limited-due-to-high-cht.166499/post-3611047.

it's pretty straightforward, just time consuming, as long as you have some basic power tools and feel confident about taking front bumper off. I made it work with AC condenser AND SC intercooler sitting in front of it. made massive difference in temps, when combined with racelouvers and more open lower grille.

Thanks for linking to a specific post. I’ve (tried to) read the whole thread but it’s pretty lengthy. Much appreciated.

 

[tosha]

Thanks for linking to a specific post. I’ve (tried to) read the whole thread but it’s pretty lengthy. Much appreciated.

no problem . let me know if you have any questions, this is still pretty fresh in my memory. one thing I have not mentioned in my post is that I got rid of all the original plastic "ducting" on the right side and my bottom piece was already missing after SC install. I left the one that is on air intake side as it not really obstructing anything and is kinda integrated with air intake piece. I also reused top covers with minimal additions. I made sure everything is tight with back of bumber and against condenser. there is a seal between condenser and a radiator that I consider to be fine for now.

@Ewheels , apologies for highjacking your thread . let us know if you want us to move out to a different one.

 

[Ewheels]

No worries @tosha . All constructive conversations welcome here.

@shogun32 I would LOVE some backside ducting and you gain massive cooling and downforce gains from it but it's very hard to do. Not much room at all between the radiator and the front of the engine to put proper ducting especially with the coolant tank and intake tube there.
The only mustangs I've seen it done on was Vorshlag's S197 or PAE's S550

 

[Michael_vroomvroom]

Well this passed weekend didn't go the way I wanted it to.

Back at Buttonwillow and was hoping to finally get that elusive sub 2:00 lap or even at least take a second or two off my previous 2:03 time but instead I got 2:04's all day long.
These Toyo RR tires really do feel grip limited but that seems like an easy excuse. After watching my lap videos, there's a couple corners I was messing up but correcting those alone won't take 4 seconds off my time....I need coaching cause whatever I'm doing, isn't working.



I'll be sending my lap to Blayze/Racers360 but if anyone wants to give their input, it would be greatly appreciated. I can use all the help I can get.
Fastest lap of the day

From what I can see:
- royally messed up Sunrise
- lost the rear end a bit in Cotton Corners
- little squirrely coming to the braking zone in Bus Stop
- turning in too early at Sunset
- I think I'm lifting in a few spots when I should be flat on the gas
Will correcting these things and getting grippier tires equal a sub 2 lap? I have no idea but I sure hope so.

I feel I should be careful about suggesting things to people more experienced than me, so I may be completely wrong, but one thing I noticed is that it looks like you don't use the whole track when coming out of the corners sometimes.
I.e., instead of letting the car go out to the edge of the track so that you can keep accelerating for a longer time, you make the exit sharper than what looks needed and stop accelerating, or even let go of the throttle a little, half-way out. This even though there seems to be a wide margin till the edge of the track still which could be used to make the exit smoother and at a higher velocity.

If it's not against their terms, I would also be really interested in seeing the comments from Racers360.

 

[Ewheels]

I feel I should be careful about suggesting things to people more experienced than me, so I may be completely wrong, but one thing I noticed is that it looks like you don't use the whole track when coming out of the corners sometimes.
I.e., instead of letting the car go out to the edge of the track so that you can keep accelerating for a longer time, you make the exit sharper than what looks needed and stop accelerating, or even let go of the throttle a little, half-way out. This even though there seems to be a wide margin till the edge of the track still which could be used to make the exit smoother and at a higher velocity.

If it's not against their terms, I would also be really interested in seeing the comments from Racers360.

I actually submitted a different lap for review than the one in my earlier post. Though the linked lap above was technically faster, it was much sloppier. You are absolutely right; there were several apexes missed in this video.

 

[Ewheels]

Minor updates:

I had track days scheduled in December and January and both of them got rained out. As I only have slicks, I just didn't think it was worth going. I know we needed the rain here in CA, but dammit, rain during the weekdays only please

Finally have the full Race Louvers hood vent kit now. Did the center vent years back with a Dremel. Though it worked, it took forever. This time, I got an angle grinder....holy moly it cuts through like butter.

As far as cooling goes, I have been trying to spend as little money as possible on an oil cooler but after doing my homework and talking with numerous people who know far more than I do, I finally decided to suck it up and just buy the best the first time around. So I will be going with a Setrab 948 oil cooler. To get everything I need, it will be around $1,300 but oil temps will never be an issue again. I'll do this install and radiator ducting in the summer time when I take a break from the track anyway. When it's 50-60° outside, my temps aren't as much of an issue anyway.


Last point: I have decided to start doing my own string alignments at home. The shop I normally go to for alignments, I used to work at and I'm close friends with the owner. However, they are more accustomed to Camry's and minivans, not wannabe race cars. They have helped me out thus far but my car is beginning to outgrow their standards.
I got a quote from a local race shop to cut my strut tower openings and do a basic alignment....it was nearly $1,000! Looks like my cheap-ass will do it myself.
So I bought a string alignment kit and a wheel camber gauge. It doesn't seem too difficult to do yourself, just tedious. I'm looking forward to being able to have an alignment done whenever I want though, the freedom is nice.

Anyway, next planned track day (assuming no rain) is in a couple weeks and I might do another the week directly after. I try to do at least one a month but it always seems something comes up.

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