Frustrating (but fun!) day

[Ugly John]

I was up at Roebling Road Raceway yesterday, and only managed 4th out of 5 cars in FS. The car I beat was a 2005 Mustang GT, so that takes away some of the sting.

I was driving fairly decent, and was staying ahead of the course most of the time.

I'm running my V6 totally stock, and it's frustrating being in the same class as a 2016 GT performance pack. I'm fighting against more HP and torque, as well as stronger springs and sway bars, wider wheels, and better brakes. The guy that drove this car has run autox for a while, so his skills were much much better than mine, but still, it was frustrating.

Also frustrating was I ordered a Strano sway bar, but I still have to wait at least a week for that. And the deal I had with someone here for another set of 18x8 wheels and tires fell thru, and a couple weeks of him not being able to ship. I should have had them before yesterday, but he wasn't able to get them shipped, then changed his mind. AND, I ordered magnetic numbers 2 weeks ago and they haven't shipped yet either! I was counting on those numbers for a good 3 second subtraction to my time.

I was looking at the 2016 GT PP, and noticed his tires had a 220 treadwear rating. My crappy Goodyears didn't stand a chance with their 500 treadwear!

I didn't buy the car for this, and I know there isn't much I can do besides improve my driving, but still it would be nice to stand a chance. I hope they move the V6 to a different class next year...

I managed 52 out of 80 someodd cars in PAX, so it wasn't a slaughter. And I had a blast!

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[HoosierDaddy]

Do the S550 V6s have the 114 MPH speed governor the S197s (2011-) V6s did to prevent driveshaft failures?

 

[Ugly John]

Do the S550 V6s have the 114 MPH speed governor the S197s (2011-) V6s did to prevent driveshaft failures?

I believe it's 122 mph, but I don't think it's because of the driveshaft, but rather because of the tires.

 

[kz]

I was up at Roebling Road Raceway yesterday, and only managed 4th out of 5 cars in FS. The car I beat was a 2005 Mustang GT, so that takes away some of the sting.

I was driving fairly decent, and was staying ahead of the course most of the time.

I'm running my V6 totally stock, and it's frustrating being in the same class as a 2016 GT performance pack. I'm fighting against more HP and torque, as well as stronger springs and sway bars, wider wheels, and better brakes. The guy that drove this car has run autox for a while, so his skills were much much better than mine, but still, it was frustrating.

Also frustrating was I ordered a Strano sway bar, but I still have to wait at least a week for that. And the deal I had with someone here for another set of 18x8 wheels and tires fell thru, and a couple weeks of him not being able to ship. I should have had them before yesterday, but he wasn't able to get them shipped, then changed his mind. AND, I ordered magnetic numbers 2 weeks ago and they haven't shipped yet either! I was counting on those numbers for a good 3 second subtraction to my time.

I was looking at the 2016 GT PP, and noticed his tires had a 220 treadwear rating. My crappy Goodyears didn't stand a chance with their 500 treadwear!

I didn't buy the car for this, and I know there isn't much I can do besides improve my driving, but still it would be nice to stand a chance. I hope they move the V6 to a different class next year...

I managed 52 out of 80 someodd cars in PAX, so it wasn't a slaughter. And I had a blast!

That is excellent result (IMO) if you're still a beginner and have car far from optimal. You can get tires with 200 tread wear rating but you are still limited by the stock width. I had similar experience with ordering numbers...

 

[NightmareMoon]

Stock wheel width, but not stock tire width. Of all those things, tires are the single biggest factor (other than the driver, there's no limit to how bad the driver can screw up).

Brakes won't come into play (the V6 brakes won't be overheating at an autox and their lower weight is a plus.)

Power isn't as much of a factor as one might think. I rarely get to apply the whole herd of available GT ponies in an autox. Usually it's cornering speeds that are the limit.

Soft sways and springs actually help your maximum available grip, but they do make transitions a little trickier. You'll have a little room to tune things with your Strano sway, so there is some hope. Plus adjustable shocks like Konis can speed those transitions right back up.

 

[GuardDog]

John this is Austin from this weekend with the GTPP. You would actually be better off with your rim and tire deal falling through. To be most competitive grab some bridgestone re71r or dunlop z2 starspecs. You might spend more but you will have considerably more grip than the pirelli neros you were looking at. Also next time jump in with me a I'll see if I can give you some pointers.

 

[Ugly John]

Well, I had ANOTHER wheel and tire deal fall through last night, but I was finally able to find a local guy for the same price. I'll pick them up tomorrow. :clap2:

My plan now is to use the Pirelli's for my track tires for the time being, and use the stock Goodyears for daily driving until it is time to replace them. At that point, I'll get a set of racing tires, and put them on whatever set of wheels is lighter. I've been looking and right now I'm leaning towards the RE71R's in a 255/40R18 size. A little shorter tire, but that should help the torque a tad. From what I've seen the 255 is about all the tire I can get on an 18x8 wheel. The Pirelli's will then be my daily driver tires.

Austin - thanks for the offer - I'll definitely take you up on it! I'd love to see what a GT can do, and even better see what a good driver can do.

BTW, Austin won the class and ran a best time of 61.807, while I could only manage 70.472.

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