S550 track ready?

[Zelek]

Think the only track ready Mustang GT is going to be the 2021 Mach 1 out of the gate. The rest of them can be made track ready through the aftermarket. Otherwise, you're looking at Shelby models. I really wanted to get my current 17 GT out on the track at COTA here, but I have my concerns about overheating the diff. May make it a lap or two before the car gets angry.

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[Flyhalf]

If i may.
The only upgrades you need are :
1. Bigger and better tires. The best will be a 19x11 squared. So you can rotate wheels for better tire wearing.
To fit 19x11 with offset 52mm in the front,
You need
A. 25mm spacers (Hubcentric only)
B. 1" Longer studs
C. Open lug nuts
You can get those at Opmustang.com

2. Camber plates. Our car loves camber in the front! The best are VORSHLAG

3. BETTER brakes. (We have discussed about it.

For the moment you don't need any other mods.

THERE IS ONLY ONE MOD YOU NEED.
IS THE DRIVER MOD.
So go out at the track as much as you can. Use a coach.
If you record your lap I strongly suggest
Racers360.com
Where a professional driver will analize your lap and will give you tons of advice (for 99$ is one of the best mod you can have

So after the basic upgrades i told you invest time and money..to improve..you

 

[Grintch]

Unfortunately pads won't fix your issues.
The normal GT has the infamous reverse rotors.
The reverse rotors pick air from outside instead on inside.on the outer part there is virtual zero air and your rotors will become extremely hot.
You need to find " normal" rotors first. (Like The gold one in the pic)
After that you can go with different pad.
If you get serious ob track you need (must..) To upgrade to perf pack brakes...
A note
A 2 piece rotors will cost you more
But will bring a lot of benefit. Way more lighter way more air cooling.
If you upgrade to perf pack cobsoder them as an option (fronts are around 1000$ both)
Feel free to ask anything.
Alex

The biggest problem with the reverse rotors is the common fix of adding brake cooling doesn't work, because they cool the back side of the rotor, where the normal cooling path is.
Switching to a simple non reverse rotor won't help much unless you add cooling too. Or use bigger/better rotors.

The general consensus is just pads are not enough to make the standard GT brakes "track ready". Can you take a regular GT to the track, sure. But push it hard, and the brakes will fade. This just happens faster if you put wider & stickier tires.
PP brakes are pretty track ready, and they also have a bit more cooling. But the diff can overheat rather fast. Putting you in limp home mode in 2016+ cars.
PP2 doesn't fix the diff cooling. If anything with the better tires and suspension, the car will go faster but then overheat the diff faster.
GT350 (2017+ or with Track Pack). Even better brakes, cooling, and actual diff and trans coolers. So track ready out of the box, even when driven hard. Well actually, you really need camber plates to get the front tires to last. So you need a GT350 + handling package (that have camber plates).

Some of the discussion/arguing about track ready is because a Camaro SS 1LE IS track ready, while you have to spend a lot more to get a track ready Mustang. Many people wanted the PP and/or PP2 to be a real 1LE alternative/competitor/killer. And they fall short of the mark as track ready out of the factory.

 

[Flyhalf]

The biggest problem with the reverse rotors is the common fix of adding brake cooling doesn't work, because they cool the back side of the rotor, where the normal cooling path is.
Switching to a simple non reverse rotor won't help much unless you add cooling too. Or use bigger/better rotors.

The general consensus is just pads are not enough to make the standard GT brakes "track ready". Can you take a regular GT to the track, sure. But push it hard, and the brakes will fade. This just happens faster if you put wider & stickier tires.
PP brakes are pretty track ready, and they also have a bit more cooling. But the diff can overheat rather fast. Putting you in limp home mode in 2016+ cars.
PP2 doesn't fix the diff cooling. If anything with the better tires and suspension, the car will go faster but then overheat the diff faster.
GT350 (2017+ or with Track Pack). Even better brakes, cooling, and actual diff and trans coolers. So track ready out of the box, even when driven hard. Well actually, you really need camber plates to get the front tires to last. So you need a GT350 + handling package (that have camber plates).

Some of the discussion/arguing about track ready is because a Camaro SS 1LE IS track ready, while you have to spend a lot more to get a track ready Mustang. Many people wanted the PP and/or PP2 to be a real 1LE alternative/competitor/killer. And they fall short of the mark as track ready out of the factory.

Agreed. A ss 1le is faster than a 350.
2 back to back tests at Chuckwalla made by an expert driver with both car showed the ss 1le2 sec faster than 350.

Mustang is a perf pack. Not a Track pack. Unfortunately.

For the rotors i polite disagree.
One of the perf pack Advantage is the shape on the undertray with 2 "front tunnel" pointing to a to oush air into the rotor. Vorshlag developed a bigger deflector together with marco garcia (former ford engineer who developed the brakes for the stangs) claiming better cooling performance than the normal hoses. (Testing left vs right temps with the 2 different setups)

One thing forsure is there is way more air coming from inside the tire vs outside.
So yes cooling is better with standard rotors.
Is it enough? At the beggining for sure. With speeds increasing not at all. Cooling hoses/better air deflector are necessary with the progression of the driver skills and speeds.
The 2 piece rotors does a great job to reduce even more the temps.

Alex

 

[Flyhalf]

Think the only track ready Mustang GT is going to be the 2021 Mach 1 out of the gate. The rest of them can be made track ready through the aftermarket. Otherwise, you're looking at Shelby models. I really wanted to get my current 17 GT out on the track at COTA here, but I have my concerns about overheating the diff. May make it a lap or two before the car gets angry.

I know it sounds crazy.
But
An easy help is : a leaf blower. Poor somewater in front of the leaf bolower and spray the diff. Temps will go down a lot.
And no you won't damage anything. After every session do it for few minutes thisnwill allow you to have more time before overheating. Especially in the last sessioms of the day.
And If you just start to track the car you will not overheat.
But this simple trick helped me a lot during the MUSCLE CUP.
This is the fluid with 5 trackdays with 100f. Zero debrees. Clear. I really suggest it

 

[Lala_2.3T]

What are some track events /organizations? The one I went to at Watkins was an SCDA event. They have great instructors if you are in the novice category. There's intermediate and advanced groups too. Pricey fees, but great quality events and very organized.

 

[2morrow]

A lot of good feedback here.

One thing to note for *MOST* drivers is that a lot of (newer) performance cars are way more "track ready" and capable than their owners/drivers.

The other thing to note is that there are several drivers on this thread that are waaaay more capable than most on track. This is good to think
about in that their requirements will differ greatly from an equipment perspective (compared to a beginner or intermediate driver).

With that being said... some have commented that cooling mods are needed to participate. While many of us live in hot areas and if so I would
recommend a better brake fluid in that respect. Quality Fluids, proper brakes, good tires and most of all skill and etiquette are what keeps you
on track, safe and in the good graces of the instructors, organizers and corner/flag workers.

I would look at it from a "what can I learn" to become safe, consistent and (eventually) fast perspective as opposed to "what does my car need"
perspective. For the entry driver, most mods just get you in greater trouble, faster. The best mod is driver mod.

Have fun out there OP.

 

[BimmerDriver]

What are some track events /organizations? The one I went to at Watkins was an SCDA event. They have great instructors if you are in the novice category. There's intermediate and advanced groups too. Pricey fees, but great quality events and very organized.

I've been with several clubs, and as a general rule, the European guys (BMW, Porsche, Audi) put on good schools. I did an event with a Mustang club that was also good. A lot depends on who (locally) is in charge.

If i may.

THERE IS ONLY ONE MOD YOU NEED.
IS THE DRIVER MOD.
So go out at the track as much as you can. Use a coach.

For the entry driver, most mods just get you in greater trouble, faster. The best mod is driver mod.

I think people hate this advice, but it's also what I often recommend. You can buy a GT350 and slam $15K of mods on it, and I can drive my wife's 328i on street tires and go faster than you.*

You are not going to overheat the diff or the transmission or the engine driving the car in a reasonable manner, as you learn high performance driving. You will undoubtedly run out of brakes (they will fade and/or boil the fluid) if you run the OE pads and rotors. But again, a good instructor will help you reel in your enthusiasm and help you to drive in a manner that can save the brakes. As mentioned above, there is a large gap in the abilities and capable speeds of people responding here, and so camber plates (although a great idea) will help the life of your tires and improve turn-in response, a novice will get the most benefit from simply learning how to drive the line and manage their speed. Later on, that's when you can worry about stuff like that.

And as mentioned, everything is a trade-off. Generally, the more capable a car becomes on the track, the less livable it is on the street. Back when I was doing this stuff every weekend, the most expensive upgrade I ever did was to buy a trailer and truck to tow the car, because it had become unbearable to use getting to the track.




* - OK, probably not. Trying to make a point.

 

[2morrow]

Back when I was doing this stuff every weekend, the most expensive upgrade I ever did was to buy a trailer and truck to tow the car, because it had become unbearable to use getting to the track.

So true, that's my current situation.

 

[Flyhalf]

And last.
Upgrading the car all together will be a big issue.
If somenthing is not working you don't know what it was.
Drive stock car (witj better brakes and tires)
Feel the car. Learn her. Then move to the next upgrade. And try the car again. If you feel it better and you go faster then you are going in the right direction. Otherwise you just go back ome step before and chamge. Without having spent 15k

 

[Elp_jc]

Unless there are unlimited funds, I'd only get my car to the track to get acquainted with its capabilities, with only minimal mods, if at all (better brake fluid, and maybe pads), so you know what it can do, and learn to drive it better. But if you want a track car, I'd get something a lot cheaper (like a Miata), that will be infinitely cheaper to run, and will make you work harder as a driver, since you don't have a hulking engine to mask your mistakes .

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