First timer, few ???s

[98DesertGT]

[MENTION=17007]RichV[/MENTION]
the getting on the track sticky is definitely a good one.
I would think an official event would adhere more towards it.
I posted open track day criteria for ours.

I did notice apparently staggered tires aren't used...well didn't see much on em.
Suspension was helpful, however I think a refresh and seat time is in order first.
Currently it's bad from 30 at a stop sign.
I wouldn't even take it to higher speeds in it's current shape.

My biggest question for you...
Why no 4.10s?
a low end kick in the pants on a 2.18mile course?
Not being argumentative at all, genuinely curious why the tall gears.
Perhaps it's the 4r and stock valving/tune, but this feels next to dead below 2k.

 

[hotmustang95]

I did notice apparently staggered tires aren't used...well didn't see much on em.

My biggest question for you...
Why no 4.10s?

I can chime in on the staggered tire question. The reason why most chose not to run staggered is money. Every track is different. You'll eat up your front driver or pass side tire way before the rears depending on which way you run. Had you been running a square setup= all four tires the same size, you could rotate your wheels around and allow all the tires to wear evenly. Example you rotate the fronts to the rear because they are wearing on the inside. And the rears to the front because they have plenty of meat left. This will save you from having to purchase new tires so often. If you were running say 275s in front and 315s in the rear you would not be able to rotate them.

Now for the 4.10s question theres no right or wrong answer. Lots of factors to apply on choosing what gear best works for your needs but I've heard 3.73s are ideal for a 5.0 pushrod/T-5 tranny and 4.10s with the T-45/mod motor combo.

Definitely stick to 17s. No need to run 18s if you don't have to. Only if your gonna put some GT500 Brembos that are overkill and would cost you a shitload of money for everything. When its time for new tires you'd be surprised the price different between the two sizes.

 

[wmfateam]

Gearing is something that is a track to track basis. I run 3.55's and on 4 out 5 tracks I run on, they are perfect as I almost top out 4th gear at the end of the fastest sections. On that fifth track, I have to shift into 5th about 3/4ths down the drag strip (the track uses the drag strip for the front stretch) and it falls on its face as 5th has tall gearing. Doing the least amount of shifting is ideal for lap times. I also will leave it in 3rd gear coming out of some corners that I could use 2nd gear to act like a "traction control" almost. So I can put the power down as the car is maybe 2 seconds out of the power band. Back to back sessions I have tried down shifting to second and leeching it in third. Downshifting laps are 1+ seconds slower and the rear tires go away sooner in a 25 minute race.
As for square and staggered tire set ups. Square offers the ability to rotate line mentioned earlier and sometimes helps dial out a push. When you have a staggered set up, depending on how the car is set up, it can make the car have a push if there is more rear grip from the wider contact patch. But sometimes more power requires the biggest rear tire you can fit. Again, with proper set up a larger rear tire may not cause the vehicle to push. I have stock power (280/281) and go through a set of tires every two track weekends as main race tires. After two weekends they then get qualifying and practice duty.

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[98DesertGT]

I can chime in on the staggered tire question. The reason why most chose not to run staggered is money. Every track is different. You'll eat up your front driver or pass side tire way before the rears depending on which way you run. Had you been running a square setup= all four tires the same size, you could rotate your wheels around and allow all the tires to wear evenly. Example you rotate the fronts to the rear because they are wearing on the inside. And the rears to the front because they have plenty of meat left. This will save you from having to purchase new tires so often. If you were running say 275s in front and 315s in the rear you would not be able to rotate them.

Now for the 4.10s question theres no right or wrong answer. Lots of factors to apply on choosing what gear best works for your needs but I've heard 3.73s are ideal for a 5.0 pushrod/T-5 tranny and 4.10s with the T-45/mod motor combo.

Definitely stick to 17s. No need to run 18s if you don't have to. Only if your gonna put some GT500 Brembos that are overkill and would cost you a shitload of money for everything. When its time for new tires you'd be surprised the price different between the two sizes.

Good God no!
I said in my build thread.
AutoZone Cobra 13s.
More than enough.
hahaha
brembos, even if I had the money, I could think of endless locations to spend it first.
But I see your point

 

[98DesertGT]

Gearing is something that is a track to track basis. I run 3.55's and on 4 out 5 tracks I run on, they are perfect as I almost top out 4th gear at the end of the fastest sections. On that fifth track, I have to shift into 5th about 3/4ths down the drag strip (the track uses the drag strip for the front stretch) and it falls on its face as 5th has tall gearing. Doing the least amount of shifting is ideal for lap times. I also will leave it in 3rd gear coming out of some corners that I could use 2nd gear to act like a "traction control" almost. So I can put the power down as the car is maybe 2 seconds out of the power band. Back to back sessions I have tried down shifting to second and leeching it in third. Downshifting laps are 1+ seconds slower and the rear tires go away sooner in a 25 minute race.
As for square and staggered tire set ups. Square offers the ability to rotate line mentioned earlier and sometimes helps dial out a push. When you have a staggered set up, depending on how the car is set up, it can make the car have a push if there is more rear grip from the wider contact patch. But sometimes more power requires the biggest rear tire you can fit. Again, with proper set up a larger rear tire may not cause the vehicle to push. I have stock power (280/281) and go through a set of tires every two track weekends as main race tires. After two weekends they then get qualifying and practice duty.

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Wasn't even considering that.
Valid and good point.
Push/wear. Makes sense.
I really need to cut back on my pain meds.
Haha I am asking dumb questions everywhere.

 

[hotmustang95]

Wasn't even considering that.
Valid and good point.
Push/wear. Makes sense.
I really need to cut back on my pain meds.
Haha I am asking dumb questions everywhere.

Not dumb questions at all. We were all beginners at one point. Ask away

 

[RichV]

Currently it's bad from 30 at a stop sign.
What do you mean by this?

My biggest question for you...
Why no 4.10s?
a low end kick in the pants on a 2.18mile course?
Not being argumentative at all, genuinely curious why the tall gears.
Perhaps it's the 4r and stock valving/tune, but this feels next to dead below 2k.

Most of our courses are 2.xx miles. There are a couple of low speed turns, but for the most part you're spending your time in the 45-130mph range. So in my case, with a stock-ish pushrod 5.0 I loose pull at 5500 or so. I ran 3:73 at one time, going into 5th gear on longer straights (approx 90mph) was like dropping a boat anchor. This is due to the stock T5 o/d gear which can be modded, however I have this fear of diving into transmissions to change it out. Lol, someday I will. You also take into consideration shifting, so for an average 2.xx mile track I shift about 200 times for 20 laps. 3:27 gears keep me in 3-4 most of the time, if I ran 4:10 gearing I would be in 3-4-5 most of the time which could add up to 33% more shifts. But with a different power band, this calculation would change. Idealy, with a .88 5th I would run 3:55 or 3:73, but for now I'd rather run a usable 4 speed, than a unusable 5 speed. Make sense?

 

[RichV]

Good God no!
I said in my build thread.
AutoZone Cobra 13s.
More than enough.
hahaha
brembos, even if I had the money, I could think of endless locations to spend it first.
But I see your point

Also something to note, I ran completely stock 99-04 GT front brakes, stock rears, (race pads of course) for many seasons in a 89 Notch (CMC71 v1.0), then built the 94 and used the same brakes for 1 more season. Properly setup with braided lines and brake ducting they will be more than adequate for a beginner. Once you REALLY start getting fast and leaning on the brakes you will note a bit of fade of brake intensive tracks, then it may be time for a Cobra brake upgrade. If you do this and will be open tracking your car DO NOT just do the front brakes, you must do front/rear to Cobra rotors and Cobra M/C (on the booster cars anyway, not sure about the hydroboost cars). This is for balance, if you don't have a balanced brake system you will have a bad time.

 

[wmfateam]

So true.

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[98DesertGT]

sorry, holidays and all.
Thanks for the replies.

One thing that just threw a big wrench in my plans.
I have to do the cobra MC?
Really, no arguments at all.
I did the swap on my 03, and just bought the front lines so they wouldn't stretch.
Perhaps that's why it bit so hard...
Massive braking power up front, as well as a very touchy pedal.
But it definitely stopped.

I could do evil things to people who touched my radio with a slight blip.

Perhaps that'sa big difference between a DR setup and a good track setup.

But again, just did the AutoZone calipers, rotors, and front lines, fresh fluid/bleed.
Left the rears alone.
and with my MT street comps, it bit and stopped nicely.

But I'm all ears...or eyes in this case.

 

[RichV]

You won't feel braided lines in the pedal unless your rubber lines were extremely worn.
nAs far as the balance, again, I'm not 100% certain on the hydroboost cars. I did the f/r Cobra brakes on my 94 without a Cobra MC. The car stopped fine, however under threshold braking modulation was almost impossible. You would get on the pedal before a corner and gradually go deeper, the pedal would not get firmer as you stepped in, next thing you know you've hit lockup without any warning. This is not a good thing, especially with traffic around you.

Also, upgrading brakes is awesome. But don't do it with the cheapest part store crap you can find. So many people do a Cobra brake upgrade, then run $15 rotors, $20 pads and don't even flush the crappy fluid that has been there most likely since the car was bought off the showroom floor.

So do everything as a package deal, and you'll be very happy with the outcome.

 

[wmfateam]

All of this^

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[98DesertGT]

Agreed, I'm only using them for the calipers.
I've seen the "kits" at $699, they don't even have a MC.
I plan on the front and reas, pads/rotors/lines/flush.

It's going to be a unit.
Same with everything else.

As for what did I mean at it's bad at 30.
Spitballing here.
But approaching the stop sign by the house I waited til around 40-50 feet. Simulating a light panic stop.
It slid the last ten or so.
Since then, I put 2 used tires up front, that issue is gone.
I am not doing good rubber until I do my wheels.
Since I've driven this car a total of 200 miles since I bought it, the used Pirellis are doing fine.

 

[v6mustang94]

Just giving my 2 cents on gears.

I have a T5 and went with 3.55's. My choice was based on the fact that I still drive the car around town and on highways. Conveniently, this ended up being a good gear for me at my local track. It's a fast track with only a couple "low" speed corners. I spend most of my time in 3rd, and generally only use 4th on the "straight" which at BIR's Competition Course is two very wide, fast corners. There's one corner that I can shift to 2nd in, and I'm still trying to figure out if it's faster to just stay in 3rd.

 

[OLD H2S]

My vote is for safety first. Grab a friend and with him in the car pumping the brakes HARD go through each piece with your hand and feel the MC, each line, each hose, each caliper and look for even application of pressure, bending rotors etc.
Then get some seat belt tension clips to lock you in place hard until you get that racing seat. I really did some damage to my body by not being locked in as tight as you should be, did not notice it until the next day.
Next got your buddy to follow you and look at each wheel for straightness, lumpy tire sides, "crabbing", stuff you can not see when you are driving.
All the cool parts will come.....

 

[mcglsr2]

Sorry, been away for a while, looks as though you were left in good hands