Next direction for street/track car

[wmfateam]

No fan at all.

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[v6mustang94]

How accurate are the factory temp gauges in 95s? Running the long course today and my needle is getting all the way to the edge of the normal line.

 

[g36 monkey]

not accurate at all

 

[v6mustang94]

To my advantage or no?

 

[g36 monkey]

You may as well have a picture of a gauge there, or even just a hole in the dash. Hard to say to your advantage or not because it's that bad. One of the most important mods on a mustang, especially one seeing track time, is a real water temp and oil pressure gauge.

 

[ReplicaR]

How accurate are the factory temp gauges in 95s? Running the long course today and my needle is getting all the way to the edge of the normal line.

I wish I never got an aftermarket gauge pod, because I'd never know how damn hot these cars run. I've got an Autometer setup. If you are seriously about tracking the car, and want to keep your motor nice and healthy, you will need to keep an eye on temps (oil, water), and pressure (oil). Stock gauges don't tell you all that much.

 

[v6mustang94]

What operating temps should I expect to see once I have real temp gauge?

 

[ReplicaR]

Depends on where you live, and engine combo. Oil should not get hotter than 260 for a healthy engine, water should not get past 240. Anything hotter than that, I'd start coasting and cooling.

 

[v6mustang94]

Ordered up a 3 pod radio mount from LMR, and water temp and oil pressure gauges. I've had a wideband A/F laying around from an old boost project I was going to do on my old V6. So that will occupy the 3rd spot.

On another note, have you guys noticed a lot of understeer in these cars? That seems to be one of my other problems. The rear feels good to me. I have adjustable rear LCAs. I'm wonder if I should jack up the rear a bit to help counter the understeer. Thoughts?

 

[ReplicaR]

More camber and more spring / shock. I'm running -4.5 degrees with 7.5 caster. Granted, it's not a daily, but that gave me a lot front end grip.

 

[v6mustang94]

Noted. At the moment I'm stuck still driving over an hour to the track, unfortunately. I think I want to run the suspension through the ringer some more before I start changing it up. Love the advice/tips though. Thanks!

 

[ReplicaR]

I drive about 80 to 130 miles one way to the track usually. I would say, get as much seat time as possible, but don't be afraid to optimize the parts that you already have. If you have camber plates, to an alignment shop and set them to something really conservative, almost all the way out. This way you will get great tire life on daily driving. When you go to the track, slam those things all the way inside, getting as much negative camber as you can (around -3.0 degrees). This will also give you a little bit of toe out, which is great for ackermann angle (more frond end geometry stuff, do some research), and will give the car slightly better turn in, in addition to better contact patch with more negative camber. Once the event is done, put the camber plates back to conservative setting, and drive it back home. Best of both worlds.

 

[v6mustang94]

Do you just mark the settings on your plates then, and essentially eyeball them into place?

 

[ReplicaR]

Yeah, you can mark it with a sharpie.

 

[g36 monkey]

That is some awesome advice, I never would have thought of that!

 

[v6mustang94]

Just to make sure I'm thinking about this correctly, moving the camber plates inward towards the engine bay (assuming that's what you meant by inside) will give negative camber.

What do you guys like to do with your caster for the track?

 

[ReplicaR]

As much as possible.