Dood, your car looks great! Moving along nicely with building it. I like how you are selective with what components installed.....u got direction!
The Lemon: ZY 2001 GT
- Thread starter thetrex
- Start date
This year I plan on running at least one "track day" event with the Oklahoma Mustang Club at the local Sheriff's training facility. It isn't an actual track, but I'm slowly working up the confidence (and skill) to run at a real racetrack (Hallett) close to Tulsa, OK. Right now I'm still running stock GT brakes and I don't think they will tolerate continued track use. Need to upgrade brakes, lines, and cooling first.
After that I'd love to run some open track events in Oklahoma and Texas when my budget opens up. Unfortunately, that will have to wait until I have a solid job and some extra money coming in. I'm really interested in some Ultimate Street Car events where there is auto x and open track. It kills me that USCA is running at COTA in Austin this year and I had no chance of making it. Bummer. But maybe they will run there in the future!
I'd also like to take this car to my bucket list tracks (Daytona, Sebring, and Laguna Seca). Especially Sebring. That place looks like a challenge.
Thank you! I'm probably way too selective, but when you are on a budget you need to do the job right the first time and avoid buying multiple parts.
It seems like everytime I upgrade the car I find another area that I can improve. Next mod will be larger front tires and fender flares, or saving some $$$ for power mods, as the drivetrain is pretty much stock. 260hp isn't cutting it any more, but looking on the bright side it's hard to overdrive the car when it's so damn slow.
Edit: Probably need more front grip than horsepower at this point!
As the autocross season has come to an end, I figured this thread needed an update. Overall the car ran very well and I seemed to get faster with more seat time. The driver still needs a lot of work though! I ended up attending 10 events this year from OKC, NEOKLA, and Texas region SCCA.
On wide open courses like Texas Motor Speedway the car seemed to handle much better and had very limited understeer (unless I entered a corner too hot). However, on tight courses it understeered like a *****!!! This needs to be fixed stat as a majority of local events have very tight turns. Also, the ABS in my car has been going completely wonky and hasn’t been in working order for the entire season. Needless to say I’ve had issues locking up the front tires when they don’t have enough heat in them. For my first complete season of autocross I feel like I’ve done pretty good (except for that 3rd place finish, Fail.).
Had to battle a GT350 all year and finally beat it at the last event (probably luck). But overall, I was anywhere from .7-1.5 seconds behind it all season. Still, not too bad considering I have a stock drivetrain and some suspension mods. This little car has surprised a couple people, including me. I really thought it would be underpowered on long tracks, but it seemed to keep up on the TMS road course even against a modded ZL1.
Thank you to Justin Williams for the photos!
On wide open courses like Texas Motor Speedway the car seemed to handle much better and had very limited understeer (unless I entered a corner too hot). However, on tight courses it understeered like a *****!!! This needs to be fixed stat as a majority of local events have very tight turns. Also, the ABS in my car has been going completely wonky and hasn’t been in working order for the entire season. Needless to say I’ve had issues locking up the front tires when they don’t have enough heat in them. For my first complete season of autocross I feel like I’ve done pretty good (except for that 3rd place finish, Fail.).
Had to battle a GT350 all year and finally beat it at the last event (probably luck). But overall, I was anywhere from .7-1.5 seconds behind it all season. Still, not too bad considering I have a stock drivetrain and some suspension mods. This little car has surprised a couple people, including me. I really thought it would be underpowered on long tracks, but it seemed to keep up on the TMS road course even against a modded ZL1.
Thank you to Justin Williams for the photos!
During the offseason I will be trying to:
1. Increase front grip
2. Fix the ABS issue
3. Decrease body roll.
First and foremost, to increase front grip I would like to start running a square setup for tires. This means I will be running a 315 on the front and rear of the car. After measuring 3 or 4 times, I finally have an idea of what I'll need to accomplish that. I ordered my tires the other day and they were on my porch this evening. Look at all that 315 goodness.
Since I've had good luck with the Nitto NT05's, I decided to order another set. There are much better autocross tire options available, but to get a 315 I would need to upgrade to an 18" wheel and I can't afford that. Also, the RE71R doesn't come in a 3XX size and the BFG Rival S has availability issues. And both of those tires cost an arm and a leg. Being a newbie, I am still learning things and I think the NT05 fits the bill for now... they are only $198 a piece compared to the $300+ Rivals. My last set of NT05's is now 2 years old and they have ~151 auto-x runs on them from 14-15 events/practice days (& 3,400 miles) and they still have life left... they just aren't as grippy as they used to be.
1. Increase front grip
2. Fix the ABS issue
3. Decrease body roll.
First and foremost, to increase front grip I would like to start running a square setup for tires. This means I will be running a 315 on the front and rear of the car. After measuring 3 or 4 times, I finally have an idea of what I'll need to accomplish that. I ordered my tires the other day and they were on my porch this evening. Look at all that 315 goodness.
Since I've had good luck with the Nitto NT05's, I decided to order another set. There are much better autocross tire options available, but to get a 315 I would need to upgrade to an 18" wheel and I can't afford that. Also, the RE71R doesn't come in a 3XX size and the BFG Rival S has availability issues. And both of those tires cost an arm and a leg. Being a newbie, I am still learning things and I think the NT05 fits the bill for now... they are only $198 a piece compared to the $300+ Rivals. My last set of NT05's is now 2 years old and they have ~151 auto-x runs on them from 14-15 events/practice days (& 3,400 miles) and they still have life left... they just aren't as grippy as they used to be.
Dude great job in the autox. Hoping I can be competitive when this thing is done!
hotmustang95
Active Member
The NT05s are great tires. I've seen guys kick ass with them on track. I gotta see this 315 on the fronts your planning though lol. I plan on doing it in the future but I know what awaits me and I'm not ready for that.
Once the NT05's are heated up they grip quite nicely.... but it takes forever at parking lot speeds. The only time I've really got them into their heat range was the autocross at TMS infield. They like high speed stops from 90. lol
I'll post soon about the 315's. Just got my wheel spacers in this evening and mocked everything up without the tires mounted. So far it clears the coilovers. I'm using a 1" bolt on hubcentric spacer and 17x10.5" bullitt replicas from American Muscle (heavy as hell, but the set was only $260). If I didn't have coilovers I could run a thinner spacer (~3/8 to 1/2") and have adequate clearance with the strut body... and they would barely stick out of the fender. However, I'll need to do some bodywork with the 1" spacer. Not looking forward to that!
Fitting the 315’s: What I’ve learned so far.
After tons of measuring and scheming I finally got to test the 315’s on the front of my car this week! The proper way to get a 315 on the front would be to order a custom wheel offset. However, I am a cheap ass and wanted to try this theory out without breaking the bank. If it ends up failing I will go back to a 275 square setup.
Generally speaking a 315mm tire fits best on an 11” wheel. However, there weren’t many cheap options for me in 17x11. So, I settled on the generic 17x10.5” sizes that most mustangs run in the rear. Not ideal, but it should do the job. I was able to buy 4 17x10.5” Bullitt replicas from American Muscle for a grand total of $260 when they went on sale. What a deal.
Wheel Specs from AM:
17x10.5” 6.8” Backspace (174mm) Offset +28
Weight: 24.6 pounds (More like 26-27lbs on my scale. Ouch.)
To correct the backspacing to fit the front of a sn95/new edge you will need a some type of spacer. There are two types: slip on or bolt on.
Slip on: spacers range from ¼” to ¾” with the largest spacers requiring the addition of longer wheel studs.
Bolt on: Spacers range from 1” to 1 ¾”. The smallest bolt on spacers allow the stock wheel studs to protrude and may need to be trimmed to fit the chosen wheel.
I want no modification of the stock wheel studs! Someday I might return the car to stock. So, after measurement, the stock wheel stud measures just a little less than 1 3/8” with the brake rotor on. Theoretically, you would need a bolt on spacer around that size to clear the stock wheel studs without modification (if you are running a wheel with a flat mounting surface with no reliefs).
However, I was very lucky! The Bullitt Replica wheels have very large reliefs in the mounting surface between the bolt circle that allow room for protruding studs. This allows me to run a spacer smaller than 1 3/8”. Look at all of that room!
Backside of the Bullitt replica. Reliefs are indicated with yellow arrows. With this wheel I can run a bolt on spacer smaller than 1 3/8”. *****in’.
Now, lets take a look at my American racing 200s wheels. The mounting surface is flat and there are no recesses. This type of wheel would require a 1 3/8” bolt on spacer to fit or trimming of the stock wheel studs.
After all considerations and measurements, I ended up ordering a 1” bolt on spacer recommended by Maximum Motorsports. On the website they indicate that it is made by H&R. However, the ones I received were from Eibach. They look similar and they’re both German. What could go wrong?
I chose the 1” bolt on spacer because:
1. It allowed me to retain my factory wheel studs if I want to go back to stock.
2. With coilovers I had to move the wheel further outboard to avoid hitting the spring perch. (At minimum a ¾” to 1” spacer required with this type of replica wheel when running a Coilover.)
3. I wanted to decrease the overall track width at all costs. Currently the front has a wider track than the rear.
This picture gives you an idea of how much the factory wheel studs stick out from the spacer. Just a smidge.
Here she is in all of her glory. With the spacers and wheels bolted up you can see that I will need some bodywork in the future. Cause this thing needs a little-bitty flare to fit that fat tire. Since the body tapers at the fender the tire sticks out more in the front of the wheel opening than from the rear. It looks awkward, but it felt really really good on some back roads. It’s the first time I’ve never felt it push.
Final thoughts:
With the 315's installed in front I will need to get some rack limiters to keep the tire from contacting the sway bar. Additionally, the tire also contacts a portion of the inner fenders, so they need to be trimmed or modified to avoid that. Also, I need to widen those fenders.
After tons of measuring and scheming I finally got to test the 315’s on the front of my car this week! The proper way to get a 315 on the front would be to order a custom wheel offset. However, I am a cheap ass and wanted to try this theory out without breaking the bank. If it ends up failing I will go back to a 275 square setup.
Generally speaking a 315mm tire fits best on an 11” wheel. However, there weren’t many cheap options for me in 17x11. So, I settled on the generic 17x10.5” sizes that most mustangs run in the rear. Not ideal, but it should do the job. I was able to buy 4 17x10.5” Bullitt replicas from American Muscle for a grand total of $260 when they went on sale. What a deal.
Wheel Specs from AM:
17x10.5” 6.8” Backspace (174mm) Offset +28
Weight: 24.6 pounds (More like 26-27lbs on my scale. Ouch.)
To correct the backspacing to fit the front of a sn95/new edge you will need a some type of spacer. There are two types: slip on or bolt on.
Slip on: spacers range from ¼” to ¾” with the largest spacers requiring the addition of longer wheel studs.
Bolt on: Spacers range from 1” to 1 ¾”. The smallest bolt on spacers allow the stock wheel studs to protrude and may need to be trimmed to fit the chosen wheel.
I want no modification of the stock wheel studs! Someday I might return the car to stock. So, after measurement, the stock wheel stud measures just a little less than 1 3/8” with the brake rotor on. Theoretically, you would need a bolt on spacer around that size to clear the stock wheel studs without modification (if you are running a wheel with a flat mounting surface with no reliefs).
However, I was very lucky! The Bullitt Replica wheels have very large reliefs in the mounting surface between the bolt circle that allow room for protruding studs. This allows me to run a spacer smaller than 1 3/8”. Look at all of that room!
Backside of the Bullitt replica. Reliefs are indicated with yellow arrows. With this wheel I can run a bolt on spacer smaller than 1 3/8”. *****in’.
Now, lets take a look at my American racing 200s wheels. The mounting surface is flat and there are no recesses. This type of wheel would require a 1 3/8” bolt on spacer to fit or trimming of the stock wheel studs.
After all considerations and measurements, I ended up ordering a 1” bolt on spacer recommended by Maximum Motorsports. On the website they indicate that it is made by H&R. However, the ones I received were from Eibach. They look similar and they’re both German. What could go wrong?
I chose the 1” bolt on spacer because:
1. It allowed me to retain my factory wheel studs if I want to go back to stock.
2. With coilovers I had to move the wheel further outboard to avoid hitting the spring perch. (At minimum a ¾” to 1” spacer required with this type of replica wheel when running a Coilover.)
3. I wanted to decrease the overall track width at all costs. Currently the front has a wider track than the rear.
This picture gives you an idea of how much the factory wheel studs stick out from the spacer. Just a smidge.
Here she is in all of her glory. With the spacers and wheels bolted up you can see that I will need some bodywork in the future. Cause this thing needs a little-bitty flare to fit that fat tire. Since the body tapers at the fender the tire sticks out more in the front of the wheel opening than from the rear. It looks awkward, but it felt really really good on some back roads. It’s the first time I’ve never felt it push.
Final thoughts:
With the 315's installed in front I will need to get some rack limiters to keep the tire from contacting the sway bar. Additionally, the tire also contacts a portion of the inner fenders, so they need to be trimmed or modified to avoid that. Also, I need to widen those fenders.
I bit the bullet and finally got some vinyl numbers from Solo Performance Specialties for the mustang (Numbers are 10" and class letters are 5"). Put them on this afternoon since it was finally warm enough. Very nice quality, but next time I'll use the wet method when installing them as they have some air bubbles. Still, not terrible for my first decal install.
And... thanks to an autocross friend I have a new/used passenger seat. I installed it the other day with a new double locking bracket from Corbeau. The blue doesn't quite match everything else, but it will work for now. And it'll keep my passengers from sliding around and giving my door panel the death grip.
And... thanks to an autocross friend I have a new/used passenger seat. I installed it the other day with a new double locking bracket from Corbeau. The blue doesn't quite match everything else, but it will work for now. And it'll keep my passengers from sliding around and giving my door panel the death grip.
We all know the door panel cannot handle the death grip!
hotmustang95
Active Member
Very nice. Fender flares is the way I'm thinking of going with mine. And I also planned to do the same thing as you did with the 10.5s all around.
Nice work!
What are you using for a drivers seat? I wanted to get a fixed bucket, but wasn't sure if I could safety use the factory 3 point...
What are you using for a drivers seat? I wanted to get a fixed bucket, but wasn't sure if I could safety use the factory 3 point...
It's the last time someone pulls the plastic door handle insert and clips out of the door panel.
No more colorful words will be spoken to passengers.It's a Corbeau FX1 Pro. A little skinny, but its comfortable enough for 3-4 hour drives.
After reading a bunch of articles and forum posts, most people say that it is safe to run factory 3 point belts with this type of seat. Basically the lap belt needs to strap across your pelvis to prevent injury. If you don't thread it through the bottom harness holes on the right and left side it will run too high and contact your abdomen, which can injure your soft tissues/organs in the event of an impact. Just thread the belt through the pelvic strap holes and you're good to go. I've been running mine like this for 2+ years.
Another thing to consider when running the stock belts is the seat brackets. New edge cars have the factory seat belt buckle attached to the seat frame and 94-98 cars attach directly to the trans tunnel. I ran into this problem when I went to install 94-98 Corbeau brackets in my car. I ended up ordering Corbeau brackets specifically for the New edge and it came with the correct stud to attach the buckle. Learn from my mistake! lol
Thank you sir. I look forward to seeing your green machine with 315's all around.
Correct, I'd like to run the seatbelt through the harness holes so it actually wraps around you. My issue is on the buckle side, how are you clipping it through the hole? The buckle appears to sit at the same height as the bolsters.
I knew about the brackets, I've played with both interiors and remember the buckle attachment difference
The buckle is in a plastic sleeve that allows it to remain in an upright position for the stock seat. I trimmed the plastic that goes over the buckle so it would actually flex. I also tilted the buckle more horizontal (pointed towards the dash) before tightening the bolt that secures it to the seat bracket to get it pointed in the right direction.
Now that I think about it... I guess it will depend on your seat position on the slider as the buckle may be closer or further away the more forward or rearward you slide the seat.
Edit: If that doesn't work, I wonder if a 94-98 car has a longer one?
