nice driving right there. maybe it's just the camera angle that makes the course look a bit tight for a mustang. your car's pitch and roll ain't that pronounced. any mods on the suspension?
the car is basically stock on the suspension. I did install a K-member brace w/torque braces. but, I don't know how much of a difference that made. a bigger sway bar in front would my first mod, then Tokico shocks, then a rear bar.
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2005 Mustang GT M5 -I reject your reality and substitute my own-
Whoah, that was fun! Got 7 runs, my last two were the two fastest, so I clearly learned something!
On my first run, I spun tires like crazy off the line, missed the second gate, and proceeded to miss another gate on the back half of the track. Terrible. Off Course. Bleah.
Second run, felt pretty good most of the way around the course, then toward the end, going into a turn I knew was going to be trouble, I swung wide, braked early, and totally understeered into three cones! Clearly I didn't swing wide enough or brake early enough. 3 cones, 1 min 9 second run.
Third run was clean, and I brought it in around 1 minute even. I was happy to finish the first heat with at least one clean run.
For the second heat we got 4 runs. I noticed part way through that my tire pressures were creeping up. I'd started the day at 44psi all around, after 6-7 runs between my wife and I, the tires were closer to 50, and it showed in the handling. Runs 4 and 5 were pretty bad, with the car squealing and sliding terribly on my worn-out backup set of stock tires.
I dropped the pressures back down, and my last two runs were better. My second to last run felt good, and I had much better control of the car, but in a particularly tight section of the course, I turned in too early and hit a cone. I finished with a 57.xxx which was my best time my best time of the day. Even with a two second time penalty, that was better than my previous best. As such I was very happy to pull a lower 57.xxx without any cones.
The Miatas were, of course WAAAAAAAY faster than me, and after riding along in two of them, I remember why.
I'm looking forward to doing more of them with the 'Stang in the spring. There's only 2-3 left this year, and I don't really have the money to drop on them right now.
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-Eric
'05 Mustang V-6, 4.0 Convertible, 5-Speed Manual
'03.5 Protege5 - Tokico Struts, Eibach Pro-kit Springs, AWR 21mm rear sway, AWR adjustable endlinks, B&M SS, Injen CAI, Wagner Shorty Header
'00 MPV LX - 3" CAI, P5 Wheels, MSP sub/amp setup in custom box, Tow hitch, 105,000+ miles strong!
glad to know you had fun at the track! and those time sheets looked better and better in every run you made. good job!
so what can you say about your car running in this kind of environment? the track usually gets stickier in every run as more rubber is laid down. how was the car behaving towards the later runs?
I'm not sure the track got any stickier, but I know the surface was breaking up a bit as the day went on.
Due to a little confusion, I took my first run in Heat 1, group A, then I got out of the car and my wife did her first three. I took my second and third runs in group B. By the time I got to my 4th and 5th runs, she'd done three more, and the tires had jumped up 6 PSI, so I was doing a lot of unintentional drifting!
My last two runs, I dropped tire pressures back to 44, and had much better control, with resultant better times.
Over all, the car was a handful on the autocross course. I was shocked to find understeer to be a bigger problem than oversteer in a RWD car! My Miata was so balanced and so easy to flog around the course that I found the Mustang pretty frustrating.
I found the power of the Mustang entertaining on the course, just as I do on the street, but the handling (admittedly, bone stock) is pretty bad. I can't wait until I can afford to mod this thing.
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-Eric
'05 Mustang V-6, 4.0 Convertible, 5-Speed Manual
'03.5 Protege5 - Tokico Struts, Eibach Pro-kit Springs, AWR 21mm rear sway, AWR adjustable endlinks, B&M SS, Injen CAI, Wagner Shorty Header
'00 MPV LX - 3" CAI, P5 Wheels, MSP sub/amp setup in custom box, Tow hitch, 105,000+ miles strong!
I've got a short video my wife took, it happens to be of the wild, fishtailing, moment in my 6th or 7th run, and begins right before I lose the back end, so I couldn't be happier with what she got! I'll post up the video once I figure out how to post it to you-tube.
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-Eric
'05 Mustang V-6, 4.0 Convertible, 5-Speed Manual
'03.5 Protege5 - Tokico Struts, Eibach Pro-kit Springs, AWR 21mm rear sway, AWR adjustable endlinks, B&M SS, Injen CAI, Wagner Shorty Header
'00 MPV LX - 3" CAI, P5 Wheels, MSP sub/amp setup in custom box, Tow hitch, 105,000+ miles strong!
Last edited by Foolish; 10-08-2008 at 01:11 AM.
Reason: It helps to put in the link!
bring back old thread. Last month we had our "endurocross." We ran 4 laps, 2 runs. My runs were 178.9 and 178.3. I was pleased I ran consistent and finished 1st in class. We have one event left this year. Though I don't usually run the Mustang, I'm thinking I will this time to see if the spring swap makes a difference.
I started out with an 88 Mustang 5.0. Then switched to a 94 Miata. It was fun to drive but not a good daily driver for me. Now I run a 90 Vette, occasionally taking the 06 Mustang. The 4 laps were during an "Endurocross." Same as the autocross or solo with a slant. Instead of crossing the finish, you make a turn to take the course again for additional "laps." It is time consuming so we limit the number of cars that can run during this event. It's as close to a road course as you can get without actually finding a track. In the past we've run 3 laps but with a lower turnout this year, we went 4.
