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Last Monday was my first go at Laguna Seca and it was a beautiful day for driving the car hard; probably 65 degrees and a little bit of coastal fog. At those temps I did notice some issues with the brake ducting though, I think it was actually cooling the brakes a bit too much. I was getting some vibration when I frist applied the brakes torward the end of the day when the temperatures were dropping. Not sure what else to attribute that to since they were and have been fine ever since.
Regardless, it was a fantastic day of driving and the car held up well as usual. I saw both a 911 turbo and a Ferrari 360 with blown engines hauled off on flatbed trucks. It really made me appreciate the Mustang and the comfort of knowing that if I do indeed blow an engine one of these days that it will cost me far less to replace than either of those two.
The Mustang GT really is a track day bargain. Compared to just about every other RWD or AWD option in this price range, it has a rather bullet-proof drive train.
One other note, it is certainly no guarantee that if you own one of those (Porsche or Ferrari) that you can drive it fast. I passed the Ferrari several times throughout the day and nearly ran into an Elise head on when he spun just in front of me. We were both stopped on the track for what seemed like an eternity until I drove into the gravel to get around him. That was exciting.
Thanks for sharing.
In 2006 we went to the Monterrey Historic Races and the track is just amazing. The video, and none I have ever seen, doesn't show how steep the corkscrew really is. One of these days I may take a couple of weeks and drive out there to try the track!
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White 08 GT Roush S/C 445 HP/KDW2 285/40/18 tires/18 x 9.5 Steeda Ultralite wheels/ Steeda Competition springs/D Specs/FAYS2 Watt's Link/LCA/Adj UCA & Mnt/Upper strut mnts/GT500 Brake Kit/GT500 Front LCA/X5 Ball Jnt/Bmp Str + more
Hey Argo, which seats did you go with? I've been looking at Corbeau lately, they seem to offer pretty good value. I think that is next on my list.
How did you attach the harness? I've seen others attach it to the "latch" anchors in the rear seats and was thinking of doing the same since I still need to use the rear seats and don't want to install a bar.
Hey Sleeper, if you ever do decide to make the trip I'm sure you'll find it worth your time. Let me know if so..
Also, forgot to mention, that MaxQData was showing peak lateral Gs of 1.4 at Turn 10, 1.3 at the corkskrew, 1.2 at turn 5 and around 1 just about everywhere else. All of the readings above 1G are banked turns of one sort or another. The corkscrew in particular would pretty much bottom the suspension with the Eibach (aka. Ford Racing) springs.
I'm still using the 245/45 Dunlop Z1 and it is holding up amazingly well to the track and autocross abuse.
Great video Zero. That does indeed look like a very nice track, love the elevation changes. Was that a BMW 2002 out there? Gotta love passing those Porsche and F Cars, like you said, its not the car its the driver. But, I have to give those guys some slack, if I had a 100K plus car I'd probably drive it pretty conservatively also.
My seats are the Corbeau A4. The seat back adjusts for angle, which is kind of nice for a street/track car. The bolsters aren't real big, they hold me into the seat well, once again nice for a dual purpose car. Some of the more race only seats are pretty hard to get in and out of. For the price they certainly do the job. I need to get some braces though, to brace the seat to the cross bar. Right now the seat back is not as solid as it could be. My new track car is a non-mustang (one of those bow tie products), it has a roll bar which the harnesses mount to.
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07 GT 5spd: stock > road racing > stock.
Zero, is there some kind of competition classification that restricts you to using 245's or do you just choose to? I thought that there was an unusual amount of tire squeal. I'm jealous, though. That course looks awesome. We don't have anything with elevation changes like that down here. Must be nice.
My seats are the Corbeau A4. The seat back adjusts for angle, which is kind of nice for a street/track car. The bolsters aren't real big, they hold me into the seat well, once again nice for a dual purpose car. Some of the more race only seats are pretty hard to get in and out of. For the price they certainly do the job. I need to get some braces though, to brace the seat to the cross bar. Right now the seat back is not as solid as it could be. My new track car is a non-mustang (one of those bow tie products), it has a roll bar which the harnesses mount to.
Hey Argo,
Where did you mount the shoulder harnesses? To a harness bar, roll bar, rear seat belt mounts or to the rear hump? if you have a bar, what type did you go with?
I was looking to mount the shoulder harnesses to the rear hump (clip-in bracket with the rear seat down) and use a harness bar to correct the strap angle but the straps were not long enough. I had a Schroth six-point harness.
Gingerman Raceway this Saturday!!!! Woo Hoo!!!! The season is about to begin :-)
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Mods: Corsa Exhaust, Steeda: Complete Intake, UDPs, HD Strut Mounts, G-Trac, Panhard Brace & SS Lines, Eibach Pro Kit, Tokico D-Spec, Spohn: Adj. LCAs & Panhard Bar, BMR: UCA & Reloc Brkts, Coast AL DS, Strange STB, Cobalt Friction Pads, ATE Fluid, Quantum Ducts, ARH LTs, Prothane MM
Zero, is there some kind of competition classification that restricts you to using 245's or do you just choose to? I thought that there was an unusual amount of tire squeal. I'm jealous, though. That course looks awesome. We don't have anything with elevation changes like that down here. Must be nice.
Ya, I'm trying to keep the car legal for SCCA STX class rules. This year they bumped the legal tire width for STX to 265 for 2WD cars, so I can (and will) move up to that when these tires wear out. I've always had a lot of tire noise on street tires, I think it comes with the territory. Could be my alignment (lots of negative camber and slight toe out), who knows? I was instructed early on that, for street tires at least, you can use the volume and pitch of the tire squeal to guage slip angle so I would probably be lost without it!
Remember that post I made back in February - "learn how to drive your Mustang fast" (or something like that). Well this was the weekend, Sat and Sun at Pocono. One of our fellow members took me up on the offer for his first track day. I'm pretty sure he had a great time, I'll let him add his inputs if he chooses to do so. We had great weather both days, not a lick of rain. It was a little cold Saturday morning - cold tires, cold track, rusty drivers = slow session, but by the afternoon we were up to speed.
So this was my first time driving a car with race seats and harness. I'll tell you guys, it makes a hugh difference! No sliding around, no sore knees, shoulders locked in - wow, not only do you "feel" the car better but its less tiring and allows you to concentrate on driving more. Highly recommend. And the Nitto555...thumbs up. They slide a lot but in a good way, let you do some nice 4 wheel drifts, real progressive, no sudden surprises. Yea the track season has begun!
That fellow member is me!
Having made it back to Boston this morning, I'm reviewing this weekend and what a great time I had!!
This was my first track day and it was a blast. Normally my "me time" with the car is to hit up New England Dragway for some 1/4 mile action. But honestly, paying 20 to enter (or about 50 for the night incl gas) for only 4-6 runs (at 11.x sec each ) is rather expensive. At this event, I got tons of instructor advice in my novice group along with 4 runs (approx 20 min ea) each day!! The seat time alone was worth to run the car and blow out some winter cobwebs, focusing on what I know about driving, what I don't know about driving and of what my car is capable.
To chime in on Brad's point, seats do make a difference! I've had the A4 seats in another previous car and I sure could have used the support they offer. I'm sore and all kinked up from self-supporting myself over the weekend. I did take the OEM belts and twist/ ratchet/ lock the belt as best I could but still... I lost all that tension about 3/4 through the run. A proper seat and harness does the work, letting you focus on something other than keeping your butt planted in the seat.
I had a blast running with the Corvette guys, albeit in our novice class. Hustling as best I could with an auto tranny and a solid rear axle. Good times!
To help hold you in the seat the CG Lock is a good way to go and pretty inexpensive http://www.cg-lock.com/ (not the one for children - the one for adults.
I know that a proper seat and roll bar are the right way to go but then it is really starting to look like a race car instead of a DD.
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White 08 GT Roush S/C 445 HP/KDW2 285/40/18 tires/18 x 9.5 Steeda Ultralite wheels/ Steeda Competition springs/D Specs/FAYS2 Watt's Link/LCA/Adj UCA & Mnt/Upper strut mnts/GT500 Brake Kit/GT500 Front LCA/X5 Ball Jnt/Bmp Str + more
I'll second the CG-Lock, I picked up the one that Argonaut was using in his Stang and used it a few weeks ago in a AutoX. It worked great. Took much less effort on my part to keep myself in place.
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) is rather expensive. At this event, I got tons of instructor advice in my novice group along with 4 runs (approx 20 min ea) each day!! The seat time alone was worth to run the car and blow out some winter cobwebs, focusing on what I know about driving, what I don't know about driving and of what my car is capable.
