middieman147

Norm,

I thought I remembered all watts links being outlawed at some point. I definitely don't remember for sure though, so I will have to defer to you on that one. I just know what everyone was running, and how fast they were going with it! I also thought that all swaybars were essentially similar. Boy was I wrong (Ill get into it more below).

After getting home, and mulling over the whole nationals experience, I came away with major lesson: Sam Strano is king. As much as I didn't want to admit it, basically everything he had told me up to this point was true. I did go against his advice on the brake lines and, ordered a Russel stainless braided line kit. The Russel kit did come with OEM brackets, but one of the lines had rust inside it when I pulled it out of the package. Not the exact reason why Sam recommended against them, but at this point I was feeling a bit superstitious! I didn't discover the rust until I was midway through the install, so I just cleaned out the rust as best I could(there wasn't a ton of rust anyways), and used the line. I made sure to bleed that caliper really well, and haven't had a single problem. Besides being right about every single part that he recommended(the brake pads and fluid he recommended gave me exactly what I was looking for in terms of pedal feel and modulation), not a single person had a bad thing to say about him at nationals. It didn't matter what kind of car people were competing with, it seemed like they all had called Sam Strano for advice at some point. Most didn't end up buying parts from him, but still called him to discuss setups for their cars. I decided to try a set of his bars, since I had decided to go with a Fays2 watts link anyways, and there was a chance that it wouldn’t work with my whiteline rear bar anyway. I called Sam, and told him that I was looking to buy a set of his bars, and that I would just come pick them up to avoid paying shipping charges. He confirmed that He had a set in stock, and that he would be there late that night(I later learned that he did have plans, but cancelled them to stay at his shop and wait for me). I got to his shop, Sam grabbed the bars, and started pointing out the best way to negotiate the hump in front of his garage bay. Sam had just assumed that I would want to install the bars as fast as possible(he was right), figured I didn't have access to a lift(right again), and decided to let me use his. It was about 7pm when I pulled in his garage, and I didn't end up heading home until after midnight. After helping me install the bars(and letting me use all his tools), Sam offered to show me a few good driving roads near his shop. I told him to drive, as I wanted to see what he thought of the setup on my car. The man can drive….end of story. Thats all I have to say about that. While riding along, I tried to feel the difference in the swaybars. To be honest, from the passenger seat, it felt pretty mush the same. I was a bit disappointed, but didn't want to tell Sam that, after he just spent the whole night helping me install the bars. I thanked him for letting me use his lift, and started to load my Whiteline bars in the trunk. Sam told me to leave the bars, go drive for a few days, and if I didn't like the bars, he would help me reinstall my old bars. I figured what the heck, thanked him again, and headed for home. Most of my drive home was on highways, so I didn't have much chance to feel out the bars until I got closer to home. When I finally did get closer to home, I headed straight to my favorite driving road to get a real feel for the bars….

HOLY ****.. The first time I turned the wheel I nearly swerved off the road. The Turn in was so sharp I had to yank the wheel the other way to keep from running the car into the ditch. I could spend days talking about how insane the turn in and front end grip is. I genuinely don't understand how changing swaybars can make that much of a difference. Sam made me promise to tell him what I thought of his bars compared to the Whitelines. I have attached what I sent him below:

My reactions to your swaybars, as promised.

The car Behaves COMPLETELY differently now. I'm struggling to comprehend how just changing bars can make this much of a difference. I think some of the difference is due to the way the rear swaybar mounts(and applies force) compared with the whiteline bar. I spent the last 15 minutes typing and erasing explanations of the specific differences in the bars, and have decided it's impossible to explain without actually speaking about it. I'll just give you the cliff notes now, and tell you all the little things next time I speak with you. Overall I would describe the whiteline bars as "street car" bars, while yours are definitely "autocross bars". Before, the car was pretty fun to toss around in the street, and a bit of a chore to squeeze through the cones. I'm not used to the bars yet, so I'm not comfortable playing around on the street as much, but I can tell that the car will be MUCH faster around an autocross course if I can learn to handle the new bars.



Front:
Grip/turn-in is greatly improved, and I am exceedingly happy with how the front of the car feels. The front bar feels(stiffness-wise) very similar to the whiteline bar, so I'm assuming that most of the improvements are due to the rear bar.

Rear:
I really struggling to explain the differences here, but there are many. The whiteline and stock rear bars did pretty much the same thing in every situation, and consequently were pretty predictable/ easy to drive. Your rear bar is definitely not as easy to drive in the 8/10s speed range(I think they will really come alive at 10/10s on the autocross course), but the car can carry MUCH more speed now.Your bar also doesn't seem to react the same in every situation. Let me break it down by activity, to try to explain myself better.

Slaloming: I don't even understand how the car can slalom as well as it does now. The car is absolutely PERFECT for slaloming now. SO HAPPY with this.

Initial turn in: The car settles in to the corner faster. With the whiteline bars, you really had to wait for the car to catch up. You would have to scrub a bunch of speed, throw the car in, wait for it to settle down, and then build speed on the way out. Your bars take much less time to settle in, and the car really wants to carry a lot more speed into the corner.

Mid corner: The car really rotates well around a corner. Its hard to explain, but it feels like the whole car is trying to negotiate the corner now. With the whiteline bar, it felt like the only things trying to get the car around the corner were the front tires, and everything was just being dragged along behind them. Now, when you get on the power, it really feels like the rear is pushing the car around the corner.

Corner exit: The car is pretty loose on corner exit. The stability control absoluteIy freaks because of this, and starts braking individual wheels, which is really a confidence killer. It really upsets the car and catches me off guard most times. I really haven't enjoyed this so far, but it feels to me like once I re-learn how to drive the car, this problem will go away.


I really like the new bars now, but i think once I get some more seat time, and get on top of them, that I am going to absolutely love them. I can't wait to get the car on the autocross course and feel what the car is like at the limit.

Thanks,


Long story a bit longer, Sam is now my go to guy for setting up my car, and I run basically every decision I make by him before deciding on anything. I'm not saying Vorshlag, Maximum Motorsport, Cortex, or any other major mustang suspension company is doing things wrong, I'm just saying that from my personal experience, Sam knows how to take my poorly explained feedback, and recommend the perfect parts every time. I have since asked him for a set of stickers to run on my car, and demanded that he let me tell people that he's sponsoring me! Since I decided he was my go to guy, the number of emails that he has responded to alone is worth considering him my sponsor. Not to mention all the phone calls, or the time he stayed late to let me borrow his shop/ tools at no charge.

middieman147

Well, that last long winded post pretty much brings you all up to speed on my car. I left out some of the smaller stuff, so a parts list is below:

Suspension:
Koni Yellow shocks/struts
Steeda Ultralite springs
Vorshlag camber plates
Maximum motorsports short bumpstops
Whiteline LCA relocation brackets
Whiteline adjustable panhard bar
Stranoparts Swaybars

Wheels/tires:
Forgestar F14 18x11 wheels
315/30r18 BFG Rival S tires

Brakes:
Hawk HP+ front pads
Russell(pretty sure I've been misspelling it) braided lines
Motul RBF600 fluid
Hawk HPS 5.0 rear pads (never installed due to random complications)

Engine/ drivetrain:
K&N drop in filter
Gt500 axlebacks
Ford Racing Trackey

Exterior:
RTR rear decklid panel
Roush front lip
All the decal from nationals that I was too lazy to pull off

Interior:
OMP WRC-R on the drivers side


I have a stainless works cat back exhaust on order. I love everything about my gt500 axle backs, but the SW system will shave 40lb off the car, and thats too much weight to ignore. Im not sure if I'll install the SW catback as soon as I get it, or wait until spring time(depends on the weather). Whenever I do get the catback installed, Ill post up my axle backs for sale on this forum(if I ever get enough posts to be able to do so). Fays2 watts link will go in around spring time(no need to drag it through the snow all winter) along with a set of stranoparts front endlinks. Im thinking about a rear seat delete and roll bar, but I hear that the rear seat delete kits out there are all pretty flimsy. I'm not sure they would stand up to me throwing my tires on them over and over. The roll bar would also just add weight, and further restrict my ability to jam my tires in the back seat. Rear seat access is also the reason that I only replaced the drivers seat, and left the stock recliner on the passenger side. Also, I hear getting the wiring right for the seat is even more of a pain than it is on the driver side(still working on that).

Mr. D

Looks like lots of fun based on the videos!

Simple questions for you knowledgeable types:

I'd like just a little more rake on my 2016 GT. Can you use a Koni or an other shock setup to raise the height of the rear end about 1 to 3 inches without hurting the ride noticeably?

audioAl

Nice write up on Sam, I just did drive shaft shop 1 piece drive shaft & Bassani catback getting rid of 80 lbs. My stock mufflers were 40 lbs each and the 1 piece saved me 20 lbs. The Bassani both weigh only 30 lbs. Getting ss lines and Hawk pads soon. Thanks for the write-up. Enjoy the twisty's.

middieman147

You would need a ride height adjustable setup, which Konis are not. I don't think it will be possible to raise the suspension that much anyways. Most aftermarket shocks are designed with LESS travel to keep them from binding at full compression when using lowering springs. To raise the back of the car, you would need to find a spring that is taller than the stock springs, and a shock with long enough travel not to bind in when the suspension is in full droop. Theoretically it is possible, but is would be a huge undertaking probably involving custom parts. You would also increase the wear on your halfshafts due to the angles they would be run at. Same goes for the rest of the suspension. Running with everything at that angle would overstress all the pivot points in basically every part of the rear suspension. You may be able to do it and keep a decent ride, but the cars behavior/ handling characteristics would be horrendous(possibly even dangerous). I would strongly recommend against adding rake to the car.

Norm Peterson

So what bar settings did Sam give you?

I'm pretty sure that your rear bar is 1" OD, and you might say I have a vested interest in knowing this for sure.


Norm

middieman147

Correct. I have the latest version of the 1" tubular rear and 35mm tubular front bars. Both front and rear strano bars are 3 position adjustable. He started me in the middle position on both ends, and I ended up going with the softest setting in the back. With a panhard bar I am exceedingly happy with the bars set this way. Sam is thinking that with the watts I may end up wanting to move back to the middle setting in the rear, but I won't be able to test that theory until spring time. With the rear bar at its softest setting in the rear, the bar alllllmost touches the passenger side exhaust pipe on my axle back(many not be an issue with different exhausts). Occasionally it will rattle for a second when I cold start the car, and the idle settles down to its normal rpm. blipping the throttle stops the noise. The brackets he provides with the bar are very beefy, and I plan to open up the mounting holes on them about 2mm to make sure I have enough clearance. It could just be my specific car, as the driver side has about 1/2" of clearance. Last time I checked my ride height, the passenger side rear was about 1/2" higher than the drivers side, which probably has something to do with it. A picture of the clearance on the passenger side is attached:

Chad@Amp’D

Nice setup.

Norm Peterson

I'm not surprised that you like the 35 mid/25 soft (diameters in mm) combination - it's pretty close to the 35 mid / 22 firm combination that I'm running and probably does a better job of rebalancing the car after what your springs changed than my 22 would with the same or similar springs. You've also still got some headroom out back to cover for any rear roll center lowering that you might end up doing (or choose to do) with the Watts link.


Norm

movielover40

Great reading about your car.