So I enjoy the 1/4 mile track as much as most guys do but now I'm thinking I'd like to do some auto cross. Only for fun though. I guess i say that bc I do not want to lower my car. I have LCAs and and adjustable koni's. What could I do to make the car handle better through turns and what not. I have a saleen supercharger and they have discontinued the strut tower brace so I don't think there is an option for that now

What u guys think. Thanks.

 

outceltj, you can fit a Steeda billet adjustable strut tower brace through your Saleen SC as I have with others for years. If positioned properly, there is no evidence of rubbing or hitting the edge of the gap.

This combined with the Steeda G-trac bar for lower strut support, and the Whiteline 4 point chassis brace(standard in new Mustangs), you will get more direct steering compliance and flatter turns. You can get the Steeda Front Sway bar braces as well for further compliance. These parts are fairly cheap, very light, and improve the front stability and accuracy of cornering in the 05's.

I find it interesting when people profess how the new Mustangs have better suspensions and handling than the 05-10's, but don't recognize that the 05's are lighter in front and were delivered at about 3465-3485 lbs, so even with a Saleen SC, and a few suspension and chassis items, the 05's are still lighter and have as good of a front to rear weight ratio as the 11-13 models, and have a much lighter feel and accuracy to the steering.

With a few weight loss items such as 1 pc drive shaft, lighter K- member/A arms, lighter flywheel from better clutch, and headers, you are removing another 85 lbs from the from the car, 63lbs from the front. Erik

 

Seat time. The biggest early improvements come with "tightening the nut behind the wheel", so to speak. Nothing in normal driving comes close to running at autocross intensity for as long as an autocross run takes. Think in terms of suddenly having to dodge truck tire remnants and other debris for a whole minute without slowing down any more than absolutely necessary. Know that in order to keep from "getting behind" you'll have to start your steering a little sooner than right at each cone where there is a direction change - trying to play "catch-up" after you're late getting turned at a slalom cone won't work. This takes practice even when you know that's what you need to be doing.

With forced induction and 4.10's, you're going to need to have a VERY sensitive throttle foot. If there is any way of slowing down the aggressiveness with which your current tune dials in throttle movement, you'll almost certainly be ahead of this game to do so. Assuming that you can easily switch among multiple aftermarket tunes.

Cornering-oriented tires and wheels of appropriate width if your DD setup is either appearance or drag racing oriented. You're already modified well beyond where you need worry about things like class-legal wheels and tire widths. Don't worry about this the first few times out, but at some point most any true street tire setup will limit your progress.

You already have a pretty good set of shocks, which is the early suggestion most everybody will make to you. What you'll likely do is set them differently than you have done for either your street or drag racing uses.

If you expect to be autocrossing on a fairly frequent basis, setting the front alignment for more negative camber will help. Use only camber plates or caster-camber plates or Steeda HD strut mounts, please.

Eventually, you'll probably want adjustable stabilizer bars. Get both the front and rear bars as adjustable for more tuning options.

Downstream of that, probably a Watts link.


Take your time doing these mods, because right now the car is better at autocross than you are. It takes a while to realize what either you or the car really needs in order to go quicker at this game, and a lot of those "needs" come from experience and "lessons learned".


Norm

 

Norm is not wrong about seat time. It's a lot cheaper and easier to drop a second here or there by attending more and more autocross events (when you're new to it) than it is to drop time with mods.

That said, SLICKS are very helpful.

Here are some affordable mods I made to set my '06 GT up for improved handling.

https://mustangforums.com/forum/s197...g-package.html