Help me setup for ONE track day!

[Speedboosted]

I'm going to the Northwest Street Car Challenge in Spokane, WA with my dad at the end of May and the event will be a little different this year. Friday & Saturday is dig and roll racing in which we will be racing the Shelby, but Sunday is the day to run the track itself and I really would like to take my 6 cylinder out there finally. I may eventually end up doing one more NASA HPDE event at PIR but we'll see the condition of the car after Spokane. It will most likely be THE slowest car there straight line speed wise but I feel with some help it could hopefully hold its own on the track, probably not though. With that said, here is what is done right now to it suspension/brake wise. Car is a 2006 4.sl0w and has intake and tune engine wise
-H&R Race Springs
-Steeda Pro-Action Struts
-KYB Gas-a-just Shocks
-GT500 Strut Mounts
-Eibach Camber Bolts
-GT500 Strut Brace
-BMR Ajustable PHB
-J&M Extreme LCA's (poly bushing)
-Takeoff GT front (34mm w/ poly bushings) and rear (20mm) sway bars
-GT front brakes with EBC red stuff pads and standard pads in rear (brakes were just done in the summer so a lot of life left)

Now I'm on takeoff 2011 5.0 base wheels with those 235 pirellis, however I plan on using the Shelby's regular tires (255/285 in 19s) since the drag wheels will be on it.

I also will put in DOT 4 brake fluid and am in the process of designing my own brake duct cooling kit since I don't really see any advertised for the V6, and I love doing that kind of stuff anyways.

I am not sure how my pads will hold up, and I don't want to ruin my new-ish rotors so I may swap the slightly smaller v6 rotors back on (they are still in very good condition).

I should note that this is the basic model that DOES NOT come with ABS (wtf?)

Anything else I should look into or plan differently? 5 speed manual too if it matters

Thanks guys, just joined and loving this forum already. Especially this section!

 

[sheizasosay]

Get a helmet, make sure your brake fluid is good. Listen to the instructor. And trust me, that 6 cyl has ZERO bearing on driver skill. What you learn in your Mustang can be applied to the DRIVER. You can place that driver into whatever vehicle you choose.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Rotors are consumable items and GT rotors are inexpensive enough and easy enough to find (I got half a dozen track days out of the model 125 non-cryo Centric plains up front on my GT, over 10 out of plain 125 rears). So don't worry about ruining them or even think of stepping down to something less suited to track duty than GT-size.

But do a brake fluid flush with a good DOT4 fluid. Motul RBF600 comes to mind, although ATE 200 (the amber stuff) would be OK for your first two or three track days.

Unfortunately I don't have any feel for EBC pads. Hopefully somebody who does will chime in. My own suggestion would be for Carbotech pads, and XP8's would probably be enough for a while (they're fairly streetable as long as a little dust and a bit of noise doesn't bother you).

I would not do a track day with anybody's half-strength "crash bolts" for camber adjustment/correction. Ford's own camber bolts, yes (because they're strong enough to tighten to the full torque spec for strut to knuckle fasteners).

I'd have done quite a few things on your list differently, but since it's the car you're used to driving you might as well start a potential track day habit with the car the way you're used to it being. For a beginning driver, the car is faster than you are and there are much more important things to learn than what parts might make it go faster. Want evidence - I'm OK'ed to run solo by three different track day groups and my 2008 GT is still on its original springs even though I've changed a few other things.


Gotta go pack. One last track day of 2014 is calling me.


Norm

 

[csamsh]

I agree with Norm, and I especially agree with not using camber bolts.

 

[JPC]

Brakes: pads, fluid and rotors!!!
NAPA has a lifetime warranty on rotors....yes I know
....I'm on my second set already

Motul 600 is great brake fluid

I've never seen a track car with too much brake...

 

[Speedboosted]

Got the helmet covered. To be honest, I don't think there will be an instructor riding along with any of us, which does concern me a little. If there isn't some kind of instruction of people, then my car will not be going out there. Waaaay too many people that think their Tanner Foust at these events.

Any recommendations on materials to use for making the brake ducts? I'm planning on swinging by NAPA today to ask them about rotors and possibly having brake duct parts as well

 

[JPC]

Got the helmet covered. To be honest, I don't think there will be an instructor riding along with any of us, which does concern me a little. If there isn't some kind of instruction of people, then my car will not be going out there. Waaaay too many people that think their Tanner Foust at these events.

Any recommendations on materials to use for making the brake ducts? I'm planning on swinging by NAPA today to ask them about rotors and possibly having brake duct parts as well

IF there is an instructor get a ride along in their passenger seat.
....YOU WILL LEARN ALOT
........I always try to do this at an track I don't know....

Homemade brake ducts..??? not easy to do, could be a waste of time and $

 

[mitch]

Buy these from me,
You need them

http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116379

Srsly, do not go with smaller brakes. That would be a mistake.
I dont know about the pads you have either, sorry.

But the Hawk DTC's are track pads. They will take everything you can throw at them.
And SS lines are just good insurance.

PM me, i'll make you a good deal,

 

[Speedboosted]

IF there is an instructor get a ride along in their passenger seat.
....YOU WILL LEARN ALOT
........I always try to do this at an track I don't know....

Homemade brake ducts..??? not easy to do, could be a waste of time and $

Not so much homemade as buying pieces and putting them together on my own. I found some parts from Summit that will be easy to put together, biggest thing will just be mounting the hose to the brake area so it will actually function

As for the instructor...trust me, I want one if there is one. I did some laps around Pacific Raceways in the Shelby with an instructor and I learned so much.

PM sent Mitch!

 

[csamsh]

Don't use anything but high temp silicone hose for brake ducts. You don't want them melting on you.

 

[Speedboosted]

Learned a little more about the event, they are trying to get instructors to give a class before sending us out...not ideal but better than nothing I guess.

High temp silicon is all I have been looking at for hoses, so good to know I found the right stuff. 10 feet of hosing will be enough right?

 

[sheizasosay]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006K8KG8W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006K8KBK0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used the above ,with the Vorshlag modified dust shield, to piece my ducts together. The black ducting was cheaper. It was a matter of money. If I had more money I would have used the orange, higher temp hose. I haven't had any issues with mine though.

If your front fascia has an available front ducting, then I would use that. And 10' was more than enough.

 

[Speedboosted]

Sheizasosay, how difficult or easy was it to bend that hose? I had heard that it was very stiff and wouldn't keep its shape...how is yours holding up?

 

[sheizasosay]

Easy. It is constructed in a similar way as the higher-temp orange ducting: it has metal wire wrapped through it.

I've never handled the orange stuff, so I can't compare, but mine has never come loose, never melted or not done exactly what I asked it to do.

I always run the same track and it is, in my opinion, not super hard on the brakes (as far as tracks go), so YMMV with tracks that build more heat than Roebling Road.

 

[Speedboosted]

I was considering the hose you have, or this one...http://www.amazon.com/Thermoid-Temp... silicone brake duct hose&tag=viglink21505-20

That one seems to have a much higher temp rating. The pads I'm getting are designed to be optimal around 400* and up, while that hose you have is rated to 275*....I could see an issue with that. What pads to you run on your car? While it is twice as much as the black, it is also only $30 more so I probably will just go with the orange hose.

Next task is finding the appropriate sized ducts. My opening is 5.5" wide and just a shade under 3" tall. An offset (angled) design would be nice but not crucial. I think I may do an dual one for the driver side, that way my intake can get fresh air once again, the ford racing heat shield closes everything off!

Either way, this is going together easier than I thought. I may or may not need something to mount the hose to the rotor areas...tomorrow I'm changing the struts so I'll be able to get a good look at what I need to do

 

[sheizasosay]

Get higher temp hose if you can. I have a cowl hood and run a brake-easy track.

 

[tr_ms3]

You're not going to push your car hard enough on your first track day to warrant all of these suggestions.

Make sure you have high-temp fluid in your car, bled thoroughly. Then, make sure your wheels are on tight, tires are properly inflated (remember, they will get hot and air will expand, so air down a little bit) and enjoy.

If you find yourself needing more, that's for track day #2.

 

[Speedboosted]

I was told by a few instructors to actually inflate my tires a little more....makes the sidewall stiffer so the tire doesn't roll over onto it.

Soooo, which one is it? Them heating up so less air kinda makes sense as well lol

 

[Apex50]

I was told by a few instructors to actually inflate my tires a little more....makes the sidewall stiffer so the tire doesn't roll over onto it.

Soooo, which one is it? Them heating up so less air kinda makes sense as well lol

For the first couple events, just make sure you've got enough air to keep from rolling the tire over and ruining your sidewalls. You can use chalk to help visualize what parts of the tire are actually touching the track.

After that you can experiment with optimal inflation temps based on lap times. Before you get the basics dialed in (line, braking, traffic management) the feel of the tires will just be information overload.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Another way to gage whether you need more or less tire inflation is by observing how far down around the outside shoulders of the tires are getting scuffed in the corners. If the scuffing doesn't extend off the flat part of the tread, you've got too much air in that tire, and if it extends well down past the curvature of the shoulder there's not enough air. Some tires have little indicators molded into the shoulder area to help you gauge this, little triangles in many cases.

One other thing - just because Ford specifies the same inflation pressure for all four tires is no reason that you must do the same for your track time. Or even for your street driving, really (I generally run the front tires at 3, maybe 4 psi more than the rear tires).


Norm