continued from above
We went back and talked numbers with Corey. A $1500 rebate, big discount for the hail issues, and some more just because he rocks. In the end, the number was so low we couldn't NOT buy it. I felt like I needed a ski mask and gloves after the deal we got. Corey got the paperwork started and that was the quickest new car purchase I have ever seen. He had a Roush supercharged 2013 Raptor F150 warmed up and waiting for a test drive while the Mustang was being "make readied" for us, so we proceeded to go on the 2nd most hilarious test drive of my life, both of which were on the same day. I won't give away his crafty sales tactics, but after that ten minute test drive, all done by Corey, we both were AMAZED at the Raptor's off road capability and wanted one of these trucks. That's all I am allowed to say without giving Corey's trick away, but with 558 whp, Fox shocks, crackin' exhaust, and a suspension that can blow your mind... DAAAAMN that truck is a BEAST!
After that hilarious Raptor test drive that Matt here at Vorshlag joined us on (the back seat is absolutely massive, BTW), the 2013 GT was fueled up and ready to go. We hit the streets in both the 2011 and 2013 GTs, with a light drizzle starting to come down. I was really psyched about the new car we just stole and continued my jackassery, then proceeded to whip Amy 2-0 in wet drag races from stop lights.
The next morning I was still in shock from adding the 9th car to my fleet of sports car and got to washing off the previous night's rain. PaulM joined me with his 2011 GT and we washed both, then went with McCall and bought yet another car - something for a ChumpCar build, that I will start to chronicle next week (not a Vorshlag build, but we will make the roll cage). What a weekend!
On Monday I brought the car to the shop to weigh it, but with a full tank of fuel it was still a few pounds heavier than the 2011 GT was (with no fuel). I have calculated the low-fuel weight to be about 60 pounds lighter than the '11, stock for stock, both without the trunk junk. The 18" skinny spare in the 2013 is pretty slick and if we can find another it will make for a great drag race set of front runners (no "temporary use" or slow max speed listed). For those of you asking, I doubt this will fit over the 14" brakes, but we can try it. When I get a free moment, I will do an all-new thread on the 2013 GT ESP build and share even more. We've already begun ripping and tearing...
Whiteline S197 Parts Now Available
The North American Sales Manager for Whiteline USA, Reid Yoken, came by Vorshlag yesterday. He is in town for the Global Time Attack event this weekend and of course is stopping by to check up with all of his Whiteline dealers. He ended up staying for two hours and we discussed all sorts of new products coming for the S197 Mustang, the BRZ/FR-S, Subarus, BMWs, Miatas, and more. He promised to send us a few more new/pre-production parts for our Mustang and also our BRZ build, which was unexpected, but very cool.
Earlier this week the pricing was published for the new Whiteline Watts Link kit, which we have listed on our website now. Unlike some drop ship/resale operations that listed this and every other part known to man, we have actually used this Whiteline kit and know all of the tricks and tips for installation, tuning and use. We also stock some of their other S197 parts, like the Whiteline Panhard Bar kit (with the optional support brace) and some of their bushings. These Watts Link kits, Whiteline sway bars, and additional parts are available now. We will have another whole batch of S197 Whiteline parts coming for our 2013 GT soon.
Whiteline S197 Watts Link kit shown above, now available from Vorshlag
Our $899 price on the Watts Link kit's ($999 MSRP) is very reasonable considering all of the custom parts it comes with - a gorgeous cast aluminum differential cover with integral bearing loading studs, the bracket for the Watts "Football" mount, the cover's inlet/outlet ports for a differential cooler, and the various arms, brackets and hardware needed to mount all of this. It also comes with a unique cross-chassis brace, which is an optional piece on most PHB kits.
The OEM parts removed and replaced with the Watts Links kit installed.
We had Whiteline send us the production weight for their S197 Watts Link kit: "The entire Watts Link kit is 29 lbs, which includes 8.4 lbs from the differential cover and the associated hardware." Some of that weight is a wash, as you are removing a stock (or aftermarket) PHB, the stock cross-chassis brace (which is replaced in the Whiteline kit), and swapping the stock steel differential cover for their cast aluminum piece. We just weighed all of these stock parts we pulled off when installing the Watts on our 2011 and it all came in at 13.3 pounds. So in the end there's only a net ~15.7 pound increase for this Whiteline Watts Link kit. Not bad at all. In our upcoming 2013 GT purpose-built ESP build we will verify this to the tenth of a pound... and maybe look for ways to pull some weight out of the off-the-shelf Whiteline Watts kit, for those fanatics like us looking to save every ounce.
I discussed this on another forum earlier this week, but I want to make sure people who are racing the S197 realize how complete and high quality this Watts Link kit is. It works GREAT on a street car as well, without the banging and clanging of rod ends to drive you nuts. I will ask them if they want to make a rod end version, but if not we might modify their existing kit with rod ends for dedicated race car builds - we have already been asked. This always adds noise and new wear items, of course. Unprotected metal rod ends that are in high exposure areas are subjected to lots of salt, grime and road debris spray and should be given lots of thought before being installed on a street car.
Left: OEM rear sway bar routing ends very close to the rear tire. Right: Whiteline sway bar runs opposite of stock routing and has 6"+ to tire face (click to enlarge).
Another thing S197 racers should remember is that the Whiteline "axle mount" rear sway bar frees up a lot of inboard room for wider wheels and tires. This is unique to the S197 sway bar aftermarket and is one that cannot be overlooked. If you want to run more than a 10" rear wheel without cutting the fenders, you are going to need the Whiteline rear sway bar. Sure, you can buy it from us (we would appreciate it!), but whoever your Whiteline dealer is, this bar is the way to go for more tire room. Drag racers looking to run 15" or 16" diameter wheels can also look to this unique Whiteline sway bar style for the room they need to fit these smaller wheels. So much win!
Hankook Arrive & Drive
On Monday, the regional representative for Hankook Tires asked if I could come to their latest Arrive and Drive event (thanks Fabien!), which was about 30 miles from our shop. Any chance to thrash on somebody's cars and test new tires is always better than anything else I can think of on a regular work day, so I was in. Brandon went with me and shot some pictures of various attendees driving Hankook's Audi A3 and 2012 Mustang GT on Hankook tires. Super tight autocross course, no timers, just for fun.
Hankook always puts on a good show and if you can swing an invite, by all means check one of these events out. We took some autocross runs, had fun, snagged some Hankook swag, and headed back to the shop. I'm a big fan of the Hankook RS-3 tire, which is one of the fastest 140 treadwear tires around. Great for track use and autocrossers in the Street Touring class love them as well. The new 180 treadwear minimum in the SCCA "Road Tire" category will keep them out of there, at least until they can make a 180 TW replacement. We will see if that happens. I will also ask them about making some "big Mustang" R-S3 sizes - something like a 305/35/18 or 315/35/18 would be ideal on a 11" or 12" wide wheel. But for a more rational 10" wheel, Hankook is one of the few companies that does make a 285/35/18 size in the R-S3; this is a perfect fit with our 18x10" S197 D-Force/Vorshlag wheels.
SCCA Jackets for Class Winners
As I mentioned in my last update, Vorshlag teamed up with Solo Performance Specialties to sponsor the Women of Solo Luncheon this year, which was a big success. Dave made the commemorative embroidered polo shirts for all attendees, with the Vorshlag logo on the sleeve, and the ladies really liked them. Dave also runs SCCAgear.com, which makes various shirts/clothing/National Champion jackets for the SCCA.
Dave saw me complaining about the new three entrant minimum rule for crowning National Champions in my last Mustang thread post here, and he knew that I've pointed out in the past the lengthy process some new classes take to become recognized as a class at Nationals. So earlier this week he asked me to "put my money where my mouth is"... and I jumped at the chance.
SPS and Vorshlag have teamed up to provide a run of "SCCA Nationals Class Winner" jackets free of charge to all 2012 Solo Nationals winners who didn't get a National Championship jacket. They paid the same money, but only got half the swag. The recipients will include the winners in any of the unrecognized/provisional classes like "Road Tire" as well as some Ladies class winners who had fewer than three entrants. We made this press release together and will contact these Class Winners about their jackets in the coming weeks (Dave will make these jackets with the same look and at the same time as the National Champion jackets).
I know minimum entrant numbers and provisional classing is a complex subject with a lot of good points one way or another and there is no magic answer. We just felt like recognizing these winners with a little something extra this year, since the 2012 Solo Nationals was the first time the new attendance rule kicked in. Anyone that won can opt out of the free jacket, of course.
GTA Event Prep
I finally remembered what I forgot to post in my pre-Nationals post. The steering shudder is completely and utterly gone now, thanks to this one little swap!
For one "easy" payment of $999, our electric steering rack issues are a thing of the past. It is simply a stock rack that has been reprogrammed to turn off all of the auto-nibble-correction silliness. No other way to get this new programming other than to buy the new FRPP rack, unfortunately (we tried). Well, it does come on a Boss 302-S. I recommend this FRPP rack to any 2011-2013 Mustang driver that is experiencing this steering shudder like what I have documented in the videos from our 2011 GT. If you are experiencing these issues, you can try to take it to your dealership for reproduction and hopeful replacement, but we didn't have much luck there... Here's a tip: the biggest common variable on cars with this shudder is an aftermarket front Lower Control Arm bushing. Change the bushings and be prepared for the shudder.
Other preparation for this weekend includes: new Kumho V710s, upped the spring rates to 550F/250R, added a new set of Porterfield R4 pads and new rotors all the way around (the last track set of rotors and pads were well and truly thrashed). The guys also reinstalled the front brake ducting for use at the GTA event.
What's Next?
We are loading the 2011 Mustang into our trailer now for the tow out to Texas Motor Speedway on Friday and Saturday for the Global Time Attack event. There will also be some XTC drift event running on the same course (separate heats, thankfully!) and the whole "Hot Import Nights" show/circus/scene going on. We are told to expect a big crowd for all of that and they will be doing a live webcast on the GTA website.
Sunday we are loading up and heading to the Dallas Dragway in Crandall, TX. This is the new, preferred autocross site that the Texas Region SCCA is using for Solo events. We can't wait carve some corners and dodge cones at this new concrete site. I will post a new update next week in this thread about the event.
Also, I will start a whole new thread on our 2013 Mustang GT ESP build. Why a second thread? Well... we discussed it and the 2013 build will be a lot different from this 2011 build. The 2011 was a real test mule for us and we ran it in a variety of events and classes, from NASA TTB to TTS, and SCCA STX to ESP, as well as street driving and the Optima Challenge and more. I like the fact that the 2011 can do a little bit of everything pretty well, but I want to WIN the ESP class next year. That will take a completely different build, a different mindset, and a different car. It is also not really a "test mule" type of build, so it will get its own build thread.
What else... NASA has a race weekend at ECR on October 6-7th, where we will run the 2011 GT in TTS and the 2001 BMW 330Ci in TTD. Then there's another Five Star Ford of Plano sponsored open track day at ECR on November 11th, which we will be at in the 2011 GT.
Don't worry - the 2011 GT will continue on it's own adventures, chronicled in this thread. Meanwhile here's a taste of what we have in store for the 2013 GT:
The one-off flares above are no longer available... but we will make something similar for the 2013. Gotta clear those bigger Hoosiers!
Stay tuned!
We went back and talked numbers with Corey. A $1500 rebate, big discount for the hail issues, and some more just because he rocks. In the end, the number was so low we couldn't NOT buy it. I felt like I needed a ski mask and gloves after the deal we got. Corey got the paperwork started and that was the quickest new car purchase I have ever seen. He had a Roush supercharged 2013 Raptor F150 warmed up and waiting for a test drive while the Mustang was being "make readied" for us, so we proceeded to go on the 2nd most hilarious test drive of my life, both of which were on the same day. I won't give away his crafty sales tactics, but after that ten minute test drive, all done by Corey, we both were AMAZED at the Raptor's off road capability and wanted one of these trucks. That's all I am allowed to say without giving Corey's trick away, but with 558 whp, Fox shocks, crackin' exhaust, and a suspension that can blow your mind... DAAAAMN that truck is a BEAST!
After that hilarious Raptor test drive that Matt here at Vorshlag joined us on (the back seat is absolutely massive, BTW), the 2013 GT was fueled up and ready to go. We hit the streets in both the 2011 and 2013 GTs, with a light drizzle starting to come down. I was really psyched about the new car we just stole and continued my jackassery, then proceeded to whip Amy 2-0 in wet drag races from stop lights.
The next morning I was still in shock from adding the 9th car to my fleet of sports car and got to washing off the previous night's rain. PaulM joined me with his 2011 GT and we washed both, then went with McCall and bought yet another car - something for a ChumpCar build, that I will start to chronicle next week (not a Vorshlag build, but we will make the roll cage). What a weekend!
On Monday I brought the car to the shop to weigh it, but with a full tank of fuel it was still a few pounds heavier than the 2011 GT was (with no fuel). I have calculated the low-fuel weight to be about 60 pounds lighter than the '11, stock for stock, both without the trunk junk. The 18" skinny spare in the 2013 is pretty slick and if we can find another it will make for a great drag race set of front runners (no "temporary use" or slow max speed listed). For those of you asking, I doubt this will fit over the 14" brakes, but we can try it. When I get a free moment, I will do an all-new thread on the 2013 GT ESP build and share even more. We've already begun ripping and tearing...
Whiteline S197 Parts Now Available
The North American Sales Manager for Whiteline USA, Reid Yoken, came by Vorshlag yesterday. He is in town for the Global Time Attack event this weekend and of course is stopping by to check up with all of his Whiteline dealers. He ended up staying for two hours and we discussed all sorts of new products coming for the S197 Mustang, the BRZ/FR-S, Subarus, BMWs, Miatas, and more. He promised to send us a few more new/pre-production parts for our Mustang and also our BRZ build, which was unexpected, but very cool.
Earlier this week the pricing was published for the new Whiteline Watts Link kit, which we have listed on our website now. Unlike some drop ship/resale operations that listed this and every other part known to man, we have actually used this Whiteline kit and know all of the tricks and tips for installation, tuning and use. We also stock some of their other S197 parts, like the Whiteline Panhard Bar kit (with the optional support brace) and some of their bushings. These Watts Link kits, Whiteline sway bars, and additional parts are available now. We will have another whole batch of S197 Whiteline parts coming for our 2013 GT soon.
Whiteline S197 Watts Link kit shown above, now available from Vorshlag
Our $899 price on the Watts Link kit's ($999 MSRP) is very reasonable considering all of the custom parts it comes with - a gorgeous cast aluminum differential cover with integral bearing loading studs, the bracket for the Watts "Football" mount, the cover's inlet/outlet ports for a differential cooler, and the various arms, brackets and hardware needed to mount all of this. It also comes with a unique cross-chassis brace, which is an optional piece on most PHB kits.
The OEM parts removed and replaced with the Watts Links kit installed.
We had Whiteline send us the production weight for their S197 Watts Link kit: "The entire Watts Link kit is 29 lbs, which includes 8.4 lbs from the differential cover and the associated hardware." Some of that weight is a wash, as you are removing a stock (or aftermarket) PHB, the stock cross-chassis brace (which is replaced in the Whiteline kit), and swapping the stock steel differential cover for their cast aluminum piece. We just weighed all of these stock parts we pulled off when installing the Watts on our 2011 and it all came in at 13.3 pounds. So in the end there's only a net ~15.7 pound increase for this Whiteline Watts Link kit. Not bad at all. In our upcoming 2013 GT purpose-built ESP build we will verify this to the tenth of a pound... and maybe look for ways to pull some weight out of the off-the-shelf Whiteline Watts kit, for those fanatics like us looking to save every ounce.
I discussed this on another forum earlier this week, but I want to make sure people who are racing the S197 realize how complete and high quality this Watts Link kit is. It works GREAT on a street car as well, without the banging and clanging of rod ends to drive you nuts. I will ask them if they want to make a rod end version, but if not we might modify their existing kit with rod ends for dedicated race car builds - we have already been asked. This always adds noise and new wear items, of course. Unprotected metal rod ends that are in high exposure areas are subjected to lots of salt, grime and road debris spray and should be given lots of thought before being installed on a street car.
Left: OEM rear sway bar routing ends very close to the rear tire. Right: Whiteline sway bar runs opposite of stock routing and has 6"+ to tire face (click to enlarge).
Another thing S197 racers should remember is that the Whiteline "axle mount" rear sway bar frees up a lot of inboard room for wider wheels and tires. This is unique to the S197 sway bar aftermarket and is one that cannot be overlooked. If you want to run more than a 10" rear wheel without cutting the fenders, you are going to need the Whiteline rear sway bar. Sure, you can buy it from us (we would appreciate it!), but whoever your Whiteline dealer is, this bar is the way to go for more tire room. Drag racers looking to run 15" or 16" diameter wheels can also look to this unique Whiteline sway bar style for the room they need to fit these smaller wheels. So much win!
Hankook Arrive & Drive
On Monday, the regional representative for Hankook Tires asked if I could come to their latest Arrive and Drive event (thanks Fabien!), which was about 30 miles from our shop. Any chance to thrash on somebody's cars and test new tires is always better than anything else I can think of on a regular work day, so I was in. Brandon went with me and shot some pictures of various attendees driving Hankook's Audi A3 and 2012 Mustang GT on Hankook tires. Super tight autocross course, no timers, just for fun.
Hankook always puts on a good show and if you can swing an invite, by all means check one of these events out. We took some autocross runs, had fun, snagged some Hankook swag, and headed back to the shop. I'm a big fan of the Hankook RS-3 tire, which is one of the fastest 140 treadwear tires around. Great for track use and autocrossers in the Street Touring class love them as well. The new 180 treadwear minimum in the SCCA "Road Tire" category will keep them out of there, at least until they can make a 180 TW replacement. We will see if that happens. I will also ask them about making some "big Mustang" R-S3 sizes - something like a 305/35/18 or 315/35/18 would be ideal on a 11" or 12" wide wheel. But for a more rational 10" wheel, Hankook is one of the few companies that does make a 285/35/18 size in the R-S3; this is a perfect fit with our 18x10" S197 D-Force/Vorshlag wheels.
SCCA Jackets for Class Winners
As I mentioned in my last update, Vorshlag teamed up with Solo Performance Specialties to sponsor the Women of Solo Luncheon this year, which was a big success. Dave made the commemorative embroidered polo shirts for all attendees, with the Vorshlag logo on the sleeve, and the ladies really liked them. Dave also runs SCCAgear.com, which makes various shirts/clothing/National Champion jackets for the SCCA.
Dave saw me complaining about the new three entrant minimum rule for crowning National Champions in my last Mustang thread post here, and he knew that I've pointed out in the past the lengthy process some new classes take to become recognized as a class at Nationals. So earlier this week he asked me to "put my money where my mouth is"... and I jumped at the chance.
SPS and Vorshlag have teamed up to provide a run of "SCCA Nationals Class Winner" jackets free of charge to all 2012 Solo Nationals winners who didn't get a National Championship jacket. They paid the same money, but only got half the swag. The recipients will include the winners in any of the unrecognized/provisional classes like "Road Tire" as well as some Ladies class winners who had fewer than three entrants. We made this press release together and will contact these Class Winners about their jackets in the coming weeks (Dave will make these jackets with the same look and at the same time as the National Champion jackets).
I know minimum entrant numbers and provisional classing is a complex subject with a lot of good points one way or another and there is no magic answer. We just felt like recognizing these winners with a little something extra this year, since the 2012 Solo Nationals was the first time the new attendance rule kicked in. Anyone that won can opt out of the free jacket, of course.
GTA Event Prep
I finally remembered what I forgot to post in my pre-Nationals post. The steering shudder is completely and utterly gone now, thanks to this one little swap!
For one "easy" payment of $999, our electric steering rack issues are a thing of the past. It is simply a stock rack that has been reprogrammed to turn off all of the auto-nibble-correction silliness. No other way to get this new programming other than to buy the new FRPP rack, unfortunately (we tried). Well, it does come on a Boss 302-S. I recommend this FRPP rack to any 2011-2013 Mustang driver that is experiencing this steering shudder like what I have documented in the videos from our 2011 GT. If you are experiencing these issues, you can try to take it to your dealership for reproduction and hopeful replacement, but we didn't have much luck there... Here's a tip: the biggest common variable on cars with this shudder is an aftermarket front Lower Control Arm bushing. Change the bushings and be prepared for the shudder.
Other preparation for this weekend includes: new Kumho V710s, upped the spring rates to 550F/250R, added a new set of Porterfield R4 pads and new rotors all the way around (the last track set of rotors and pads were well and truly thrashed). The guys also reinstalled the front brake ducting for use at the GTA event.
What's Next?
We are loading the 2011 Mustang into our trailer now for the tow out to Texas Motor Speedway on Friday and Saturday for the Global Time Attack event. There will also be some XTC drift event running on the same course (separate heats, thankfully!) and the whole "Hot Import Nights" show/circus/scene going on. We are told to expect a big crowd for all of that and they will be doing a live webcast on the GTA website.
Sunday we are loading up and heading to the Dallas Dragway in Crandall, TX. This is the new, preferred autocross site that the Texas Region SCCA is using for Solo events. We can't wait carve some corners and dodge cones at this new concrete site. I will post a new update next week in this thread about the event.
Also, I will start a whole new thread on our 2013 Mustang GT ESP build. Why a second thread? Well... we discussed it and the 2013 build will be a lot different from this 2011 build. The 2011 was a real test mule for us and we ran it in a variety of events and classes, from NASA TTB to TTS, and SCCA STX to ESP, as well as street driving and the Optima Challenge and more. I like the fact that the 2011 can do a little bit of everything pretty well, but I want to WIN the ESP class next year. That will take a completely different build, a different mindset, and a different car. It is also not really a "test mule" type of build, so it will get its own build thread.
What else... NASA has a race weekend at ECR on October 6-7th, where we will run the 2011 GT in TTS and the 2001 BMW 330Ci in TTD. Then there's another Five Star Ford of Plano sponsored open track day at ECR on November 11th, which we will be at in the 2011 GT.
Don't worry - the 2011 GT will continue on it's own adventures, chronicled in this thread. Meanwhile here's a taste of what we have in store for the 2013 GT:
The one-off flares above are no longer available... but we will make something similar for the 2013. Gotta clear those bigger Hoosiers!
Stay tuned!