Need help setting up Stang for road racing track day

[1990MustangLX50]

Hello, I am perparing to take my stang to a local track day in feb. Right now the whole car is stock, except for full exhaust and stainless brake lines up front

What is a decent suspension setup for track/ street more toward street. Im not looking to blow away everything, just want something more stable for high speeds 100+ mph, also what options are there to upgrade the brakes, I would like to save the rear disk conversion for later.

I am looking at a deal LRS has for steeda sport springs and kyb struts and also getting subframe connectors

 

[jrichker]

A kit from Steeda or Maximum Motorsports would be the best choice. That way all the parts fit and work together.

If you wallet isn’t that fat, here are some ideas.
1.) Subframe connectors or rails. They are a must have item to do the twiste corner thing.
2.) Panhard Bar to keep the rear axle centered. MM’s Panhard bar is the only one I know of that doesn’t have exhaust pipe interference problems.
3.) Bilstein or Koni shocks on all four corners,
4.) Caster camber plates – only use MM or Steeda. They are steel and have a spherical bearing up top to hold everything in alignment. You’ll need to have the front end aligned after installing them.
5.) Torque box repair/reinforcements.
6.) New bushings for the front end and rear axle. This is not expensive, but it is labor intensive. Some of the bushings are easy to do, but others are much more difficult.

 

[Wallzy]

I mostly agree with what jrichker said, i put a little more emphasis on breaks and little different order of his list. These are my top 4:

1) Brakes
2) Bushings
3) Subframe Connectors
4) Koni/Bilstein

Good Luck

Walz

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

How much do you want to spend is the answer!!

 

[jrichker]

See http://www.svo73mm.cjb.net/ for budget brake upgrades & 5 lug swaps. One of the best sites around for Mustang brake help.

 

[ninety15.0]

i think i would also put a little more attention to the braking system. The stock fox brakes are horrible to say the least. My car has slotted rotors, EBC pads, MM metal caliper bushings and good synthetic fluid and it still stops like crap! I would suggest a full five lug and 4-disk setup before you attempt any road course racing. That alone will be quite expensive if you do it correctly.

Next on the list should be chassis stiffening...full length welded sub frame connectors are a must. A strut tower brace is not necessary but will help a little.

Then i would deal with shocks/struts and springs. Remember lower is not better. I think about 1.25 inch drop is about the most you want with a fox before geometry goes out the window. I would also suggest a bumpsteer kit along with a panhard bar for the rear end. IF you get all these things done it will feel like a different car...and the results will be very noticeable. good luck man

 

[iapexl8r]

If your just getting started at this. save your money in the beginning. Go to the alingment shop tell them you want -1.25 deg of camber on both sides, as much caster as you can get (max +4deg) and 1/16" toe in. set tire press @ 30 psi front 34psi rear. Drive the car, get an instructor (at most open track events there is a few that are free) learn how to drive the car first. I always preech the first mod should be done to the NUT behind the wheel. What track are you going to??? Good luck chris

 

[90topdown]

Full length welded subframe connectors are a must!!

After that-

IMO, before I dumped alot of money in the car, I would put some money into the driver. By that I mean take some driving school courses or check with your local SCCA club and find out when they are having a drivers school day.

I dont know what your experience level is but a bone stock 5.0 is a very capable car in its own right. You are better off spending money on the driver. Just my 2 cents.

 

[1990MustangLX50]

I personally have no experience behind the wheel. I have spectated some events with friends I work with. I will drive with an instructor at 1st, I totally agree with working with the "NUT" behind the wheel. I was just looking to enhance the suspension a little. I do not plan on doing a 5-lug swap or rear disk in time for feb. Just to clarify ill be running at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC I would likely be in a drivers ed class, there would be no high speed passing you run with others on track but never side by side if the person behind you is faster you would point him by. My goal was to get the basic suspension parts on this time just to see how the car will perform. I am a tech so I am capable of installing all parts, I just have little experience with this particular dept. for upgrading.

Car as it sits now:
Stainless front brake lines
Just rebuilt Stock T-5 (All new bearings and synchros)
Replaced rear wheel cylinders.
170K on the clock oil changed every 3k
Full exhaust
New RAM clutch
New Flywheel

Ive had the car for a few years now and Im itchin to have some fun with it other than straight blasts to 60. A friend I work with races a Civic hatchback along with his brother. I figured hell I can do this with the 5.0 at 1st probably wont be as fast as they have full setups but over time I hope to make it a road hugging beast.

thanks

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Whatever you end up doing, keep this in mind:


Brakes > Tires > Horsepower


If you can't stop, it doesn't matter how fast you can go. If you can stop but your tires suck, you're not gonna stop when you want to. You can NEVER have too much brakes. Spend your money on brakes/tires/suspension and leave the engine stock...it makes plenty of power to get you around a track quite fast if you can afford to brake late and have the grip to bust ass out of the corners.

 

[1990MustangLX50]

Whatever you end up doing, keep this in mind:


Brakes > Tires > Horsepower


If you can't stop, it doesn't matter how fast you can go. If you can stop but your tires suck, you're not gonna stop when you want to. You can NEVER have too much brakes. Spend your money on brakes/tires/suspension and leave the engine stock...it makes plenty of power to get you around a track quite fast if you can afford to brake late and have the grip to bust ass out of the corners.

Thats the plan. I am plenty pleased with the power of the stock 5.0. Im not touching the motor. Only reason I got the exhaust was when I took my trans out all the old stuff was rusted.

 

[iapexl8r]

the problem with rushing into modifying your car before your first event is you dont know yet how far you are going to go with it. But if you feel the need tires,heim jointed upper control arms (rear) ,sub frame connectors and caster camber paltes are a good start along with a proper alingment As I stated before.
Chris

 

[moterhead]

As my first post here, I'll tell you about the way my car is set up. The fellow I bought it from used to autocross with it, so it's got a bunch done. Baer 13" front and 12" rear disc brakes. Still four lug BTW. I see no HUGE reason to do a five lug conversion other than you have more wheel choice. To continue, FMS quick ratio power rack, all steel steering shaft with welded u-joints, strut tower brace, K member brace, welded sub-frame connectors, MM rear panhard bar. BBK upper and lower rear control arms. Oversize front and rear sway bars w/urethane bushings.It also has a new WC T5 w/Pro5.0, a FMS HD clutch, aluminum drive shaft, SVO aluminum rear cover. Wheels are TSW 17X8s. Tires are Yokohama 245/40/17s all around. "Z" rated BTW. The car WAS lowered 1.5" all around and sat nose down and had terrible problems with the front tires rubbing the upper outer lip of the wheel well on a powered turn. All that expensive suspension work & you couldn't use it! I reinstalled stock front springs which brought the front up 1.5". Now the car sits level and has no tire rub problems. As you might imagine, with all the work,quick steering, etc, it's like driving a go cart. A ball on middle Tennessee's curvy roads.

I agree with lots of what's been posted. Disagree with some statements. Heck, since you are a tech, the car is likely in great shape as far as running gear and power train. The only thing I'd really recommend for your first track day is subframe connectors. IMO, even stock cars that never see a track need that. See how you like the experience, then prioritize the changes you'd like to make. My car is about as far as one would take a primarily street driven car, except, perhaps for coilovers on the front.

Oh, one more thing before I end this. The previous owner told me that Fox chassis Fords (NOT Fox body BTW) have a big problem with rear steer when on the road couse or autocross. WHen severly side loaded, the rear axle can actually move sideways up to 2 inches. That's what the panhard bar controlls.

 

[iapexl8r]

I left out a major peice of advice. Read a book writen by this dude William Mathis (mustang road/autocross racing GOD) titled mustang performance hand book II. I consider this my bible!!!! Chris

 

[2000xp8]

The stock mustang brakes are fine for the street, adding discs or big fronts doesn't do much for normal street driving.
It's the multiple hard stops that stock brakes have trouble with.
I'll suspect you only get one autocrossing event out of the stockers.
And don't be suprised if when you pull in the pits, the car doesn't want to stop at the end.
If you piece the brakes together yourself with junkyard or ebay parts, you can do it relatively cheap. Problem is that you will need 5 lug wheels, because i don't think there is a cheap way of doing good 4 lug fronts.

For suspension
Me personally on a limited budget, i'd start with subframes, lowering springs and a panhard bar.
Without the panhard bar, the rear can move as far as 2-3 inches under hard cornering.

Then i'd add parts as you can afford.

 

[KAILUAZ]

Lots of good info. I am going the junk yard route with complete LSC rear end, SN95 spindles, PBR rotors. I'll spend a little on some good rotors up front. I'm going to manual brakes with MM kit and new master cyl, but thats me.
My open track car is going in this order, brakes, suspension, electrical, then engine.
Good luck!!

 

[GREY88GT]

If you do use the stock front brakes, and many people have, do some research and find a suitable higher performance set of front pads. The stock compound ones won't last. Also, make sure you completely flush and replace your stock brake fluid with an appropriate high performance(read: high boiling point) fluid. The people at Maximum Motorsports are very helpful in this area and(naturally) will also sell you an upgrade kit for you stock system if you decide to go in that direction. Good luck.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Something else i thought i'd add....don't blow a ton of money on rims. I would go with a knock off Cobra R 17x9 which are usually about $125 each. Reason being that you will beat the hell out of them on a road course if you do enough racing, and there's no since in putting some crazy blingin rims on a racecar. Or if you have a little extra to spend, i really like the Maximum Motorsports/Konig Villain rim, which is designed to clear pretty much any brake setup out there. It's a little pricier though at $189 each.

 

[Sicarius428]

As somebody posted earlier
Brakes -> Tires -> chassis/suspension

The stock brakes are substandard for the street as it is. I suggest looking into a cobra brake setup with some 94-95 spindles. You can actually pull the whole rear end from a 94-98gt(5 lug + rear disk) and bolt it right up to your fox. Axle width is a tad more but not bad enough to rub with 8 inch wheels. Cobra rear brakes are nice but really doesn't justify the cost... You are better off putting the money towards the front brakes.Good tires is a must also, you can have the best brakes and suspension in the world but the tires are the only thing that keeps that in contact with the ground. For suspension, the rear of the Fox platform likes to float at high speeds and turns. It will feel stable for a good bit then just give... really bad.... Lower control arms and a panhard would be a great addition to keep the rear from having a mind of its own. For springs it really depends on how low you want to go and how harsh of a ride you are willing to put up with. Bilstein or Koni followed by tokico are what you should stick with. For the front, if you are going to be doing the sn95 spindle, at this point I suggest getting some tubular A arms with the sn95 ball joints already in them. At this point your ball joints are probably pretty beat I am pretty sure of. Tubular A arms will lighten up the front a tad and reduce the unsprung weight allowing the wheel/tire to respond better. If you do the tubular A arms, you will have to go to a coil over setup also allowing your shock/spring to respond and react better. This will adapt your front shock to a coil over setup. Coil overs are a little harsh on the ride quality. MMR makes a kit that can be had at a reasonable price for the front end considering if you buy FMS control arms.. they are like 250 as it is. Oh yeah, Full length subframs and some sort of torque box reinforcement. Don't bother with the powder coated subframe connectors. You will have to grind in order to weld(don't bolt in) them on anyways. Just paint it afterwards. Once you get rust under the powder coating it all starts to flake off anyways. Nice thing about paint is that you can sand it down and add another layer of paint.
Kevin

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Personally i would rather have stock brakes with really good pads and spend money on grippy tires....than have sub par tires and loads of braking power. If you don't have traction you don't have racing.