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Coilovers vs current

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Short time lurker here......
I have a DOB Supercharged GT that makes 500hp. I recently discovered that I enjoy road racing here at High Plains raceway in Colorado.
Current suspension mods are:
K springs
Eibach pro dampners
BMR 35mm front bar w/ adjustable links
GT500 27mm rear bar with poly bushings
Ford STB
Watts link
UMI rear LCA w/rod ends
Drake adjustable rear upper
Gt500 Brembo front brakes
285/35-19 Conti sport on 19x10 front
325/30-19 Conti sport on 19x11 rear

I drive this to work 3-4 times per week and plan to track it 3-4 times each season. I bought the Eibach dampners early on, before I started hitting the track. After hitting the track, had a ton of fun, but felt the car needed a little more (tightening up body roll).......could just be my driving tho! LOL! I was recommend the ST XTA coilovers because of spring rates and adjustability and price. Any thoughts on these or keep my current setup?


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Welcome to TMO. How many track days have you done?
 
So your speed is picking up. Your car setup is a bit contrary to what most TMO members find successful on track. Not saying it can't work but I'd look to square up your tires and setup the sway bars for it before I added different coilovers. I'd go to a 305 square setup on 18x11 or 19x11 wheels. Those Eibach Pro dampers actually work fairly well for a street driven car but if buying new coilovers I'd look at JRi or something of similar quality.
 

ChrisM

Mostly harmless.
1,180
1,419
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
South Carolina
I'll echo what Rick said. Square tire setup and bars first. If you don't already have brake cooling ducts and better fluid, I'd invest in those, especially with a supercharger. I know it's not suspension, but turning and power don't mean a thing if you can't slow down consistently.

And welcome to TMO!
 
What sway bar(s) would you recommend? The front BMR is adjustable and is on the middle setting. I may look into a set of track wheels next year.
I plan on brake ducts before our next event, and fluid as well.

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ChrisM

Mostly harmless.
1,180
1,419
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
South Carolina
What sway bar(s) would you recommend? The front BMR is adjustable and is on the middle setting. I may look into a set of track wheels next year.
I plan on brake ducts before our next event, and fluid as well.

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Stick with what you have and play with the settings once you've got new wheels. BMR is a good brand.
 
So the rear bar is decent as well?
I will focus on tuning the front bar and the Watts in the rear this season and hopefully " beatup" on my loudmouth buddy's '10 M3.......LOL!
Thanks for the responses....you all are great!!

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Norm Peterson

Corner Barstool Sitter
939
712
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
a few miles east of Philly
Perhaps more seat time instead of more parts. And yes to squaring up the tire sizes (and wheel widths). At the very least cut the amount of stagger back from 40mm; even at the OE level, tire stagger for front engine/RWD cars is generally held to 10 or 20 mm.

Unless you're throwing the car into the turns (and making the suspension overshoot in roll) or simply unaccustomed to getting much roll in your street driving (a basis for perception thing), I'm not seeing where your car the way it now sits should feel like it's rolling excessively. It really is OK to let some roll happen.


Norm
 
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domesticpower

Track Addict
190
135
NS
I agree with Norm. Spend money first on more HPDE/seat time and preferably with an instructor that's familiar with Mustangs. Your current setup should be stiff enough. Stiffer setups are less forgiving, especially at your power level.

If you have a Fays2 Watt's link, feel free to ask any tuning questions.
 
6,360
8,180
Keep in mind that this is a GT500 which will never be the best handling car because of all the nose weight with the blower and all it's ancillary stuff ( I know, I have one) with that in mind, I think I'd just have fun and enjoy it. The other thing is that the blower will raise intake temps to where the IAC will start pulling timing after a few laps. I'm not trying to be a jerk, like I said I own one of these and really love it, but it will never be a real good track car like a Boss 302, that doesn't mean it can't be fun, just realize that it has some designed in limitations where a Boss 302 is more track oriented.
With this car I think the biggest help would be to expend the time and effort to come up with an intake air system that reaches outside of the engine compartment, you will be amazed at what cutting 100 degrees out of your intake will do.

(Besides..it has a Watts..lol..j/k)
 
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Keep in mind that this is a GT500 which will never be the best handling car because of all the nose weight with the blower and all it's ancillary stuff ( I know, I have one) with that in mind, I think I'd just have fun and enjoy it. The other thing is that the blower will raise intake temps to where the IAC will start pulling timing after a few laps. I'm not trying to be a jerk, like I said I own one of these and really love it, but it will never be a real good track car like a Boss 302, that doesn't mean it can't be fun, just realize that it has some designed in limitations where a Boss 302 is more track oriented.
With this car I think the biggest help would be to expend the time and effort to come up with an intake air system that reaches outside of the engine compartment, you will be amazed at what cutting 100 degrees out of your intake will do.

(Besides..it has a Watts..lol..j/k)
Mine is not a GT500........."just" a GT...........

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May not be a GT500.... but it has the extra weight of the supercharger just like a GT500..

I found my 2007 GT loved longer ball joints. Whitelines set on the longest position. If you want more damping but don't want to go coil-over, consider Ford adjustable shocks (Tokico, they are what I run) and struts or Koni adjustables. You should be able to "settle down" the car a bit more and provide the stability you need as you go faster. Single adjustable dampers are way easier for a noob to adjust.

If you haven't added adjustable camber plates or eccentric strut bolts yet, you need to. The cars beg for more negative camber than you can get from the factory settings. Use that to adjust some understeer out and even up tire wear.

I hope you added a bigger radiator when the SC went on, power makes heat - a LOT of heat!
 
Thank you for the responses! I will get more seat time and learn how to "tune" my current set up. Since I still want to keep this a "street car", I'm not sure about going with dedicated track wheels/tires. I know the Contis I have stick pretty good.
Maybe we can have this conversation next year!!


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