I know that magazines typically tout these numbers for comparison purposes, but I'd like to know if there is a simple parts recipe to get the stock GT into the 0.90G+ lateral acceleration range for a 200'-300' skidpad, and about 68-70+ MPH for the slalom (100' cone spacing). Track Pack (II) is the simple answer for a 2010 GT, but I'd be interested in doing that for my 07 GT w/o going to expensive tires or resort to a lower ground clearance and harsher ride.

 

I know you say you don't want expensive tires, but the truth is that cornering grip (and braking) are 90% or more dependent on the tire.

I bet if you took a stock GT and put a race tire on it you will get > .9 g on a skid pad. Those tires are 300-400 a piece so really if you compare to what you could spend on suspension it is not that different. Really any summer performance tire will be a huge improvement.

If you really don't want to change tires, then I would change the shocks (get good ones, Koni Sport would be my recomendation because you can adjust them for comfort or handling).

If you really want to do more after changing shocks then these two items should not make the ride any harsher and help the handling performance:

Watts Linkage

Sway Bars (make sure they are adjustable so you can dial in the handling)

Usually sway bars are last to fine tune the rotation of the car at the limit, and it is possible that they could actually reduce your max G on a skid pad, but the car will FEEL better at the limit.

Another thing you can do is adjust your alignment, that can make a big difference in at the limit handling. To do this effectively you may need Caster/Camber plates.

Also lighten the car as much as possible, remove things you don't need, lightweight K member or lightweight rims all will help.

Bushings can help too, but may increase NVH. Control arms may help a little as well, and should not increase NVH with the right model.

Email Sam Strano, the guy knows the suspension on Mustangs (and in general) and can give you great advice.

 

$780 Koni Sports - These dampers can dramatically change the handling characteristics of the Mustang. Full Soft INCREASES the ride comfort. 1.5 turns from soft increases the handling. www.stranoparts.com

$600 Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec - These tires can achieve .97g on the skid pad. They will last about 15k miles. These tires are the best DOT approved tires, imho. Also consider the Bridgestone RE-11 and Kumho Ecsta XS.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....t+Z1+Star+Spec

That should get you there.

 

I'm happy to help if you like.

Here's a dirty secret though.... Stick some super grippy tires on a car and you make it pull magical G numbers on a skidpad. That's great, but not exactly real world where life consists of much more than 200 foot diameter circles. And this comes from someone who has a couple of cars that can pull around 1.2 on a skidpad. But again, a skidpad is not the real world.

Grip is important, no doubt. But useable grip, balance, and predictability are more important. Sometimes you actually give up grip to make a car faster--to make it better balanced (but only as a last resort we always try to increase grip on poor end first).

So here's how I'd work this if you were to ring me. 1. I'd want to know what it is you would like to change about how the car drives. Everyone wants "better handling"--I want to know what specifically you hate (or dislike) the most. 2. I'd discuss parts with you, as different parts do different things.... There can be some overlap in ways, and one must watch that you don't do things that aren't the best together, or work in the way we need.

 

I love it when a smart man gives input...don't you guys? Very sound advise!!!

 

Hi Sam:

What's a good time to call?

BB
Semper Fi

 

I've got a question for you sam. I'm lowered on ultra-lites and that is it for my suspension. I drive every weekend to go see my girlfriend around Baltimore and I like to take the on/off ramps hard. Alot of times these ramps have uneven sections through out the turn. When I'm cornering hard the back is planted and then I hit the bump and it seems as if the rear gets to the point where it wants to walk out and lose traction. What can I do to keep it planted and just soak up the bumps? I don't track it or drag it but ocassionally I slam it from a stop light and want to gain best traction. The rear end does shutter some when in a straight line and spinning. Would that mean its time for some LCA's? What would you recommend for me?

 

Better shocks, that's the issue pure and simple. Hell, stock the shocks are biggest problem with car stock as far as I'm concerned.

The dampers don't deal with sharp bumps well to start with. Add more spring rate, and less travel to shocks that weren't good from the start and things get worse. Add wear and tear on the shocks and they become less able to damp movement and things get even worse. Eventually the ride will start to suffer too (which some find odd as they think softer shocks will make for a better ride). It doesn't, controlled shocks make for a better ride.

The wheelhop is best deal with, most easily and more cost effectively by a good set of LCA's. But it's possible that a shock change might just take care of a slight bit of hop at the same time (but not guaranteed).

 

And to answer the previous question... Best time to get me are weekdays 11-6 ET.

 

Thanks sam! Which shocks/LCA's would you recommend?

 

Shock wise, I recommend Koni's. Given how you use the car, probably the STR.T's over the more expensive (but adjustable) Sports.

LCA's. Well, that's not as easy. There are so many options.... More than the brand, it's the style and how they work for different situations. I'd have to say start with the shocks, and go from there. But if you'd like to talk about the different types of arms (all poly, poly/rod-end, etc.) I'd be more than happen to explain the differences and the pro's and con's.

 

That does seem to be the case on the 05-09 cars - all of them - I know on my 07, the FR3 suspension didn't make a profound change in the amount of grip, but boy, did it ever take care of the high speed bobbing and weaving.

Next spring, I'm going to do the same on the GT500 (epsecially after get used to the FR3 equipped GT)

 

No one here mentioned a driver mod.

I can tell you this, I used to think I loved the twisties and was happy with my driving skill. That was until I hit my first scca meet. Boy was I wrong, I looked at the video of my driving, and I was anything but smooth. Smoothnes is what gets the speed. After watching myself drive, I decided I was going to take it easy on the car and drive smoother. I shaved 5 seconds off my lap time doing so. Goes to show, explore the limits of your driving on the track first then decide what you want. Dont be afraid of melting the sidewalls of your tires either, just pump up the tire presure.

My suspension is nearly stock except for the roush lca's, watts link & strut tower brace.

 

IMO, that goes without saying, the driver mod is probably the single best improvement for anybody (looking at you crappy 13.5 @ 111 mph 1/4 time ).

 

Hi Sam, I am in the same sort of situation. My wife is going to get me a new set of shocks and struts for x-mas. I have the Vogtland springs and was looking at the Koni STR.Ts like you recommend. I also really like the lifetime warranty that they carry. I have lots of windy roads that I like to take hard around my area as well as the on/off ramps and I was wondering if there would be any benefit to spending the extra $100 or so and going to the Tokico D-Specs and have the ability to adjust them as I take it to the strip every once in a while as well. I don't really feel like spending the $700 plus to go up to the Koni yellows as the D-Specs are already pushing the limits on what I would like to spend. Any recommendations between the two?

Thanks

 

Pure decision making time on your end. Neither is wrong. Koni's are built better as far as I'm concerned and definitely have the better warranty. D-specs are adjustable which allow tuning the STR.T's don't. But the damping range isn't as useful and harder to dial in to just right than Koni Sports.

Bottom line, because it's a street car I'd say save the extra cash, potential headaches if you have an issue with a failure, and go STR.T's. You assume that running D-specs will be a mad help on the drag strip, but the fact is you can only make them so soft, and that's nowhere near what a 90/10 shock is anyway.

Again, I don't think either is a bad choice, and are better than other things out there IMO. But given the use of the car I'd have to say STR.T's are the better value in this case.

 

Good deal, thanks! I guess given what I have done to my car so far, everything has been best bang for the buck. Might as well continue that trend.

 

Another suspension related question that maybe Sam or someone more knowledgeable than I could answer and I don't know exactly how to describe, but I will try my best:

Sometimes when I go around a turn sharply at a higher rate of speed, I can feel the suspension lag right as I cut the wheel. I turn the wheel, then I feel a delay with a small transfer of weight and then afterward I feel the weight of the car shift as I would expect. My preliminary thoughts were that this might be caused by the ball joints on the sway bar links moving, delaying the transfer of weight to the sway bar but I am unsure.

I hope I described it well enough, it just seems like it kicks the weight over later than I would expect. If this makes any sense, is there anything that can be done to fix this?

I don't know if this info is necessary, but just in case it makes a difference, my suspension mods are as follows:

Vogtland springs
J&M LCAs
J&M panhard bar
BMR strut tower brace
GT500 strut mounts
(GT500 takeoff wheels/tires if it makes a difference)
(Koni STR.Ts on the way)

Thanks!

 

Lack of shock damping on the rebound side. FWIW, I have STR.T's in stock, ready to ship

 

Cool, sounds good. I have to wait a little closer to x-mas, but I'll definitely be hitting you up soon enough. Thanks for the advice