Freshmeat

I took my 5.0 to the track last Friday (my first time ever hitting the track; 13.89 @ 103.89 was my best, for the record) and had a blast... but I'm nervous about thrashing on it too much. It's a $37,000 car. $37,000. That's a whole lot of money when insurance doesn't cover track incidents.

So while I spent today looking at different tire/wheel combos, I started thinking about all the stress it will put on the car to have drag radials and poly control arm bushings and everything else, then launching at 4,000 RPM or higher.

How long do you guys think these cars could handle this kind of stress? I'd hate to spend my entire warranty coverage wearing down parts of the car only to have to shell out thousands out of pocket because things start to fall apart just a few years down the road.

This all leads me to another thought process... I have a 20yo station wagon I've been trying to sell for months, now, with no luck. I could start taking it to the track instead (because bottom line, going to the track is a good time!) and beat the absolute tar out of it without being nervous of breakage- parts are cheap and plentiful for those cars. I'd still run the Mustang once in a while, but the wagon would be my primary track runner / tinker toy.

What do you guys think? Do you believe the new Mustangs will hold up as well as Ford is hoping or do you think I should focus my track modifications on the wagon and beat on that instead?

Ltngdrvr

The car is just a newer version of the '05-'09, how well have they held up?

Just as well as all past Mustangs save for the 74-78 mustang II's.

And just how often and how many passes to you think you will be doing with the car a month?

I think you worry too much...

tom_vilsack

I say race the mustang.....beside there...

Praetorian730

Ok that was cheesy...a bit, but has some merit lol

AK 5.0

Its only a piece of metal..Granted an amazing piece of metal but you may as well enjoy your car while you can! Metal can always befixed.

OBleedingMe

If you race, you will put more stress on the car, ergo increasing the chance for premature wear and breakage. If you don't have the funds to replace parts that may fail on your car due to this added wear and tear, don't take your car to the track.

If you have to ask, you can't afford it.

Just my opinion.

EDIT: 666th post! Woohoo!

Antigini-GT/CS

I have 50k miles on my stock clutch with SEVERAL 6,000rpm clutch dumps for my ET Streets and launching right off of redline. My car is fine, my clutch feels brand new and i've yet to break a single thing.

Invest in a spare set of wheels and tires. If you REALLY want to go all out, get some skinny tires for the front. I have my ET Streets on a set of 17" bullets and they get put on at the track and get taken off at the track as well.

Don't worry, I was afraid of breaking something when I first got my ET Streets. I soon realized I was stupid and learned the error of my ways!

Freshmeat

I'm not wasting my time or any other readers' time replying to you. Please stay out of this thread with any ignorant remarks.

MRGTX

Freshmeat,
I know exactly how you're feeling...and I'm the same way. I used to go <80% at the autocross with my old car because I loved it too much to thrash on it...plus it was my daily driver!! Something seemed wrong about that so I have thought about this quite a bit and the argument for us not enjoying our cars is a weak one. The logic seems to go as follows...let me know if you disagree:

You bought a Mustang GT because it's a capable performance car

The price of the car was justified by the performance capabilities

You feel like the price of the car was high, so you worry about damaging it and prematurely losing your investment.

Exploiting the car's performance potential puts the car at risk for damage or premature wear...

...therefore, you hesitate to exploit the car's performance potential.

So either you enjoy the performance and risk breaking something...or you guarantee that never enjoy your car by NOT exploiting the car's performance and never reap the benefits of your investment.

I have taken to enjoying my cars right up to but not crossing the point of abuse. I'll chirp gears daily, WOT runs up to redline, lay down strips of rubber now and again...and just understand that any accelerated wear is well worth it. Besides, so long as you're not abusing the car and so long as you keep a strict maintainence routine, you may never have an unexpected problem.

So the big question is - what defines abuse? Just off the top of my head-

-clutch dumps/no lift power shifts especially with slicks
-riding the clutch/riding the brakes
-any use of nitrous (debatable)
-tuning that uses improper fuel maps/lean conditions
-neglecting any maintainence items
-any lack of mechanical empathy (like not allowing for warm-up/cool-down before hammering)
-letting other people drive your car
-leaving it in a grocery store parking lot

There is a happy medium. Enjoy your car for what it's made to do, just don't beat the tar out of it.

Freshmeat

MRGTX- Glad to see another member somewhat on the same thought process. Your #1 definition of abuse is my biggest concern. I have trouble hooking at the track so I'm looking into drag radials... but that defeats the purpose if I'm not going to dump the clutch in a launch. I will add that today makes six weeks with the car in 2,800 miles I've only dumped the clutch three times to briefly clean the tires in the burnout box at the track.

I get what you're saying, though. I'd just hate to wind up blowing my transmission and the dealer find a way to not warranty it. Does anyone know what it's rated to handle?

Dreamtheory

+1,000,000,000

MRGTX

So I guess it just comes down to a cost/benefit analysis. Muscle cars break parts. It's part of the game.

The clutch, transmission, u-joints, differential and axles will without a doubt, take a pounding...but from the looks of the videos I have seen, they can take it, at least for a while.

Personally, I would follow the performance houses who are running slicks, nitrous, etc. and beating the crap out of their cars- see what they end up breaking after repeated runs and decide accordingly. Can you live with the prospect of having to replace/rebuild the transmission? If you can just commit to the possibility, you'll probably enjoy the car more.

IIRC, the clutch has proven to be the weak link...which is probably the best case scenario as far as costs go.

Has anyone broken anything else yet?

Regardless, people are running in the mid-high 12s on STOCK rubber. It sounds like you have a lot of performance left to tap before you need to worry about going to slicks. I haven't run my car at the strip yet but I would be happy to run as well as you did on my first time out with a new car. Technique makes a HUGE difference...you'll undoubtedly do better with each attempt, conditions permitting.

Freshmeat

Yeah. I'm already dumping loads of cash- $700 on drop coils, panhard, and install... LCAs and relocation brackets are on the way- another $300 in parts, labor, and frothy beverages for after... and that's just to get the car lower while keeping a good suspension geometry! Wheels, tires for the rear will be another $800...

Have I mentioned that I love my wife and the things she's okay with me buying?

I have a few transmission builders who owe me favors so I'm sure things could be worked out... I'm just nervous at the idea of that, though. Burning up the clutch would most likely result in an upgraded clutch instead of a warranty replacement anyway. On that note- the only clutch failures I heard of were the performance shops who dove right into drag racing without a clutch break-in. That may have something to do with it.

I'll most likely end up going "all-in" before long... I'm just nervous about the potential consequences and figure if that wagon doesn't sell I could beat on it instead... but if it ever does I'll no longer have the option, but I WILL have money for drag radials and wheels. Haha

Adam

Only time will tell if the 5.0 is a good [durable] motor. It seems like the clutch is the weakest link so far.

How long do you plan to keep the car? Mods earn you pennies in the dollar when you decide to sell it. My GT is relatively stock since I'm selling it for the 50th anniv. I've only "invested" a few hundred bucks...Digital HIDs, new front speakers, K&N filter, LED bulbs throughout. If you're OK with this, mod until your wallet has a hole in it

Freshmeat

I realize the mods don't count much on resale. I'm planning for this to be a very long term car, which is why I'm not necessarily concerned with investment in the modifications- by the time I sell, I'll have gotten my money out of them!
...and you're right. Unfortunately, only time can really tell.