What do you have to say about Mustang Suspension?

Well, I made a ton of changes to my car and I thought I was going to do pretty well. I ran the SAARC SIC this weekend and left not feeling as good as I should.

The car was great in practice and horrible in the race. Handling went away after about 10 laps. I went off course twice with a horrible push. Is it possible to get a mustang to be enjoyable in a 17 lap race?

I bought new hoosiers. I really thought these were going to be the hot ticket. I ran the fastest time that I had ever run but it is not fast enough. I need four more seconds. The hoosiers went away faster than any tire I have ever bought. I am certain some of it was my driving. I am certain some of it was the initial tire pressure settings.

What are some of the initial settings you fast mustangs are using? I know there are many parameters but there must be a good initial set up to start with.

Thanks

You loser! How dare you complain about your car's handling from where you were in the field! http://Forum.ImprovedTouring.com/it/smile.gif Just kidding Jim, you know I love ya.

Anyway, as to your question, there are a few things to ponder. One is, the Hoosier has been known to get greasy, and with the weight we have to carry around, that's not going to get better.

2) The track was not very sticky for anyone, on any tire. It, I might say, was some of the slickest conditions I have ever seen there, short of it raining. Turn 6 is always loose, but it was especially dicey yesterday. 5 wasn't much better.

3) Setup - Did you adjust the front suspension for the Hoosiers? They require a bit different camber and toe setting, although I'm not sure what, in comparison to say a Kumho. Ditto for pressures, but I know you noted that. Might I suggest you ask the BMW / Volvo guys what they run... similar weight and suspension (design anyway)

4) Savannah has a tendency to make tires go away the longer the race goes on. I've never finished a race there with the car handling as good as it does on the start. Part of my strategy (when my car is capable of getting out of its own way) is to conserve tires, as you will visibly see the cars that don't have trouble later in the race. How much depends on how hard they pushed early, and how good they are at catching it before they get too bad later on.

5) Thinking back to your times, I'd say you saw the effect of a set of "sticker" tires used for qualifying a car. The tires will never be that sticky again, and your problems with repeating the times you had the day before would tend to support this. Just another point to wonder...

Anyway, I'd like to publicly congratulate Jim for a good weekend, and being a true sport as we all should be. He may be complaining about his poor Fourth place finish at the championships, but it looked a whole lot better from my vantage point back in fifth! I hope that next time, I have a bit more for you http://Forum.ImprovedTouring.com/it/smile.gif !!



[This message has been edited by SilverHorseRacing (edited October 11, 2004).]

There were alot of voids in your info.

I run a Mustang with Hoosiers all the time ( I won't run anything else!) What size are you running? I use 225's on 14" wheels. I also run lots of static camber. I set my pressures so that when I come in hot they are around 48-50 psi. Mustangs push a bit, but this can be overcome with some development. What spring rates are you running front and rear? What Sway Bars? Panhard/5 or 3 Link? Watts? More information would help root cause this problem......

The Hoosier s04 tire is best on its second heat cycle, but they tends to fall off after that. I usually will get about 10 heat cycles before they just won't work anymore.

OK. Here we go

springs- 750 front UNK rear (probably 250-350)

Camber 2.25* (this is all I could get)
Caster 2.0*
toe 1/32 in

Sway bar front- the largest stock mustang (7/8" if memory serves me right)

Sway bar rear- adjustable steeda

Tires 225 14's

pan hard bar.

I did not get to take my tire pressure or temps as I had to sit in inpound for ever. I suspect they were way too high.

I think that is about it. Oh my weight is 2840 w/driver. I weigh in at 195. I have not balanced the car...........yet

Marcello,

You are too kind! I do wish we had been able to mix it up a bit. I could sure use some feedback as to how my car looked. (note you would need to follow for this exsercise. http://Forum.ImprovedTouring.com/it/biggrin.gif)

I hope to see you at another track. I am sure that things would be reversed had we raced at Sebring.

I do have alot more work to do. lots of playing around. The car is getting better. I ran a solid 3-4 seconds faster than ever before. I am moving in the right directions. I will keep at it. I cannot forget that one of the things to work on the most is the driver. I bet I could make up 2 seconds just in finding better lines. I don't trust the car yet so I am not pushing it as hard as I can in some places yet too hard in others.

After cooling off and thinking about this weekend, things went pretty well. I finished 4th with a totally new car and only one practice. Not too bad in retrospect.

Your set-up sounds close. The front bar may be too big. Are you using an adjustable panhard with traction bars similar to the Steeda piece? I would corner weight your car and balance it as best as you can. Depending on tire temps I run between -3.2 degrees to -4.5 degrees of camber. I also run between -1/6" to -3/16" of toe I never run + toe. The car won't turn in with + toe. good luck!

You must run a pretty tight track. the tracks I run are long with slower turns. My pan hard is minimally adjustable. I have no traction bars.

I appreciate your input. Thanks!