ITR cars

[ontheapex]

Has anyone tried a 99-02Mustang in ITR? with the power potential of 3.8 L, light weight, 2670 (if you can get down to it) and decent brakes, it looks like a fairly good piece on paper. Was just curious, if I can sell my GT $$$eater , I would really like to come racing with you IT folks, plenty of competition and a great bunch of people.

Apex

[77ITA]

I've yet to see or hear of one racing, but it's bound to happen. It's a decent car on paper and would be cheaper to build than a lot of the other ITR cars.

[JoshS]

Has anyone tried a 99-02Mustang in ITR? with the power potential of 3.8 L, light weight, 2670 (if you can get down to it) and decent brakes, it looks like a fairly good piece on paper. Was just curious, if I can sell my GT $$$eater , I would really like to come racing with you IT folks, plenty of competition and a great bunch of people.
[/b]

That would be great! Where are you located?

[ontheapex]

Florida, and it can't happen till I sell the GT-1 Camaro, but as soon as it is gone, I am on my way to ITR. :026:

[85itccivic]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks a Mustang sounds like a decent ITR car. I have been talking to some American Sedan people and I am getting a very positive impression of the capability of a properly built car. They all wonder about getting to minimum weight . My real goal for one is probably going to be endurance races so the absolute minimum weight may not be quite as critical .

[ontheapex]

I think you are right, it may be a chore getting the thing light enough, but I want to try. it will be important for the brakes as well as the power. I intend to do some endurance racing as well, especially the Tropical Twelve Hour at Homestead.

[Ron]

I have a Fox body ITB car (1987) and we were able to get down to 2600 lbs with me in the car (185). I'm sure the newer bodies are a bit heavy, but 2700 lbs could be reached. Our car has a great cage in it, we did not go light there. You just have to take every legal pound out of the car. Every seatbelt bracket, exhaust bracket sand blast the whole body and underside. etc...
When we built this new car I didn't think there was any way to get that light, but we did.
Ron

[ontheapex]

Thanks Ron,
No doubt about it, lightening the car will be the difference between a competitive car and an also ran. I think the V6 motor has some potential, although I am concerned about the 8.8 inch rear end and the c-clip axle retainers, wish we could go to the 9" ford rear.

Krys

[Ron]

I have a close friend who has won the SARRC championship 2 years in a row in his mustang and he runs the 8.8 with no problem and 400hp at the flywheel. His t-5 is what has given him fits in the past. We have the 7.5 in our car and I know the power is much less but we have never had a rear end failure in 5 years. In fact in 5 years we have always finished every race, unless we hit a wall! 2 new front clips in back to back races in 2004, that was a fun year!

[Cobrar05]

I am running ITO with a 5.8L Cobra R. 400hp at the flywheel. We use a T56 and carry the extra weight and extra gear for the durability.

I have a close friend who has won the SARRC championship 2 years in a row in his mustang and he runs the 8.8 with no problem and 400hp at the flywheel. His t-5 is what has given him fits in the past. We have the 7.5 in our car and I know the power is much less but we have never had a rear end failure in 5 years. In fact in 5 years we have always finished every race, unless we hit a wall! 2 new front clips in back to back races in 2004, that was a fun year!
[/b]

Is your ITB mustang blue with red trim perhaps? If yes, your car is featured with two ASedan cars in the current issue of Mustang Enthusiast Magazine.

[Ron]

yeah thats us.

[Chris Wire]

Thanks Ron,
No doubt about it, lightening the car will be the difference between a competitive car and an also ran. I think the V6 motor has some potential, although I am concerned about the 8.8 inch rear end and the c-clip axle retainers, wish we could go to the 9" ford rear.

Krys
[/b]

Don't worry yourself about the 8.8, it has proven itself more than reliable. I raced AS for 5 years on the same axles/diff/gear/c-clips. I put new c-clips in when I built the car and never had a problem.

The car was a front-runner with a regional championship to its credit.

[evam2]

Does anyone know of any 2004 Mustang's being run in IT? I want to run mine (once it is old enough to be classed) and would like to hear from others that are running this body style and engine (V6). Would it be ITR?

Thanks!

[erlrich]

Does anyone know of any 2004 Mustang's being run in IT? I want to run mine (once it is old enough to be classed) and would like to hear from others that are running this body style and engine (V6). Would it be ITR?

Thanks!

Your car is old enough that it could be classed in ITR for '09, but you will have to request it since only the '99-'02 are currently spec'd. I'm not sure, but I don't think the ITAC has started proactively classing cars, even when it's just a matter of updating the model years on the same spec line as they become eligible. IIRC the '03 and '04 were the same as the '99-'02, so it shouldn't be a big deal getting it classed though.

And of course that means nobody is running one in IT yet.

Ron - if I may highjack for a moment: what kinds of problems was your friend having with the T-5? I've heard it can't handle high HP, but I'm just curious if road racing in general is too much for this tranny? I have to wonder about any manual box that uses ATF The jury is still out (way out) on the Camaro ever making the jump to a track car, and this might just be another check mark in the "con" column.

[quadzjr]

I looked into possibly building one as well. There werew two major issues that I didnt' have a way to overcome.

One geting the power output after IT mods to equal the power to weight ratio of a prepped BMW's.

The second thing is still the use of the straight axle in teh rear which other cars in ITR run independent.

I would love to see this car built. I would Enjoy the expereince of building said car.

[evam2]

Thanks guys! We are doing suspension mods to prep her for track days and want to keep things going in the IT direction. If I do well with track days I will submit to have the model classed. The ease of finding parts is very appealing (my husband runs an IT7 and it is getting harder and harder to find parts). Plus, I already own the Mustang which makes it affordable to make more modifications.

[JeffYoung]

Ron Earp is primarily responsible for those cars being classed in ITR. He posts here, contact him for specifics.

We've also looked at that car (the 98 to 02 Stangs) in ITR and think it has a good chance. Weight is great, and the motor has potential. The intake and cylinder head design is very good. Parts are cheap and off the shelf.

I don't know much about the 03/4 cars. Again, ask Ron about those cars, he knows far more about Mustangs than nearly anyone I know.

[RedMisted]

I just finished a season of 12 races in a 1999 ITR Mustang. The car basically has a perfomance street suspension (non-coilover), heavy-as-hell 17-in. Cobra wheels, overkill dual catbacks, RA1s and a piggish weight of 3110 with me in the seat. The car will run within 5-6 seconds/lap of the fastest and best-prepped ITR cars around. So yeah, the car has the potential to be fast. But can it be a regular winner? I'm not sure about that. The car has the damned live axle, 58/42 weight distribution, and gearing that a 325i would laugh at. If I could do it all over again, I'd go racing in ITR with either a 325i, a Supra, or an Integra. I know for a fact that these are really fast cars....I've raced against them and they've kicked my ass each time...

[jhooten]

Can a non-turbo 7m powered 3rd gen Supra at 3100# really be competitive in ITR? If so, I would rather build one than to build another ITS car out of the spare 2nd gen.

[R2 Racing]

I just finished a season of 12 races in a 1999 ITR Mustang. The car basically has a perfomance street suspension (non-coilover), heavy-as-hell 17-in. Cobra wheels, overkill dual catbacks, RA1s and a piggish weight of 3110 with me in the seat. The car will run within 5-6 seconds/lap of the fastest and best-prepped ITR cars around. So yeah, the car has the potential to be fast. But can it be a regular winner? I'm not sure about that. The car has the damned live axle, 58/42 weight distribution, and gearing that a 325i would laugh at. If I could do it all over again, I'd go racing in ITR with either a 325i, a Supra, or an Integra. I know for a fact that these are really fast cars....I've raced against them and they've kicked my ass each time...

I was going to reply to this thread with "Chris Dercole has been racing one of these at Mid Ohio this year", so glad to see you found it. BTW, that was a RSX-S that Ken Martin had out there last weekend "kicking your ass", not an Integra. A track record setting, and a Dan Jones beating (sorry Dan!), 1:42.8 on the cars first ever day on a track is just awesome. Too bad he weighed in just slightly underweight so it won't stand. Then to top that off, the motor went "BAM!" on Sunday. Yeah, I'd love to build one of those, but that's what keeps me from doing it. Blow up ITA Integra motor - $300 for a new one. Blow up ITR RSX-S motor - $4000 for a new one. Yeah, no thanks.