ITS Ford Mustang(s) Build - Stripper Stang Part II

[cjb25hs]

Ron, Jeff and Jeff, just wanted to say that you guys have done an awesome job on these 2 cars. I am glad I made the trip down Saturday, it has given me some much needed motivation to get my car ready for CMS and get my shoulder closer to 90%. Let's just say these cars are making me raise my car and driver development. By the end of the year, not counting the few strong 3 series that usually only play at RA, there will be at least 5 or 6 cars at SARRC's that could easily win.

[SPiFF]

Unlike the Miata that had several tank slappers and great saves.

That is just Chuck's style. He almost crashes about 10 times every corner.

[Mike Mackaman]

Ron, Thanks for the inspiration! My Z has an engine and trans for the first time in 2 years. Hope to fire it tomorrow and get the last bit of "alignment" done. Alignment is in quotes because it will take a large chain and a truck to perform said alignment!

See you at CMS!
Mike

[Ron Earp]

Finally had a few minutes to upload a file or two. This is the start of the Saturday CMP race. Lots of familiar ITR, ITS, and IT7 cars in that mix.

[callard]

15 cars total? Summit Point had 16 IT-S out of a 33 car field. C'mon up.

[JeffYoung]

Light turnout for some reason. We usually have 10-14 ITS cars. Four of us in ITS (Me, Parrish, Munnerlyn, Miller) were out with mechanicals.

This year has been good for ITS at VIR -- 15-16 car fields. Down at Roebling adn CMP, up at Sebring and Daytona.

[chuck baader]

Wat Wrow....looks like another excuse for Jeff not to show at RA in July!!! Chuck

[JeffYoung]

Wat Wrow....looks like another excuse for Jeff not to show at RA in July!!! Chuck

Course, I've never seen you at VIR.

[chuck baader]

And probably won't...too damn far. CB

[Ron Earp]

The VIR locals need to be more adamant about the non-VIR locals coming to the track. We need a "VIR Hassle Group" like RA has.

That said, we're planning to bring two Mustangs and I hope one TR8 to Road Atlanta in July. I've never been to Road Atlanta as a racer and look forward to giving it a go.

[SPiFF]

And probably won't...too damn far. CB

You are missing out!! Best circuit in the SEDIV.

[JIgou]

Any updates, Ron? You guys going to make the ARRC with one or both?

[Ron Earp]

I haven't posted any of the development stuff we've done, which is a huge amount. Lots of spring changes, setup changes, MAF curve modeling and programming, dyno work, exhaust changes, axle development, front suspension work, and so on. Anyhow, the cars are doing well. We just raced them at Charlotte Motor Speedway and had a ball. Before that one of them was at RRR but we that we treated more like a test day weekend than a race.

Our next planned outings are the SIC at RRR and Goblin's Go at VIR. We might bring them down to the Atlanta Road Race Competition just to have somewhere to race, but that one is still up in the air. I want to race Road Atlanta but the ARRC has no specific appeal over any of the other Road Atlanta races. 2012 is all about development but we're hoping 2013 will be a good solid year of racing for us with a couple of competitive ITS cars.

I'll get the CMS video up here in the next couple of days. It was the first time in an ITS car for either of us at CMS and at least we finished with perfectly running cars. I did enjoy dicing a bit with Zsolt, he's nice and clean to race with. I managed to take home a third place finish because some the ITS front runners got knocked out by another driver or spun themselves out. With more seat time and a bit of tuning plus good driving I think the Mustangs will be tough competition at CMS.

Here are a few pictures from CMS:

[Ron Earp]

I've got a video of the SARRC#1 race on Saturday. Don't laugh, I can't drive that place to save my life. Toward the latter half I got a bit better but the start and for the first couple of laps I was really bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa1Wv...ature=youtu.be



By the time I sorted out some driving the lead ITS group was long gone. The cars have decent power but we've yet to sort out what gearing we'll ultimately wish to use for them. Both of them handle very well though. We've done enough work there that we're pleased with the driveability, ultimate grip, front rear balance, and steering. Yes, they're still heavy but you don't feel it so much. Both cars are progressing and based on what we learned at CMS a few more changes are in progress. We feel like we're getting close to a good solid baseline setup though.

[Steve35]

Great work. What's the air dam you are using?

Steve

[Ron Earp]

Great work. What's the air dam you are using?

Steve

Basically none. We haven't progressed to that area of development. That little piece you see there is a $89 part from some Mustang outfit that bolts on. We envision an undertray as well as something with a front lip and some more duct options.

Ron

[Ron Earp]

There has been a considerable amount of work on the cars with setup and also with getting tools and trailers straight. We're signed up to hit the SIC and looking forward to a good weekend.

We've made a few minor changes:

Rear wing installed on both cars to perform wing/no wing experiments at RRR.



Made some sunblock visors for the cars out of vinyl. These things take longer than you would think.



And installed a rear facing camera to record what's happening back there. It isn't synched with the Traqmate but will be if they ever release their dual camera sync cord and software. GoPro cameras got slashed (basic HD units) to $125 so they are a heck of a deal right now. These two are rigged into the dash switch and Tmate so they are charged when the car is running and both sport 16 gig cards ($12 each at Target) so they don't need to be changed often.



And made a couple of changes to the dash layout and got everything 100% functional. We're all washed up and ready for the trailer.

[FLATKITTY]

Ron Earp ... "Rear wing installed on both cars to perform wing/no wing experiments at RRR."

Just an FYI, according to the Ford guys at the PRI show, the amount of downforce for the SN95 rear wing is exactly what the wing weighs ... about 10 lbs. With that said, a # of years ago, during a Firehawk practice session at Daytona, we taped up a similar style OE wing on the backside of a Nissan 240SX/S14. In other words, laying duct tape on the rear deck up to the leading edge of the wing. Once up to speed coming off the bus stop, both top speed & rear end adhesion thru 12 was noticeably improved. Most likely, the latter lead to the former.

[Ron Earp]

Just got back from the SIC race and had a great weekend. Although only two guys had enough points to claim the championship we had a good field of ITS cars:

Four Miatas, TR8, 280Z, two Mustangs, RX7s, Integra, and I'm probably missing something else in there. Kip, Chuck, Jeff Y, and Ron M had a good race upfront in ITS with some low 22s being the norm for that group of cars. They were fast, clean, and ran a tight nose to tail race. Chuck Hines drove a smart and clean race to claim the SARRC points title, congratulations to Chuck, while Jeff Y and Ron M tried hard to run him down. I botched my start and then got held in one lap by some traffic, so I wasn't close enough to them to give much chase. That and being slower than those fellows, I managed to end up in in fifth in the Mustang and Jeff G finished either sixth or seventh with his.

The video is a bit washed out due to an improper metering setup with the camera. But it sort of works.

http://youtu.be/zZXkI8zQb6Q?t=2m24s



I enjoyed the track and driving the car there. I believe Jeff Y said my best time was a 1:22.7 and I think I can better than by a few tenths for sure with driver and we've got some ideas of what to change with the car setup to improve it as well. Overall the car is still very predictable fairly easy on the driver.

Off to VIR in two weeks and after that maybe the ARRC.

Just an FYI, according to the Ford guys at the PRI show, the amount of downforce for the SN95 rear wing is exactly what the wing weighs ... about 10 lbs.

I think we're too slow for downforce anyhow, at least at that size of a wing. I was wondering if it might detach the airflow from the car as that is what spoliers do, but, technically this piece has a gap between the body and the plane surface so it is constructed as a wing and probably won't do that. In the end we didn't have time to do the experiments so it is coming off my car and headed back to the parts bin.

[Ron]

Looks a lot like my car going around the track. You a really smooth and comfortable in the car.