I'm pretty sure the 12v outlets died when I took the CD Player out. I probably pinched something, just haven't had a chance to run it down yet.
I'm pretty sure the 12v outlets died when I took the CD Player out. I probably pinched something, just haven't had a chance to run it down yet.
From the last lap of the first video (mini fist bump lap) it does look like the Cobra is front grip limited. Hard to know why exactly from here but I'd imagine insufficient front camber is a likely cause. I don't know Mustang suspension well but on most cars adding negative camber is usually not too involved/expensive.
Good stuff.
The Mustang owners here are doing the most track/autox stuff. Is the FR-S/BR-Z contingent going to stand for this?
Thanks. The setup is not tuned at all (by me) and the 245s weren't doing me any favors. The UCA/LCAs are adjustable but I do not think the front is, the only improvement up there is that it has '04 Cobra control arms to tighten up the turning radius.
I talked specifically with Moyer about introducing more camber where needed and tried to describe that 'rolling' feeling to him, but I don't think we're going to explore it much this year. I could ask him to look at the adjustable rear UCA/LCA while he is still doing that welding work, but I don't know it's correct to just adjust the rear of a car like that or not with the front being static. That and improving rear grip via stance would probably just cause the problems up front (if any) to be more pronounced. Hmmm.
Yeah, ideally to balance the car you want to add grip to the front rather than take away grip from the rear. Adding rear grip at this point won't do anything for you really, if my brief analysis from the video is correct in that the rear end is pretty well planted already. Does this gen Cobra have IRS? I thought Phil's car was the first Cobra with IRS.
I imagine you've looked at this already but another possibility is insufficient front tire pressure causing excessive rollover onto the sidewalls, reducing grip. Generally on cars with limited/no front camber, shoulder wear is pretty pronounced and it takes a pressure bump to help alleviate that. Once suficient camber is dialed in, the pressure can go back down somewhat.
IRS came the following year, in 1999. That Cobra was the first Mustang IRS from Ford. I don't know what year the Saleen is or the details on it other than Phil upgraded the brakes. I've talked about it with Carlo and although he'd love to see the build write-up, I feel that's a bridge too far with this car.
As for the shoulder wear, I posted this a few weeks back after my second event:
(Drivers front, the only tire with unusual shoulder wear)
So, yeah, nailed it.Russ mentioned I should step up the pressures as well. This time out I went up to 35psi but maybe I should go 40 like he wanted. Next event I'm going to rotate the rears to the front so I'll have a fresh shoulder to gauge results with.
My Saleen had the stock suspension from Saleen. Which was based off the live axle but it didn't have that strange ass double shock mumbo jumbo of Carlo's car.
"As for the legendary Saleen suspension, the front of the S281 receives Racecraft struts, variable- rate springs and lower control arms, while the rear holds on to the pavement with a set of lower trailing arms, a stabilizer bar, and Racecraft shocks."
The only thing I changed about it was the stock Slaeen shocks went bad after a couple years. So I called up Saleen and they said they had heard of the issue and replaced them for free with a set of Bilsteins. Bilstein was what they were now using on that model. And I replaced the rear shocks with a set of Tokico adjustables.
Last edited by Phil_SS; June 15th, 2017 at 11:53 AM.
I put new quad-shocks on the rear of the Bananastang for the same reason that Ford did: cheaper than rear tubular LCA's & beefy urethane bushings for trying to keep the rear axle somewhat in place. #betterthannothingOriginally Posted by Phil_SS
But the Saleen's rear suspension was also using the stock dual upper control arms so there was binding occurring regardless. Would've needed to either go with a beefy reinfored 3-link + a Panhard bar (Torque Arm-style; also what the S197 rear suspensions are) or Watts link or 5-link setup like Steeda's to more accurately secure the stick axle's travel. #shrug
Last edited by novicius; June 16th, 2017 at 09:57 AM.
Ordered the Maximum Motorsport full length subframe connectors and had them sent to that race shop I mentioned before. While installing them the fabricators found some significant damage to the factory frame rails. The rails I went with are here: http://www.maximummotorsports.com/MM...ated-P585.aspx
Looks like someone crushed them down using them as in improper jack point. It wasn't me, I've been using the LCAs to get the wheels on and off. He basically had to rebuild them before putting the MM rails in:
Here is how the transmission flange mount integrates into the rails for the Cobra, the procedure is different than with a non-Cobra SN95. The directions from MM are very good and available online in their tech section:
He took it upon himself to paint the welds, which is a nice touch. I was going to do it myself in the garage with a rattle can job, but this is probably more thorough. The rails themselves are powdercoated but it has to be stripped off of the mating surfaces to weld effectively. You can see that he has a proper drive-on lift which is required for welding subframe connectors, unless you want to use something stacked under the wheels to support the weight of the car.
If any of the pics are rotated, sorry. When I refresh they show up either way, it's weird.
The car 'feels' more solid when doing some interstate on ramp 'testing' but I haven't had it back on track yet. They add 27lbs to the weight of the car but I think the stiffness will more than make up for it. Rear seat delete will make up for it as well.
Unfortunately I will not be taking it to the track on Tuesday. He warned me of a busted passenger side axle seal and he was right, there was gear oil soaking the inside of the wheel. It must have happened during or after the last track day as it was fine when I tech'd the car. No big deal, the seal kits are cheap and I'll take care of it this weekend or next.
It looks like I'll be taking the 650i up there on Tuesday, that should be fun. That car kind of scares me so I'm looking forward to seeing how well I adapt to it.
Talking to Bret at the race shop again and he's urging me not to bother with coil overs and to just work on my skill, buy some r comp tires next year, and then upgrade to a more spirited platform after next season. We'll see, I'm far from outgrowing the car so I don't have to make a choice now. The itch in the back of my brain is saying C5 Vette, though (still). Tough to beat that bang for the buck, I've been lazily looking at ads for C5 FRCs.
Sex.
What was the total price tag on this? I'm probably in the same boat.
$180 for the MM connectors and $667 labor to repair the factory rails and weld in the new ones. The labor was about $450 more than I planned on but I'd rather get the repair work done properly instead of having to deal with that stuff later. Had I known all of that was involved I would have just waited for the off season, but it's done now, so...woo.
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