Mustang Cobra rear suspension

carhauler · Post by **carhauler** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:24 pm

Offcamber09, don't know whether Sean did the T2 with the "r" suffix or not. He's pretty much the Mustang Guru so I left it to him. I also had him do some engine work...Comp cams, bigger injectors and dyno tuning. Not being familiar with the COM rules so i guess I'll have to wait and see whether you Guys let me play in your sandbox or not.

Dan. My old 6.3 is a real bear. It's real nice to climb into an old 60's vintage car that you can really drive without all the modern BS of the new cars. From what i understand the 500E is a real hot rod. Bob Hatch, a local 6.3 and vintage MBZ Guy, might be interested in your car. His # is 508-358-3500 in Hudson Mass..

Are the Hoosier SO4 the new style? Hoosier made a significant change in this tire going from fabric to steel belts. I have the old fabric belted tire. They still grip good.

offcamber09 · Post by **offcamber09** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:57 pm

carhauler wrote: Not being familiar with the COM rules so i guess I'll have to wait and see whether you Guys let me play in your sandbox or not.

Anyone can come and play. The engine mods will put you in SPA and if you go too crazy ie. tube chassis/lexan windows/gutted interior you may end up in PA.

DanDarcy · Post by **DanDarcy** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:56 pm

Update on the Mustang Handling

I changed the posi unit and bought Hoosier tires for the Mustang over the winter, no other suspension mods. At NHIS this April I was turning much quicker laps and did a 1:22:1 in the time trial. This got me second place which was actually 1 st. as the winning ST1 car was not in the correct class (it should have been in SPB) . This was a 3.5 second drop from last year. The new posi really help going up the hill from turn 3. I could put my foot to the floor and not do a James Bond smoke screen up the hill with the inside tire. I not sure what I'll do next but I still wish to improve the handling . Thanks for all your input .

TTA89 · Post by **TTA89** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:53 pm

I'll bet $100 bucks you picked up 3.4 seconds with the Tires and 0.1 seconds with the Posi. Moving to Hoosiers from 18 inch Street tires? Hell ya 3.5 seconds.. I'm suprised not more.

As I'm late to the Party here, I just read through this thread.. You guys are in 2nd after turn 3 at NHIS going up the hill? Hmm.. I Swear I was in 3rd shifting 4th cresting the hill into the bowl but maybe I'm smoking crack.

I was on the limit of traction as well and I think after the Auto X last weeked I have confirmed that the posi is dead in my car. I think Posi is over rated anyways. :joker:

So now the question is... Do I pull the IRS down to put an expensive unit like the Torson in which is probably just going to die again anways because the IRS gets smoking hot when doing open track work OR do I chuck it all and put a Solid Axle in that I won't have heating issues with and will save 80lbs of weight.

I honestly don't see any major advantage with IRS vs Solid Axle one way or another in a Mustang. They can both be setup to go around a corner well....

The IRS sure is nice on the street though... I'm out of money for the year so there is lots of time for debate.

offcamber09 · Post by **offcamber09** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:14 pm

Dan, I was shocked to see how fast you blew past Craig at turn 4 and over the hill. That's all about getting the power down through 3. That's 80% Torsen and 20% tires. I agree the tires were the difference elsewhere. The Torsen has been my single best difference maker in turns 3/4. All the more important with your car as it revs to 7200 vs. Craig's 5800.

DanDarcy · Post by **DanDarcy** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 5:20 pm

Mike -- I go up the hill in third gear, I could shift to 2nd but the tires spin too easy, I stay in 3rd through turn 6 , hitting approx 7400 rpm . I don't shift to 4 th until the front straight. Remember I don't have anywhere near the horsepower you have. My motor is stock with over 90,000 miles on it. The new tires did help a lot but I had some real good traction with my old P-Zeros , I think the new posi unit reduced my times more than the tires.

Scott -- Ya I was always losing to Craig going up the hill and now I am slightly faster, but he is a better driver, more consistent, and has only 240 h.p. to my 300 h.p.. Plus his car handles much better. Its only luck that I can keep up with him. I still have to get the car to handle better, right now it is a terrifiying ride at speed.

Bane of Tires · Post by **Bane of Tires** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 6:12 pm

Heh, I was just thinking about turn three myself. I have to wait until track-out to use more than a dab of throttle. The problem is that the nose of my car gets very unsettled over the transitions (wrong wheel drive

). I was thinking about a slightly earlier turn-in and apex with less steering. I really saw what less steering could do for me in 8-9 this past event.

I won't be able to try anything until July though....

TTA89 · Post by **TTA89** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 6:33 pm

Dan,

What do you have for suspension mods now? Is the car street driven?

I'm totally in love with the MM stuff on my car, I would buy it again in a heartbeat without even looking elsewhere. I refuse to run anything else, its really that great. It's quiet and drives so nice on the street yet handles well at the track (or so I think

)

gread · Post by **gread** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 7:54 pm

You Mustangs guys have to be getting close to the right combo. My BMW is not much different in statistics. 400 rwhp, 3000 lbs wet with driver, 275/40/17 rubber and a 3:46 rear-end. I don't go lower than 3rd anywhere at NHIS. I feel it unsettles the car too much to do 2 gear changes before the turn and I can't even breath on the throttle without wheelspin going up the hill in second. With the 3:46 I only drop to around 3800- 4000 rpms anyway, which should put the V-8 cars right in the power. If the Mustang 5th gear is 1:1, a 3:73 would be the lowest gearset I would run. With my 3:73, I run out of RPM's on the straight too easy. That 3:55 gear Scott's talking about seems like it would be the ticket.

DanDarcy · Post by **DanDarcy** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:54 pm

Greg -- I wish I had 400 rwhp and a car that only weighed 3000# with driver. My car weighs 3700# with out me , wich means its almost 4000# with me ( I need to make the car lighter -- might as well start with me

) plus I have 305 h.p. at the motor , I don't know what the rear wheel h.p. is. My front weight is 57% and 43% rear. Doesn't the BMW have much better weight distribution ? I do know what you mean about not shifting down to 2nd for the hill , it is a total waste of time. I have a 4:10 rear end and only up shift once and down shift once per lap. My motor pulls to 7400 rpm and I hit that going into turn 3 & 6. I'm lazy so only shifting twice a lap is nice.

Mike -- you asked about my suspension -- It's stock except for Eibach Sportline springs and shocks (non adjustable) and Ford Motorsports Caster Camber plates. I do drive the car on occasion but it is not registered. I have a motorcycle dealership and put a dealer plate on the car. It is street leagal and ST1 legal . I might install poly bushings in the suspension and roll bars next .

TTA89 · Post by **TTA89** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:36 pm

3700 without you? That sounds a few hundred pounds heavy for a N/A Alum motor Cobra.

gread · Post by **gread** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:13 pm

Dan
Can you adjust the suspension at all to allow for corner weighting? Maybe even shimming front suspension points to shift weight to the rear. i know eveyone would like the car to be as low as possible for center of gravity but less weight on the nose would be more important. I have seen big differences with my car's suspension corner jacked correctly including cross weight. Turner has my setup within 30lbs diagonally and 100lbs frt/rr. It does make for very neutral handling. I would do whatever it takes to adjust weight before any other mods in the Mustang group.

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Mustang Cobra rear suspension

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