Road Course mods?

Douglas Walker

Registered User
This year im going to start road coursing my 97 bird. I am looking to do some upgrades through out the year to improve its handling. I know BIG Brakes are the #1 but what else can be done to improve the car.

Currently
1.5 Eibach springs
Firestone airbags
Shorter rear links
89sc rear sway bar
17" Falken (452's?)
Engine cradle brace
Middle of the road J mod

It has an open diff with 3.27's. I have the old auburn out of my sc with 3.73's on the shelf that I could put in..


Thanks
Doug
 
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Money well spent would be to make sure all of your bushings are in tip top shape, brakes and a good set of tires. What class you want to run in will depict exactly what you can do
 
the car only has 31000 miles on it. All bushings are in good shape. Tires have less than a 1000miles on them. I redid the brakes with all new last summer. So for the most part the car is in A+ shape.

Heres a link to our local track
http://racemph.com/

For now Ill just go on open track days or with a friend and his group to get some seat time. But in the mean time im just looking for some upgrades I can do to improve the handle of the car. Basically I want to spend my money on things that work and not on items that dont do anything.
 
Depending on what your budget allows....

Konis shocks
addcco front and rear sway bars
bigger brakes
good set of street tires mounted on dedicated tract wheels
5 point safety harness so you are not supporting yourself with the steering wheel

I'd say thats a good start. After you get some seat time and you figure out what class you want to run in mod the car per class rules.

What organization are you planning on running in? SCCA or NASA?

Shane
Glynn Motorsports
 
Tires, tires, tires. They're without a doubt the biggest single upgrade you can make. Shane is right: get some dedicated track wheels and tires so you don't destroy your street tires and forget the Falkens. Toyo 888s are great if you can afford them. Swapping the diff is a must. Consider a bigger front sway bar, too, like an 89SC front bar or Addco 1.25--they're pretty close.

TRANNY COOLER!!!!
 
Tires, tires, tires. They're without a doubt the biggest single upgrade you can make. Shane is right: get some dedicated track wheels and tires so you don't destroy your street tires and forget the Falkens. Toyo 888s are great if you can afford them. Swapping the diff is a must. Consider a bigger front sway bar, too, like an 89SC front bar or Addco 1.25--they're pretty close.

TRANNY COOLER!!!!

What size tires would you recommend? And what diff do you run with your 5 speed?

Ira
 
Ive got the tranny cooler. As for buying tires, I wasnt planning on it. Im disappointed in the Falkens. Got the car aligned and made sure it was tight and the tires are still wearing funny. So im just gonna burn them up for this year.

I have a 89sc front sway bar on the shelf. Ill have to get bushings so I can install it this year. 5 point harness would be great but its still gonna be a summer driver. I think Im gonna look for some early sc front seats. I always liked how they felt and the blooster will help with some support.

Ill have to see if I can find a mark 8 aluminum pumpkin to install my gears in. Im also gonna piece together a big brake set up and hope to have it in by mid summer. As for the shocks ill have to wait, thats alittle out of my budget right now.

This is all go info. thanks
Doug
 
What size tires would you recommend? And what diff do you run with your 5 speed?

Ira

Ira,

The most important part about him needing to swap the diffs is because the one in the car is an open diff and the other is trak lock. The trak lock diff will allow him to apply the power out of the corners better plus since its a 3.73 gear ratio it will keep him in the power band.

Doug,

If you plan to do a fair amount of track days you really need to invest in a diff cooler otherwise you can kiss the trak lock goodbye.

I am running a 3.27 trak lock in my track car but I think its not enough gear. I really want to find another aluminum diff with 3.73s in it so I can swap them out on track days and see what kind of difference they make.

Shane
Glynn Motorsports
 
5 point harness would be great but its still gonna be a summer driver. I think Im gonna look for some early sc front seats. I always liked how they felt and the blooster will help with some support.

Doug

You can use both your stock seat belt and have a 5 point harness in the car at the same time. I did just that in my old 35th, on the street I would just not wear the 5 points.

Shane
Glynn Motorsports
 
How did you install the 5 point. any pics?

I mounted the lap belt to the rear of the seat where it bolts to the floor. The sholder belts were mounted to where the bottom of the rear seat back bolts to the floor. Pretty simple but the only catch is the angle of the sholder belt going down to meet the mounting points of the seat back is to great aka if you get in a server frontal collision you can compress your spine and snap it. For something like autocross its ok to mount your belts this way, its done by many people, not against any rule because in autocross you cant hit anything. On a track day only car you could get away with it or try to mount them somewhere near the top of the seat back. Or install a roll bar and wrap them around the cross bar.

Shane
Glynn Motorsports
 
What size tires would you recommend? And what diff do you run with your 5 speed?

Ira

Like a lot of people, I run 255/45-17s as my street tires because they fit nicely and are near the same diameter as stock. However, my track tires are 275/40-17s. The advantages of a wider tire are obvious, so I won't get into those. However, there are also advantages to racing with a shorter tire. For one, you'll lower your CG. Two is a reduction in overall rollout and gearing.

I will say, though, that the 275/40s stick out a bit in front on my 95 Cobra wheels. I'm not sure how they'll fit on available 5x4.25 wheels in front.

The diff I use is Eaton's True Trac torque biasing diff. Quaife and Auburn are good choices too, though. I've heard a few negative things about the T2 Torsen, but I have no experience with it myself. And FWIW I use 3.27 gears. I know Dave is a fan of the stock 2.73s on 5-speeds, but 3.27s are perfect to put 2nd gear right where it needs to be at autocross speeds.
 
What about subframe connectors or strut tower brace. I thought it would be brought up by someone to help stiffen the car? Anyone recommend extra bracing
 
SFCs would have to be custom made as they're not available off the shelf. My personal belief as to a front STB (completely lacking in factual proof, by the way) is that the bends necessary for an SC strut tower brace make that piece sort of useless. The 4.6 engine allows for a straighter brace so it might be a bit more effective. But honestly I still wouldn't bother. I would reccommend, in this order: alignment, tires, shocks.
 
I have an "H" stock sized street tire thats not so great. But before jumping to the conclusion that only a 17" wheel + low profile tire is the only option, I wonder has anyone found a good 16" tire for road course work?
I would think that a grippy tire with a stiff sidewall would work.
 
I have an "H" stock sized street tire thats not so great. But before jumping to the conclusion that only a 17" wheel + low profile tire is the only option, I wonder has anyone found a good 16" tire for road course work?
I would think that a grippy tire with a stiff sidewall would work.

I used to run road race compound Hoosier 225/40/16 mounted on stock SC wheels on my old 35th when I raced it in F stock. They did pretty well.

Shane
Glynn Motorsports
 
Agreed, there's nothing wrong with 16-inch wheels. The tires will be cheaper, so that's a big plus. The only problem is that they're hard to find wider than 7 inches which severely limits how much tire you can fit. 17s are easier to find wider.
 
Agreed, there's nothing wrong with 16-inch wheels. The tires will be cheaper, so that's a big plus. The only problem is that they're hard to find wider than 7 inches which severely limits how much tire you can fit. 17s are easier to find wider.

Plus you can put much bigger brakes on with 17s.

Shane
Glynn Motorsports
 
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