My 2008 Mustang GT: Broken Pony R.I.P. 4/16/2011

[Chris B.]

I figured I'd try some different pads. On one of the Mustang forums another S197 owner that does track days upgraded to aftermarket calipers and rotors on his car. He had some spare sets of new Carbotech XP12 front and XP10 rear pads for sale and I picked up a set cheap.



I'll also need new street brake pads soon and may look into Carbotech Bobcats.

If it works out with my work schedule, I'll be doing Watlins Glen, Monticello, and Lime Rock soon. By then, I expect my ADVAN Neova AD08 tires to be worn out. I do know of a few race teams selling 275 width R1's and R6's that have been heat cycled 2 or 3 times for a very affordable price. I'd need wider wheels for those tires though. I could also get a set of 245 width Koni Challenge slicks that will fit a spare set of wheels I have. Unfortunately, the Grand AM Rolex DP Hoosier slicks are a little too wide to fit my car. They are about a 315 and they will fit fine on the rear wheels, but clearance becomes tight if I go above a 285 width tire on the front.

[06slow6]

damn you only have 6000 miles on this thing? i have 68000 wtf is this dd?

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted by 06slow6

damn you only have 6000 miles on this thing? i have 68000 wtf is this dd?

Where did you get that 6,000 miles from? I have a lot more than 6,000 miles on it.

[Chris B.]

My warranty replacement Koni strut went bad. Koni already shipped me a replacement. I'll be putting it on the car tomorrow.

The Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08 tires have enough tread left for at least one more track day then they are done. I still have to decide on tires for next year. I want wider tires which means wider wheels. The 18x9.5 GT500 wheels are pretty inexpensive, $450-$550 a set, but heavy at 27 lbs each. However, if I spend the money for lighter wheels in 17x9, 18x9, or 18x9.5 it will cost me almost twice as much as a set of GT500 wheels. I haven't found any good deals on used wheels yet.

I can get these wheels in 18x9.5 for $137.50 each new


A set of 4 of these wheels is under $550 shipped.


Both 18" GT500 wheels weigh about 27 lbs each. A set of 18x9' 22 lb wheels are $1,200 and up. That $650 price difference goes a long way toward tires or would buy me a light weight aluminum driveshaft and safety loop. The stock driveshaft is about 41 lbs and the aluminum driveshafts are 18-20 lbs depending on the brand.

[Chris B.]

The car hit 30,000 miles today as I puleld into the driveway.


I also go the results of my oil analysis back from Blackstone Labs


I changed my oil about 10 days ago and sent off a sample for analysis to Blackstone Labs. I have been running Motorcraft semi synthetic 5W-20 in the car since new. I use to change my oil after every track day. However, I was curious about how often I really need to change it.

The oil was changed after my track day at Pocono in July. In that time period, I went to two days of track days at VIR and two days of track days at Watkins Glen. I also drove from PA to SC and back. In addition to that, I went to Island Dragway twice and got quite a few runs in and did my regular driving to and from work, grocery store, etc...

I probably should have sent off a sample sooner just to be safe, but it looks like I got very good results with the Motorcraft 5W-20. I have the Mobil1 5W-20 in the engine now. It will be interesting to see how it compares.

It amazed me that 4 track days, two trips to the dragstrip, and quite a bit of other driving and the oil still is in good condition.

[DM&TAlec]

Nice car

[Pony123]

Goodluck with the buildd let me know if you need any advice or help with something.. I have my axlebacks coming off if your interested insome exhaust

also have a pypes O/R xpipe
stock injectors
and a shaker1000 stock head unit
BBK Cold air intake

[06slow6]

Originally Posted by Chris B.

Nice car. If it wasn't the nose heavy iron block model, I might be interested.


83 miles to empty, is that with a full tank?

A 2011 GT500 with the aluminum block has a sticker price of $49,495. Sounds like it may be the better deal.

I could also get a 2011 5.0 with the brembo brakes and a bunch of modifications for the price of the 2009 GT500.

Where did you get that 6,000 miles from? I have a lot more than 6,000 miles on it.

this picture is where i got that from, but now i realize that must be a newer car, i dont recall that the 05-09 came with the gray cluster car looks great though!

[Chris B.]

I weighed my car recently. I didn't think of doing it until Honest Bob weighed his RWD subaru wagon this week.

Here is the picture of the weight of my car according to the scale


I filled up at the gas station and drove about 1.5 miles to the scale. I'm guessing the empty weight of my car is around 3420 lbs. which seems about right since an '08 GT with no options at all is 3350 lbs. Mine has every option available on a GT Premium that model year except the 1000 watt stereo, auto trans, and navigation. Its a heavy bitch. Power everything heated leather seats, 500 watt stereo, extra sound proofing material, 18" wheels(which weigh 5-6 lbs. per wheels more than the 17" wheels on the GT with no options), and the 18" tires weight more than the 17" tires on the GT with no options. So its reasonable that my car weighs 70 lbs more than one with no options.

Here is how I came up with 3420 lbs.
Scale Weight: 3720 lbs.
Me with coat and boots I was wearing: 185 lbs.
16 gallons Gasoline at 27 degrees F: 103 lbs.
tire inflator & tools in trunk: 10 lbs.
Weight of car: ~3422 lbs.

I thought with all the options on my car that it would be over 3500 lbs empty.

[Ender81]

Damn Chris 185? You is a scrawny mofo lol

[RyanG]

Hey whwn push comes to shove. Your **** weighs 3700lbs lol. My rs the way it sits with me in it is 3060.


I see you made it to the junkyard ;)

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted by AREA1320

Hey whwn push comes to shove. Your **** weighs 3700lbs lol. My rs the way it sits with me in it is 3060.

True, it weighs that much now, but the weight varies depending on how much fuel I have in the car, what wheels & tires I have on the car, if I have my tools and air compressor in the trunk or don't have them in the trunk, if I do or don't have the spare tire and jack in the car, etc... That's why I estimated the empty weight.

This is the heaviest car I've owned. The two ZX2's were under 2630 with me in the car and a full tank of gas. The Mustang doesn't feel like it weighs 1,100 lbs more than the ZX2's did. The neon sedan was a similar weight to the ZX2's. My 914 was under 1900 lbs empty. My Fox body Mustang hatchback was 2839 lbs empty.

Originally Posted by AREA1320

I see you made it to the junkyard ;)

Yea, after seeing Ben's picture, I remembered that scale is there. I haven't had a chance to compare it to the scale at Englishtown or any others.

[Chris B.]

The car rolled over to 36,000 miles on Jan. 25th. I had the car for a few days over two years at that point.


I took a picture at 36,000.0 miles but it didn't come out as clear as the 36,000.1 miles pic did.

I still have a factory bumper to bumper warranty for another 5 years or 89,000 miles. I purchased the factory 7 year 125,000 mile extended warranty because its a lot less than a new transmission or engine.

When I was at Watkins Glen back in October, I noticed that my back rotors started developing small cracks, jsut liek the front rotors did before I replaced them. I've been keeping an eye on the rear rotors. They weren't bad in December. However, I noticed last week that each rear rotor developed a bigger rack that went to the edge of the rotor. Its time to replace them. I can't complain about the life of the rotors. The car has 36,000 miles on it and about 2,000 miles on the race track. The rear rotor temps were 700-1,000 degrees during track days.

Passenger's side rear rotor:


Driver's side rear rotor:


After the rotors were off the car, I noticed that they apparently warped where the crack was. The back side of the rotor had a rough and bare spot where the pad wasn't making contact.



The car has new rear rotors now and hopefully they will last for another 2,000 miles on the track.

[TalonTsi97]

Originally Posted by Chris B.

I can get these wheels in 18x9.5 for $137.50 each new

Get these ASAP! lol


Ouch on that rear rotor issue, i would have replaced them as soon as i seen the cracks appearing.

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted by TalonTsi97

Get these ASAP! lol

I might be getting lighter wheels instead

Originally Posted by TalonTsi97

Ouch on that rear rotor issue, i would have replaced them as soon as i seen the cracks appearing.

If I did that, I'd be replacing rotors monthly. My rear rotors hit 800-1000 degrees F at the track. Small cracks are OK and normal with track use. Its the bigger ones that worry me.

[Chris B.]

I'm trying to figure out what wheels and tires I'll be using for track days this year. Currently I use a set of 18" factory 18x8.5" fanblade wheels with 255/40-18 Yokohama AD-08's for track day wheels and tires. They held up pretty well for a year of track days, but the tires would start to overheat after 20-22 minutes on the track and lose some grip. Many of the groups I do track days with ran 25-30 minute sessions. I was planning on wider wheels and tires because the wider tires shouldn't overheat as quickly and dissipate heat better. At least that's what other Mustang drivers are experiencing with the wider tires. Also the tires for 17" wheels cost less than the 18" tires of similar size. For example the Ecsta XS in 275/40-17 is $159 and the same tire in 275/35-18 is $230. That's over $70 per tire.

I was planning to get 17x9.5 or 17x10 wheels for track use. However I ran into an issue. I use high performance street/autoX tires for track days. That way I don't have to have separate slick and rain tires and also I can drive on those tires to and from the track. However, there are very few of those types of tires available now in 275 or 285 width for a 17" wheel. It looks like many of the manufacturers stopped production of those width tires for 17" wheels in the past year or they never produced them. Currently the only 275 or 285 width tires of that type I can find for a 17" wheel are the Kumho Ecsta XS in 275/40-17 or 285/40-17 and the Falken Azenis RT-615K in 275/40-17. There seems to be a better selection of those types of tires 275 and 285 width tires for 18" wheels.

There are plenty of R compound tires available for 17" wheels. The Ventus Z214, BFGoodrich g-Force R1, Kumho Ecsta V710, Hoosier R6, and Nitto NT-01 are all available in a 275/40-17. They all cost less than the high performance street/autoX tires in 18" versions too. The issue I have is fitting 4 wheels/tires in the car along with luggage, tools, jack, spare parts, cooler, etc for an trip to a track that's not within a shorter driving distance of my house. I've made trips to VIR and Watkins Glen last year and I plan to do VIR, Sebring, Robeling Road, and Road Atlanta this year. I don't have a trailer for the car and don't have a place to store a trailer. So if I needed a trailer, I'd have to rent one or pay to store it somewhere.

So I'm trying to figure out of I should go with the 17" wheels and the Ecsta XS tires, 18" wheels and one of many tires, or 17" wheels and R compound tires.

Also, if I go with 18" wheels, I can get the heavier GT500 factory wheels, 27-29 lbs each depending on the style, for about $550 a set new, or I can buy some nice relatively light, 21-22 lbs, 18x9.5" or 18x10" wheels for $1,000-$1,300 a set.

[Chris B.]

I did the math earlier tonight. My car has just under 31 hours of track time since June of 2009. I guess I can't complain about the rear rotors cracking or about the reliability of the car so far.

[Chris B.]

I've noticed that when going down the straights at 120+ MPH that the front of my stock hood lifts and little and the corners get bent up. Also the front end feels a little light at high speeds.

Some other 2005-2009 Mustang owners found a solution. They retrofit the 2010 Mustang belly pan onto the earlier models. Less air goes form under the car to the engine compartment, there is less under hood air pressure, and the hood no longer gets pulled up. It also reduces lift on the front end. Ford claims the changes to the underside of the 2010 model reduce lift up to 28%, but they don't say at what speed.

Here you can see the 2005-2009 part on top of the 2010 parts.


Here is the 2010 part all on its own.


The 2010 parts look like they will cost about $180.

My other idea is to buy a pair of used NASCAR C.O.T front splitters and put one under the front bumper and cut the other one in half to make an under car belly pan.

I can get the C.O.T. spliters used for about $50 each, but using them would require quite a bit more custom fab work.

[Ender81]

Very cool idea. I see you going custom not gonna lie lol.

[DaveSTi]

I told my SN95 buddies to do this years ago for the same exact reason. Even had a guy with a Charger custom make some plates out of aluminum sheet. These underbody panels may be the bane of guys everytime they change their oil, but they serve a distinct purpose.