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

[Ender81]

I have the aluminum plate on my wrx with the holes cut to access the filter and oil plug. Ryan hates it but I enjoy it lol.

[sean3]

Why do you run 5w20?

[Dilley]

I love your build journal very informative just one question why did you opt against coilovers?

[Got Insulin?]

Originally Posted by 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.

Hole saw, a quick-drain plug, and a rubber grommet will fix that.

Something along these lines:
http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop...rain_plug.html

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted by 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.

I've been looking more into making my own and using quick release fasteners for ease of maintenance. I could also use a remote mount oil filter kit and mount the filter higher up in the engine compartment. That would also make it easier to add an oil cooler.

Originally Posted by sean3

Why do you run 5w20?

Its the weight of oil that the variable camshaft timing system was designed for. Some people that switched to 5W-30 or heavier weight oil have had issues with the VCT system not working correctly with the heavier oil. The oil analysis of the Motorcraft 5W-20 showed that even after 6,8000 miles, four days at the track(several hundred miles on road courses) and a couple trips of the dragstrip, the oil held up fine and could have lasted longer.

Originally Posted by Dilley

I love your build journal very informative just one question why did you opt against coilovers?

For several reasons. A good set of coilovers is about $2,000 for my car. Some of the better kits for track use can cost twice that. I don't consider BCracing coilovers of the cheaper Steeda coilover kit a "good" set of coilovers for track use. I'd rather put that money toward other parts and upgrades for the car. The Koni sports and springs were under $1,000 with shipping.

I also didn't want to deal with the hassle of coilovers. After installing and adjusting them on other cars and talking with other S197 owners about their experiences, it seemed like too much of a pain in the ass to get everything set up right for track use and still have the car comfortable for daily driving. This car is my daily driver and several times a year I take 7+ hour drives to far away tracks or 13+ hour drives to visit family. If I went with spring rates that were comfortable on the street, then they wouldn't work any better or allow for faster lap times than the konis and steeda springs on the track. That means swapping springs for track days. That's more money, time, and maintenance costs. In addition to the cost of the coilovers, I'd also need other suspension parts too due to the reduced suspension travel and lower ride height changing the geometry. If I'm going through all that trouble and expense, I might as well wait until I can save up the money and afford a Griggs GR40 front or full suspension system or just get a dedicated track car.

[DaveSTi]

Originally Posted by Got Insulin?

Hole saw, a quick-drain plug, and a rubber grommet will fix that.

Something along these lines:
http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop...rain_plug.html

True...I haven't seen one for the Evo...there are also a lot of drain points on the car due to all the mechanical difs, etc.

[DaveSTi]

Originally Posted by Chris B.

I've been looking more into making my own and using quick release fasteners for ease of maintenance. I could also use a remote mount oil filter kit and mount the filter higher up in the engine compartment. That would also make it easier to add an oil cooler.



Its the weight of oil that the variable camshaft timing system was designed for. Some people that switched to 5W-30 or heavier weight oil have had issues with the VCT system not working correctly with the heavier oil. The oil analysis of the Motorcraft 5W-20 showed that even after 6,8000 miles, four days at the track(several hundred miles on road courses) and a couple trips of the dragstrip, the oil held up fine and could have lasted longer.



For several reasons. A good set of coilovers is about $2,000 for my car. Some of the better kits for track use can cost twice that. I don't consider BCracing coilovers of the cheaper Steeda coilover kit a "good" set of coilovers for track use. I'd rather put that money toward other parts and upgrades for the car. The Koni sports and springs were under $1,000 with shipping.

I also didn't want to deal with the hassle of coilovers. After installing and adjusting them on other cars and talking with other S197 owners about their experiences, it seemed like too much of a pain in the ass to get everything set up right for track use and still have the car comfortable for daily driving. This car is my daily driver and several times a year I take 7+ hour drives to far away tracks or 13+ hour drives to visit family. If I went with spring rates that were comfortable on the street, then they wouldn't work any better or allow for faster lap times than the konis and steeda springs on the track. That means swapping springs for track days. That's more money, time, and maintenance costs. In addition to the cost of the coilovers, I'd also need other suspension parts too due to the reduced suspension travel and lower ride height changing the geometry. If I'm going through all that trouble and expense, I might as well wait until I can save up the money and afford a Griggs GR40 front or full suspension system or just get a dedicated track car.

Ah so refreshing to see someone that knows how to do it the right way.

[Chris B.]

I got the analysis back of the Mobil1 Oil that was in the car. I changed the oil last weekend and sent a sample off for analysis. Since my last results were so good on the Motorcraft semi synthetic, I wanted to see how well Mobil1 full synthetic held up with more miles on it. The Motorcraft Semi Synthetic should last 8,000 miles based on the analysis.



I was rather dissapointed in the results since this was mostly driving to and from work and quite a lot of highway driving. If Mobil1 is really much better than cheaper semi synthetic oils, there should be less wear(iron), not more and I'd expect Mobil1 to have less wear than the much less expensive Motorcraft oil. The Motorcraft oil in the previous analysis should last 8,000 miles between changes, even with track day use, based on the previous analysis. I'd expect the Mobil1 to show less wear than the $2.15/quart Motorcraft oil even though there were more miles on the oil, especially since this oil didn't have 500+ track day miles on it. The same model and size motorcraft filter was used both times.

I also see that I need to clean the air filter on my Steeda Intake.

My last analysis on the Ford 5W-20 Semi Synthetic was done with just under 6,800 miles on the oil (Ford recommends 7,500 miles betwene oil changes for "regular" driving) and I did four day at the track and two dragstrip trips along with my ususal driving to and from work and a longer highway road trip. The results can be seen below.



I'll send off a sample of oil with my current Mobil1 at 6,000 miles to see how its holding up and to check on the wear and iron content.

[DaveSTi]

Motorcraft makes good stuff, I'm not surprised. The oil change intervals that you're getting with track use and DDing is pretty damn good too.

[Chris B.]

Someone on another forum brought up that switching to Mobil1 may have loosened up deposits that the Motorcraft semi synthetic left in the engine and that may be the cause for the high iron readings. I guess I'll find out in another 5700 miles or so when I send a sample out for analysis.

[sean3]

Originally Posted by Chris B.

Its the weight of oil that the variable camshaft timing system was designed for. Some people that switched to 5W-30 or heavier weight oil have had issues with the VCT system not working correctly with the heavier oil. The oil analysis of the Motorcraft 5W-20 showed that even after 6,8000 miles, four days at the track(several hundred miles on road courses) and a couple trips of the dragstrip, the oil held up fine and could have lasted longer.

Really? Have you seen this:
http://corner-carvers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36607

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted by sean3

Really?

Yes really. That's what the oil analysis shows.

Originally Posted by sean3

Have you seen this:
http://corner-carvers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36607

I've seen it before. He definitely is very non specific as to why other than there is increased wear on test engines. He doesn't say what exactly wears. Other people at Ford that were involved with the design of the newer modular motors after 2001 stated that not only does changing oil weights have an effect on the functioning of the VCT sustem, but it also may lead to improper lubrication between bearings due to the tolerances of the newer motors being tighter and being designed for thinner oil. So basically there is contradictory information from Ford employees involved with the modular motors about the subject.

My 4.6 3V is covered under waranty for at least another 85,000 miles. If using the recommended oil is going to hurt the motor, then I guess it will be Ford's problem. If I still have the car after 125,000 miles, then I plan to either swap in a new 5.0 or a bored and stroked 4.6.

[Chris B.]

My $75 18x10" Shelby Redline wheels arrived. Not bad for $75 wheels. Shelby discontinued this model and I found some on clearance through one of the online retailers eBay stores. If I bought them a week earlier before my coupon expired, I could have bought them for $68 per wheel. With 3 day shipping the set of 4 was about $350.



They weigh 25 lbs each. I really considered some light weight 18-19 lb 18x10 Enkei wheels, but for the cost of one the 18x10 Enkei wheels for my car, I got four of these Shelby wheels shipped. Now I have plenty of extra money for tires. Sicne I'm not racing competitively, I'd rather have a $300 set of wheels and use that extra $1,000 I saved on wheels toward more track days and better tires.

I was worried about clearance because I couldn't find anyone that used the 18x10's up front. However, I can fit a finger between the strut and wheel.



I haven't tried the GT500 Brembo brake template yet, but if they clear the Brembos, then I might decide to pick up a set.

Maybe I'll pick up another set of these wheels to put my daily driver all season tires on them and sell my stock wheels and my other track wheels. They weigh less than my 18x8.5" stock wheels.

[cmr076]

i like! and for the price it sounds like a home run.

[sleeperSL2]

Gonna look good Chris!

[jpalamar]

Nice. What is the offset and what size tires are you planning?

[Chris B.]

They are 41mm offset. I'll be going with 275 or 285 width tires on all 4 corners. I'll probably go with shorter sidewalls than what I'd need to keep the speedometer correct. If I go with a 285/30-18 or 285/35-18 the change in diameter will have the same effect on my overall ratio as putting in 3.73 or 3.90 rear gears since the tires will have a circumference that is 5%-10% shorter than stock.

[Chris B.]

I found someone local that has a set of new 285/30-18 Yokohama Advan A048 tires for sale. They are the medium hard track compound and not the softer autoX compound. If I can get them for the right price, they are going on the new wheels.

Tire info from Tirerack.com

[Chris B.]

I was at the NASA Northeast track day at NJMP on April 16th-17th. The first session out, the car ran great. During the second session it was raining then while I was on the track, it started raining very heavily. My first few laps in the heavy rain went great. I was driving a bit slower than normal because of the rain and only doing about 110 MPH down the front straight and braking early, near the start/finish line, to slow for turn 1 instead of at the 300' mark which I use when the track is dry. Unfortunately something went wrong. I passed the start/finish line and was gently applying pressure to the brake pedal. The car was slowing like it normally does. After at least a seconfd of slowing down, there was a quick wiggle/shimmy and then the car quickly veered left and began spinning. The car went across the wet grass and nose first into the wall then continued spinning and the passenger side rear corner hit the wall before the car came to a stop. I gave the flag station a thumbs up to let them know I was OK and waited in the car until the cars on the track were black flagged and back in the pits. The wrecker and rescue arrived to check on me and tow the car away. Luckily I wasn't injured. I was even luckier that I had an HPDE insurance policy to cover the damages.

Here are a few pictures o the car in the paddock after the accident.






The impact was hard enogh to knock the intake off the throttle body.



I originally thought that the damage may have been caused by a cracked brake piston on the passenger side front caliper. There was a small piece that broke off where the piston contacts the brake pad. However, no brake fluid leaked around that area, and there was no mark on the back of the pad that would indicate the piece got between the piston and the brake pad. The car did have a broken tie rod after the accident. Now I wonder if something was wrong with the tie rod before the accident? It did look fine a few days before the track day when I was checking the car over and changed the brake pads. Other people said that its not uncommon for the brake lines to wear out form the inside or implode when cars are tracked with stock brake lines. After seeing various video footage, it doesn't look liek a dropped the driver's side tire off the pavement and caused the car to spin to the left. At this point, I don't know what caused the accident.

I had the car towed back on the evening of the 17th and dropped off at the body shop on the 18th. Today, on the 26, I got the official word the car is totaled. Before they started takign the car apart, the repair estimate was between $19,000 and $20,000. The HPDE insurance covers the cost of the car and modifications. I went to the body shop to get my belongings out of the car. Now its time for new car shopping.

I have to decide if I want another Mustang or if I want something else. With the money left over after the car is paid off by the insurance company, I should have enough for a huge down payment or a used, slower trackable car, like an SVT Focus, and plenty money for mods and spare parts. The thought of getting a used WRX STI has crossed my mind a few times. I also thought of getting a 2012 V6 Track Pack Mustang and starting project Naughty Secretary/Bad Librarian. Of course, a low mileage, used 2005-2009 Mustang GT is always an option. I've even seen some dealers with leftover 2010 Mustang GT's for $23K.

I don't want a Miata or S2000. Well not that I don't want one, but I need something with more space. With traveling for work, traveling to and from track days, and taking road trips, I need something that can hold enough luggage for two people, a set of wheels and tires, and tools and I'd prefer not to use a trailer. I also prefer to have a 4 seat car. So that eliminates a used Corvette along with the two people luggage, wheels and tires requirement. I'll be makign a seperate thread for suggestions of new cars for me.

[sleeperSL2]

Don called and told me what happened. Glad your okay though! I'm sure whatever car you decide on will be equally as nice!