Road Racing Setup

[Wildman113]

Hey all,

I am going to be doing a road racing school in June at Pocono Raceway, and I wanted some opinions on how I should prepare the car. Its not competitive, you ride with an instructor, but you can go as fast as you please, and you can pass anyone once they give you the signal.

The course consists of the infield road course and part of the main oval straight away. Top speeds on the straightaway are up to around 185MPH.

My car is an '04 with the following mods:

PPRV Delete
Billetflow 2.76" Upper Pulley Kit
Billetflow Idler
Cold Air Intake
NGK TR7 Plugs
Oil Catch Can Kit
SCT Tuner
Magnaflow X Pipe with Spun Metallic Cats
Magnaflow Catback
Full Dyno Tune by Horsepower by Herman

I also just ordered the Vintage Venom 14" Brembo front brake kit.

The car is obviously still on a stock unported Eaton, and I've read the horror stories about high speed runs in overdrive gears causing piston-to-cylinder wall damage due to the excessive heat that the M112 generates, especially when overspun.

My thoughts have been that I should order a 3.65" stock Billetflow pulley to reduce boost back to stock level (or in actuality slightly below, with the intake/exhaust mods), flash the PCM back to the stock tune with the SCT Tuner (to match the lowered boost), and order the Lethal Performance GEN2 Head Cooling kit.

Any information or opinions on this are appreciated!! I'm still pretty new to these cars, and this is my first Ford vehicle.

 

[SLPRCTM]

Sounds like you are doing HPDE. Flush your brake fluid, make sure you check fluid levels, lug nut torque, rear axle nut torque. Maybe add some brake cooling ducts. You will have a blast. Make sure you bring water for you, keep an eye on your tire pressures and keep atleast a half tank of gas in the car. You are going to get the worst fuel mileage of your life. Lol! You can also mix in a little race fuel to give you some insurance against detonation. I run my street tune with a mix of 91 &104 octane fuel when I do track events.
What tires are you running?

 

[cobracide]

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/open-track-racing-203/813232-tracking-03-04-cobra.html

 

[Bruha]

Good upgrade on the brake kit. I have that kit and you will love it! I would still look at a possible pad upgrade for the brakes. I installed carbotech. I plan on tracking my car this year.

I would also look at possibly install 170 t-stat, and maybe a better radiator. You have to keep the car cool.

 

[SomeSoldier]

Might also want to consider FTBR 5001 kit. That will help keep the power to the ground and really help on cornering.

 

[Wildman113]

Thanks guys!! All good suggestions.

The day consists of three 30 minute sessions, so I'm hoping the stock radiator and oil cooler will be up to the task with stock boost levels.

Sounds like you are doing HPDE. Flush your brake fluid, make sure you check fluid levels, lug nut torque, rear axle nut torque. Maybe add some brake cooling ducts. You will have a blast. Make sure you bring water for you, keep an eye on your tire pressures and keep atleast a half tank of gas in the car. You are going to get the worst fuel mileage of your life. Lol! You can also mix in a little race fuel to give you some insurance against detonation. I run my street tune with a mix of 91 &104 octane fuel when I do track events.
What tires are you running?

Haha yea it drinks fuel on the street so I can only imagine how much fuel it will use on the track. I am running Nitto NT05 tires, 275/35/18 front and 295/30/18 rear. They are almost new, just got them in October. My Dad has them on his '08 Z06 and he said they were awesome when he had them at the track last year.

I think I'm going to play it safe and order the 3.65" (stock) pulley and belt for the S/C, I don't want the Eaton turning into a giant useless heat pump halfway through a session!!

 

[Wildman113]

Might also want to consider FTBR 5001 kit. That will help keep the power to the ground and really help on cornering.

What kit is that? Not familiar with it :shrug:

 

[Wildman113]

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/open-track-racing-203/813232-tracking-03-04-cobra.html

Awesome info, thanks.

 

[suaveflooder]

Just go as is. Change out all your fluids and stay on street tires and you'll be fine.

 

[SLPRCTM]

It is not a bad thing to learn on a car that is not built up. This helps you feel the car and learn control. A fully built track monster will hide your bad habits and errors. Either way, you will have a blast. I run a fluidyne radiator and intercooler, modified fan settings, 170 stat and a killer chiller to keep things cool. ( I run a 2-gen whipple at 13 psi, 574rwhp on 91octane) Still need to add boxing plates. Just learn the correct techniques and be smooth. The byproduct of smooth is fast. ) Good luck and let us know how it goes.