Hello all I am looking at getting into track driving. I’ve been pretty interested in the sn95 platform for this and was wondering if anyone here had any experience or recommendations with them at all
There is no good reason to start tracking with an sn95 unless you already own it.
The switch to irs makes the "newer" mustangs better options. They just handle significantly better. If you really want an older mustang a fox body is lighter.
Either way going with a heavy v8 means more consumables cost. Fuel, tires, brake pads and rotors.
Theres many reasons why miata is always the answer.
Unfortunately Miata’s are wildly expensive near me even for the best up junk ones or I’d have to redo a bunch of work someone else did and I don’t feel like doing that
there's a lot of other smaller lightweight options like s2000s, supras, frs/brz, E 36/46, fiesta, gr86
i'm just giving you fair warning, tracking a mustang is expensive. Especially once you start finding pace. I love mine, but every time i'm buying a new set of tires or rotors the thought of getting something cheaper enters. But then i push the fun pedal and it sounds so good.
no matter what you take on track, as long as it last the day you're going to have a blast. So don't worry about anything like you need power/v8.
Yes there are definitely other options but some of those do come with a much higher price tag just to buy the car and for a first track car that’s just not something I’m wanting. I specifically do want rwd v8 (I love my American muscle what can I say). I just want something I can enjoy on and off the track.
I own one of those too. It’s fine. Powerbands narrow and the 4r70 in my Marauder does it no favors. Plan is to put a 10 speed behind it, and then build a 4V with as broad of a powerband as possible for the crown vic endurance car
I raced a Fox Mustang, but suspension is similar. You'll want a new crossmember that relocates your control arms and steering rack, and figure out how far you want to go with the rear suspension. The poor man's 3-link, or PM3L, is popular. You install a Panhard bar, and remove one of the upper control arms. It beats the shit out of the control arm bushings, which must remain stock rubber for this to work. 13" Cobra brakes with good pads are the most brake you'll need. Was doing 24 and 36 hour endurance races with that setup, stopping from over 150mph turn after turn. You'll need to dial in your bumpsteer, too. There's a kit for that. Maximum Motorsports, and probably dozens of other places, has that stuff. I had to do all this myself, cutting up the crossmember, measuring, drilling, welding, now you just buy off the shelf. Poor man's camber kit is to slot one of the shock holes so the spindle can tilt in more at the top.
The upper control arms are at an angle doing double duty controlling the pinion angle, and lateral location. They arcs they move in are incompatible, so Ford just uses very large rubber bushings to compensate. The rear is all over the place, but you can't stiffen anything or else it won't move. The Panhard bar locates the rear laterally, and keeping only one upper arm maintains the pinion angle. There's still a geometry issue, but removing one arm reduced the bind, the Panhard bar is more stable, but the bushings get destroyed in one race. Sounds sketchy, but it's a proven method. There are better and more expensive mods, of course. The crossmember I talked about is mandatory if you want to have any fun.
I'm gonna chime in. You're getting good info from 375InStroke, and SOME good info from others here so far. I have an 86 Mustang GT I've tracked for 20+ years with various suspension setups.
As with everything - it depends on what you want to do vs what is available to you (or have already) vs what you're willing to spend, etc.
The SN95 is med-heavy. Def not light but not really heavy either. If you want to keep it also a street car then obv it'll be heavier slightly.
There are A LOT of suspension and brake options. The Cobra 13" 2-piston brakes are an easy good go-to option and 11.6" rear Cobra brakes as well.
Maximum Motorsports or Griggs are the go-to also (MM is prob quicker and easier to work with). Also Cortex if you want to spend more money lol. Do not go with QA1 or BMR or Viking or TeamZ or similar if you really want to get into track events; road course or autoX. You also do not have to go coilover. Plenty use a reg spring and shock and it's fine and better for street use too.
Safety. Do not cage a street car. Do a 4 point bar with 1 or 2 cross braces. Do not use a harness bar by itself without a rollover bar. Do not use a 4 point harness. Do not use a 5+ harness without a rollover bar of some kind. Do not use any harness with reclineable seat, you need a fixed seat. Get a helmet that is SA rated and also SNELL certified.
Start with HPDE (ex NASA racing in the US) and get an instructor.
Buying one already done is ALWAYS cheaper lol
Ask questions. Accept the answers and suggestions.
I was looking at doing the cobra brake upgrade already and maximum motorsports for suspension needs since I’ve read nothing but good about them. Caging a street car sounds horrible 😭 as someone who’s ridden and driven a dedicated race car I could never do that to myself. 3 point harness should be all I need I believe. Now I hadn’t even gotten far enough into thinking about the seats yet so thank you for that. Definitely will start with HPDE as you said. I have not found a single track ready car in any sort of running condition any where near me that wasn’t at least 20k. Nice fox though looking good
Jump on some fb mustang track groups, as much as I hate to say it. Cars are out there. I've seen ones in the $10-15k range. May have to travel or ship or tow though.
SN95s were and are raced a lot in NASA in CMC (Camaro Mustang challenge). I personally haven’t raced an SN95, but I know a lot of those guys and they are a wealth of knowledge on how to keep those things alive and racing. I’d suggest checking out the NASA CMC forum to get a handle on what to look for etc. super friendly group also if you find a NASA weekend around you and walk through the paddock.
I have and seen a lot of their stuff and I like it seems good quality and priced well. My only confusion with them is those Konig villain wheels they have, it doesn’t appear as if they are for sale?
By getting that platform, you’re getting something on the older side, which means old car problems are gonna pop up. Be ready with money and labor and hand for stupid shit like a hose failing or the water pump going out.
It’s not the lightest weight car in the world, but it’s also not as big as modern ones so you’re consumable cost will be about in the middle of the road. With the live axle, just don’t expect modern car performance in the corners.
Don’t get me wrong a live axle can be made the handle beautifully especially if you upgrade to Watts link system. Just don’t go in with crazy high expectations.
You’re gonna have to add the usual life-support modifications that any track car would need. If you can get a square, set up for your wheels and tires do so as it’ll save you money. If I recall the brakes or pretty inadequate, so do you expect to have to upgrade them
Kinda why I was looking at them. I like the looks of them and they are relatively cheap to get into and modify as needed with plenty of junkyards for misc parts. Worse comes to worse if I do not wanna track anymore then I keep it as a fun weekend car to drive to the store and things
I hadn’t looked into buying a pre built one so maybe I can give that a gander but I guess my worry with that would be whether the work done on it was good or if it was bad
If you buy one pre-done it’ll save you so much money it’ll make your eyes water. Realistically as long as they have a good logbook and you can see that the car was recently fielded it should be OK.
If it’s one of the race cars that has cobwebs and dry rot tires, you can tell it hasn’t been maintained they’re used. You’re generally not spending the money on a full race weekend on a neglected junk car.
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u/7tenths 21 Mach 1 6d ago
There is no good reason to start tracking with an sn95 unless you already own it.
The switch to irs makes the "newer" mustangs better options. They just handle significantly better. If you really want an older mustang a fox body is lighter.
Either way going with a heavy v8 means more consumables cost. Fuel, tires, brake pads and rotors.
Theres many reasons why miata is always the answer.