Slow Car fast..... Fast Car slow............ Age old Dilemma

[Lorne34]

I have to say, coming from a GT to a GT350 the ability to rev out this engine at lower gears really does satisfy the itch when I'm driving in town or country roads. I have to take it to the track to really stretch out the gearing, but i've been able to ride the back roads and stay within legal speed limits in 2nd and 3rd gear.
It just pulls and pulls and I find myself having to stop at a certain point, but those small stretches are satisfying...
I wouldn't describe it as driving a fast car slow, but driving a car with a high strung engine...

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[NightmareMoon]

If you want to lighten the steering feeling, stiffer swaybars, camber plates (for more negative front camber), and an alignment with more aggressive toe settings can do it.

Mustangs can dance if you set them up that way. Miatas and BRZs are fun in their way, but for me, having some decent horsepower is part of the equation for fun.

 

[tosha]

If you want to lighten the steering feeling, stiffer swaybars, camber plates (for more negative front camber), and an alignment with more aggressive toe settings can do it.

Mustangs can dance if you set them up that way. Miatas and BRZs are fun in their way, but for me, having some decent horsepower is part of the equation for fun.

Oh, absolutely. I didn’t need to do much to make it a total blast - magneride track package from FP, camber plates and track alignment, some bracing, square 305 wheels/tires, haven’t touched anything in IRS yet. In my group, I’ve been passing all the M2’s, boxers, rs3’s and etc. No issues to catch up in corners and it just flies away on the straights.
It drives like a cart in track mode and flipping it into Normal brings back all the GT level comfort. It’s IMO the best thing you can have without going into triple digit budgets. I absolutely love it, the only reason I was considering Elantra n is because I needed a winter beater and thought that it would be nice to have another track capable car with cheaper consumables. But I came to conclusion that it wasn’t a good idea after all.

 

[Bulldog9]

Oh, absolutely. I didn’t need to do much to make it a total blast - magneride track package from FP, camber plates and track alignment, some bracing, square 305 wheels/tires, haven’t touched anything in IRS yet. In my group, I’ve been passing all the M2’s, boxers, rs3’s and etc. No issues to catch up in corners and it just flies away on the straights.
It drives like a cart in track mode and flipping it into Normal brings back all the GT level comfort. It’s IMO the best thing you can have without going into triple digit budgets. I absolutely love it, the only reason I was considering Elantra n is because I needed a winter beater and thought that it would be nice to have another track capable car with cheaper consumables. But I came to conclusion that it wasn’t a good idea after all.

Perhaps it is time to revisit the alignment. This spring I installed Steeda Sport springs with their proactive shocks/struts with Steeda upper rear shock mounts and camber plates. It was 'supposedly' set to the PP1 OEM settings, but felt a little numb and a bit heavier to me afterwards in normal/slow speeds. At higher speeds and hitting it harder in curves, exit ramps, etc, it feels spot on, but numb and dull when driving slow.

Do I need to find a speed or specialty shop? or can the dealer do it right?

I'm now in the Fort Knox/Louisville area, and would love it if a better suspension setup livened up the steering feel and response.

Any suggestions for more aggressive camber/toe that won't eat the inside of the tires in record speeds?

As for a plug in pedal gizmo, I'll pass, the car already has multiple throttle response and pedal mapping, and the track/drag settings are fine when at speed but too sensitive for normal driving. Thanks though!

 

[tosha]

Perhaps it is time to revisit the alignment. This spring I installed Steeda Sport springs with their proactive shocks/struts with Steeda upper rear shock mounts and camber plates. It was 'supposedly' set to the PP1 OEM settings, but felt a little numb and a bit heavier to me afterwards in normal/slow speeds. At higher speeds and hitting it harder in curves, exit ramps, etc, it feels spot on, but numb and dull when driving slow.

Do I need to find a speed or specialty shop? or can the dealer do it right?

I'm now in the Fort Knox/Louisville area, and would love it if a better suspension setup livened up the steering feel and response.

Any suggestions for more aggressive camber/toe that won't eat the inside of the tires in record speeds?

As for a plug in pedal gizmo, I'll pass, the car already has multiple throttle response and pedal mapping, and the track/drag settings are fine when at speed but too sensitive for normal driving. Thanks though!

What wheels/tires do you run?
I thought all bullitts come with magneride shocks, no?

 

[Bulldog9]

What wheels/tires do you run?
I thought all bullitts come with magneride shocks, no?

Magneride was an option, I opted for a model without. Tires and wheels are stock 19" I'm thinking about the Shelby 20" CS3 wheels for my summer tire setup and putting all season/winter tires on the stock rims even though I will not drive the car in the snow or ice or salted/brine roads. Just want to drive when the temps are in or below 40s. The stock Pilot 4S are slick below 50 degrees

 

[tosha]

Magneride was an option, I opted for a model without. Tires and wheels are stock 19" I'm thinking about the Shelby CS3 wheels for my summer tire setup and putting all season/winter tires on the stock rims even though I will not drive the car in the snow or ice or salted/brine roads. Just want to drive when the temps are in or below 40s. The stock Pilot 4S are slick below 50 degrees

Yeah, those 255 tires up front are no bueno. For me, the biggest handling upgrade was to step up to 305 square tires setup on 11 wheels. That might be a bit extreme for street only car, but going square is a must have if you want to get rid of the built in terminal understeer. Guess you could go with 285 square setup on 10 inch wheels. Get some sticky tires for summer, tires are everything.

As far as alignment, -2.5 camber front and around -1.6 - 1.8 camber at the rear work fine for me, but I don't rake a lot of street miles. I've asked alignment guy to set the toe to neutral, works fine for me and doesn't impact tire wear in any bad way.

As a cumulative result, I'm very happy with the way it handles now. Steering wheel is still not very communicative, but I don't think you can change that. However, the car overall is very sharp and happy to respond to all the inputs.

 

[NightmareMoon]

steeda sport springs and proactive shocks kinda says it all. I'm not sure that's a great combination, but they seem to push it for casual drivers. If you have a lowered car, you've got to sacrifice either comfort or control, and I'm guessing that combo sacrifices control.

Anyway without tossing that spring/shock combo, I'd just get a bigger front swaybar (I like BMR for that part) and add some front camber with those nice steeda camber plates. Yeah 2.4-2.5 front, 1.7-1.8 rear would be good. Shoot for zero toe or ever so slight toe in. Very slight toe-in might be your best defense against inside tire wear. Rear toe should be a bit of toe in, more than the front. Its going to carve set up like that but should still be planted in the rear.

There are more bits and bobs to consider, but I'd start there and see. Just a swaybar and an alignment should be pretty affordable.

 

[Egparson202]

Perhaps it is time to revisit the alignment. This spring I installed Steeda Sport springs with their proactive shocks/struts with Steeda upper rear shock mounts and camber plates. It was 'supposedly' set to the PP1 OEM settings, but felt a little numb and a bit heavier to me afterwards in normal/slow speeds. At higher speeds and hitting it harder in curves, exit ramps, etc, it feels spot on, but numb and dull when driving slow.

Do I need to find a speed or specialty shop? or can the dealer do it right?

I'm now in the Fort Knox/Louisville area, and would love it if a better suspension setup livened up the steering feel and response.

Any suggestions for more aggressive camber/toe that won't eat the inside of the tires in record speeds?

As for a plug in pedal gizmo, I'll pass, the car already has multiple throttle response and pedal mapping, and the track/drag settings are fine when at speed but too sensitive for normal driving. Thanks though!

Bulldog9,

I think an alignment might really do wonders for your experience. With the hardware you have the car can be tuned to be pretty darn lively. If I had to guess, your numb steering is the result of a bit too much toe-in. Have the toe set to 0 or just barely toed in and it will feel good again. For a street only vehicle, you don’t need much negative camber, just get the toe right.

As for the shop, that can be tricky. Most shops really just want to get it close. If you can find a shop that caters to performance cars, you’ll have a better outcome.

Let us know how it shakes out.

 

[EdwardS550]

There's something to be said for driving a slow car fast--if it's the right car. My father in law has an 84 911 Carrera and that thing is completely gutless and is just a downright chore to drive in all aspects. Loud, manual steering, terrible transmission. He paid over $90k for it and the only thing I will say about it is that it's comfortable to ride in. The IRS is really compliant and obviously every single person on the road looks at you. Can't say that for any Mustang made from 1974-present.

 

[FinitePrimus]

The high revving nature combined with strict street racing laws does leave me wishing I had something a little "slower". I think that's why you see so many Fox bodies in demand now. They were downright fun to slide around, you could slap through 1st, 2nd, 3rd without too much drama or attention and the lower redline made them a little more fun.

With mine, A10, even with 3:55 gears it's like 1st is useless, 2nd sort of pulls with some wheel spin up to redline (1-2 seconds of fun) before the 2-3 shift which puts me a few notches away from handcuffs on most back roads. A little more fun on the highway with some more time in 3rd but still getting up to redline in 3rd is also a few notches away from handcuffs.

I have a friend with a Camaro SS and I find it feels a little more fun on the street with the torque/lower redline.

 

[Balr14]

There's something to be said for driving a slow car fast--if it's the right car. My father in law has an 84 911 Carrera and that thing is completely gutless and is just a downright chore to drive in all aspects. Loud, manual steering, terrible transmission. He paid over $90k for it and the only thing I will say about it is that it's comfortable to ride in. The IRS is really compliant and obviously every single person on the road looks at you. Can't say that for any Mustang made from 1974-present.

I had an old 911 I bought used in the late 70s. I bought it cheap because it had a replacement engine (base 911 with a newer 911S engine), or I would not have bought it. Really an awful car; weird handling, slow, noisy and had a terrible heater. It would swap ends in a heartbeat. I never understood why they got to be collector cars. I think people who buy them have inhaled too much exhaust fumes. Absolutely nothing like the models from 2007 and beyond.

 

[RagmopInKona]

The high revving nature combined with strict street racing laws does leave me wishing I had something a little "slower". I think that's why you see so many Fox bodies in demand now. They were downright fun to slide around, you could slap through 1st, 2nd, 3rd without too much drama or attention and the lower redline made them a little more fun.

With mine, A10, even with 3:55 gears it's like 1st is useless, 2nd sort of pulls with some wheel spin up to redline (1-2 seconds of fun) before the 2-3 shift which puts me a few notches away from handcuffs on most back roads. A little more fun on the highway with some more time in 3rd but still getting up to redline in 3rd is also a few notches away from handcuffs.

I have a friend with a Camaro SS and I find it feels a little more fun on the street with the torque/lower redline.

That is the problem, these cars it is boom, already past the speed limit, no drama, just goes. The fun is over before you get to enjoy it. Cars that are even faster going 2.9 seconds to 60. Fun if you know there is no chance of the police raining on your fun. There is a group that goes out at times with night vision gear and has some fun. I'm sure some places that have roads that are flat and long and almost no one else on then, these cars can be tons of fun.
I just want a place I can enjoy it more than red line 1st, get going in 2nd and have to let off.

 

[FinitePrimus]

That is the problem, these cars it is boom, already past the speed limit, no drama, just goes. The fun is over before you get to enjoy it. Cars that are even faster going 2.9 seconds to 60. Fun if you know there is no chance of the police raining on your fun. There is a group that goes out at times with night vision gear and has some fun. I'm sure some places that have roads that are flat and long and almost no one else on then, these cars can be tons of fun.
I just want a place I can enjoy it more than red line 1st, get going in 2nd and have to let off.

Exactly. I was out for a backroad cruise (80kmh/50mph zone) in the country and got stuck behind a tandem dump truck barely able to do half that for quite a few miles. Eventually, I got a chance to pass, floored it and as I got past him and back into his lane I was doing 141kmh/88mph which is grounds where I live for license suspension/car impound. It happened so quickly.

 

[tosha]

I just want a place I can enjoy it more than red line 1st, get going in 2nd and have to let off.

It's very likely that you have at least one local track within driving distance, no matter what state you're in.

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