which mustang makes the best road race car

[vze25v9v]

Hello, I am new to mustangs. I am coming from the 4 cyc import side. I am looking to get into road racing with a mustang. Which model year & motor makes the best road race cars. Can the solid axle mustangs perform as good as the IRS cars? Thanks for your advice.

[JROC]

Quote: Originally Posted by vze25v9v Hello, I am new to mustangs. I am coming from the 4 cyc import side. I am looking to get into road racing with a mustang. Which model year & motor makes the best road race cars. Can the solid axle mustangs perform as good as the IRS cars? Thanks for your advice.

Very interesting question, and its kind of debatiable, and different people will more than liking give you different answers. All Mustang 79+ can be made into very respectible road racing cars. My personally belief is that the IRS is better for handling on a streetcar. You can get on the power much more in the middle of a turn and launch out of it much harder than you can with a straight axle(stock for stock anyway) pulse hitting a bump with a IRS doesn't upset the chassis nearly as bad as it does in a car with a SRA. On a racetrack I would think the advantages wouldn't be nearly as great for the IRS. There are quite a few companies that can turn your Mustang into quite the corner carver. I have heard that some people that are really big into road racing will even convert their 4 link to a 3 link as its a better overall setup for building a good handling Mustang than a 4 link, 5 link or IRS, but I do not know where to go to do that convertion.(and it might be total BS that I heard) 05+ Mustang use a 3 link

From my understand companies that build performance suspension parts for Mustangs had different belief on what is the best suspension setup. Maximum Motorsport for example is a believer in the benifits of the IRS, while a company like Steeda prefers a SRA and a 5 link.(thats not to say that either company can't or doesn't have part to make either rearend handle great) Either rearend can be made to handle great, I guess it just depends on who you ask. I have Maximum Motorsports coilovers, full Delrin and Aluminum rearend bushings and other supporting suspension mods and I love the way my car handles. Next I will be getting a MM solid steering shaft and aluminum steering rack bushing.

For a street car I would recommend Maximum Motorsports for your suspension needs and i would recommend them for a racecar but I like the idea of a short-long arm suspensions to replace the MacPherson struts and Griggs and Agent47 both offer one but they are not cheap.

Also I would say that the old pushrod motors are better for roadracing than the Modular motors as you will be able to make more N/A power, do it cheaper. Also they are much smaller, lighter and they carry their weight lower in the chassis, you will be able to place it farther back in the chassis also.

Like i have said you have many options to build a very respectible handling Mustang, and these are my opinions.

Check out these companies for good suspension parts. As I have say Maximum Motorsports is awesome and they are hard to beat in the Mustang community, but there are other good options to. I'm no big expert but I hope this helps.

Maximum Motorsports :: The Leader In Mustang Performance Suspensions

Griggs Racing Products

Welcome to Steeda.com | Performance Suspension, Engine and Syling For Your Ford Mustang

Agent 47

[Kyle]

the important thing here is not which mustang is better for road racing, but the fact that you've seen the light when it comes to cars

[bbunt302]

I'd say a 79-93 coupe, just because they are the lightest and can run any suspension/engine/tranny/etc that any other 79-04 Mustang can.

I'd run a pushrod because they have better low-mid range torque (unless you go with an 03/04 Cobra motor with a roots blower). As for the IRS, it will perform better over bumps. That's it. So if you think it's worth spending the extra money on, go for it.

[SpectorV]

if you are talking about newer cars the 99-04 v6 will be the best handling mustang with a bit of upgrades. Its the lightest in those years and will handle better overall when you get to installing some upgrades.

[vze25v9v]

Thanks for all the information. This was very helpful

[Y2E0L0L5OGWT]

When you say "road racing", do you mean autocross, open road course racing, etc?

Also, what type of class are you wanting to run? that will also determine which car is the best choice for the job...Are you wanting to run a heavily modified car class or more of a stock class?

If you are umlimited in your modifications, then i would suggest a fox body mustang (79-93) as they are significantly lighter and much cheaper to mod than newer cars and you can pretty much go with whatever setup you want...

if you are sticking to stock specs, then i would suggest something like and 03/04 Cobra or Mach 1 or an 05-up Mustang GT or Shelby GT...Those have the "best" suspesion designs as far as stock mustangs go...

but again, this will all still depend on what type of road racing you are referring to...

[lowflyn]

This is actually the way I am going with my v6. Spending some money stiffening the chassis and making it react better both going into and leaving corners has made it a much more enjoyable car.

I'm actually doing an IRS swap on my V6 to see what benefits I can get from this setup. I'm hoping to be able to not drift quite as much when pushing into a corner. That's the only real gripe I have with my current setup. When you are coming into a corner hot, the rear end just overtakes and attempts to drift around, causing you to slow down to compensate.

It may not have all the power needed, but that can be dealt with later.

[Y2E0L0L5OGWT]

Quote: Originally Posted by lowflyn This is actually the way I am going with my v6. Spending some money stiffening the chassis and making it react better both going into and leaving corners has made it a much more enjoyable car. I'm actually doing an IRS swap on my V6 to see what benefits I can get from this setup. I'm hoping to be able to not drift quite as much when pushing into a corner. That's the only real gripe I have with my current setup. When you are coming into a corner hot, the rear end just overtakes and attempts to drift around, causing you to slow down to compensate. It may not have all the power needed, but that can be dealt with later.

your setup is more for autox though brad...it would be quite a bit different if you were talking about building it for high speed open road course tracks...

[lowflyn]

Well that's true, I never really think about open track racing...not much of that goes on around here.

For open track I would definitely want more power, and more immediate power that will carry through the band.

IMO I'd either go with a fox setup or a S197 setup as those will probably suit you best without breaking the bank too much to achieve the power.

[JROC]

Watch this video. It is John Griggs in this DD.

Quote: Watch as John Griggs drives his daily driven GR40 Cobra Mustang up the 5.2 Mile closed course road at the Ferrari Club's Virginia City Hill Climb. Notice how easy it is to control a properly engineered chassis. This type of precision is only available with a GR40 suspension system from Griggs Racing Products

[Thomas91169]

Miata























oh wait........

[lowflyn]

Mini Cooper S if you're gonna go that route.

[Y2E0L0L5OGWT]

Quote: Originally Posted by lowflyn Mini Cooper S if you're gonna go that route.

not next season...it is probably going to be re-classed...at least for auto-x anyway...it was G-stock this year, but will probably be D-stock next year because it's too dominating in the GS class...

[lowflyn]

It should have been re-classed this year...that guy has been dominating around here lol.

[willspank]

IRS on a fox body is good for road racing. MM has a shop car the yellow one in the ad and it is a track terror. JME has the IRS and they just set a track record. However, JME has a SLA front the MM car does not. I will be running the Agent 47 SLA front and a 04 IRS on my 93 this summer.

[rwboring]

there was a dude with a PI GT in the "winged warriors" and he was kicking ass... it all depeneds on the driver... personally i think if you are from the honda world then you gotta get used to the ass end coming out in the first place... whollllllllleeee different feeling... if you pust a mustang to hard youll be going around and you cant "pull through it" like some FWD's can... i would prob go with a fox, but i wouldnt ignore any mustang... even a PI GTwith all the weight can be gutted and have springs..