Question on gears...

NJ 03Mach1 · Post by **NJ 03Mach1** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 10:41 am

On the hill, should I be more concerned with top end speed, or being quick out of the hole & turns?

I'm tossing the idea around about a set of 4:10's. She currently runs 3:55's, and I can hit 150mph rather effort free... but, on the hills I don't think i'll be hitting close to that, anywhere.

So would it be worth losing some top end on the streetable side, to gain some on the hills? Or should I leave it be...

John Pitman · Post by **John Pitman** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:55 pm

Be quick...go for the gears! Of course you have to factor in how much Interstate driving you may do with you car. But a lot of us have learned that the right gears are often more important than engine work. (This coming from guy who never raced anything with more than 1600ccs). Perhaps enough HP can over come the longer gears? Good luck with your decision process and preparation....look for input from the big bore guys.

NJ 03Mach1 · Post by **NJ 03Mach1** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 4:09 pm

I should add in..

Not too concerned with gas milage...

I dunno what all the courses are like.. I'd like to be able to compete by being quick outta the turns in the tight courses...but not run outta gear if theres room to stretch her legs either..
nekasrof (steve Black Mach 1) may chime in here or another board we post on. Pretty much the same cars so i'll see what he says an go from there..

Steve Tumolo · Post by **Steve Tumolo** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:22 am

4:11's are a good choice on paper for almost every hill we run. But, people that have tried them said that gear changes come up in less than ideal spots. I opted for 3:73's because of the long strait at Duryea and less tire spin on corner exit of tighter hills like Weatherly and Rose Valley. With 4:11's at Duryea you WILL either need 5th gear or choose to twist the hell out of the motor.

To really go fast in a Hillclimb you will need the best D.O.T RACING tires you can afford and a suspension that is stiff yet compliant over bumps. Our hills can be a bit rough and a few hills have a real mean crown that you will have to cross over. For hills your stock brakes will be fine. Although I really liked HAWK HPS pads. They came in quick and lasted YEARS on my car.

Those are some of the things I have learned over the years. I would be more than happy to help you with any other Mustang specific questions that may come up. I am by no means the greatest but I have been around for a bit.

NJ 03Mach1 · Post by **NJ 03Mach1** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 12:33 pm

I've already got brakes

love the Hawks as well..I'm hoping my IRS will be an advantage right off the bat as far as handling the hills an such..

Already running 355's so 373's I don't think would be much of a difference. I'll have too see what happens I guess..

I'm looking at 17x9's for a 'course only' rim with Nitto's on all 4 corners.. Someone suggested running 10.5's on all 4, but don't know if it would look right or even work...

I've been dealing with setting up Stang's for sometime now...just not for anything like this before...lol

jerdeitzel · Post by **jerdeitzel** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 11:39 am

Well looks like your coming to play in SM. One thing i'd recommend tho is maybe a different tire. I ran the nitto's all year and did love them but, I think you can get a better tire for hillclimbing. I'd try either a hoosier A6 or maybe the bfg R1.

NJ 03Mach1 · Post by **NJ 03Mach1** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:02 pm

jerdeitzel wrote:Well looks like your coming to play in SM.

Umm what's SM? I'm assuming its a class reference?

I'm looking to compete in the same class as nekasrof (Black Mach 1). This way I have a somewhat identical car to compare too and compete with on a friendly level...so for the time being I'm following some of his mods list to stay in the same class...only major differences in our cars is I've swapped to an IRS and he's solid axle..

Steve, I dunno if you have a DD Stang as well, but check out http://WWW.EASTCOASTSTANG.Com cool site..

jerdeitzel · Post by **jerdeitzel** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:27 pm

Yes SM is a class. Thats cool i understand wanting to compete with friends. That is the best way to do it. As long as your good friends for when you win. LOL. I'm not going to really get into this because its a fine line but. You may want to look at the scca classing for solo when preparing your car. Its on the scca website. Its can be the difference between having fun or jumping into a school of sharks.

NJ 03Mach1 · Post by **NJ 03Mach1** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 3:59 pm

Yea I've glanced at the rules...kinda confusing lol.. I'll get it down eventually...I still gotta try an get all the saftey gear in time. gonna be hard but I'm trying

Steve Tumolo · Post by **Steve Tumolo** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 10:17 am

I was also going to reply that the Nitto's are not that great of a choice unless you are stuck driving to the events on the race tires with no way of bringing a seperate set of weels/tires.

As was already stated the hot ticket is to run an Autocross compound tire. In your case it must be a D.O.T tire. Hoosier is hands down the best but, they are not cheap and they are fragile. One good lock up and you can turn a brand new tire into junk. BFG just got back into the D.O.T racing game with a brand new BFG-R-1. Only one compound is offered but it is said to work well for autocross and roadracing. They only started coming out this season so I have not heard much about them yet but if they are anything like the old R-1's they will be awesome.

For years I bought used racing tires. I could get them for $70 to $80 a piece and they had at least 70% life left in them. A set of those would last me an entire season in the PHA series. Including both Jefferson track events and the event at VIR.

I can get you the phone # of the place I would get them from if you are interested.

And, I have three Mustangs total. The Race car, and a Vortech supercharged '88 GT that is mint and only comes out on nice days and I just picked up a '85 GT daily driver.

NJ 03Mach1 · Post by **NJ 03Mach1** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 1:43 pm

Nice collection. Check out ECS we do some meets and such...

As of right now, don't look to good for getting in a full season, getting married next October an looking at houses now..so $'s super tight.

I'm gonna try and race a few events but I dunno yet if I'll have her ready.

But either way, I want to make every race I can and learn the ropes, work the corners etc etc... See what happens its all up in the air till the first race I guess

mrevilracing · Post by **mrevilracing** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 11:17 pm

I went with the 3.73's because I wanted a little better accelleration on the road course, but also wanted some top end. With the 3.73's, you can bouce off the speed limiter all day, so top end isn't a problem if you wish. Closed course, professional driver - of course.

I'd like to try the 4.10's. Although, there is quite a bit of wheel spin with the 3.73's out of most of the turns at Weatherly. We'll see what happens in the spring if I return with race tires instead of the KDW2's.

With my limited experience hillclimbing, I'd say get tires. The best ones you can afford. 10.5" rims. No way. I'm running the Steeda UltraLiteII's. 18"x9.5" with 275/35/18's. The tires are hitting the wheel well and burning thru. Weatherly was very bad for the wheel well and the wire harness running thru there. Luckily, I didn't rub thru it. But I'd stay with a 9" wide wheel and run 275's on them. Maybe an '03/'04 cobra wheel. Oh, stiffer springs too.