Basic road course suspension question

[iudelt89]

Had the mach out for the first time at a very light thirty minute session about a month back up at Road America. Car is completely stock, even running the stock goodyear eagles. Once the tires warmed up, it was much more neutral than I expected based on my experience with the car on the street. However, it did push through the corners quite a bit (front left tire is completely bald around the outside, victim of the carousel). I plan on doing some more intensive track sessions next summer and would prefer not to tear up my front tires quite as bad. I am just looking to do some simple suspension modifications to reduce some of the body roll and reduce understeer to compliment the 275s that are going on all the way around next spring. I figure I can probably just get away with some lowering springs and sways. Just trying to see if anyone has any suggestions for springs, sways, and possibly strut braces for handling purposes. Feel free to let me know if you can think of anything else that might help out as well. Thanks

[Nekasrof]

Basic road course? Boy is that a loaded question. But where to start is pretty easy.

CC plates - 4way adj As much caster as possible and -2.5deg camber. Toe can be different depending upon the track you go to, if you want to get that crazy.

FLSFCs - Weld on, of course.

STB - I was a pretty big advocate of these but with the blower, I haven't put it back on yet and am still cornering pretty well. This one is up to you but I'd prefer to have a 3pt.

Springs - No need to drop a ton of height. You'll need a front spring that's in the 800lb+ range and a rear spring near 400lb. We'll assume you are keeping this car for street driving? If not, H&R super race fronts, MM 470lb torque arm springs in the rear. Coil overs would be way better but wide wheels(10.5" and up) will be an issue.

Sway bar - Front one should be as big as possible. Rear one should be adjustable. Keep in mind that the rear suspension is F'd up and bind will always be present until you are ready to fully change it.

Struts/shocks - They need to be able to handle the increase in spring rate. A call to MM will net you some good info. Hopefully you can get a strut with a larger hole on the bottom to allow for additional camber if you need it.

Tires - here is where you'll pick up some serious cornering ability after you've started on suspension. BFG R1s will corner like mad. Soon as they heat up, look out.

Bumpsteer kit, rack bushings, rear suspension replacement, brakes, radiator, gauges, harness(be careful with installation here!!!!!), oil coolers, gears, weight reduction, etc etc etc all contribute to a better handling car. Keep in mind that the 57/43 weight bias is horrible and pushing will be there til you start changing that weight bias. But the Mach is a capable car and additional mods will make it pretty agile.

Cooling ducts for the front brakes are a must doing track days. Flush your brake fluid in the beginging of the season and bleed before each track day.

Bummer is that you're about to change a 100% stock Mach. Some of us love to see those cars as we've modded past the point of return. But hey, you'll have a great time. 1st mod HAS to be gauges. Oil and water. Your factory ones in essence don't work. They are idiot lights with a dial and that's it.

[SunKing]

I just had my mostly stock Mach at Sebring for track day. I found that the car had a really bad understeer in several of the corners during the first two morning sessions.

At lunch, I added 4 pounds of air all the way around. The understeer was all but gone. The back end loosened up a little too much, so I backed of on the air in the rear.

I was surprised how much difference that small adjustment changed the attitude of the car. I did have to pay a dollar for the air, which I thought was way out of line. :>)

[1fast03mach]

Call MM they have always been very helpfull,when i had any questions. Great people to deal with,they will put together the set up you need.

[iudelt89]

Thanks for the info. I don't plan on doing any serious modifications to the car as i would like to be able to return it to stock rather easily for resale and originality purposes. I will primarily be sticking to bolt on modifications only. The car is used for DD and weekend driving with the occasional track day here and there.

[TRmachwon]

Originally Posted by iudelt89

Thanks for the info. I don't plan on doing any serious modifications to the car as i would like to be able to return it to stock rather easily for resale and originality purposes. I will primarily be sticking to bolt on modifications only. The car is used for DD and weekend driving with the occasional track day here and there.

You need to at least weld on proper SFCs... and drill holes for CC plates unless you want to eat your front tires alive.

[1fast03mach]

You should check out the MM Road&track box,this would allow you to return the car to stock if you wanted.