Several questions, please help.

[FFR4FUN]

I have recently retired and now have have more time to improve/update the roadster. The car is a MKII built in 2003 and put on the road in Apr of 2004. The car has been an absolute joy, no serious issues. Built from a 1990 Mustang, engine massaged over the years, BBK intake, Alum heads, 17" wheels, etc. One disappointment has been local AX events, Mustang's and Vette's a bit too fast. Two sure issues, driver skills (working on it), and no 'R' rated tires. So here's some questions on the updates I'm considering.
What are the hot AX tires? What single adjustable shocks can/should I change to? Do I need sway bars, front, rear or both or neither, (in 2003 everyone was saying no sway bars)? What brake boosters have been used successfully, I think it's too late to fit vacuum booster? Thinking of better cam (currently stock cam), is Ford B or E cam better with EFI and for AX? I need to quiet the car for some events, plan on using FFR catalytic converters in place of J-pipes. Some time ago I saw a link on an exhaust pipe (connecting the headers) that crossed over the front of the engine, supposed to be same effect as 'X'-pipe on many car exhausts, any info would be helpful. Any other quiet exhaust ideas would be great. Wow, that's a lotta ??? But then again, you guys have always come through in the past. Thanks!

[ianhunter]

I am not sure about the other items, but I have the same issue with the exhaust! I had to get under 105 db for one local track and spoke to a loal exhaust specialist about it as he reckoned with the standard FFR sidepipes I had, I was around 120 db! The problem is three fold - 1) there is a limit to the diameter of the silencer you can install, otherwise it hits the body and 2) there is a limit to the length of the silencer for obvious reasons and 3) the more you use the car, the noisier it gets as the exhaust soots up.

He made me a new silencers 4" diameter running the whole length of the sides of the car and that was tested at 111 db, so I was really lucky that they let me run -I was just asked to chage up sooner! That is the silencer you can see in the picture. It is now even noisier!

This year I want to go to a track that requires under 101 db, so something had to be done. He has now made me 6" diameter pipes that are repackable, so when they get too noisy, they can be dismantled and repacked.

I haven't fitted this system yet as I don't think it is going to look that great, it will be too quiet for road use and defintely non authentic, so I have had him make me a copy of the FFR stainless sidepipe as well (the shipping costs and tax to the UK are prohibitive for proper FRR one) and that's what is on there at the moment. They sound absolutely fantastic but I reckon are over 130 db! The car sets off car alarms as I go by! Why they are so much noisier than the original mild steel FFR pipes, I am not sure. I will need earplugs for a long run for sure! But the sound is awesome, unbelieveably awesome.

I have FFR's headers fitted, so no cat.

I think you need to talk to an expert to make sure your investment will get you under whatever limit you are after - I am not sure how strict your tracks are - ours are getting worse and worse! I was also worried about affecting performance and even possible engine damage by stifling it too much. Breeze do a set of quiet pipes, but I have no idea how many db - and I am not sure anyone else does either!

Hope this helps!

Ian

[Mike N]

FFR4FUN. Tell us a little more about your set up. What rear do you have, 4 link, 4 link and coil overs, 3 link, IRS? What about the front, Fox or SN95 spindles? What steering rack? What shocks / springs do you current have on the car?

Tires will make a big improvement but will make it more difficult to learn the limits of the car and even sort out some handling issues. My suggestion would be to work on other things first such as set up, alignment, shocks, springs, and may be swaybars before jumping to DOT-R tires.

I'll share an interesting personal story from my first Auto X experiences. I had the classic roadster seats in the car and found that I was hanging on to the wheel and bracing my knees for the whole run. I was also spinning the car a lot due partially to the modified Mustang gas pedal that was touchy. For my first couple of events I was in the bottom 20 out of about 120 entries. Then I bought a Kirkey road race seat and a Russ Thompson gas pedal and with no other changes to the car went to a solid mid pack runner.

[skullandbones]

Hi FFR4FUN,
First of all: welcome. I, too, recently retired so congratulations on that!!

Something that surprized me was that you still have a stock cam with all that go fast hardware. I went with an ATK crate engine with the equivalent to an E cam (.498 lift and 219 dur). You might want something even bigger like a B cam. However, I have found in my research that the combo I have will probably be adequate for what I need (street/comp). It has good low and mid range. I think you are going to be happy when you make the change. It will help that other stuff a lot! Anyway: that's my two cents worth. Good luck. WEK

[Mike N]

One more thing, in AutoX handling will beat power every time. If you want to be quick at Auto X concentrate on the driver and car set up but mostly the driver. Seat time is everything, get tips from other established and quick drivers. See if you can talk to the course designer he will know where he put tricky sections where you need to really give up speed to be well set up for the next section. Yes it helps to have a good handling car with plenty of grip and power but without a really good driver it's wasted. A while ago I took my Brother in Law to an Auto X and let him co drive my car, he is a very good driver but he could not believe that I was 9 seconds faster than him on a 90 second course. He wasn't timid of the car either if anything he was over driving it.