Questions about Karen's car

[jkrueger]

For those of you that are familiar with Karen's race coupe, what is her brake set up? Rotor diameter and thickness and what calipers (number of pistons and brand)???? Also does it run with anti-sway bars, and if so what are their sizes?

Since I have some time till I pick up my coupe (May 5th) I wanted to get some of the parts coming in the pipeline. I was thinking of getting the Cobra-R front brakes from Ford racing or using a set up I have on my current car if I don't sell them with the car (328x32mm 2pc discs with 4 piston Brembo racing calipers). For the back I was think of a kit that Wilwood sells (12.88"x28mm disc with 4 piston calipers and a drum style e-brake).

I still don't know (and might not know till I drive the car), if it needs anti-sway bars or not. I'd just like to have a point of reference.

This car will be mostly a track car and will have the 3-Link rear end.

Thanks again.

JC

[David Hodgkins]

I'm sure Karen will chime in but if memory serves, I believe the coupe has Wilwoods up front and TBird brakes on the rear...

Is that right Karen?

:)

[vnmsss]

I'm running Wilwood 6 piston fronts (rotors: 12.90 x 1.25), and was running 4 piston Wilwoods in the back for two years, but took them off and have stock T-Bird rears (rotors and calipers) now.
Here's a link to the front system: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WIL-140-9107/

I'm building a new Coupe, and while we're still in the planning stages, at this point, I'm leaning toward running the brake package the Challenge Series cars are moving to this year, which is a stock Cobra brake set up.

As racers, we all certainly want a very good brake package to keep us competitive on track. The Willwood performance fits the bill very well, and I think they are a great choice for mixed street and track applications, especially where the owner wants to do some track days now and again, but most often needs great performance on the street.

I'd run the Wilwoods on all of my cars as they have years of solid track and street testing, and I know lots of folks who have run them for years and love them. The issue for me about any of the higher end brake pacakges is the need to invest in and carry around so many very costly spares..... The cost to put a set of Wilwoods on your car will be in the neighborhood of $3,500-$4,000, which in the world of performance brake packages is a very good price point, as other high performance brake packages can cost much, much more....If you're racing though, you can take that $3,500 and multiply x2 or more, as each corner is unique and not interchangeable, so you've got tons of spares in the trailer....Some would say, well that's just the cost of racing....I'm on a budget, so am always looking at viable, cost effective solutions.

I have a 1" swaybar from Speedway Engineering on the front (it was on there when I bought it, and we've been working around it), and I purchased a VPM rear swaybar a couple of years ago for the rear, but after all of the spring and shock location adjustments, I've disconnected it and the car handles great. I could probably run it on the lightest setting and would still get the performance, but for my driving style, running no rear bar works best.

My new Coupe is a 3-link, and I'm thinking we'll be running a swaybar in the front....Weight balance is the biggest issues, so as you're planning, think about putting as much weight in front as possible....Our cars are seriously tail heavy, and the closer you can get to 50-50 (corners and cross) on the static build, the easier it will be to work the set up.

Good luck, and I look forward to following your build!

Karen

[jkrueger]

Thanks for sharing Karen. Since you are building a new car have you considered moving the engine forward to help with the weight balance? Keep us updated on your car build we would all benefit from your experience.

Jc

[rocket]

Moving the motor forward is being considered. Being able to pull the motor without removing accessories is part of the consideration also. We will mock up a motor first to see how much "real" room we have.
Rick

[tfalk]

If Karen is building a new coupe, what is happening to The Valdez?

[vnmsss]

Hi Ted!! Happy New Year, and really good to hear from you.....

The "Valdez" (which, by the way, after West Coast intervention, doesn't leak one drop of oil), is officially retired from racing. She's been undergoing some "corrective actions" which were needed following the 25 Hours. She's street legal, and will be used for some road touring and specialty track events. We're currently using it as a base for our chassis/cage mods on the new car. In the near future, we'll be taking her to the Riverside International Automotive Museum for display....Bruce, Doug, Bill, Norma, and everyone there are very kind folks, and they truly enjoy the car.

K

[xlr8or]

Can't wait to see the new coupe Karen. Should be quite competitive with all you learned from the old one. Being able to start over and change all those little things and some of the big ones without having to clean up someone elses mess will be a joy in itself.