TRACK ATTACK
Jason joins a group of fellow Mustang owners for a track day at Silverstone…
QUICK SPEC 5.0-litre Mustang GT ■ Magnetic Grey ■ Ceramic leather ■ Steeda axle-back exhaust ■ Steeda induction kit ■ RTR diffuser ■ Steeda H-pipe■ MAP remap ■ Steeda IRS bushes ■ Carbon fibre deck lid
After the success of Stangfest 2.0 that took place at the historic circuit of Goodwood (full feature coming soon) where forty Mustangs had the track to themselves for the day, Ben Snape mentioned to organiser, Reuben Grech, of an open pit lane event using Silverstone’s National Circuit. A brief message on the Mustangs Unleashed Facebook page saw a deluge of owners saying yes to the day, so it was no surprise to see no fewer than 19 Mustangs attend and dominate the day – mine included!
The Mustangs Unleashed group is a great set of friends and we all stayed at the Silverstone Golf Club cottages the night before, mainly talking cars and mods, and
compiling a wish list of what to do next. There were also a couple of people who hadn’t attended a track day before which made the whole community of the group great to be a part of.
It's probably fair to say that the majority of the Mustangs weren’t stock vehicles; loads of upgrades on engines, some superchargers, various suspension set-ups, and in Ben Snape’s case, a fully stripped-out track car.
As I mentioned last time, I’ve been thinking about fitting some new wheels to my Mustang, and have since ordered a set of the stunning Velgen VF5s through Steeda, that look so right on the S550. As these are larger at 20in the new wheels would require new tyres regardless, so I thought Silverstone was the perfect place to finishoff
the old 19in Pirellis currently on the car before I make the switch.
I’ve never had too many issues with the stock tyres. OK let me take that back… on a wet circuit they don’t give a great deal of confidence as they constantly want to slide. That’s fine on an empty track, but when you have some pretty well-specced 911s and Ariel atoms swarming around you, it’s very much a case of treading delicately!
As the circuit dried out, however, the car felt more confident and hit in excess of 125mph on the straight – my mate's BMW M4 just crept over 130, and there really wasn't a great difference between the two on track times.
The Steeda set-up with the IRS kit, engine brace, and classic K-bracing makes a huge difference and the car handles really well.
The linear sports springs give the car a much lower centre of gravity and really help with direction changes too (Mustang owners, we’ve got a handling upgrade feature coming soon to show you just how to get your ‘Stang handling both on track and road, keep your eyes out for it in a future issue).
One thing I did notice, however, was some brake fade. They’re heavy old cars these Mustangs, so a new Steeda brake set-up will coincide with the new Velgen wheels being fitted.
Then to really test the upgrades I’m already booked in for a track day at Rockingham a few days after! Busy times, but I'm loving the fact the Mustang just keeps getting better!