Some of you may have seen the article in this month's SportsCar where my FS prepped Mustang is compared with a prepped BMW 335i...and the results are surprising, to say the least.
Yeah, both myself and Jason Isley were faster in the Mustang than we were in the BMW, but the times were very close (too close)...I went 53.60 in the Mustang/53.77 in the BMW and Jason went 53.73/53.97.
Before anyone starts thinking that the BMW can really hang with the Ford in FS, or that neither one of us knows how to drive a Mustang, a couple of points need to be made regarding conditions.
Results were skewed a bunch because of conditions, which can be a problem anytime you're trying to take real info from a single data point. First, we ran on BFG R1's (rather than my normal Hoosier A6) and my car was just not happy on them (at all), even after I softened the back and played with pressure, to try and get some grip, it was loose, loose, loose. I could have gone full stiff on the front bar, but by that point I didn't really want to mess with the car too much to find a set up for tires that I'd never run again. Second, there was one long acceleration zone where the Mustang was on the limiter for a prolonged period (but shifting to third wouldn't have worked) and the BMW could keep accelerating, with it's taller gear. I'm sure that was good for at least a couple of tenths. Third, the course surface was not the best in the world, so the BMW's lack of LSD actually helped stabilize the car. And, finally, there weren't any long sweepers, where the Mustang could really shine, with its good balance, camber, stiff(er) springs etc...of course, with the marginal grip provided by the tires/surface, maybe that's just as well. I think, if we ran the two cars against each other on 10 different courses, the Mustang would win every time and the gap would be at least half a second on a 60 second course, on average...but, that's just a wild guess, the data we gathered paints a different picture.
Still, it was a bunch of fun to do the test. The guy's from SportsCar were great, BFG came through with free tires, we got plenty of seat time and the BMW was actually surprisingly fun to drive...the 335i definitely has some serious grunt, probabaly acclerates right with the FRPP Power Pack Mustang.
Yeah, both myself and Jason Isley were faster in the Mustang than we were in the BMW, but the times were very close (too close)...I went 53.60 in the Mustang/53.77 in the BMW and Jason went 53.73/53.97.
Before anyone starts thinking that the BMW can really hang with the Ford in FS, or that neither one of us knows how to drive a Mustang, a couple of points need to be made regarding conditions.
Results were skewed a bunch because of conditions, which can be a problem anytime you're trying to take real info from a single data point. First, we ran on BFG R1's (rather than my normal Hoosier A6) and my car was just not happy on them (at all), even after I softened the back and played with pressure, to try and get some grip, it was loose, loose, loose. I could have gone full stiff on the front bar, but by that point I didn't really want to mess with the car too much to find a set up for tires that I'd never run again. Second, there was one long acceleration zone where the Mustang was on the limiter for a prolonged period (but shifting to third wouldn't have worked) and the BMW could keep accelerating, with it's taller gear. I'm sure that was good for at least a couple of tenths. Third, the course surface was not the best in the world, so the BMW's lack of LSD actually helped stabilize the car. And, finally, there weren't any long sweepers, where the Mustang could really shine, with its good balance, camber, stiff(er) springs etc...of course, with the marginal grip provided by the tires/surface, maybe that's just as well. I think, if we ran the two cars against each other on 10 different courses, the Mustang would win every time and the gap would be at least half a second on a 60 second course, on average...but, that's just a wild guess, the data we gathered paints a different picture.
Still, it was a bunch of fun to do the test. The guy's from SportsCar were great, BFG came through with free tires, we got plenty of seat time and the BMW was actually surprisingly fun to drive...the 335i definitely has some serious grunt, probabaly acclerates right with the FRPP Power Pack Mustang.