GT500, a wolf in sheeps cloth

                         as supercar killer

Tuning GT500

The story is well known. Of those people who accept everything, what automotive journalists like Jeremy Clarkson of the Top Gear TV show are telling as the truth. More than often is told that a Mustang can’t be fast. Lek Import Cars proves the contrary. The GT500 in this story needed to be fast. Really fast! But still had to look as much as possible like a standard Mustang. Read below how we did the job.

Biased car journalists
More than once automotive journalists tell things that aren’t completely based on the truth. Sometimes it even seems that they just parrot each other. Often we don’t mind, and more than often we think it even is entertaining, unless it’s about an American Muscle Car and we are able to prove the contrary.

• Comment 1 Automotive Journalist: ‘Oh so you really think you are quick in that Mustang?’
• Our answer: 'We don’t only think that, we know it is fast. I’ll race you in your German car or even in your Italian horse'

• Comment 2 Automotive Journalist: ‘Haha, after the first corner you will lose and only see my tailpipes, your American so called sportscar can only make a turn on the parking lot but as soon as a highspeed corner will show up you will shit yourself because of the ancient suspension. And besides that, they also say your interior looks cheap with all that plastic.'

• Our answer: 'Sure, let’s race and see who is faster, but don’t lift as you’ll need all the power you have, after we’re done you can have look at my cheap ass interior!'

We are happy to prove that Clarkson and all his fellow biased automotive journalists are wrong with the GT500 in this story. This GT500 needed to be fast, with only hidden modifications and or done in such a way the looks remain nearly stock to the unexperienced eye. The goal is set to 700HP at the rear wheel, so approximately 850 at the flywheel. To line these horses up a suspension that can keep all noses in the same direction, but in such a way it can still be used as a commuter or taken for a Sunday drive with the wife and kids on a sunny afternoon. It’s like asking for a untamed wild horse which also has to be ridden by your 7 year old niece. This is the challenge we are often facing at Lek Import Cars.

See the pictures at the Facebook page of Lek Import Cars ›

Read the review of professional race car driver Donald Molenaar with this car on the track ›

Tuning by Lek Import Cars
We made the following modifications to the engine;

We started with the heat exchangers. The front bumper is removed to get better access and make preparations for the larger units . The AFCO heat exchanger is about 3 times the size of the stock heat exchanger and the new Lek Import Cars developed heat exchanger will be mounted above the bumper beam. The installation requires the horns and the stock intercooler pump to be removed, the first goes the RH side and the latter moves to the left side inner fender. While we were there we took out the stock radiator and dropped in a C&R race radiator and a 170 degree thermostat. But cooling is not the only factor that makes running a supercharged car hard a safe game, providing enough fuel is the next issue.

Most superchargers are supplied without injectors or injectors that don’t have enough capacity to keep up with the increased airflow and horsepower numbers. We are installing 72 pound injectors from Injector Dynamics, the fuelpumps are rewired and a set of double pump boosters installed so we have a constant 20V at our fuel pumps. To make sure these boosters can get enough power the stock 130 amp alternator is swapped out for a 200 amp unit.

Now that we have addressed these issues we can go on and install the new camshafts, these were special grind by L&M as the owner wanted the 60’s muscle car sound. and so we did. Next is the TVS 2.3L supercharger with a JLT 127mm cold air intake, the high flow inlet elbow and Ford Racing throttle body. This should take care of enough air for the 850 horses to breath and fresh air, the MAF sensor can still keep up with the demanded airflow so no problems there. The smaller 2.4 pulley required the installation of a larger idler pulley and an extra tensioner to prevent beltslip. Taking in more air means we need to exhale more as well so we opted for a set of highflow race cats welded in an MRT H-pipe, this assures us we don’t have a GT500 with an asthmatic breathing character. And just because your want to hear the potential of mods installed a pair of Ford Racing mufflers where trown.

The rear suspension modifications are;

The front suspension modifications are;

  • Steeda X5 balljoints 
  • Intrax Mcpherson coilovers
  • Steeda adjustable swaybar
  • Maximum Motorsports topmounts
  • Adjustable swaybar endlinks
  • Maximum Motorsports “bumpsteer” set.

Selecting suspension modifications: is just like selecting engine modifications a delicate process of weighing function against performance and the ultimate goal as set by the driver. The driver wanted the Griggs racing rear suspension, so that was our base to start with. To provide the best possible handling and still maintain optimal ride quality a set of coilover shocks from Intrax racing were selected. This way we obtain better handing, a lower car and better ride comfort than the stock springs have.

Lowering a car can be done for looks, but we wanted better handling and steering response. It's too bad that in 90% of all attempts people fail to get better handling. On most occasions this is not caused by the harshness of the springs or the springs being to short but simply because adjusting the geometry is simply overlooked because, people don’t know. Lowering a car usually means the geometry is messed up because the balljoints and steering joints are in a wrong angle compared to the lowered suspension. To correct this we pressed in new steeda X5 balljoints, a set of camber/caster plates and a bumpsteer kit from Maximum Motorsports. The stock Goodyears were replaced with a set of Michelin Pilot sports, as they provide a lot more traction.

A real supercar killer with a neutral handling
It’s a lovely weekend day. Wife and kids are enjoying themselves in the sun that shines into the car because the rooftop is down. De GT500 is easily steered through the curvy small roads. It accurately follows the corners and bumps. Nobody minds the 700HP because the care is handles like a normal Mustang without nervousness in the engine at lower revs the car is almost quiet.

But the best thing of Sunday is that the Monday is following and we are able to réally drive again. Cause the results are impressive. This is a true supercar killer, high horsepower and neutral handling. We tested a few muffler setups to obtain the right noise levels and correct sound to go with the cams. After the stock mufflers, Steeda mufflers, Ford Facing mufflers the final choice is a set of MAC muffler.

 

The Shelby has lots of power at hands and is very quick, acceleration from 70 kph to illegal speeds like 250+ is unequalled and the top speed should be in the 330/335 kph range

Challenge?
Do you also have a challenge for Lek Import Cars? Please contact us!

 

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