Non-HP dark horse track camber / alignment

[garagely]

Hey I'm looking for some guidance on track alignment for a non-HP Dark Horse. I used to daily the car but now use it mostly for week-end spirited driving and summer track days.

I’ve done about ~10 track days in the car so far, but starting to take it a bit more seriously now that the warranty is coming up and I’m looking to dial things in.

I don’t have the adjustable camber plates that come with the Handling Package, so I’m curious what people are running in terms of alignment without them.
Specifically:

• How much front camber you’ve been able to get on stock hardware. (stock wheels and tire size (Michelin PS4S)
• Whether you’re just maxing out factory adjustment or using other mods
• Whether that’s been “enough” for track use or if camber plates became necessary pretty quickly
• Tire wear vs. performance trade-offs

Trying to strike a good balance before jumping straight to aftermarket plates—but open to it if that’s the consensus.
Appreciate any advice or setups that have worked well.

alignment recommendations from owner's manual below for reference:

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[ChitownStang]

Good questions as I like to do some track nights few times a year.
Look forward to hearing opinions

 

[Stanzi]

Why not just get the Ford Performance ones that come stock on the Dark Horse HP already? Pretty inexpensive all things considered.

 

[Ryunker]

Why not just get the Ford Performance ones that come stock on the Dark Horse HP already? Pretty inexpensive all things considered.

Those I have on my DH, great add on

 

[Junkyard Dog]

May I make some suggestions that you did not ask about?

If not, then please skip this post, and I apologize.

First, tires. Get better tires. PS4S are great tires. I am driving around with them on my Dark Horse since December. I am aware that the Ford Performance school uses them on the Dark Horses for all the tourists. I get it. They are not, however, track tires, and once you try track tires, you will not want to go back (except maybe to use them on track on a rain day).

You will absolutely enjoy your time on track more with stickier tires, something like the Goodyear Supercar F1 3R (a 100 tw tire designed originally for the 1LE Camaro track cars OEM tire). This change alone will shave 3 seconds off of your lap time and give you a lot more confidence going into turns and exiting under throttle.

Also, once you find out what a joy stickier tires are on track, you will probably want to explore wider wheels and tires. The Mustang does not have anywhere near enough front tire. Try 11" all the way around with 305/30R19, the same Goodyear 3R on all four corners and rotate them between track days will get you far better handling and make the tires last longer, saving you money (also 25% off if you are eligible to join USAA, so like buy 3 get one free).

Other tires are available and some are excellent, but the price goes up. The Trofeo RS on the Dark Horse are excellent but expensive. The Trofeo Track is made here in Georgia and is also expensive. The new Hoosier R8 (R7 is being fazed out) is by all reports excellent, but, again, expensive. Those tires are almost (almost) as expensive as using Michelin racing slicks, which would drop another 2-3 seconds off your lap time over "track tires").

Camber plates. The front needs more negative camber. The Ford Dark Horse handling package adjustable camber plates are not enough, so if you are going to go to the trouble of installing camber plates, I would skip this intermediate step and get something better.

Install Vorshlag camber plates. Thank me later. Go do your research online and see whether I am right.

Set the front camber at least -2.5°. With stickier tires you may find yourself wanting -3° or even up to -3.5° but perhaps start with -2.5° which you can also drive on the street if you are not doing the daily stop and go commuting stuff anymore. For your current use of the car, you would not need to change between track and street. Set the toe to 0° or, even better, ever so slightly toe out 0.1°

The rear camber needs more, too. Shoot for around -1.75-1.8° with toe at 0 or ever so slightly toe in. If you are light on the throttle exiting turns (I'm not, lol!), you would be happier with even more.

Toe recommendations are good on the Ford manual above.

Too much toe will tear up the inside of your tires and you will think it is maybe too much camber when that is not the cause at all.

Then increase your spring rate up front. AJ Hartman has a front magneride coilover conversion kit that is surprisingly cheap. Select springs in the 350 - 400 range and you can still live with it off track but vastly improve the performance on track. Rear springs already have a decently high rate.

If the non-handling package Dark Horse has the same brakes as my car, then the brakes are excellent. But at this point you might find that you need to upgrade the stock pads because you are putting a lot more heat into them. Then start looking at upgrading brake pads, which is a bit of a pain, because the after market does not have a whole lot for the S650 Dark Horse brakes yet. I wanted to run Ferodo pads and had even picked out the appropriate compounds only to discover that while they have the S550 covered they do not have anything for the Dark Horse yet. This was disappointing, because with the Ferodo family you do not need to rebed the pads if you swap compounds. You can literally run one compound on the front for the track and another on the street. With other manufacturers that is usually not the case.

So, tires first. This is the single most important thing you can do.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

Also, if you are graduating from street driving to track, depending on your needs for a back seat and such, a proper track seat and roll bar or even a harness bar and so on . . . personally, if I was going to do that (mine is a street car, and my kids sit in the back, well, one, I cannot fit two kids if I am in the front) I would rather do the roll bar and harness and HANS device with the roll bar to keep the roof from collapsing in a roll over and doing something nasty to your spine since the harness will not let you go down into the seat away from the impact. Things we do not like to think about and will probably not happen and so on . . .

 

[BimmerDriver]

Although the 'dog has some good advice above, I'm going to differ a bit. Tires make you faster but not a better driver. Good instruction and experience will make you a better driver. Don't worry so much about laptime per se and instead focus on smoothness and control. So...

Harness bar. Absolutely. Aside from the safety aspect, if you are firmly planted and held in the seat, you'll have better car control and less fatigue. Get belts for your instructor too.

Camber plates: yes, to improve turn-in and reduce tire wear.

Track pads: Yes, to improve braking and reduce the odds of boiling your fluid and experiencing brake fade. There are companies (performance friction used to do it, not sure now) that will make pads for you if they don't stock something that fits.

Then after you've done all of that and have 25+ track days under your belt, then you can consider sticky tires.

Sticky (track) tires aren't as forgiving as street tires and aren't as good for learning.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

Oh, no! He differed a bit. Somebody ban him! My feelings! Oh! This is supposed to be a safe space.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

Then after you've done all of that and have 25+ track days under your belt, then you can consider sticky tires.

He is almost halfway there . . .

 

[Junkyard Dog]

Track pads: Yes, to improve braking and reduce the odds of boiling your fluid and experiencing brake fade. There are companies (performance friction used to do it, not sure now) that will make pads for you if they don't stock something that fits.

I have a serious question regarding the boiling of fluid. Do track pads improve insulation somehow over the OEM Dark Horse brake pads?

I do not know what the OEM brake pads are. Nobody else seems to know, either. Gunslinger55 over at trackmustangsonline may tell us soon by looking at the back of his pads.

 

[BimmerDriver]

I have a serious question regarding the boiling of fluid. Do track pads improve insulation somehow over the OEM Dark Horse brake pads?

I do not know what the OEM brake pads are. Nobody else seems to know, either. Gunslinger55 over at trackmustangsonline may tell us soon by looking at the back of his pads.

First, my apologies for the slight differing of opinion.

Second, I think the OE pads on the DH are quite impressive.

I'm guessing that they are Brembo... but it's just a guess since I never took them off to look or replace.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

First, my apologies for the slight differing of opinion.

Second, I think the OE pads on the DH are quite impressive.

I'm guessing that they are Brembo... but it's just a guess since I never took them off to look or replace.

I'll update here when Gunslinger55 takes his pads off, and my own, too, whenever that happens (they still have plenty of thickness).

 

[Polo08816]

May I make some suggestions that you did not ask about?

If not, then please skip this post, and I apologize.

First, tires. Get better tires. PS4S are great tires. I am driving around with them on my Dark Horse since December. I am aware that the Ford Performance school uses them on the Dark Horses for all the tourists. I get it. They are not, however, track tires, and once you try track tires, you will not want to go back (except maybe to use them on track on a rain day).

You will absolutely enjoy your time on track more with stickier tires, something like the Goodyear Supercar F1 3R (a 100 tw tire designed originally for the 1LE Camaro track cars OEM tire). This change alone will shave 3 seconds off of your lap time and give you a lot more confidence going into turns and exiting under throttle.

Also, once you find out what a joy stickier tires are on track, you will probably want to explore wider wheels and tires. The Mustang does not have anywhere near enough front tire. Try 11" all the way around with 305/30R19, the same Goodyear 3R on all four corners and rotate them between track days will get you far better handling and make the tires last longer, saving you money (also 25% off if you are eligible to join USAA, so like buy 3 get one free).

Other tires are available and some are excellent, but the price goes up. The Trofeo RS on the Dark Horse are excellent but expensive. The Trofeo Track is made here in Georgia and is also expensive. The new Hoosier R8 (R7 is being fazed out) is by all reports excellent, but, again, expensive. Those tires are almost (almost) as expensive as using Michelin racing slicks, which would drop another 2-3 seconds off your lap time over "track tires").

Camber plates. The front needs more negative camber. The Ford Dark Horse handling package adjustable camber plates are not enough, so if you are going to go to the trouble of installing camber plates, I would skip this intermediate step and get something better.

Install Vorshlag camber plates. Thank me later. Go do your research online and see whether I am right.

Set the front camber at least -2.5°. With stickier tires you may find yourself wanting -3° or even up to -3.5° but perhaps start with -2.5° which you can also drive on the street if you are not doing the daily stop and go commuting stuff anymore. For your current use of the car, you would not need to change between track and street. Set the toe to 0° or, even better, ever so slightly toe out 0.1°

The rear camber needs more, too. Shoot for around -1.75-1.8° with toe at 0 or ever so slightly toe in. If you are light on the throttle exiting turns (I'm not, lol!), you would be happier with even more.

Toe recommendations are good on the Ford manual above.

Too much toe will tear up the inside of your tires and you will think it is maybe too much camber when that is not the cause at all.

Then increase your spring rate up front. AJ Hartman has a front magneride coilover conversion kit that is surprisingly cheap. Select springs in the 350 - 400 range and you can still live with it off track but vastly improve the performance on track. Rear springs already have a decently high rate.

If the non-handling package Dark Horse has the same brakes as my car, then the brakes are excellent. But at this point you might find that you need to upgrade the stock pads because you are putting a lot more heat into them. Then start looking at upgrading brake pads, which is a bit of a pain, because the after market does not have a whole lot for the S650 Dark Horse brakes yet. I wanted to run Ferodo pads and had even picked out the appropriate compounds only to discover that while they have the S550 covered they do not have anything for the Dark Horse yet. This was disappointing, because with the Ferodo family you do not need to rebed the pads if you swap compounds. You can literally run one compound on the front for the track and another on the street. With other manufacturers that is usually not the case.

So, tires first. This is the single most important thing you can do.

Are you aware of any aftermarket camber plates that use a more street oriented polyurethane bushing instead of a spherical bearing?

It would be similar to the "street" versions of the Millway camber plates in the BMW world:

https://www.millway.se/collections/camber-plates

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