Sneak Peek: A Look Inside Brandon Davis' ACS Express Ford Mustang Cobra

This. Designs like this are why I am going to school for mechanical engineering. Well, that and because I like the idea of walking in my father's footsteps (I suppose it helps that I've been taking things apart and putting them back together in perfect working order since the age of 3 ;P). I mean really, all I want to do is design and build my own car(s?) from the tires up. Hopefully I can do so before fuel prices/availability requires all of us to drive hydrogen powered econoboxes.

Mike, what exactly do most designers get wrong about rising rate geometry? I wish you had a series of articles on suspension design; that'd be truly bad ass! Well... at least I think so. I suppose not everybody is quite as excited by suspension design as I am. They should be, though; power is nothing without the ability to put it on the road.

Wow, that is awesome. Thanks for doing a writeup on a muscle-car-based race car!

"The DOHC Modular motor is a large bulky 90 degree V8. It is a physically big and heavy engine weighing over 600 lbs. The twin cam head adds to the engines tallness and bulk."

Ford has a new version of the 5.4 Modular that is all aluminum and much lighter. I wonder if that version will be homologated soon?

And I have never heard of a dry-sump transaxle until now. Pretty trick.

A lot of OE suspensions are falling rate as well. I agree I never liked it. For OE stuff its a packaging issue. For purpose build cars I never understood it either.

All real race cars have dry sump pumps for the gearbox. You gotta cool it and there is really only one style of pump that is going to work.

Awesome car indeed! As much as I'd love to see this car in action at one of our events this year (LVMS SEMA Finale maybe?!), I'm not sure it's gonna happen. I will call Brandon and invite him out. Maybe the draw of being at SEMA will help...

Plus, the time attack boys don't like the car. Odd however, that they're more than welcoming to cars such as the Gar Rev FD, HKS CT230R or the World Racing AWD beast. This car is no different...

Mike, thank you for being real on this one. The more I was reading, the more I kept thinking, there isn't much Mustang left underneath that shell! Then you said so yourself. Of course as you were reading off the SCCA homologationg power stats I kept thinking LS2 with intake, exhaust and tune with a whole lot LESS weight! Mike I've read through all your Suspension 101 articles but I don't remember much about falling rate? Is there a reason more guys don't use rear canards for aero and down force like ACS?

IIR, this team was selling woof tickets online for the redline event at Infineon last year. And got their ass handed to them. I think that's why they don't really have the respect from the other TA teams. You need to earn it.

Mike, those are Ohlins 46HRC dampers. The black adjuster knob on the nose of the reservoir gives it away; the only other Ohlins damper that looks like that is the 46HRX and it is missing the black adjuster knob on the reservoir. All of the hardware styling and colors are correct for the 46H-series dampers.
I'm a nerd, I know.

^^^ Kognition.. Certainly the Infineon event didn't exactly play out as ACS had hoped it would... However, I think you're hitting on the wrong subject. It isn't about respect from other TA teams.. it's about double standards. Any right minded car nut would look at this car and say it's a beast! However, many TA teams don't want the car there at all.. period. Sorta like other guys that want to ban "race cars", Flat 6 engines, OHV engines, and engines with more than 8 cylinders... Lame, Lame and more Lamesauce on top...

Its a nice Trans Am car. Oh. Its not a Trans Am car. Its a World Challenge car.

Double A arm front and rear, transaxle. Lots of tubes, where there used to be unibody.

It is a cool car. A fast car. Did well out at Long Beach this weekend. I think its the perfect unlimited Time Attack car.

Also 475-550 hp for World Challenge GT car, its in the rule book, but if you are 550-600 whp, you are probably closer to real life.

I also took load of pics while in Sonoma.
I'll post 'em up later. Feel free to chime in if you want to.
Thanks.

Loved reading this. Thanks!!

I don't know why they aren't doing any time attack. For an unlimited class car, i don't see a problem. Modified is another story.

probably because of all the tubes were the unibody used to be. not allowed in TA

Small corrections. The picture you labeled as swirl pot is actually the dry sump tank. (never seen a swirl pot with -16 fittings). The Motec race ABS doesn't exist. It is pressure sensors for front and rear line pressure to measure brake bias in the Motec dash. If the car has ABS, then I am sure it is the Bosch Motorsports system. Expensive, but awesome.

Otherwise, great article. Keep up the good work.

PS, This car is REALLY pushing the edge of Unlimited class IMO, but still within the rules. I need to ask for concessions on my build....

Steve, I was thinking that as well but the tank was really small and thin as well as an odd place for a dry sump. They are usually big Peterson tanks in the back of the car. This tank looked like it was only 4 quarts at the most. Plus with the radiator really low mounted I was not sure, I could not look too close least we get in trouble. The check valves look like dry sump things though for sure.

A lot of teams reluctantly let you snoop around and tell you not to look at things usually its aero and under the car. They also get nervous if you ask too detailed questions. I think thats why racecar engineering car articles usually suck. They play nice.

This car has high pressure solenoids with the Motec controlling them as ABS actuators plus all the sensors. The team wrote their own code. The teams engineer told me so.

The only reason why the car did so so at Infineion was because the rain. If it was dry, a lot of the AWD RTA cars would have gotten a run for the money.

Did you notice the -16 radiator lines?

Scott most rocker type suspensions I see are falling rate including the rear suspension on Vaugh Gitten's much hyped RTR Mustang. Falling rate equals fail.

Badass car but....

Since when do TA rules allow tube chassis like this, even in Unl?

Now that's a Mustang I would be happy to buy! Well, maybe a little more streetable and a few hundred grand cheaper...

Mike, I'm wondering if the falling rate suspension is to better deal with driving over the curbs. I read somewhere a long, long time ago the BTCC cars used falling rate suspensions to keep from upsetting the chassis while crashing over the curbing.

Sorry Mike. I just got off the phone with the Data Guy for that car. It is the dry sump tank in the picture. Next to the brake fluid reservoir is the coolant header tank.

The ABS system interfaces with the Motec electronics. It has custom software and is based on a popular racing ABS system that is currently available, but is not produced by Motec.

I've been a fan of Brandon Davis since he first poped up on SCCA in his black and green Mustang. I am a car fan in general, no matter what type of engine or catagory. This car is INSANE, it is one of my favorite race cars at the moment, right there with the Seirra Seirra Evo, GST Impreza, DTM cars, and most other race cars. You can hate on the fact that it is a V8 and isn't like the rest of the TA cars in REDLINE but the engineering, fab work and products used on this car are nuts. Plus as a bonus it just looks like it is going jump up and eat you that's how mean it looks.

When I first got into cars I had dreams of Running in the NATCC in the DC Sports Accord and when that got canceled I switched to World Challenge with a passion for the Real Time ITR's but after quite a few years of being interested and working up to a competition license with the SCCA I saw a very disheartening thing occur when the then new CTS-V was allowed to raise it's entire floorboard 2 inches - at that point I pretty much lost all respect for the series and this car while well made and probably very fun to drive shows how far from production based this series has strayed. Maybbe one day it will be back but it looks like the Continental Series for the time being is much closer to what I had hoped for with WC.

^^^^ CircuitSports.. I'm sure Mike @ MotoIQ will jump in here again.. but this is one reason we decided to launch the MotoiQ Pacific Tuner Car Championships, MPTCC... A series that requires the cars to be production based, doesn't allow the crazy stuff to occur, but does encourage modifications and use of aftermarket components.

That's one knock I have on the Grand-Am series.. the cars are too boring.

MPTCC Tuner Under is perfect for World Challenge Touring Class cars, and for many other SCCA and NASA prepped cars..

Tuner Over allows for more power, and falls somewhere around a GT-S World Challenge car and a Grand-Am GS car.. but the cars can look MUCH better/cooler, sound cooler, etc

I'm keeping my fingers crossed we'll see 15 cars race at Auto Club, and i know of a bunch of guys that want to come race in the series. I think the MPTCC has some great potential!

That is a really small dry sump tank unless it is really long. I wonder why they put it in such a weird spot where its getting roasted by the header and is in a poor location for weight distribution and up so high to screw up the CG considering how well the rest of the car is thought out. It also interferes with maintenance as it gets in the way of stuff.

Falling rate is WORSE on curbs. I would hydraulically use the dampers for platform control and use rising spring rate and the high speed circuit for curb impact. Its worse for aero load as well.

Steve I edited the story to reflect what you found out.

Cool Mike. I just want to help keep this the best website out there. I am not trying to pwn anyone.

Cool car, but I don't know if it should be an unlimited time attack car. If it is, then a factory F40 LM (Le Mans) is legal too. They are very similarly equipped except that one car is 20 years old and designed for endurance racing.

This is a proper race car. Shouldn't really be doing any time attack but it is absolutely awesome.

I think Nikolas could speak more to legality of the ACS Mustang in the Unlimitd Class but I think the SS Evo could take it, maybe even the GST impreza or the FXMD NSX, therefore I'm kinda like, eh (shoulder shrug). Most of the top dog unlimited guys seem to be high dollar anyway, so I don't know the real difference dollarwise between ACS guys and the rest?

Der Bruce pretty much nailed it. The top dog Unlimited Class TA cars have nothing to be worried about from this car. Sure, maybe a Porsche GT3 RSR in ALMS trim.. but even then, Unlimited Class cars have come SO FAR over the last 24 months, they're in the ball park of the world's top GT cars..

Cyber EVO, SSE, GST, FXMD, etc...

If you, as a competitor or team owner are content with seeing who is the fastest among your small group of fellow competitors, within only the "tuner scene", then fine. If the object is to make statements and prove to the global motorsport community at large, that Unlimited Class TA cars are serious business and deserve recognition, then statements need to be made and you can't cower from "real race cars". ESPECIALLY if you are begging and screaming for media attention, TV shows and huge corporate sponsors... Sorry guys, you can't have one without the other.....

I've never been shy about my personal beliefs (and naturally, the philosophies of the Series I created and run today...). I am a huge fan of TA and love the teams involved, but as a competitor and athlete my whole life, I simply cannot grasp the logic of self-imposed limitations.

Billy tells me the FXMD car is about as fast as a Datonya Prototype.

"The top dog Unlimited Class TA cars have nothing to be worried about from this car. Sure, maybe a Porsche GT3 RSR in ALMS trim.. but even then, Unlimited Class cars have come SO FAR over the last 24 months, they're in the ball park of the world's top GT cars.."

....for 1 lap. That's not really in the same ball park to me, but I get your point. The world's top GT cars can do it for 50 minutes at a time and in some cases 24 hours at a time. That is what the benefit of a race budget gets you: time attack speeds all day long (literally). Time attack cars truly are low budget when you put them next to programs like ACS'. But that's why they can only go fast for 1 lap.

Why hasn't this car been seen at any more TA races? Will it be making more TA appearances?

Any idea what it's lap times are at typical TA visited tracks? On R888 and/or slicks?

Beuller?


Anyway, just saw this car on TV from LBGP. Great driving and well sorted car!

I think it's because they were only going to try TA for one event? It's probably a little faster than it is in WC trim, no awards weight, no restrictor and more aero with better tires.

Bummer it was just a teaser. Would love to see what this car can do on R888 as well as slicks at some typical TA attended tracks regardless of it's legality as a TA car.

A lil birdie told me that GMG (the 2nd place team at LBGP) did 1:15 in testing at SOWS in current trim. Interesting comparo even tho not an officially TA raced track. Wonder how that translates at BW, WSIR, ACS etc?

MXPOP > Those times from GMG at Streets are legit. One of their "customer" drivers, Tom Drissi, stopped into the shop after their testing was done that day and was letting us know how things were going in his prep ahead of the GPLB..

Not sure what other notable TA cars have run on Streets...

What's your fastest time there in your car?

Last time at SOWS with STI was our shakedown run 2.5 yrs ago. We did an easy 1:20 right away with several issues slowing us down that day. Based on what we could do at other tracks then versus now (after sorting out shakedown issues, we did 1:54 at BW 2.5 yrs ago, we recently ran 1:48 there at SLB) I predict that a 1:15 or better would be no problem, esp with the improved track since then.

Was Tommy in a GMG Porsche at LBGP? Didn't think all 6'6" of him could even fit.... ;-)

Tommy did drive in the GP.. he didn't fair very well, finishing nearly last in GT.. and he was NOT happy, to say the least, when I saw him after the race... Polite words were not exchanged between Tommy and the GMG crew..... ;-)

^^^ That's too bad. I know Tommy and GMG have both had success seperately but apparently they didn't gel well together. Do you happen to know the nature of their issues?

BTW, all our times listed are for our Mod class legal car while the GMG cars would be classed as Unl+ or ???

The GT3 Cups in World Challenge trim would be Super Modified... They were already, regardless of the tires used, but certainly now that they are on Pirelli slicks..

I could read this article monthly and look at the pics daily. Awesome article, insane car.

Redline TimeAttack turned out to be lame, lame, and more lame ( I called that fall at the beginning of the 2010 season)

The inability to differentiate between this purpose built race car and some of the above listed TA cars is somewhat confusing. Seems obvious, not only because of the purpose and process of the build, but also the mechanical and financial differences.

Either way, I have no objections to watching this car get murdered over and over again by top tier TA teams/cars.