Had my second track day yesterday with my 2005 Mustang GT and brought an IR temperature gun along to play with. After each 20 minute session, we ran a full lap cool down (2.1 miles with little to no brake use) and then headed to the paddock. I was a little surprised to see that my front brake rotors were 380F to 400F and my rear rotors were 480F to 500F. I know the rear brake rotors have significantly less mass and I added 3” cooling ducts flowing to the front rotors, so maybe this is to be expected.
My question is regarding the TCS on the Mustang. The track started damp in session 1 and I left TCS active as several people were pretty squirrely and I didn’t want to be one of them. Is the TCS on the 05’ Mustang capable of trying to manage the vehicle performance in the turns by applying braking as need to make minimize the chance of a spin? If so, could this lead to the higher rear brake temperatures that I was seeing? I would be surprised if an 05’ Mustang had that level of traction control regarding turns and assumed it would primarily activate if wheel spin was occurring during hard acceleration. Thoughts?
Not sure about a Mustang but when I've tracked my '07 GTI I have had problems with brake fade due to the electronic faux LSD part of the traction control system. Mine utilizes the ABS system to limit wheel slip which, in a track setting if you don't account for it, will definitely put a lot of heat into your brakes. I would advise looking to see if you have any type of "electronic lsd" doodlybobthingamajigger.
Mine was kicking in when I got on the gas for track out. I doubt your Mustang is going to differentiate between wheel spin in a turn vs straight line, so if your traction control is heating your brakes it could be at any point.
Also might be worth looking into the default brake bias.
In reply to fusion66 :
2005 S197 slip control system is ABS/TCS, not Stability Control.
TCS will attempt to manage wheelspin regardless of surface condition or curvature. TCS adjusts fuel flow, spark timing, and drive wheel brake pressure, to manage wheelspin. at lower speeds it uses the brakes more than at higher speeds. i am not surprised by those rear rotor temperatures.
IIRC, LSD was standard on GT Manuals, but optional on GT Automatics. if running an open diff, i would expect more brake TCS than if running an LSD. Maybe that does not apply here but it is worth noting.
IF you can turn off the TCS you'll be better off.
Both your brake pads & rotors will thank you and you'll learn to be a better driver.
None of my experience with a TCS has been favorable but then again I drove a Fox Mustang LX Notch 5.0L 5 spd in Midwest winters and the only adjustment I did was to add 100 lbs of ballast in the trunk and run AS tires.
In reply to AngryCorvair :
Thank you for that feedback and explanation of how the 2005 GT uses the ABS/TCS. It is a manual transmission car so it does have a limited slip diff.
In reply to jimbbski :
I can turn off TCS and do for autocross but lacked the confidence last night to do so on the track. Next time :)
