New Vorshlag Location + S197 Development Updates

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Fair

A lot to cover in this blog post, which is expanded upon in a giant S197 Development forum thread update starting here. This update has over 100 pictures and lots of behind the scenes information about several cars and both construction and the move to our new location.

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That’s right – we’ve upgraded! Starting October 25th, Vorshlag started moving to it’s new, doubled-sized location. Our new address is 1703 Capital Ave, Plano, TX 75074. Phone number is the same, of course.

Our crew built all new steel front fender flares to cover the bigger 335mm tires which we wanted to use for the 2014 OUSCI event after SEMA, which look spectacular! The folks at Heritage Collision did the paint work and now our 2011 Mustang test mule looked presentable for the SEMA show.

We went ahead and made a new set of S197 wing uprights and end plates to work with the beautiful AJ Hartman Racing carbon wing element out back.

The finished result looks amazing and should produce less drag and more downforce on track.

The S197 Development forum thread update covers the final bits of work done to this ST3 prepped 2013 Mustang we worked on for about 6 weeks, transforming it from a street car to a race car. We also touch on some S550 Mustang (2015+) development and testing in the same forum post. Thanks for reading!

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Vorshlag Weighs 2015 Mustang Performance Package GT 5.0 6-spd!

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Fair

We finally got the call today from Corey White at Five Star Ford… their first 2015 Mustang arrived, and it was a 5.0L 6-speed Performance Package car in yellow. Faster than you can say “what’s it weigh?” we were rocketing to their dealership with our scales in the back of Truck Norris!

We got there and immediately weighed the car – and were shocked when it came in 100 pounds lighter than the magazines are reporting. 3718 pounds without “trunk junk” was impressive. The car looked damned good in yellow, too.

Read our new S550 Development Thread to see more pictures and also weights of 3 other similar cars we have taken to compare this S550 GT to. Its in good company, well under the weight of a 2014 Z/28 (by more than 100 pounds). We got to take a brief test drive as well, and you can read Terry’s first hand impressions in this post.

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Mustang Products and Updates

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Fair

In the latest post from our S197 Forum Build Thread we cover some new products we’re developing as well as a NASA ST3 build underway on a customer’s 2013 Mustang GT.

This car is getting a full roll cage, massive aero, and much more. We’ve removed a lot of junk from this car during the cage install, including 74 pounds of junk from within the doors (window glass, window motors, tracks, door beam and interior panels).

We have weighed numerous items that have come out of this car during race prep, which include the a/c system parts as well. Every component was photographed on a scale, for you “weight junkies” out there.

Lastly we cover a local SCCA autocross we entered in our TT3 prepped Mustang. It was raining when Amy drove, drying when Terry drove, and a sloppy mess. But we still had fun. Again, you can read all about this and more in this forum post.

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Lots of S197 Parts and Race Updates

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Fair

We’ve been busy working on a number of cars at the Vorshlag shop, and this forum update in our S197 build thread shows two Coyote 5.0L V8 swaps, the transformation of a street 2013 Mustang GT into a NASA ST3 race car, and more.

We’re going to be sharing the weekly customer work we do in our “This Week in the Vorshlag Shop” forum thread as well as Mustang related stuff in our “S197 Build Thread”

There are also a number of new Mustang brake cooling products we’ve developed, built and added to our website (in this S197 braking section). A lot of this and more is explained in this Brake Cooling Video, too.

Lastly, this recent post details the last 3 events we attended in our TT3 prepped Mustang. We remind folks to tune in August 15th at 7 pm CST on MAVTV to see the coverage of the Optima Ultimate Street Car Qualifier event from March that we won. We hope to see our red Mustang a bit in this hour long show, which re-airs many times on MAVTV. To find what channel this is on your TV provider, click here.

We have a lot of race events scheduled for September and October, plus a shop move to a newer/bigger space, so stay tuned. Until then, smoke em if you got em…

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New Products for S197 plus More TT3 Wins

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Fair

Our latest S197 Forum Build Thread post shows off a variety of new parts we have developed for the 2005-2015 Mustang chassis, and that we have installed and tested on our shop 2011 Mustang GT that we campaign in NASA TT3 class.

From chassis tow hooks, lower pricing on the 13.8″ GT500 rear disc brake conversion kit, our 4″ brake duct backing plates, new rear ride height platforms for use with coilover springs, and even a bunch of new Clearance page items.

We also cover the NASA event at Hallett in June in this build thread update, which was an eventful weekend on many counts.

The Mustang performed well, even if Terry managed to have an “off” that damaged the splitter and packed the grill with grass. After some quick track-side repairs we still managed to win TT3 both days, won 4 tires, reset the TT3 track record by 3 seconds, and secured the regional TT3 championship for 2014 (the first and only entry or team in Texas region to do so). We still have more events to come, including the Optima Ultimate Street Car invitational in November, after we show the car at SEMA all week. Look for the telecast of the March USCA event that the Vorshlag Mustang won overall at. This will air on MAVTV on the dates bolded below.

USCA/Optima Event air dates on MavTV

July 17th 8PM 2013 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational
August 1st 8PM OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car TV Series Introduction Special
August 1st 11PM OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car TV Series Intro
August 2nd 8PM OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car TV Series Intro
August 3rd 5AM OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car TV Series Intro
August 8th 8PM USCA Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
August 8th 11PM USCA Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
August 9th 8PM USCA Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
August 10th 5AM USCA Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
August 15th 8PM USCA Texas Motor Speedway
August 15th 11PM USCA Texas Motor Speedway
August 16th 8PM USCA Texas Motor Speedway
August 17th 5AM USCA Texas Motor Speedway
August 22nd 8PM USCA Daytona International Speedway
August 22nd 11PM USCA Daytona International Speedway
August 23rd 8PM USCA Daytona International Speedway
August 24th 5AM USCA Daytona International Speedway
August 29th 8PM USCA Auto Club Speedway
August 29th 11PM USCA Auto Club Speedway
August 30th 8PM USCA Auto Club Speedway
August 31st 5AM USCA Auto Club Speedway

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Alpha Miata LS1 Update

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Fair

It has been a few months since our last update on the 1999 Mazda Miata V8 swap project, which we call the Alpha LS1 Miata. The latest update (here) covers what we’ve been up to on this prototype build for the past few months.

As you can see when you read the latest build thread update, an all-new tubular rear subframe was designed and built. This new bolt-in subframe houses a Ford 8.8″ aluminum differential housing, which is more than capable to withstand the 450 ft-lbs of torque the motor will put through it.

The rear subframe also has all new rear control arms that we have designed and built, which attach to heavier duty uprights and rear wheel hubs. These were chosen for the input splines’ higher torque capacity, for all new halfshafts that will be added. The aluminum uprights also mount a variety of larger disc brake set-ups.

Check back soon for more updates on the custom tubular front subframe assembly, which is made to house Mazda RX8 aluminum control arms, uprights, hubs and larger brakes. The tubular subframe was chosen to allow for more room for the LS1 V8 as well as proper full length headers. Adding the stronger RX8 hubs and brakes was also a key design goal. Check back here at the Vorshlag blog for future updates!

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S197 Mustang Updates plus GTA at RoadAtlanta

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Fair

We have added a lot of used Mustang parts to our Clearance page – a rear spoiler, a rear wing, some suspension parts, various exhaust system components, and a lot of used race tires. We detail each item added in the beginning of this S197 Build Thread forum update.

We also detail the GTA event at RoadAtlanta in May that we went to with our 2011 Mustang and had “an interesting time” when the brakes boiled into a 150 mph corner.

Finally we cover some lessons learned from this incident and cover the braking system upgrades we have made to this car to handle more heat on longer stints.

These upgrades include: moving to larger front brake ducting (going from 3″ to 4″), to new fluid (higher boiling point), keeping spares handy (brake pads!), and a few good practices we will use from now on. We also take a a critical look at safety gear use in Time Trial and HPDE events. You can read all about it in this 4-part mega post, starting here.

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Pikes Peak Subaru and Scion FR-S V8 Updates

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Fair

We have been busy in the Vorshlag shop working on various race cars and V8 swap kit development. In this blog update we have links to updates two popular build threads – Brianne Corn’s Pikes Peak Subaru and the Alpha build for the Scion FR-S LSx swap.

This is our second part to the 2014 update work we have performed, which you can read starting here. We show lots of pictures showing the details of a new pedal assembly that has an adjustable bias for a dual brake master cylinder set-up.

Another big item added in this update is hard to miss – this giant rear wing we acquired from AJ Hatman Racing. You can see how this custom set of rear wing uprights were built every step of the way.

The Alpha 2013 Scion FR-S V8 swap kit development is coming along nicely, too, and that thread update starts here. We’ve re-designed the motor mounts and are satisfied with those and the transmission crossmember was also tackled. We discuss the trickiness of developing a swap kit vs a one-off build and also detail how to remove spot welds in sheet metal. Enjoy!

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S197 Mustang Races plus S550 Discussion

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Fair

Our latest update to our massive S197 Mustang Build and Development Forum Thread (hosted on 5 forums) covers 4 separate events and discusses a variety of subjects.

First we cover a NASA race in late April where our TT3 prepped 2011 Mustang GT crushed its old track record from 2013 by over 3 seconds while winning the class by 6 seconds. We talk about the changes that we made over the past 12 months to justify this amount of lap time drop on a car with zero power improvements and actually more weight added (tires, wing, shocks, front aero).

We discussed our custom order of a 2015 “S550” chassis Mustang, which is all new. And after going to a car show we got to measure a few things on and sit inside one of the pre-production cars. The 8 minute video of inside, outside and underneath this S550 car got some hits. Again, click here to read the 3-part build thread update for lots more details, pictures and in-car videos. Thanks!

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Pikes Peak Subaru is Back!

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Fair

Brianne Corn’s 2006 Subaru STi hill climb car is back at Vorshlag for some pre-PPHIC 2014 prep! This is the same car she won her class in 2011 with, and ran with in the rain and hail in 2012. After sitting for the better part of two years in the sun the red vinyl wrap was cooked, but the folks at Heritage Paint and Body in Sherman, Texas worked their magic and took it from this…

To this….

Once the body was straight and painted in shiny new Ford Race Red, it came to Vorshlag for some race prep and upgrades, which you can read about starting here.

We have had the car here for a week and have already added an FIA-spec 22 gallon fuel cell, FIA-style bars to the front of the cage, new front bodywork to smooth the transition from the stock bumper cover to the splitter, re-mounted the splitter, added 4″ front brake ducts, and modified the brake pedal assembly and master cylinders.

Again, you can catch up with the work here, and there should be another post next week wrapping up our work before she heads to Pikes Peak to attack the mountain again in June.

Stay tuned!

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