We custom ordered this 2024 Mustang Darkhorse with the optional handling pack and received it in October of 2023. We utilized this car to test fit many of the S550 suspension parts we sell, and even developed a few new products for the S650 chassis using this car.
In August of 2024 we stopped driving this car then detailed it inside and out for a quick sale. At the time we had MCS triples and aftermarket wheels on the car with an elevated price.
That “hopped up” Darkhorse did not sell, so in October of 2024 we removed the aftermarket suspension and put this car back to stock. It has 1765 miles and many parts have fewer than that. We have it priced aggressively – you can see all of the details and a lot more pictures at this classified page.
Please first check the classified page to see the status of this car (has it sold yet?), but if its still listed with a price it is still available for purchase. This car has always been stored indoors and looks flawless in person. Give us a call to schedule a test drive. Thanks!
We haven’t introduced a new Project Build Thread onto our forum in a minute, but we started writing this one of our E36 M3 “Barn Find” (Project Hellrotten) back in July when we took it out of long term storage. That goal was to see if we could restore this car to a running state and/or make it into a usable race car and product test mule.
The paint + interior condition and 214K miles prevented this one from being a good “restoration” and flip candidate, but a race car don’t care about any of that! In only 3 weeks our crew had this car running again, swapped in new rotors / hubs, developed a new brake cooling solution for the E36, and began much of the deferred maintenance that this car needed.
This link goes to the Vorshlag E36 Development thread which will cover the build up of this car as well as bring in some E36 tech we have learned over the last 20 years of owning and racing these cars. We stopped our first entry after we got the car running, but will go back and fill in the blanks of everything we have done to date. Stay tuned for track test #2 in this car soon! #E36tech
The last year competing with our Time Attack Mustang we call Trigger has been pretty amazing, but it wasn’t without some tough beginnings, from January to October of 2023. In our latest update to our S550 Forum Build thread we cover the challenges we had in the summer of 2023 – with low oil pressure plaguing the performance of our HPR 454″ LS7, to the lack of grip before we added some aero enhancements.
This thread updateextensively covers every step of the front splitter construction and rear “floating C-pillar” wing installation on our S550 Mustang track car shown here. We delve a little into the theory, the rules, the tunnels added, the rear mounting bracket, and the exposed splitter struts. We also talk about our dual element Nine Lives Racing carbon rear wing, how we mounted that, and then our initial testing with aero – which was still with the factory GM “LS7” based internal 2 stage dry sump system.
Adding aero and more lateral grip made our low oil pressure issues even worse, so we immediately paused the race season so we could add an external 4 stage dry sump pump. That “bolt on” job snow balled into custom machining virtually every part we started with to fit correctly. This was a huge amount of work, and once it was finally mounted, it was still a lot of plumbing. We take the time to explain all of the steps of this external dry sump pump conversion, with pictures and warnings to others, in the forum thread. But all that work paid off, big time.
At our first competition event after this work in October of 2023 we had our biggest lap time drop and a huge win, which we discuss in the forum build thread with pictures and video. We have since changed the aero package in several ways, which we will cover in future updates, but this initial setup was a massive upgrade to this car and makes it much more enjoyable to drive on track. Thanks for reading!
After 7 years of ownership, and spending way too much time and money building it up, the Vorshlag “parts runner” 2000 Chevy regular cab / short bed Silverado 1500 has a for sale page, that reads like a build book.
This Arctic White truck has a lot of unique modifications and parts, including a Belltech 5/7 drop suspension kit (with numerous customized tweaks by Vorshlag Motorsports to get the ride height level), C-notched frame kit, an auto leveling Air Lift rear bag setup, Bilstein 5100 monotubes with remotes, and an upgrade to the biggest OEM brakes from this GMT800 trucks and Tahoe.
The engine was changed for a spicier LS variant built by Erik Koenig of HorsePower Research, which is a 5.7L inside an iron LS block, all forged internals, and completely rebuilt and dyno tuned by Sergio at LG Motorsports. It has a port matched Dorman TrailBlazer SS style intake, American Racing Headers 1-7/8″ stainless long tubes, and a custom stainless 3″ exhaust with a massive MagnaFlow muffler. The 4L60 is rebuilt with a 2800 stall, and the rear end has a new Auburn LSD and 3.73 gears, as well as new bearings and seals.
The body was repainted in 2021 with a 2005 Silverado SS front end conversions, which includes: new fenders, hood, lights, grill, bumper, and SS nose. This truck sits on Weld Racing 20×11″ wheels and 315mm Bridgestone rubber, which are also new. The interior is immaculate. This truck has numerous Vorshlag details throughout and will make the new owner very happy, and popular every time it pulls into a parking lot.
We are here to answer any questions – just call us at Vorshlag at 972-422-7170. The classified ad also has a LOT more information inside, linked here. Thanks!
In warmer climates driving a race car on a road course for 10-45 minutes can be taxing in the summer months. In this latest article on our forum we describe the types of Driver Cooling Systems out there, what they do, and differences between the two main types: Iceless and Ice Chest based systems. These both have their own Pros and Cons, differing price points, and we give some insight into using and installing both types.
In this article we show how to mount the units, how to wire them, where to put the on/off switch, and even discuss flow controllers for the ice chest based systems. We then talk about a few players in this very small industry, and even show how we made our own mounting tray (twice) and made our own ice chest based cooler, when we couldn’t get to our normal vendor. So yes, we have a DIY build your owner cooler section, which I’m sure some of you will love.
It’s been 3 years since we updated this Forum Build Thread for our 2000 Silverado “shop truck”. That thread was started in 2013 and was originally for a similar 1999 GMC “regular cab short bed” truck we called Truck Norris. This was replaced in 2017 by a somewhat vanilla 2000 Silverado “regular cab short bed” truck, and many of the parts from the GMC were swapped over.
We got a little crazy during the pandemic and in 2020 this truck got a race built 5.7L engine from HPR, a built transmission, 3.73 gears, a limited slip, a 5/7″ drop kit from Belltech, and a wheel and tire change. Then a tree fell onto the truck and damaged the front end – so we upgraded to the 2003-07 Silverado front, with the Silverado SS bumper cover. That was what we showed in the last update, but shortly after that it went to see our friends at Heritage Collision for the proper alignment of the new body panels, and of course a full respray. This entry into the forum build thread finally shows the work from 2021-2024, including the paint work.
After the truck came back from paint we did a number of upgrades including: the automatic leveling system for the rear bags from Air Lift, an Addco rear swaybar, new window motor, a new dash top from Dashskin, 20×11″ Weld wheels and 315mm tires, and much more. All of that work is covered starting here.
We had the truck dyno tuned at LG Motorsport in early 2024 and that really woke up the truck, as well as fixed some weird tuning issues that 5 previous tuners struggled with. Now that the truck is finished, driving right, and perfect – we’re going to sell it. Why? Well with 4 “shop trucks” now, and one of them needs to go. Look for the classified ad on our website soon, and again you can catch up on the last entry into this build thread here.
We have been building roll cages for race cars at Vorshlag for more than a dozen years, and it is never fun. It is very time consuming, involves a lot of engineering for layout and material choices, takes real math and measurement during construction, tube bending and notching, then a good bit of welding. We wrote about the costs of a building a proper roll cage back in 2015 in this thread, and it has racked up 25K reads. There were a number of shop owners who reached out and said they raised their prices after reading this, and the text we wrote even ended up verbatim on somebody’s website…
Over the past few years in this industry, something has changed – a select few Motorsports fabricators have fully embraced modern technology with and 3D scans of cages, CAD designed tubing, and CNC bent + notched “cage kits”. We have utilized “cage kits” here at Vorshlag in the past, but our latest experience with a kit from Trackspec Motorsports for our shop 2015 Mustang “Trigger” was an amazing experience. We wrote up some of our experiences in this updated forum post.
Everything from the kit just fit perfectly – every tube was bent to fit tightly to the chassis every notch lined up with the marks on the tubes with very tight gaps, and over the course of 15 hours logged we had the floor prepped, plinth blocks placed, and the entire cage installed and tack welded! That included some tricky dash cuts for the A-pillar pass-thrus, shown in the video below.
We managed to get some good images and video clips over the 2.5 days spent prepping the chassis and installing the Trackspec S550 cage kit, which you can see in this 7 minute video. Then we added to our original “roll cages cost money” forum post with additional content on this and another cage kit install we had done on an E46 coupe. We do not have the “right fabricator” on staff to scratch build a roll cage to this level of quality, so for the foreseeable future we will be using pre-bent cage kits for all of the race cars we build. Using one of these CNC built kits saves time, saves money, and gets you a more consistently high quality / tighter fitting cage than a scratch built cage could hope for.
The latest update to the Forum Build Thread for our 2015 Mustang Trigger is a huge 5 part entry. In that we cover work from June through August 2023 – where a LOT of upgrades, testing, an autocross, and finally some actual Time Trial competition – and even the car’s first win. That build thread also covers other work we’ve done on other S550 Mustangs, and even the work on our S650 Darkhorse.
With the massive 112mm throttle body the “throttle response” was absolutely brutal, and keeping the car pointed straight when tipping into or out of the power was a delicate dance. It was costing us a LOT of time on track so we made some drastic changes – removing the BTR Trinity intake and 112 TB and going to a “known quantity” MSD Atomic and 103mm TB. the smaller TB would choke off power but it should also make the car much easier to drive.
That intake swap fixed a lot of the drivability issues (and lost all of 7 hp), but we were fighting a low oil pressure situation after long left hand turns on track – and when pressure would dip below 38 psi a safety protocol in the tune would trigger a sort of rev limiter until oil pressure returned. We fought this issue for 2 months (and with as bad as the Holley data is, it was hard to even pinpoint the cause for a few events) and tried a lot of fixes to the GM LS7 based “Dry sump” oil system (we fixed it later by going to an external 4 stage dry sump pump and new pan).
We cover dozens of worthwhile updates in this 5 part Forum Post, like this driver cooling system from dfuser.com. That helped get us through those hot summer Time Trial events! But we fought major issues with Holley EFI and dash, an Optima battery, and more. We show hundreds of pictures and over a dozen videos in the coverage this time.
This couple of months of work on Trigger were INTENSE in the shop, with our shop manager Brad doing all of the work, but also working with engineering team, outside tuners, and everyone who worked at the track with this car. It might seem like I was a little frustrated when writing this five part Forum entry, just know that LIVING these months of struggle was much worse!
Hopefully some of you can learn from our mistakes and tests of new products from this difficult stint on this project. The next forum update will cover more fun things and a HUGE improvement in oil pressure, downforce (see above), and a major drop in lap times. I’m actually looking forward to writing the next entry – that’s when this car started REALLY kicking ass! Thanks for reading the coverage, even these un-fun parts, and hopefully we will see you at the track more in 2024!
We got wind of the S650 Mustang Darkhorse more than a year ago and decided to order one in March of 2023, before the order banks opened. Our friends at Riser-Harness Ford helped us spec out the Race Red 2024 Darkhorse 6-speed below, which has all of the performance options and stickered at $67K. In this Project Introductory forum build thread post we explain the costs and compare them to the Shelby GT350, our 2018 “Poverty Spec” S550 Mustang GT, and the 2024 Mustang GT Brembo and PP versions.
On October 8th our car arrived right at the race track, and with 5 miles on the odometer out on track we went, taking 5 sessions with 4 drivers that day. The initial lap times from this Track Test #1 were pretty dang good, and the DH outmatched the Race Red 2024 Mustang GT “Brembo” package car that Corey from Five Star Ford brought out that same day. We have data logged in-car videos of both cars from this test, as well as more DH videos from Test #2 and #3, all in this forum post.
And while this is one of the heaviest Mustangs we have weighed this side of a GT500, the on-track performance belies the mass and the amazing drive-by-wire brakes are simply outstanding. We share data from all 3 track tests showing incredibly high braking g forces. We also take a deep dive into the differences and similarities between the S550 and S650 Mustang chassis with respect to suspension, brakes and even wheel fitments. You can see that in the first part of this 4 part Forum Build Thread entry – and remember, every picture can be clicked for higher resolution images or even videos.
We added Vorshlag camber plates in Track Test #2 and SPL Parts lower front arms for even more camber in Track Test #3 (above), with lap times dropping each time and closing in on Porsche GT4RS and 911 GT3 times – all with just camber and some brake cooling. We get into a pretty deep dive on upcoming classes we are building towards with Amy Fair being the main driver for competition in the Darkhorse for the 2024 season. Take a read starting here and hopefully you will enjoy the ride!
A long overdue Forum Build Thread update covers the last 2 months of competition and test events we ran in #ProjectNewBalance, our narrow body C6 Corvette that we worked on in 2021 and campaigned in SCCA and NASA TT in 2022. The forum post is a big 3 parter, so go grab a snack and login on a device with a larger screen – as every image can be clicked for higher resolution pictures or videos.
In addition to the track tests and Time Trials, we also cover many months of development work to the C6 and our biggest single break-through yet – front brake cooling. This was a game changer for this car, and remember – we also had an ABS swap (Mk60) and ran three different brake systems (base, Z51 and C6 Z06 brakes). No other single brake system mod made a bigger difference then this, and its a simple upgrade. Wish we had done this sooner! Live and learn…
The Forum Update also goes over a bunch of power upgrades we did after securing the Tuner2 Texas Region championship for 2022, and these changes (heads / cam / intake / cold air / new headers / tune) netted an 80 whp gain on the dyno. We show the way that we built the exhaust to keep it all quiet, too.
Finally, this “final” update shows all of the paint and prep that went into making this C6 have a car show level finish, with 60% of the body repainted, plus loads of detail work done in early 2023. This all came together in a “car for sale page” that worked well, and this C6 sold quickly.
But fear not – we now have merged our C5 and C6 development threads into this one mega thread and will update it more, like when our all carbon C6 Z06 comes into the shop (soon) and gets a more aggressive TT build than any other car we have built in the last 20 years at Vorshlag. Stay tuned for more!
