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2012 Mustang Boss 302 - Last Lapping Day of 2014

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I went back to the track yesterday, Sept 20, and was hoping to at least get into 1:21.x and 1:20.x if I'm lucky. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. There was plenty of traffic and I could only get a few clean laps in. My recorded best of the day was 1:23.2 with plenty of 1:23.x laps throughout the day. This is 1.2 seconds slower than my last track day best of 1:22.0 (Post: Track Progress & Goals) but on my best lap, I had to get on the brakes on the front straight due to traffic so I know I would have been in the 1:22's.

I also had a friend with me in the car during most of the sessions and I had a best time of 1:23.4 while he was in the car. I don't know how to adjust for additional weight on our track (or any other track for that matter) but if we use the rule of thumb for 1/4 mile drag racing, 0.1 sec/100 lb, that would be 0.64 sec/100 lb for our 1.6 mile track. My friend is around 200 lb. so that should be worth approximately 1.3 second which would mean the 1:23.4 lap would have been 1:22.1 lap. Now this is completely different from drag racing. On a road coarse, a car isn't just going flat out in a straight line, there is a lot of turning and braking and the brakes on a car are much more powerful than their engines so additional weight should have a smaller impact on braking but I would imagine that the rule of thumb is a good reference. Regardless of the exact number though, I don't doubt I would have been running 1:22.x on my best laps without the added "ballast" or traffic. The question is, would I have got a 1:21.x? Unfortunately, I won't find out until next spring because this was the last lapping day of the year.

On a different note, my friend who has the 2012 Boss 302 that was there at the last lapping day was here as well. His modifications are Steeda Boss 302 springs on the front (stock rear springs, he was experimenting with different spring rates), Steeda rear LCA, AE alum driveshaft, FRPP brake cooling ducts, and SS brake lines. His best time at the last lapping day was 1:24.3 if I remember correctly. This time, he was on on his track tires though; 275/40/18 Nitto NT01 tires on 18" x 10" wheels. His best time of the day was an impressive 1:17.9. Time for some track rubber..

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