Noob here... (long)

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Mark 8 U

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Yet another noob on your forum ... just bought a 98 Mark VIII LSC with 157K on the clock and I love it. A little bit about me I suppose ... I manage Dryft Motorsports in Harrisonburg, VA and am new to the Ford community with this purchase. My primary background/knowledge is with cars I've owned in the past and with the ones I currently own now (with the exception of the VIII) ... my '02 Audi S4, '98 and '99 Grand Prix GTP, '01 Bonneville SSEi, '96 Seville STS, '01 Audi A8 4.2, '06 S65 AMG, '92 3000GT VR-4, '98 Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited, and '92 Spirit R/T. Needless to say I've been pretty much everywhere but Ford, but now's as good of time as any for that to change. I've loved the look of the Mark VIII ever since I saw the first one on the highway so here I am.

Now for the mod-bug ... not a single one of my cars is close to stock - I like going fast and I hate to say this is one of the slowest stock cars I've owned thus far but I know she has lots of potential! Haven't even had it a week and I'm already modding it ... just went over all of the maintenance, compression tested (all between 175-180 but that seems a bit low, what do you guys think?) changed fluids, changed the upper control arms, threw in a shift kit and Merc V fluid, nitrous kit goes on Friday, and our techs already have a gleam in their eyes for a turbo setup once we get some other projects finished up. I ordered 4.10s and a posi for some proper Dryft action but still need to get the correct speedo gear if I am reading the forums correctly - the 23 tooth I believe it is ... is this right http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Must...004QQitemZ140061274279QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW?

That's enough of everyones time wasted for now. I've been browsing the forum here and appreciate the wealth of knowledge you guys bring to the forum library/archive. As a thanks I'll do my best to schedule in a dyno day at Dryft for you guys early in the new year so you can try out all of those Christmas gifts for those of you close enough on the east coast. If I can be of assistance to you guys in any way please let me know.

David
DRYFT Motorsports, Inc.
540.433.1179 voice
540.433.2092 fax
 
Welcome aboard! Such skills as yours will help keep LvC the best site on the web. Yeah, I might be a bit biased.
So far it looks like you are on pace for a killer Mark VIII. Should you do a turbo set up, be sure to "photo document" your work for our enjoyment of living vicariously through your passion.
 
Welcome David,

We'll help you get up to speed.

By the time we are done with you, you'll want to sell all those other cars.;)

Best of luck and hope to see you around the site.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome guys! I will definitely share the progress of the turbo kit as soon as we get time to tackle it!

I actually have an Abbott Electronic Ratio Adapter (ERA) floating around the shop somewhere if I can find it. So the ERA is the preferred method rather than changing the speedo gear then?
 
Yes, the electronic pulse is what you want to change... the teeth on 23 tooth speedo gears are very thin and will wear out pretty quickly. I will overlook the word "dryft," but watch out, when Dr.Paul sees that, I don't think it will go well.
 
what shift kit did you go with?

i was tossing around the idea of a kit or the j-mod. went with the mod and its the best i have ever felt. a friend went thru 4 shift kits for his aod before he found 1 that was decent. i let him drive my car and the trans acts better than his under all conditions. he was having trouble with low rpm light throttle shifting.
 
I personally would ONLY do the JMOD. The mod was developed by one who personally helped develop this trans in the first place. No shift kit maker can EVER claim that. Its proven safe and effective. Not only that, you can taylor it to your needs, its not one JMOD for all. Besides buying a couple new bit to make sure they are true to size and some trans fluid, there is no cost to it.
 
MediumD said:
Yes, the electronic pulse is what you want to change... the teeth on 23 tooth speedo gears are very thin and will wear out pretty quickly. I will overlook the word "dryft," but watch out, when Dr.Paul sees that, I don't think it will go well.
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Fair enough, I'll just scrounge up the ERA and throw that on then.

The "DRYFT" thing started as a joke among friends who liked drifting and other generally puerile activities while we were in college. It progressed from plates on the back on my friend's WS6, to plates on his Z06, and ultimately become the business name as well. It works well because we all still love "dryfting" here ... hence once of the first mods being the LSD in the VIII. ;)
 
vr4 said:
what shift kit did you go with?

i was tossing around the idea of a kit or the j-mod. went with the mod and its the best i have ever felt. a friend went thru 4 shift kits for his aod before he found 1 that was decent. i let him drive my car and the trans acts better than his under all conditions. he was having trouble with low rpm light throttle shifting.
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It's actually the B&M kit. I went with the "street" variation thinking that it still wouldn't be firm enough for my likings given how soft the stock shift was, but that turned out to be a big mistake. Assuming the installation/mod went correctly (which I'm certain it did as there were no problems reported by our tech), the "street" variation is neck-snapping on the 1-2 shift. When the car is cold (below freezing mornings) the shift is perfect but as soon as the car warms up to operating temp my 1-2 shift turns on my traction control light nearly every time and with traction turned off give a nice yelp from tire protest. I haven't had the time to address this issue yet but something must be done before it snaps an axle or worse. This is only on the 1-2 shift though, all of the others are quick and firm - perfect.
 
Dr. Paul said:
More info on the '06 S65 AMG please. :D

Now THAT'S a nice car. :)
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Company car - black on charcoal, RennTech sauce, quick ;) Gotta love nearing 1000lb./ft. with minimal mods. It's in Austin, TX and definitely my primary incentive for work there :D
 
Mark 8 U said:
Company car - black on charcoal, RennTech sauce, quick ;) Gotta love nearing 1000lb./ft. with minimal mods. It's in Austin, TX and definitely my primary incentive for work there :D
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Pictures? List of mods? Current boost pressure and such? Dyno sheets? :D
 
Being a company vehicle I haven't dynoed her - when I'm in Austin it's always on business and I'm always booked. She has, however, been verified to have the speed limiter nowhere this side of warp speed with a surprisingly serene 190mph blast - pull was still incredible, there simply was no more road left and I was already hard into those carbon-ceramics (which is just as much fun as the acceleration). A stock CL65 with the speed limiter removed has been officially clocked at 217mph so I can only imagine what the long S could do given a proper straight-away. But I digress, I'll try to remember to post some pics when I get back to the office computer tomorrow ... the mod list is simple and concise enough though:
RennTech ECU
RennTech TCU
RennTech Carbon Fiber Airbox
Kleemann LSD

Stock boost is 1.5bar and people usually dyno around 520rwp/550rwtq on a bad day, and to be fair most of those have been right after break-in restrictions are removed from the ECU when the engine is technically not even fully broken in yet - I've heard of some 550hp/600tq+ stock pulls. According to Renntech's claims with the given mods she's around 760hp/980tq. That equates to high 10s with some skill and low 11's all day long while reading the newspaper when you throw drag radials on her.

As stupid as it may sound it is hard to find words to quantify the car - you can read 600hp or 700hp and 1000lb./ft. but somehow when you finally get in the car they don't do it justice. I personally trounced a C6 Z06 with headers and exhaust with 3 passengers and myself in the car. For those of you familiar with that machine that's quite a feat.

The absolute best part about this car is that it is as though it doesn't even have to try. I've owned / driven / shotgunned too many fast cars to count, but they all announced and communicated how difficult it was to belt out the power they made somehow - the Merc just doesn't ... put your foot down and the only thing you comprehend is your body pushed back into the massaging seat and about 2 seconds later you realize your senses aren't really keeping up with the rate that the car is accelerating and your pulse doubles. I don't care how much of a man you think you are, put your foot down on any road in the country and hold it there for a few seconds and this car WILL scare you. I think Chip Ganassi sums up the car best when he was quoted in Autoweek as saying of his S65: "This thing is so strong it'll qualify for Daytona with the air conditioning on."
 
Given the mods you listed, what accounts for the enormous jump in torque? Does the Renntech ECU clamp down the wastegates or what?
 
Definitely the ECU. From the factory Merc detuned the engine down from the 1200Nm the engine originally produced becuase they were afraid it would rip the gearbox to shreds ... as it is the size of the rear diff they put on these things rivals most FWD autos. RennTech removes the torque management, ups the boost and puts a more aggressive tune on it ... when you're dealing with 6 liters under boost the power quickly adds up.
 
Are you looking for a Project Mark VIII?
Mine started as a daily driver and the monster grew into a beast
Have a look at the mods on my car domain site
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2449286
Your car is the perfect project car.
I personally prefer the Bauman shift kits with the Jmod (as stated)
The Speedo takes its reading from the front abs sensor (my 97 does anyways) so should not require a speedo gear change
Let me know if you need any more info
Good luck
 
Welcome, and if you ever need any "sound" advise on how to get the most out of your MKVIII, let me know. I am a member of the Focal SQ Team and can point you in the right direction for stereo mods to your car.

Again welcome to the site, your knowledge will benefit much here.
 
YouthKwest said:
Welcome, and if you ever need any "sound" advise on how to get the most out of your MKVIII, let me know. I am a member of the Focal SQ Team and can point you in the right direction for stereo mods to your car.

Again welcome to the site, your knowledge will benefit much here.
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I don't mean to thread hijack, but since you offered, what do you recommend I upgrade my stock system with on a budget plan? I need a new double din headunit w/ iPod input and new speakers. PM me :cool:
 
Mark 8 U said:
Is there a project/car/engine I should know about? Come on, don't hold out on me now! :) lol
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It's not a Mark VIII, but a Moostang. Seven liters of non-emission-passing fury! :(

I suck.
 
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