Hugo's French GT350 Track Weapon!

Steeda customer Hugo decided to turn things around with his Shelby GT350 Mustang. He crashed it first then turned it into a full on track weapon. Well OK, He didn't crash it, but someone else did, and he bought the front end damaged car from Florida in October 2023. Once the import into France was done work begun in early spring of 2024, and the car was back up and running and ready to drive by May 2024.

Sad Times: Sorry looking GT350 arrives in container:

The good thing about working on a damaged car, (or the silver lining in case anything should happen to your car) is that you can use the opportunity to change damaged OEM components for uprated performance components, and that's just what Hugo planned to do.

The core Steeda upgrade to remedy the front end issues was to replace the entire front sub-structure with a Steeda road race K-Member. Lighter, stronger and set up for improved suspension geometry. The perfect replacement and upgrade.

Hugo also took the chance to upgrade with Steeda front and rear adjustable anti roll bars, but initially kept the Ford performance springs the car had come with. He did add Steeda front ride height adjusters and also Steeda front camber plates to allow for aggressive track spec camber settings, essential to make use of the upgraded suspension and the wide front rubber that the GT350 can run.

The trashed front end also called for some nice appearance and performance upgrades ("Why not both!") by way of some APR and Anderson Composites.
Anderson Composites window louvers, front bumper insert, and front upper grill insert and APR carbon wing mirror covers carried the front visuals, while APR Performance Bumper Canards provided some extra front end aero performance.

The biggest front end visual & performance mod was a full Trackspec GT4 Full Bonnet Louvre kit to provide the essential cooling boost that heavy duty track work would require. This came after his first track outings with the car which saw under-bonnet temperatures getting too high for Hugo's comfort and limiting the amount of track time he could do. The above photo shows the original style bonnet and below you can see the huge difference the 4 panel install makes to the colling potential!

You can see in the picture that Hugo also replaced the air intake with a K&N option and the front pulley system on the 5.2 Voodoo was replaced with Steeda Billet Water Pulley.

At the other end of the car, which was totally undamaged, an adjustable APR rear GTC 200 carbon wing added the down force needed for high speed track action while a full complement of Steeda IRS package parts, including the Steeda IRS Subframe braces and subframe support bushes.

Picture above: Shows Steeda IRS rear Subframe Braces. A MUST have for any performance Mustang driver! 

To bring the sound of the Voodoo to life he also added a full Corsa Performance 3" Active Cat Back Exhaust System with H Pipe.

Hugo also added the Schroth "Quick Fit" Harness system to help pin him down in the seat for track day action, plus a UPR oil catch can system to help deal with oil blow through for the full throttle track action the engine would be going through. 

Once the car was ready to drive on the 17th May he headed straight to a track day at Lurcy-Lévis for the 60th anniversary of the Mustang, a full TWO DAYS after the car was back on the road!  That's what we like to see! 

Hugos car sitting pretty and fully recovered!

 

After a second track outing at the famous Paul Ricard near Marseilles on the 28th August, Hugo decided to make a change, swapping out the Ford Performance springs for some of our famous Steeda Dual Rate Ultimate Handling Magneride Springs. Once installed, he headed for the ultimate track test, a weekend at the Nurburgring in October.

 

Feedback from Hugo:

"The parts that have had the most impact on handling and roadholding are the Steeda k-menber (engine cradle), Steeda suspension springs, Steeda stabiliser bars and Steeda rear cradle IRS... They've really changed the way I drive!

The car now has a body that reacts immediately to the turn of a car when cornering and a chassis that doesn't threaten to buckle under full force loads.

I can attack corners faster without fear of losing the trajectory, and the front end no longer loses composure in low-speed corners with increased downforce."

Hugo says he is planning a few future changes now:
New tyres (!) and maybe some further work to stiffen up the front end....

As you can see from the pictures Hugo really attacked the "Green Hell" and had a blast doing it! We can all agree. Hugo knows. #SpeedMatters! 

 

Think YOUR Steeda equipped Fast Ford deserves some recognition and a feature car spot of its own? Well CONTACT US and if we agree we can make it happen!

 

Full Spec:
Engine / Powertrain:

K&N typhon cold air
Corsa Performance 3" Active Cat Back Exhaust System with H Pipe
Steeda Billet 3 Bolt Water Pump Pulley
UPR Speed Oil Drain Valve
UPR oil catch can

Visual mods

APR Performance Carbon Fiber Mirror
APR Performance GTC-200
APR Performance Bumper Canards
Anderson composites window louvers
Anderson composites front bumper insert
Anderson composites front upper grill insert
Trackspec GT4 Full Bonnet Louvre kit

Ford Performance Mustang GT350 Front
Heatshield products intake manifold heat shield

Suspension / Chassis

Steeda Front Ride Height Spacer Kit
Steeda Competition Front and Rear Anti Roll Bars
Steeda MagneRide Dual Rate Ultimate Handling Lowering Springs
Steeda Camber Plates
Steeda Mustang GT/GT350 Road Race Front K-Member
Steeda Rear IRS Subframe Support Brace
Steeda Alignment Kit for Rear Subframe with BMR CB005 / SR Kit
Steeda IRS Sub Frame Bushing Support System

Misc:
Goodridge 15-18 Ford Mustang GT350/GT350R SS Brake Line Kit
Schroth QuickFit Harness

Pictures courtesy Hugo / Racetracker.de

Follow Hugo on Instagram @ SHELBY STEEDA (@shelby350fr) • Instagram photos and videos