2004 The Hotchkis Shootout Event - Hotchkis Media Shootout II - Track Time

Mark Takahashi's Mustang Cobra convertible knocked down some impressive road course times and short braking distances. The Mustang is stock except for the Hotchkis suspension and Kumho road race tires.

Mark Takahashi's Mustang Cobra convertible knocked down some impressive road course times

Standings
The most important point to get out of this is how dominant the import cars were in this event. Mark Takahashi wheeled the best rear-wheel-drive stock machine, but save for that effort, the domestics did not fare well. Next year, we clearly need to improve the domestic machine participation to keep these import guys out of the top three spots!

Mustang Times
The most populous body style at the Hotchkis Media Day was the late-model Mustang with three cars competing. Last year, Chevy High Performance Art Director Mark Takahashi wheeled his '97 Mustang Cobra convertible, but was hampered by stock tires, faded brakes, a lame suspension, and dead shocks. This year, he returned with a compete Hotchkis suspension upgrade (see "Charming the Snake," Jan. '03, pg. 46) along with an excellent set of Koni shocks and a full set of Kumho Victoracer 710 gumball tires.

While these changes didn't do much to improve his times on the dragstrip (average of 14.76/97.67 mph), the combination of chassis and tires improved his slalom lap average speed from 58.52 mph last year to 60.40 mph this year. In the braking contest, Mark almost took home the top spot with a fantastic 101-foot stopping distance that equated to a two-lap average of 103 feet versus last year's 124.73-foot average. That can be attributed mainly to those incredibly sticky Kumhos.

On the road course, Mark dropped his two-lap average from last year's 2:25.26 to a much quicker 2:20.70 time-a solid 5-second-per-lap improvement, which is huge considering the rest of the car is stock and a ragtop to boot. All this really points out how well an underpowered car with a decent suspension and a good driver can do in events like this.

Vette Adventures
Centerforce's Corvette deserves more than just a passing mention. The car is spectacular with its RK Sport body kit, lamp blackouts, and carbon-fiber hood. RK Sport also supplied the air intake system using a K&N filter, the custom seats, carbon-fiber interior, and white gauge overlay in the instrument panel.

Weld Racing supplied the 18x10.5-inch front and 20x10.5-inch rear wheels mounting a set of 275/35ZR18 front and 285/30ZR20 rear Yokohama AVS Sport tires that really were glued to the track.

The big news is the hot stuff under the hood. Magnuson supplied the supercharger for the 5.7L LS1, while our pal Steve Cole at TTS Power Systems bolted on the stainless steel headers. All this power is routed through a Centerforce DFX prototype clutch that worked flawlessly along with a B&M Ripper shifter for the six-speed transaxle drivetrain. Optima supplied the electrical power. Finally, Baer EradiSpeed rotors applied the whoa power.