While the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve every day, all of us here at Steeda are working hard to
stay strong for our customers, partners, and employees during these trying times. We want everyone to
know that we are working very diligently to stay true to our core values and principles in an effort to
keep providing the very best products, parts, and service to every automotive enthusiast out there. With
that being said, we want to give you a detailed update on everything currently happening within the
world of Steeda at this time.
COVID-19 Response
Q500 At Time Trials
#20 Car Benched
Autocross Update
Drag Program
As the COVID-19 health pandemic has evolved, it has put a severe strain on businesses throughout the
United States. At this time, #TeamSteeda wants to ensure to all of our fans, customers, and partners
that we are
taking every precautionary measure we can to reduce the spread of the disease to ensure the health and
well being of our team & customers. Everyone at Steeda is greatly appreciative of your support and understanding during these trying times.
We will be sure to keep you updated as circumstances arise. We wish everyone safe and healthy times as we work through this crisis together. Last weekend, Steeda VP of Operations, Glen Vitale, took the 2018 Mustang Q500 out
for an SCCA Time Trial
event hosted at Palm Beach International Raceway. As we are consistently testing and developing new
parts to take your Mustang to the next level both on the street and track, it's important to continue
putting hours in with our R&D vehicles. This time trial event was just another weekend where we were
able to continue to tweak and prove that Steeda parts can take a run-of-the-mill Mustang GT and
transform it into a car that can take on cars double or triple its MSRP. This particular time trial event consisted of four strenuous 20-minute sessions pushing this 2018 GT to
the limit. It goes without saying that this kind of time on track in just one day certainly tests the
durability of the vehicle and its parts installed. We're happy to report that Glen was able to achieve 3rd fastest of the day behind a
supercharged Corvette Z06 on
Hoosiers and a very nimble Cayman GT-S! In the video, you can see a slew of Steeda suspension, braking
and induction parts working in harmony allowing this otherwise base model Mustang GT to take on these
high dollar performance vehicles. Glen mentioned to us that they're looking to try and make the NASA Time Trial event next month to
continue testing and tweaking this car to perfection, so be sure to stay tuned for more updates! It was a rather somber weekend for our #20 2015
Mustang Race Car. While testing this past weekend,
President of Steeda, Dario Orlando, experienced a clutch/transmission failure while shifting into fifth
gear on track. As many of you have probably experienced yourselves, a part failure on track can ruin the
day. However, here at Steeda, we always take it as a learning experience. Part of what we do here at Steeda is continually look for weak points on these cars and see where we can
improve upon them. That includes the stock MT-82 transmission that came with this 2015 Mustang GT race
car. That's right, outside of the clutch - this transmission was bone stock! And after 2 long race
seasons, we found out how long a stock MT-82 will last with the wide-open throttle demands of road
course work. Our plans are to pick up another MT-82 transmission to install in the #20 race car to continue testing
and developing on a platform in which the majority of you will be racing in. We're excited to continue
pushing the limits of these cars, so we can learn and pass along this valuable information to you. Stay
tuned for more updates as we get the new transmission installed soon! Road racing and autocross are some of our favorite avenues of racing. This past weekend, our Steeda
Technician, Jamie Bell, was able to take home second place in E Street Prepared (ESP) at the 2020
TireRack SCCA Dixie National Champ Tour Autocross event with his 2013 Boss 302. Racing in ESP, Jamie was up against some stiff competition. Needless to say, he was able to skin off a
48.976-second time on Sunday around the course at South Georgia Motorsports Park. His Boss 302 Mustang
is fully ESP-prepped, with the entire Steeda catalog of parts underneath the car. The overall winner
from the weekend competition was SCCA Solo & Rally Program Director, Mike King, piloting his fully built
2010 Shelby GT500. His same Shelby GT500 won the Cam-C class. All of us here at Team Steeda want to congratulate our fellow colleague on the amazing season and podium
finish this past weekend, because Speed Matters! As most of our customers and fans know, we have been pushing the limits of what a Gen III Coyote Mustang
can do out on the drag strip. While we patiently wait for the COVID-19 virus situation to calm down, we
are not stopping to improve the Silver
Bullet! Over the next couple of weeks, we are planning to make
some serious updates to the car. Most recently, we went to Bradenton Motorsports Park for the annual NMRA Spring Break shootout where we
were able to finish with a 10.1 average in the quarter-mile. Among the Mustangs that were attending, we
had some of the fastest averages of the day in our class. That is truly saying something for a car that
is completely naturally aspirated! Scott Boda, our Director of Manufacturing and Production, was able to
keep up with the likes of many supercharged and turbocharged Mustangs spread throughout the competition.
While we are on standby, we're waiting for a brand new torque converter to come in from Circle D
Specialties. This will aid in the ability to load up the transmission quicker off the hit, in
order to
launch harder achieving a quicker sixty foot time. We are currently aiming to get down to the 1.3-second
range. Along with upgrading the torque converter, we'll be testing other drivetrain components such as
G-Force Engineering half-shafts, Auburn
differential, and multiple products from Strange Engineering.
Recently, we had unveiled that we will be purchasing a Dyno
Jet for our Valdosta, GA facility to improve
research, testing, and engineering in our products. Once installed, we will be working diligently to
improve the already stout 571 RWHP on the Silver Bullet to even greater heights. We made an effort to lighten up the Silver Bullet by adding carbon fiber
components from Anderson
Composites, lightweight brakes from Baer Brakes, new
wheels from Billet
Specialties and other goodies from Optic Armor and CM Components. By
adding these parts, we've been able
to make the car
3,350 lbs
wet. This will allow Team Steeda to work towards getting much deeper into the 9-second range down the
quarter-mile. Once racing resumes, we will be back at the track as scheduled working to break our world
records again to maximize all the performance we can get out of the Silver Bullet! We are hoping to be back out at the track on April 3rd testing and tuning to make the Silver Bullet even
quicker with these new additions to the build. We truly appreciate all of our customers, partners, and fans for understanding the current situation in
these times. Everyone at Team Steeda is set on keeping everything running as normal to ensure the best
for the best.Steeda March 2020 Update
Steeda's COVID-19 Response
2018 Mustang Q500 Conquers SCCA Time Trials
S550 Mustang #20 Race Car Is Benched… For Now
Steeda Tech Takes Silver At SCCA Autocross Championship
Steeda Drag Program In Full Swing For 2020 Season
Related Articles
