Sgt. Gator 2025 Maverick Lobo Track & Autocross Thread

[Sgt.Gator]

New Wheels and Summer Track Tires:
19x8.5" Konig Diverge Wheels
235/55R-19 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV Tires
Tire Rack mounted & balanced with the correct 2025 433mhz TPMS sensors. They guarantee fitment.

I couldn't stand to wait for next spring. I think they fit fine. The Konig Diverge look very similar to my OEM wheels. I did some spirited mountain road driving, what a difference these Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV tires make! Great braking and cornering. Road noise not much different. Very impressed with these street tires. They are summer tires only so they won't be on the truck for very long this year.

Saturday I head to Oregon Raceway Park for the last track days of the season. I'll be running CCW, the weather should be very similar to last time, maybe a little cooler. No other changes since last time so this should be a very good tire comparison. Track report and video next week.

Sponsored

 

[r0tax]

New Wheels and Summer Track Tires:
19x8.5" Konig Diverge Wheels
235/55R-19 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV Tires
Tire Rack mounted & balanced with the correct 2025 433mhz TPMS sensors. They guarantee fitment.

I couldn't stand to wait for next spring. I think they fit fine. The Konig Diverge look very similar to my OEM wheels. I did some spirited mountain road driving, what a difference these Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV tires make! Great braking and cornering. Road noise not much different. Very impressed with these street tires. They are summer tires only so they won't be on the truck for very long this year.

Saturday I head to Oregon Raceway Park for the last track days of the season. I'll be running CCW, the weather should be very similar to last time, maybe a little cooler. No other changes since last time so this should be a very good tire comparison. Track report and video next week.

ngl
really wanted to see the wheels from the car on the lift on the Lobo. That Gold would look good!
Slammed low like that car too.

 

[Sgt.Gator]

ngl
really wanted to see the wheels from the car on the lift on the Lobo. That Gold would look good!
Slammed low like that car too.

If you want the wheels I will sell them and throw in the car too. I'll make you a great deal!!

 

[r0tax]

I do sorta want a BRZ/Miata/Supra?, or other small, light RWD, with Manual Trans, "fun car"...

Since the dolled up Auto in the Lobo just doesn't do it for me.. I wouldn't be able to live with a non-paddle shifted or non-Sport/Lobo-moded Maverick, Autos just feel so 'dumb' and 'slow' to me and often I'm frustrated with them being in the wrong gear, or upshifting when they shouldn't. or not downshifting when they should. Even in Manual Mode, the Lobo will shift up or down in some cases when it decides to.. Just let me drive! lol

Nothing will replace clutch pedal and 'stick' to select my gears. (No, I don't think I'd even be happy with a Dual-clutch auto trans.)

But, alas, only space/$$$ for 1 vehicle in my life at this time.

 

[NIKwithoutaC]

New Wheels and Summer Track Tires:
19x8.5" Konig Diverge Wheels
235/55R-19 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV Tires
Tire Rack mounted & balanced with the correct 2025 433mhz TPMS sensors. They guarantee fitment.

I couldn't stand to wait for next spring. I think they fit fine. The Konig Diverge look very similar to my OEM wheels. I did some spirited mountain road driving, what a difference these Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV tires make! Great braking and cornering. Road noise not much different. Very impressed with these street tires. They are summer tires only so they won't be on the truck for very long this year.

Saturday I head to Oregon Raceway Park for the last track days of the season. I'll be running CCW, the weather should be very similar to last time, maybe a little cooler. No other changes since last time so this should be a very good tire comparison. Track report and video next week.

Those wheels look great. Definitely a tasteful, subtle change over OEM. Did you weigh them to see the difference?

 

[Sgt.Gator]

Those wheels look great. Definitely a tasteful, subtle change over OEM. Did you weigh them to see the difference?

The wheels are 23.56 lbs. I didn't weigh them mounted with the tires.

 

[Sgt.Gator]

2nd Track Day at ORP. The only mod from day 1 was the new wheels/tires.

Max G Cornering: 1.05
Max G Braking: -0.93
Max Speed: 101.3 mph
Fastest Lap 2:10.62
This data came off my Garmin Catalyst.
Thoughts:
It was a beautiful day at ORP. Hardly any wind (very rare) 65 degrees and sunny. We had a large turnout as it is the last weekend of the season. There were more Porsches than usual, multiple GT3RS's trailered in for it. And the usual BMWs, Catterhams, Mustangs, a Ferrari, a McLaren, and a Spec Miata. About 30 cars in all.

Of course , I was the only pickup truck on track! Several of the drivers were pretty amazed to see me out there. I love being there in my little pickup.

And to nail down the prior comments about the Lotus, it is a Lotus Elise Cup R, a track only version, fully race prepped.

Tires/Wheels: The new tires/wheels were a big step up in cornering and braking. They aren't like race ready super 200's, but pretty close. They knocked 6 seconds a lap off my previous Lobo PB. These will definitely be my summer daily driver/track autox tires until the wear out.

Brakes: The OEM brake pads continue to surprise me. No sponginess or fade yet. The calipers show they stayed about the same at 300 degrees:

Conclusion: That's it for this season. Next spring I'll be back with a Goodwin rear sway bar, then some camber & toe adjustments. I'll keep pushing the pads until the become an issue then install my EBC Bluestuff pads.

 

[Gearbox88m]

It's good news to see that the factory brakes are doing so well. It amazes me even more because the factory brake pads on my Fiesta couldn't even last one lap on a small/medium sized circuit, granted I was on 200tw tires.

 

[krock666]

I got the following comment on my YouTube Video:
"@HarleyRider503: Talk about stupid. Just seen this on Mavericktruckclub. This is video game footage..."


My first reaction was <expletive deleted>. Then I calmed down and laughed about it.
My Reply: "LOL, thanks for the compliment! It's great that you think my driving is that smooth and practiced. But for everyone else, no, it's not video game footage. Check out my channel for racing videos. "
And see: Winning Endurance Races in a Subaru
I've built a decent reputation in the Subaru and Factory Five 818 communities that I would not jeopardize.
I assure everyone in this community I'm not posting video game footage and I know a little a little bit about the subject!

I saw your write up about a pads and rotor change. Do you think the entire track pack brake kit (brembos) from a 2022 mk4 focus st would be a direct swap? I’m curious if us lobo owners would be able to make that swap easily or if mounting is different. Be cool to have a direct Brembo conversion instead of the Mach e that requires cutting and use of spacers.

 

[Sgt.Gator]

I saw your write up about a pads and rotor change. Do you think the entire track pack brake kit (brembos) from a 2022 mk4 focus st would be a direct swap? I’m curious if us lobo owners would be able to make that swap easily or if mounting is different. Be cool to have a direct Brembo conversion instead of the Mach e that requires cutting and use of spacers.

I don't know. Lots of variables, too many for me to investigate. IMHO our current brakes work fine with my current power and handling mods. I haven't even needed track pads yet, I'm still trying to find the limit of the oem pads. Frankly, I'm amazed by that. I very much doubt I will ever need to go beyond track pads and racing fluid.

But as an exercise of what I would do if I were building a Lobo to be a dedicated track rat.....I'd skip over the street type Brembo upgrade and go full competition racing brakes. I really like AP Racing brakes, they make a competition setup for the Focus ST & RS. No doubt there would have to be custom spacers/adaptors. Essex Designed AP Racing Competition Brake Kit (Front CP8350/325)- Ford Focus RS & ST .
It's worth scrolling down that page and reading the comments in the reviews and the owner stories.

 

[krock666]

I did some digging in focus forums last and saw the mk4 owners say the brakes are an upgrade compared to brakes on the mk3/3.5. The mk4 focus has a track braking system available which turns out to be brembos off the Mach e gt not the gtpe. It uses a 362mm rotor not the 385mm rotor. Also requires a 3mm spacer between the spindle and caliper. I know you said you probably won’t change the entire system unless you were building a dedicated race truck but parts can be found pretty cheap for this upgrade.

Sponsored