Terry is the person they brought on from a performance shop. They’re saying he’s really knowledgeable about how to improve cars and make them go faster in a practical way.
ABS is a safety system that helps your brakes not lock up. When you brake hard, it pulses the braking force so the wheels keep rolling and you can still steer.
The Corvette is a sports car made by Chevrolet. It’s designed to be fast, and many owners upgrade it with performance parts. That’s why it comes up when people talk about racing or building quick cars.
The Camaro is a sports car made by Chevrolet. People talk about it a lot because it can be built for fast driving and racing, and there are many performance parts available. It’s the kind of car a shop might support if you want to make it quicker.
An LS swap is when you put a GM LS V8 engine into a car that didn’t originally have it. People do it because the LS engines are powerful and there are lots of parts and know-how to make them work.
Aero means aerodynamic parts that change how air flows around the car. On a track car, it often helps the car stick to the road and feel more stable at speed.
Time attack is a track event where you’re trying to beat the clock with your car. Instead of racing side-by-side, you focus on making the car faster lap after lap.
Seat time just means how long the driver spends actually driving the car on the track. The more you do it, the more you learn what the car is doing and how to get faster.
On a track, tires matter a lot because they provide the grip that lets the car corner and accelerate. The right tires (and how they’re warmed up) can make a big difference in lap times.
Here, “track” means a race course where people drive for timed laps. Cars get worked harder there than on the street, so problems show up faster.
Concept
three-hour round trip
They’re saying they drive a long distance just to get to the track. Doing that often means more time and more wear on the car.
Term
concrete walls
Those are hard, fixed barriers right next to the track. If a car hits them, it can seriously damage the car and force repairs before you can race again.
A hot rodder is a car enthusiast who likes modifying cars to make them faster or more fun. The joke is that once you start working on a car, you often discover more problems and end up doing more work than planned.
Compression ratio is how tightly the engine squeezes the fuel-air mixture before it ignites. More compression can make more power, but you need higher-octane fuel to prevent knocking.
E85 is a fuel blend with a lot of ethanol. It can help an engine make more power because it resists knocking better than regular gasoline.
Term
744 to the wheels
“To the wheels” is the power the car actually delivers to the road, measured on a dyno. It’s usually lower than engine horsepower because some power is lost inside the drivetrain.
A twin throttle body setup uses two air-control valves instead of one. That can help the engine breathe better and respond more sharply when you press the gas.
Custom fabrication means they made special parts just for this project. It’s usually needed when off-the-shelf parts don’t fit the exact power goals or layout.
Some engines use valves made from titanium instead of steel. Titanium is lighter, which can help the engine spin faster safely when you’re building for high performance.
Ported heads mean the engine’s head passages are modified to let air flow better. That helps the engine make more power and feel stronger as you rev it.
The power band is the engine speed (RPM) range where it produces strong power and torque. When someone says it pulls from 3,500 to 8,500, they’re describing where the car feels most forceful.
Auto blipping is when the car automatically raises the engine RPM during a downshift so everything matches up. It makes downshifts smoother and helps avoid jerky drivetrain behavior.
Rev matching is when you adjust the engine speed to match the lower gear before you fully engage it. It helps the car shift smoothly instead of jolting.
Wide open throttle means the gas pedal is fully down. It tells the engine to request maximum airflow and power.
Term
pedal extend off
Pedal extend off means the car stops using a modified throttle response mapping. Turning it off can make the throttle feel more straightforward and predictable.
Sequential shifting means you go up or down one gear at a time, like a staircase. It’s different from an H-pattern where you can select gears more freely.
Term
magnum excel drama
This sounds like the name of a specific aftermarket part or tuning setup for shifting, but the transcript text is unclear. If you share the surrounding lines or the episode’s full transcript, it may be possible to identify the exact product.
A MAP sensor measures how much pressure the engine is pulling in. If it starts giving wrong readings, the engine computer can’t meter fuel and timing correctly.
A vacuum tee is a connector that splits a vacuum/pressure line into multiple paths. If it fails or melts, it can mess up sensor readings and cause tuning/driveability issues.
A remote oil pressure sensor measures oil pressure using a sensor mounted somewhere else and connected by a line. The idea is to get a more stable, trustworthy reading despite vibration.
They’re using an intake shape that looks like the kind used on older carbureted engines. Even though it looks old-school, it’s being used with modern fuel injection.
Manifold pressure is basically how much “air pressure” is in the intake system. If it jumps too quickly when you touch the throttle, the car can lurch or spin the tires.
A road course is a track with lots of corners and repeated acceleration and braking. On that kind of driving, how the car responds to the gas pedal matters a lot.
Term
brake traction
They mean the tires lose grip. If the car gets too much power too quickly, it can start sliding or spinning before the car’s traction system can help.
Vacuum here means the intake isn’t getting enough air pressure. If you’re asking for full power but the intake is still “underfilled,” the engine won’t respond the way you expect.
Progressive throttle is how the car turns your gas pedal movement into engine response. Instead of the engine reacting instantly like a switch, it ramps up more smoothly as you press the pedal.
Instead of one throttle valve controlling all the airflow, the engine uses two separate throttle valves. That can help the car respond more smoothly, especially at low speeds or during tricky driving.
Low speed autocross is racing-style driving on a course with lots of tight turns, usually at relatively low speeds. Because you’re constantly adjusting the gas, throttle behavior matters a lot.
The throttle body is the valve that controls how much air the engine gets. “112 millimeter” describes its size, and that size can affect both top-end airflow and how smoothly the car feels when you’re driving slowly.
Term
90 millimeter ls three ls seven throttle bodies
LS3 and LS7 are GM V8 engine types. The throttle bodies are the air-control valves, and using 90 mm versions (instead of a single bigger one) can help the engine breathe and respond better when you’re tuning for both low-speed control and power.
The plenum is like a small chamber in the intake that helps distribute air to the rest of the engine. Its shape and volume can change how the engine breathes, so it’s a big deal when you’re building a custom intake.
A “long runner” means the intake tubes are longer. That can help the engine pull harder at lower and mid RPMs, while other designs may favor higher RPM power.
A two-piece manifold means the intake manifold is made in two parts. That can help with fitment and tuning in a custom setup, and it can still make good power if the airflow paths are designed well.
Term
Cid carburetor style intake
A carburetor-style intake is an intake design that’s meant to feel more like the old carburetor era. It can change how the engine responds and how air flows into the cylinders.
The intake runner is the tube that air travels through to reach the engine. Shorter runners usually help the engine breathe better at higher RPMs, so peak power happens later in the rev range.
The intake port is the channel air goes through in the engine head. Making it bigger can let more air through, but it can also change how the engine responds at lower speeds.
Peak power is the highest horsepower the engine makes, and it happens at a particular RPM. If it “moves up,” the engine feels strongest at higher revs.
On a dyno chart, the curve shows how much power the engine makes across RPMs. “Area under the curve” means the engine makes more useful power over a wider range, not just at the very top.
A single throttle body means one air-control valve. The idea is that it can keep the car’s response smooth and predictable, even if a twin setup might flow more air.
Drivability is how smooth and controllable the car feels when you drive it normally—how it responds when you press the gas and how it behaves across different speeds.
Packaging is about fitting parts into the engine bay. A “packaging nightmare” means the design is hard to fit neatly, so you end up making compromises to make everything work together.
Two air filters means the intake air gets filtered through two separate filter elements. That can change how easily air moves into the engine, affecting both power and how the car feels when you press the gas.
Air speed in the intake matters for how the engine fills with air. If the air velocity drops, it can reduce resistance, but it can also change how the engine responds across RPM.
MSD is a company that makes performance ignition electronics. Here, they’re using an MSD solution to simplify the setup and make the car easier to drive.
A splitter is an aerodynamic front (or sometimes rear) extension that helps manage airflow under and around the car. On high-power track cars, splitters are often mounted aggressively for downforce, but they can break or come loose if the car’s setup or loads change.
This sensor tells the car how much pressure is in the cooling system. If it’s wrong or fails, the car may not know the engine is staying cool and may limit power to protect the engine.
This is a computer-controlled limit that stops the engine from revving past a certain RPM. It’s like a safety cutoff, and it can make the car feel weak or unresponsive.
“2g” is a measure of how hard the car is being pushed. “2g braking” means you’re braking very hard—about twice the force you feel from gravity—so parts like wheels take a big stress load.
Term
after every event
This refers to a post-session inspection routine used in motorsport: removing wheels after each event to check for damage that might not be visible at a glance. It’s a preventative process to catch cracks before they grow into failures.
“Pit lane” is the area next to the race track where cars pull in for service. If something goes wrong—like a wheel problem—you want to get there fast so the car can be fixed safely.
“Forged” means the wheel is made by pressing and shaping metal under a lot of force. People bring it up because it can make the wheel stronger and better able to handle hard driving.
A “three piece” wheel is made from several parts that bolt or assemble together instead of being one solid piece. Wheel people talk about it because it can change how the wheel is built and serviced.
A “crack” is a split or damage in the wheel material. On track, cracks can spread quickly, so you can’t ignore them—especially if you notice signs of cracking during inspection.
Downforce is the “push down” effect that makes the car stick to the ground when you’re going fast. It helps the tires grip better, but it also means parts like wheels have to handle higher forces.
Corner weights are how much weight each tire is carrying individually. Knowing them helps you understand how hard each wheel and tire is being worked.
Term
tire are you on
This refers to the specific tire model/type being used, because different tires produce different grip levels and operating loads. Higher grip and more downforce can increase stress on wheels and other components.
Finite element analysis is a computer “stress test” for a part. It helps engineers figure out where a wheel will bend or crack so they can reinforce the right areas.
Cycles are repeated “hits” or loading events the part goes through. More severe loading usually means the part reaches failure sooner.
Concept
S in curve
They’re talking about a fatigue chart that shows how long a part lasts under repeated stress. Higher stress usually means fewer safe cycles before cracking.
Aluminum is a common wheel material because it can be strong while staying relatively light. In fatigue terms, its durability depends heavily on how much load it sees—higher loads can trigger cracking sooner.
Brake pads are the friction material that slows the car down, and they wear out. The point is that some parts are meant to be replaced when you drive them hard.
Term
wheels are consumables
They’re saying wheels aren’t “set it and forget it.” If you drive hard or hit bumps/curbs, wheels can get damaged or worn out and you may have to replace them eventually.
Endurance racing is like a long-distance race for cars. Instead of just going fast for a short time, you have to keep the car running well for hours and drive consistently.
Race cars are cars built or modified to compete in racing. They’re set up to handle hard driving and track conditions, not just normal street use.
Term
lap after lap
“Lap after lap” means going around the track again and again. It matters because the car has to stay strong and consistent, not just be fast for one try.
“LS” usually means a GM V8 engine family that a lot of people swap into cars. It’s popular because it has strong aftermarket support and can make a lot of power.
Spring rate is how stiff the suspension spring is. Stiffer springs can reduce how much the car leans or squats, but they can also make the ride harsher and change how well the tires stay planted.
LIVE
It is two guys around podcast. He is Kevin Byrd. I am will be at today
We got one of her buds on man
You guys you guys have heard Terry on with us before Terry from Vorsalock Motorsports
And I gotta tell you he's such a wealth and resource of knowledge
I don't care what you're building what you're doing if you're trying to go faster
if you're trying to tick up your lap times if you're trying to get a little faster around a corner if you need to know how to do
You know ABS systems on cars that shouldn't have ABS systems
This guy can do it all and we love having him on just to catch us up with the latest grace and what he's doing over there
Vorsalock Motorsports Kevin, you know Terry for a long time, right?
Yeah, man. I always love when we have him on always love when we just get to connect
He's got such a great approach to right to cars and going fast, right?
He kind of goes with this engineering kind of brain on the one half and then just this whole pragmatic very methodical
you know step-by-step on
Just building blocks of making your car go progressively faster, you know
And he has this this amazing company Vorsalock Motorsports with
everything you need for all the top fast cars Camaro's and Corvettes and Mustangs and and
BMWs and you name it so if you have a fast car you got to check them out because they've got springs and dampers and
Sway bars and camber plates and you name it all the tricks stuff
And then he's got tons of information that he'll put online
On all the changes they don't make on any one of these cars and how progressively it adds up
But he ain't afraid he doesn't just stick to a platform man
He'll mix it up
He'll swap motors and swap this and rebuild that and and make a Frankenstein machine
Which is kind of what we're going to catch up today on on his trigger
2015 Mustang project with an LS swap and lots of aero like
Yeah, he's not afraid anything man. He's he's going all in time attack and you name it
It is a definitely a bastard child. We'll be speaking to him about but the thing I love about tarry is
Unlike most of us in the scenarios that we have to deal with I mean, let's be honest that man lives on the track
Like most of us maybe you get 56
Seven lat times in during a season or a year
Terry he got that covered by monday, dude monday by lunch
He's like I'm about to go out again probably my eighth not tom hit the track
You know meanwhile, we're getting that in a season
So we oftentimes make the mistake of trying to change
You know several things to get the most out of our adjustments and find that you know that line between too far and just perfect
Well, terry has the luxury because he's spent so much time out there
Just testing and playing and having fun doing the ultimate job with the ultimate dream car
Um, he get out there and he can make one change and he can come back and document it
And he can go back and make one other single change come back and he could document it whereas we're typically changing
You want to live that philosophy and that ideology but reality makes it much different than that
We oftentimes have to change a few things at once
And then we would get a big difference or a big impact something paramount
We got to kind of go back and try to figure out which one was the
The reason for it. So terry has that all broken down and he loves to share it, which is kind of an anomaly
It's unique that a guy knows so much and is so willing to share it. Yeah, that's huge
You know, everybody's so
Greedy with right because you put in the seat time you put in the the money at the track, right the tires all that stuff
And it's like well, that's mine. I earned it
You know what terry, right? He's got so much data and he's just gonna go out and just smoke you anyway
So he's not worried if you're trying to catch up to him, right?
he's got the skills and and
Right the machinery and everything but uh, yeah, it's great to have him on terry
Without further ado, man. Appreciate you join us always have a blast. Um, you know, we were we were talking a little bit this week
Uh, you know, I think last time we were on caught us up on right this big arrow 2015 Mustang ls
Car and was running really great
But you've had a string of just challenges and I thought you know sometimes when
The bad weather comes in and your car is just fighting you there's a lot to be learned there
So this is gonna be an interesting and fun one. I think at least for us
I know you've been through the the mill a little bit, but yeah
I'm glad my pain brings you joy. No, that's good. Kevin. No, no, it's been a challenging year for us. You know, we
Uh, like I said before we do about 30 events 30 days at the track a year and that you know every time I go to the track
It's a three-hour round trip. Um, and it costs money and time and uh, my wife luckily is into the sport
You're so lucky, bro. You're so lucky. He's so lucky, right? Oh, man
So lucky. Yeah
I met her in a race track, you know, yeah
That's a big time
It was a good, uh, I definitely married up. Yeah, Amy's awesome. She's got national championships that I don't even have
So she's she's a good driver
Uh, sometimes we'll drive the same car and we're about 50 50. Sometimes she'll put in the the faster lap than me
So she's great great partner in crime. I know
You let her do that
Yeah, no, I I wish I wished I am not too much ego to let that happen now
But no, we've had some challenges on her car her 95 and three have been a little challenging
But but trigger has really tested my patience
Uh, since about october of last year
When I had a little a little off that and normal track wouldn't have been a big deal
But when there's concrete walls right next to the track, uh, it took out the left side of the car
And so that
Snowballed and we had to do some repairs
We had to be back on track in two weeks to finish out one race series
And then another to to get a regional championship
Um, so we got those two races done then we had to pretty the car up for pri show because it was in the booth
So the end of last year was kind of hectic and a lot of repairs and and firing the old money gun
Which we we had to do a few times
To fix some things
Um, and then this year
You know over the winter we decided to upgrade the horsepower and you know, let's go from 11 to 1 and
650 wheel to to more, you know, well, I was just gonna ask go ahead, you know
You stuff the car and and you already answered my question because we're gonna go to break but I was gonna ask, you know
Did you just repair it or did you do the well while I'm here? I might as well
That's the curse. That's the curse of a hot rodder
Guarantee you that's what happened because that's the curse of every hot rodder
We're all guilty that no man is uh, beholded to the why I planned it out everybody when they got it down
They get more horsepower. It's a rule. It's on the man card paragraph 2
Chapter 4 shut up. We're going to break. We'll be back in just a minute. Kevin bird will be it's the two guys garage podcast
He is Kevin bird. I'm willy b and we have our boy terry on check out borcelag motorsports
This is a guy you hate to see the track. You know why Kevin?
This is one of those guys that shows up and nothing rattles his cage. He never comes on the hens
He's always like got that really like I'm gonna kill you calm demeanor and he lets his car do the speaking
I've been other competitors. We're so used to seeing him him and the other competitors
In front of them. They were almost as soon as they found out he was okay. They're like, yeah, the fast dude on track is out
Let's go have some fun. It's our race now. I bet it was like that, bro
It's about time. That's what I said. It's about time
People are jelly. It's funny because well, that's what happened when you're a winner and terry is so terry
You added a horsepower, huh?
Yeah, that gets us every time doesn't it gets us every time
You know the guys at horsepower research where i'm one of the partners had convinced me to do this a couple years ago
We got some new pistons on order to go from 11
11 and a half to one compression and 93 octane
So let's go to 14 to 1 and it kind of crept up to 14 7 to 1 and e85
because
Why not?
It's just money and we gained 90 horsepower on q16 and 70 horsepower on e85
So they're making 744 to the wheels in a that's a good number at the at the wheels
Um, and it's a relatively heavy car. So the power wait say that again. You made what to the wheels and uh ls
Yeah, so again a 7.4 liter ls built by hpr with good heads and a wild crazy twin throttle body intake
A lot of custom fabrication went into that
um
And even though the car was fast and reliable
We were getting kicked out of a certain class to a more unlimited class. So we were
We had to play the horsepower game because some of the guys in those classes will be twin turbo 1200 wheel
So we're like we got to get what we can get. So, you know, we up the compression change the cam and so how much do you increase it?
How much did you it picked up 90 90 to the wheels? So 744 the wheel
All right, that's big. That's a that's a decent number
90 na and it can do that until it runs out of fuel. It never gets hot
We can't even get to oil above 175
Um, and we're shifting it, you know, 8000 it rests to 8500 safely. I mean, that's a high rate
It's all titanium valves and you know crazy ported heads and but it makes power everywhere
It pulls hard from like 3,500 to 8500 big power band
Um, that's a fun. That's a fun motor. Oh, it's it's a hoot and with the traction control and we got a
an auto
blipping rev
You know matching things so it makes it easier and that's what got me when I when I crashed I was breaking
And I was used to, you know, blipping the throttle and trying to rev match
It's hard to do that when you're making over 800 horsepower
Um, and my foot just dragged on the the throttle pedal just enough and
My tuner said, hey, you're I looked at the data
You were 30 wide open throttle when you drove into that wall. I was just overpowering the brakes
So he tweaked that so now I don't have to we took the pedal extend off and now I just break and put the clutch in it
And it automatically revs it. I just shoved it in the lower gear. Oh, wow
And it's it's kind of like a sequential but without the cost of a sequential
It's just a magnum excel drama. So um, so that was working really well
And then we added horsepower and it's just been one thing after another we had a weird sensor failure
I had this vacuum tea that went to the the map sensor and it kind of melted and it was given an erratic
Map sensor reading. So I've learned you don't use a remote map sensor
Uh, but you do use a remote oil pressure sensor because the it can get weird vibrations
So I'm learning all these things even after doing this for 35 years. There's still so much to know
I'm not a tuner
But the tuners I work with are really smart
I'm gonna have to listen to them. Um, and sometimes
We get in some untested territory, you know doing this twin throttle body
Plannum on top of a carb style intake but but it's efi
It gives the car better drivability because it's not a one big massive throttle body
And you're not when you crack it it doesn't hit a lot of manifold pressure
So we have 22 smaller throttle bodies that equal the more than the big one we had
And the car is infinitely more drivable and I can come out of corners and we have traction control that kind of covers up any kind of
You know aggressive driving and so can you explain what you you just kind of map over that like it's yeah
You just kind of
Rolled over that like it was no big deal, but for a lot of people they're just like we're like wait
So when you're driving a road course or something like that when you lean into it
You obviously don't overpower the track you want to use all the power
You know in the right place and when you get into it a lot of times
You know with a with a single throttle body sometimes you could you could
Lean into it too hard and and brake traction or get out of control really fast
But you found a way to slow it down
yeah, so
You know the and this is kind of in the theory part of it
But i'm working with horsepower research and and different tuners and we're trying things out
Normally when the engine gets bigger and the rpms get up and you need more flow
Because you're starting to get vacuum in the intake manifold at wide open throttle. That's never good
Because you want you know the most pressure the most air going in
So you go to a bigger and bigger throttle body
But it gets to a certain point where it's so big that when you just crack the throttle
It hits really hard and it blows the tires away and it can do it faster than traction control
Yeah, think of trying to take a take a sip of water out of a fire hose
You know it's like
You know it's like on or off like it's it's tricky. Are you doing progressive throttle?
Well, and that's something we were trying to make work
To get two independent throttle bodies
We'd really like that to be the case to where we have in first and second gear only one throttle body works
And then third and fourth, you know gear selector we could make the second throttle body open
We haven't tackled that yet
That's just one of the many things on our list to do
To make it easier to drive for like low speed autocross is the ls vest I did last year and it was it was really hard to drive
So we're the the two smaller throttle bodies equal more posterior than the big one we had we had a
112 millimeter throttle body now. We have two gm 90s
And the oem throttle bodies have a really nice tip in because they're not just a round hole
There's a little k there's some features to the oem throttle bikes that make them drive really nice
So you have two gm ac delco 90 millimeter ls three ls seven throttle bodies
And they just work in tandem and it it it kind of unlocked a lot of horsepower on top
We had a single plastic
You know msd with a 103 and it made you know it made decent power made 620
But we went to this dual throttle body thing didn't change anything else when we picked up 30
You know we went to 655
So this there was a lot of fabrication. We remade this plenum twice. It was a lot of work
It's just something that we hadn't seen anybody else do you picked up 30 just with that
Yeah, just the intake and it was we went from a long runner, you know the typical plastic one-piece manifolds
Two-piece in case of msd, which is a great manifold. It makes really good power makes peak power at like 6200
when we went to the big
Cid carburetor style intake
Twin throttle body plenum that we built when we did that
It moved the peak power up because it was a shorter runner
bigger port but a shorter runner intake and
That's that made a huge deal and peak power now is at 7300
So it picked up 1100 rpm at peak and we picked up a bunch of area under the curve as well
So it was it was something that eric canning hbr wanted to try and my tuner was gain and between them
It kind of made it all work and it was pretty miraculous
So that was how can we don't see more of these intake's out on the street?
It's it's so much fabrication work to make all this fit under the hood too was
There's so many compromises. Oh 30 horsepower in a motor is unheard of well
Have you seen the dark horse right the new Mustang dark horse?
Yeah, it's kind of marching down the same path right twin throttle body
We owned one when it first came out and my wife raced it in the 23 season and won every race
You went to and set all the track records here in texas. So
Um, no the the dark horse was the same thing two throttle bodies
Just more airflow, but you don't lose the the drivability of one big single throttle body
So ours was a packaging nightmare. Yeah, and you and you also
You're reducing the airflow through each air filter, right? So once you do twin air filters, right?
The velocity goes down right the drag through each filter goes way down
So you're picking up a lot of stuff and that drivability, especially when you're putting down 700 plus at the
tire in a
Right. Yeah, it gets on wheel. Yeah, and a 200 tread word tire that it gets a little challenging
Um, so yeah, that was that was you know, we learned a lot of lessons in the 23 season with the big single throttle body
And and the 24 season we're like, you know, let's just go to an msd and make it simple
And we did and it was really drivable, but we we wanted to unlock that so late in 24
We did this twin throttle body thing in the summer
Picked up a bunch of power and the car just got done
And I'm like, well, let's just up the compression and do a little bit more cam and
get a little bit more fuel and
Compression you hear this kids. This is every scenario. This is when we got to admit you. I'm an addict
Yeah, it's totally totally
Meanwhile, we're doing arrow and changing, you know
Going to Hoosiers and removing weight from the car and we're just just throwing everything at it to try to
You know try to keep up with 1200 horsepower guys
So yeah, it's it's it's always a battle and some of the things worked and this year a few of the things didn't work
I had a wheel break off. I've had
You know a splitter kept coming off because we changed one thing
So it's just every time you make all these changes. We don't always get to test before the next race
I try to it's like a golden rule
Don't go to a race with a brand new setup
And I've had two events this year that were complete flop because I went out there without testing
And inevitably something something let's go or something breaks and we hear a weird noise
And what Kevin was I not just bragging about the amount of seat time and how this man logs every single chain
Was I just talking about rewind the tape rewind the tape? I think I pinned him on that
The thing is he's making more changes than he's getting seat time
Which is crazy amount of changes because you know, it's a lot of hey welcome to our side. I can't buddy
Do as I say not as I do
Yeah, sorry
Right. We wait. We've all felt victim of that. You know, it's not unprecedented for sure
If we circle around the power part of it. Yeah, um, what were the major hurdles? You mentioned right map sensor in remote location
And did did it all come together or was that just one of the big that was there was two other sensors that failed
We had one tuner that was kind of under some time constraints and didn't quite get a right
So we went to a different tuner or so and and he found a number of items. We fixed a few items here
It's when you're pushing at these levels, you know, it's easy to just have one sensor that's bad
We had a coolant pressure sensor
That's bad and it was tied to a lot of things and those things quit working
And we had a an artificial rev limit that it would only run between four and 6000 and that didn't work
So I did one event where it was just I'm limping around the track
I'm like, this is untrivable and I had to borrow somebody's car to get a time so that I don't lose points for the whole season
It's been one of those seasons where we're just been chasing little things
That you know are just new fun challenges
Hot racing
Yeah, man. Yeah. Yeah
It's a constant search for the weakest link right and you found several of them
We did and it's frustrating because we had a really reliable super fast setup
But we were just trying to get more we're always wanting more
And we went to a bigger who's your tire so we could put more power down
And and then that led to some other things
We had to have the centers of the rear wheels redesigned because it was just
at 2g braking and cornering and
You know, sometimes you just you slap a curb coming out of the corner and we had a crack in a wheel
I didn't catch it and I'm I'm religious about after every event every race car all the wheels come off
We wash them and then we inspect the inside of the spokes
It's a real boring thing
But I'm going to say it again because I've never had a wheel failure in 38 years of doing track events
And I just had my first one this year. It was really embarrassing
It was spread of God and everybody and shut the whole event down and I'm
I'm pulling into the pits because I feel a vibration and as I'm pulling into the pits
I see my wheel go by I'm like, well, that's that's my wheel
That's supposed to be on the right rear and it just passed me on the left side
And I had to park it on pit lane and go swap wheels and it was embarrassing
So things happen, you know, every wheel brand has could have been worse. Oh, could have been in the corner
Oh, I could have flipped the car. I drove over the wheel and tore up some more carbon
But yeah, it's everything happens for a reason and I needed to learn a lesson about
Follow my advice that I gave everybody
Every time when you're pushing the levels every wheel is a consumable
Doesn't matter who makes it or if it's forged or not forged or three piece or one piece
That if you get a crack and you miss it, it's gonna it's gonna catch you and this one
We've looked at it and analyze them like half of this crack area is black because it was a little crack
So I had to eat a little humble pie from everybody
And every time I've been in the track since everybody's like is your wheel gonna come off and like come on
Hey, man at any point. Yeah, as you're stuck on pit road
The corner race. Hey Terry screwed everybody
At any point when you saw your wheel go by did you think to yourself, man, maybe I should have let my wife drive today
She was
He was out there and she beat me relentless that day in her car. So yeah, some days
I'm like, maybe I should be basket weaving or take up a new sport
So sometimes when you're pushing the limits, you find the limits
Well on that note, right because we've got some really top brands out there for wheels
And yeah, yeah, every car weight is different
Every car grip. Yep. And when you start adding downforce and grip like all of a sudden you've changed the design parameters of that wheel
And you know, I've seen on other projects
Some companies are the one that data from you know, what's the car way? What are your corner weights?
Do you have downforce? What tire are you on? How fast do you run?
And a lot of companies have learned that lesson if they want to make them light
But they also need to be strong enough. So everything used to all be built to the same 1600 pound load rating
uh across the board
And now they're starting to get tailor made when you spend four to 6000 dollars for the set of wheels
They don't want them to ever break. So my wheel maker
Did that he made me new centers. He's like, oh, you are wildly exceeding what we thought you were making
So let's make you a new center with more strength in this
They did some finite element analysis and said we're going to take this
Scoop out and add some weight there. So that's what you got to do
Yeah, if you're if you're getting serious and especially if you're adding some grip on tire and some downforce
Make sure you're you're communicating. You're communicating with your wheel supply. Yeah
Because there's two ways to go about it. You
You you design it for your particular loads, which right if you look at, you know, we're getting nerdy here
But an s in curve, right? So that's how many cycles you can get for a given load on a part
and uh
If you have really light loads aluminum could last you for almost ever maybe ever
But once you start loading it up, you're gonna start creating a crack and then it's gonna run and blow out
Um, so you either got a like terry said you got to make sure you're inspecting
Um, or you know, you should be inspecting no matter what but you need to know right with your supplier
They're designing a wheel for your application
Um, but inspection is huge because these are throwaway items like brake pads
And you don't think about it. You're like a wheel lasts forever consumables. Yeah, right wheels are consumables
Yeah
Yeah, people that buy use wheels are just rolling the dice because you just don't know what that wheel's been through
It hasn't been off track. How many times has it been airborne as it the answer to all those questions are yes
If they're one of my wheels, I'm just saying
Just probably
Yep. All right. Look, we gotta take a break more with terry in just a minute. It's the two guys garage podcast. He's kevin bird
I'm willy b and we're back after the break
It is two guys garage podcast he is kevin bird
I am willy b and we have terry fair on
Vorsag motorsports is where you need to go and check it out. So
This is kind of interesting. I don't know how you've uh, enjoyed the humble pie
But terry's got licked a couple times this year. Look and I will say this, you know, what's great about about champions
They they're comfortable losing because I tell my kid this all the time
I got a five-year-old. He's super competitive, right? And he's like
Everything he does he wants to win the same thing with my daughter who's six
You know everything they want to do they just want to win and uh, it's so cute because
You know, you tell to to be a winner you got to lose and you got to learn and that's what they're doing
They're learning. So to me you're learning some things some mistakes you made but you know learning
Is kind of another way of winning. Yeah, this is my ricky model year for sure. You have to
Progress you take a step backwards, right? You progress more you take a step backwards
But you're constantly moving forward and and that's what's fun watching terry is
He's moved the needle forward just continually, right non-stop. So
Like where does it end? Probably never hopefully because that's that's the fun part of watching your journey
Yeah, that's
You know, some people like seeing other people fail
And uh, but I've always shared the good the bad and the ugly because I want people to learn from my mistakes
And if we do something wrong, I I want to put it out there. I'm like, hey, don't do this or remember to always check x y and z
So I've had a lot of those this year. I wrote a whole article about
What do you do after you crash your car on a racetrack?
Grassroots motorsports printed that
Um, I've written several articles for them did some endurance racing in the last 12 months with the team and
Learned a lot of lessons with them and and shared that as well. So it's not just
I'm not just driving trigger. We have, you know, five different race cars. We're working on any given time
That's my main one. frustration
Right now, but we'll get it and we'll we'll go reset the track records we said last year at some point
Well, you know
And I'm gonna just lay it out there
You know for if we bust on you at all it just because we're just trying to have fun, but
um, honestly the utmost respect because
You're plotting new territory
Anybody can go get the the name
Parts combination off the shelf put on a car that everybody runs and go run fast
They're not gonna run the fastest. They're not gonna keep up with you, but you're breaking new ground
I mean, dude to be putting that much down on the ls
You know lap after lap
Right the durability you're riding the edge. You're you're making so much power
Right and to do this twin throttle like these are new setups. These are new combinations
That that people haven't done and so that is in itself. It's the learning curve and you're breaking new frontier
Uh, and that's what I find super exciting because again anybody can pick up a
Known recipe for any particular car. Oh, this is what everybody runs
I run the shock and I run this spring rate and I run this bar and great
You did what everybody else did
So push the limits man. That's that's where you're at
Well, there any other like in this project like what are some of the big even if it's not this last, you know
69 months of challenges. What's kind of been the biggest?
Just wow so like the things that you because you have to look back and go
Whoa, where did I come from? Where did I start like and where am I now? What are the big? Wow is that you kind of?
Uncovered or learned. Yeah, I mean we started with a 2018 Mustang
in the 19 and 20 seasons and
Or 18 19 seasons and we moved a lot of those parts of this car
So we had a lot of data to go from and we where we started and where we're at now
We picked up 28 seconds a lap on a 90 second course
So we've we started here and we just keep chopping away and I probably I have 11 different tests in trigger
And I probably have nine in the previous car and then we had a 24 dark horse in the middle
So we've been kind of chopping away working on, you know, this Mustang setup
And it's exciting and I and I want to take what we've learned from this car
And apply it to this Fox Mustang that's right behind me, which we've talked about before under podcast
That's finally going in the shop and our new three scanners showing up and we're going to do some crazy wild suspension
Uh and ABS and things on that chassis and make it a sellable kit. We're doing that on another e30
coop
Like my v8 car we won a girm challenge with magazine shootout, you know 12 years ago 13 years ago
So we're doing some cool things and we're taking what we've learned from from trigger and applying it to some older cars
Because you know the the gen X guys are
Everybody's getting tired of the 60s and 70s cars not that I ever will we have 69 Camaro working all right now
But uh and a 69 cornet, I mean we still those are classics
But those have been done to death and I want to see the the engineering
And design work that we've put into all these other cars and all these suspensions
And we want to go backwards and and do some older cars and I'm really stoked about that
You know, excuse me if I back up, but I am still wrapping my head around you have gotten 28 seconds faster
28 seconds faster
I mean most people are looking for yeah, maybe a handful over
You know however long they own a car
Right. Oh man. I picked up three. five
six seconds
You know over the life you've blasted 28 seconds in the last couple years. Yeah, and there's more to go
Um, you know if we had a thousand horsepower, we'd find four or five more seconds. It's just it's just money at this point
It's it's but it's getting harder to find time for sure
This 90 horsepower
I've never really gotten back to my test track and shown what it can do
But I know there's another two or three seconds there to find and I'm excited to do that
I mean she would put numbers down that people like that's what the prototypes run
That's what the you know the ta1 cars run and and that's a half million dollar car
I'm like, yeah, this is just a Mustang with struts and you know a big stupid engine a lot of downforce
So uh, it's kind of fun, but there's more to it than that. Well a lot of attention to detail
Yeah, a lot of details, but right lots of fractions of seconds lots of fractions of seconds for sure
Yeah, well and and you were you're kind of already alluding to it as my brain is absorbing 28 seconds
Uh, these are fundamentals you've learned the fundamentals on this platform
And as you said you take those same fundamentals and just start applying it to other applications
Right, so it's that whole world is oyster thing. Yeah, so tell me about this box body that you're working on
What's the goal with this one? So I've got an 88 notch back here. It's a four cylinder car
We've just put wheels and tires and fixed a few things and the goal with that car is to make a
Complete front subframe with all new radical and suspension
modern everything abs and electric steering and in the back
To do a pretty radical independent rear suspension like no one's done
You know with the pri this year we saw everybody and their brother had some new fox Mustang thing
There were four or five big fox builds in in in booths from like
I think we could do something better than that. I mean, I'm not bragging
But we've got you know some half the people that work here engineers
Um, and we're all gear heads and we want to take what we know
What we've done on other cars and apply it to that
You know ratty 77 Fairmont design and see if we can make it a little bit better
We've got an s in 95 in the shop now. We're pretty excited. Yeah, I'm stoked
I'm because I had you know, my first car was a third gen Camaro and so right all buddies all
You know had fox bodies and five o's and and you know, I
I I lived it and I have an infection for it
But I also realized at the time even that these were especially fox body. What a crap platform
So bad and there was a lot of go fast parts back then
You know, so I mean it kind of bandated your way through but you know, we're fast forwarding 30 40 years and and it's like man
This stuff is crap
Um, and it's hard to get super excited
But when you start to see the combination on on some of these 80s and 90s cars
Um, yeah, so style wise we can just give them. Wait, did you say fox bodies were crap?
What?
Is there somebody in the room? No lies. Did I hear that right? Did he say fox bodies?
He said mark that down. He said fox bodies were crap. Bye. Bye modern standards
I'm just saying that that happened. They are the other terrible. Uh, I bought one, you know
20 years after I sold my last one and I drove it around like this car's terrible
Every way possible the fit and finish the the brakes the suspension the power
It's just it's just not a minivan from today. We'll just run circles around that on track. Yeah, like I get the nostalgia
Absolutely, but what like I said, what gets me stoked is
Guys like you are gonna take right these kind of mediocre performance. Yeah
You know aspects and you're gonna bam
You're gonna bring them right up to today's standards and then beyond and then of course style wise
We've gotten you know so much better on wheels and stance and looks and mods
And so we're gonna recreate this 80s and 90s era like never never before
Performance wise style wise the whole thing. It's gonna be fun. I'm excited for that
I want to roll up the rad fast with some cool cars. Yeah. Hey, this is no joke
I do I got a charger 500. So it's a clean 1970 charger 500
383, you know is it was a big block, but it was the
335 horsepower big block of time, you know, not like the 440 or the 426
So it's 727 so big, you know, it's a heavy car
But I drive this car this is the last time I drove this car. No joke
It's been in corner of my garage now for about 78 years
Because honestly god, I'm out on a date and a Toyota Camry drug my ass
And I I'm like, I am not driving that car again
Every other charger I have has been replaced. There's stroke 440s and you know 426 himmys and whatnot
But this particular car has the factory numbers matching 383 and I hate driving it because it's so slow
It's terrible, man. It is so slow and it's iconic. It's a charger
What's the beauty of spending a stupid amount of money is nowadays you can take those cool cars and make them faster again
With a butt load of money, but yeah, that's what we do
Right and I've done that about 30
But yeah, man, Terry you're such a great resource for so many people that
They really do want to take those cars and bring them up to another level
Whether it's things like abs which a lot of people that own muscle cars or hot rods or
Whatever would think you can never be able to get that or do that
So, you know helping people out like you know on a fairly popular racing chassis like like my e36
I'm gonna pick your brain on some some set of numbers for my e36
Dude, you're just a great resource for so many people that are out there following your footsteps, you know
Yeah, the e36 is a great chance. Yeah, and I'll I'll put a plug in Terry for you know, anybody out there, right?
we talked about
Right, you're pushing the limits. You're out there
But there's a whole bunch of dudes out there with you know, like I said the the basic Camaros and
And right you're running a Honda. You're running a Mitsubishi. You're running, you know porches
He's got legit like bolt-on go fast
All sorted type of stuff to make your rides go fast
And he's just figuring out how to give you that same thing
Faster and faster just continually so definitely make sure to check out force like motorsports for pretty much any cool ride
That you might have to go faster smarter better
For sure like a super hero is being smarter better faster
We can rebuild it. It's like a theme for the 6000000 dollar man 6000000 No 6000000 dollar Camaro
Or in your case must say
Which is great, man
Hey, it's always good having you on Terry. You definitely appreciate all the insight
How many times have you fired that money gun in 2025 just out of curiosity?
Those people can't see he's got a gun and it actually says money gun and it shoots singles
He's not playing like that's a big hit. You know how much running out of ammo. Yeah
What does it hold 500? Yeah
It it holds a pretty big stack and I've been shooting it at too many cars this year, but we'll
They're starting to pay off our little e36 is really starting to really get fast
Um and uh triggers you mean her e36. Oh, yeah, it's a wide body now in 315s with big arrow and
We did a link ecu and all sorts of crazy stuff from that car. It's it's wild
There was a ratty $1,500 barn find and it is
Everywhere we go everybody's like, oh man, that's project hell rotten. They know the car is hell rot red
So it was kind of rotten when we got it that car as I hit everywhere
We go because it's just this wild looking arrow and wide body and it's it's really fun to drive too
And it's getting really fast. I'm excited. We got to get you back on and chat a little bit about that one
Yeah, that's it's pretty cool. We're making some big strides. That's awesome, man
And he could help anybody out there. That's great about Terry. He doesn't mind taking calls answering questions
Helping people out on this end of the equation as well
And look he can share a couple humble pie stories. We know with you. So yeah, we've all made that mistake changing more than one thing
Uh only to find out you well, you really need to go back to changing just one
Uh logging the data like terry has for so long
Hey, one thing you got to check out is our show because we take terry's tips
And well, we blow them off as ours and share some of that knowledge as as if we had it
And it airs on the weekends on the Motor Show Networks to check your local listings
It's also available in Discovery plus that max thinks our producer scoop our senior producer jesson carter and exec producer
bob ecker check out our website two with two guys garage.com
We're everywhere on social at two guys garage and the two guys podcast. It's copyright 2025 britain productions incorporated
All rights reserved
Way cool terry cool having you on and a better look at the racetrack if I were to ever race you man
This would have been the year
deck on it
You missed it. You missed it really
We missed our chance kevin. We missed our chance, but I tell you and everybody out there
Thinking about going to the track you watch out terry's coming
He's back bigger faster than ever
All right, man, thanks for having your back again. We'll get there. We'll get there
Hope you guys learned something today got geeked up get yourself
Prepped and ready for your track day and we'll see on the next two guys garage podcast
Two guys garage podcast is a production of britain productions for more episodes visit i heart radio apple podcast
Spotify or wherever you listen to your favorite shows
About this episode
Terry from Vorsalock Motorsports joins Two Guys Garage to catch up on his 2015 Mustang “Trigger,” an LS-swapped, aero-heavy time-attack build that keeps evolving. The conversation centers on his track-tested, step-by-step approach to tuning and how he can isolate changes—unlike most racers who must adjust multiple variables at once. Terry recounts a tough year: crash repairs, class changes that forced more horsepower, and lessons learned after sensor and drivability issues. He details the upgraded 744whp LS setup, traction control, and auto-blip braking tweaks that help manage massive power.
Terry Fair of Vorshlag Motorsports returns to the podcast with an update on the evolution of his 700+ HP Mustang "Trigger". About the latest goings-on in his relentless pursuit of speed, Terry reveals the innovations and humble pie moments behind his record-setting builds. “I’ve always shared the good, the bad, and the ugly,” he tells the guys, “because I want people to learn from my mistakes" attempting to move the needle forward for enthusiasts everywhere.
