Sharad
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 26, 2014
- Threads
- 7
- Messages
- 229
- Reaction score
- 160
- Location
- Fort Myers, Florida
- Website
- www.uprproducts.com
- Vehicle(s)
- 2016 Mustang GT
- Thread starter
- #1
UPR is now a Ridetech dealer, so I ordered Ridetech's Level 2 Coilovers immediately after I bought my 2016 5.0. The Level 2 coilovers are single adjustable on the rebound stroke, and they retail for $2400. These are on what I'd consider the affordable end of quality coilover systems, so I was excited to try them out. Here's a quick walk through of the system, followed by my thoughts after driving it.
People who know me from my days writing for 5.0 Magazine or Marketing for UPR know that everything I drive gets lowered. I loved my new 5.0 from the day I bought it, but the suspension was definitely its biggest weakness. I suppose it's squishy to please the masses, but that is not conducive to cornering grip. So two weeks after I bought the car, this glorious package from Ridetech showed up:
The struts are nicely made, looking very rugged. Durability will not be an issue with these. Despite their solid build, they seemed to be lighter than the stock struts. (I didn't weigh them)
Installation was pretty straight forward. The struts come assembled, so there's no guesswork here. I eyeballed the camber setting until I can get the car to an alignment shop.
The rear coilovers are very compact, but appear heavy duty as well.
The rear coilovers come with a heavy duty upper mount, which is a smart move since the stock mount isn't designed to hold the load from the springs. Once you get the stock springs out, the installation is very simple but tedious. The whole job took six hours on jack stands using hand tools, and I was taking my time since I've never lowered an S550 before. I could probably do it again in 4.
400# front springs and 500# rear springs installed without preload yielded roughly a 1.5" drop. There are 24 clicks of adjustment on the dampers. Ridetech instructs you to turn the knobs fully clockwise (full stiff) and then turn the knobs back 20 clicks, which would be pretty soft. I tend to like a very firm suspension setup, and these spring rates were on the higher end of what they recommend for the street, so I only turned back 5 clicks front and rear. [five clicks away from full stiff] Note: You can reach through the rear wheels to adjust the shocks, so the whole system can be adjusted in a minute or two on the side of the road, with no tools. That's convenient.
Now that I've been able to drive them around all day, I wanted to share some feedback on the system. In short- WOW, I'm impressed. It's difficult to put into words how much of an improvement this Ridetech system is! It's no secret that the S550 suspension is far more sophisticated than anything Ford has used on Mustangs in the past, but the factory shocks and struts were still insufficient. Randy Pobst had quite a bit of praise in his review of the 2015 Mustang GT PP, but his only real criticism (vs the Camaro SS 1LE in the same test) was that the dampers were holding the Mustang back.
Well I'm here to tell you- the Ridetech coilovers changed all of that! I've been fortunate enough to drive Z06s, Vipers, Porsches, BMWs, even a Lamborghini... and I can honestly say that I would put this car up against any of those cars, stock for stock, at an HPDE. Just let me run the Ridetech coilovers! Mind you- the suspension on this car is bone stock. In the two weeks that I've owned it, I threw on an MBRP Race cat-back and wheels & tires- that's it.
With no other suspension mods, the car handles so well that my biggest problem was finding a public road to test the limits. Even turning left at a four-way intersection in a 45-zone, all I had to do was drop a couple gears, didn't even touch the brakes, and it railed right around the corner, nice and flat without so much as a wiggle. Nice. I was concerned that it might not handle as well over the rough stuff since I have it set so stiff, but I found a high speed sweeper with some pretty rough seams in the pavement. I flew around that corner, hammer down, and though I could feel the bumps coming through the car pretty hard, it stayed planted and begged for more! This is insanity. The Ridetech system totally transformed an otherwise stock Mustang.
I look forward to pushing this thing a little harder at Sebring next month for the TrackGuys.com HPDE, with some UPR goodies thrown in to sweeten the deal.
People who know me from my days writing for 5.0 Magazine or Marketing for UPR know that everything I drive gets lowered. I loved my new 5.0 from the day I bought it, but the suspension was definitely its biggest weakness. I suppose it's squishy to please the masses, but that is not conducive to cornering grip. So two weeks after I bought the car, this glorious package from Ridetech showed up:
The struts are nicely made, looking very rugged. Durability will not be an issue with these. Despite their solid build, they seemed to be lighter than the stock struts. (I didn't weigh them)
Installation was pretty straight forward. The struts come assembled, so there's no guesswork here. I eyeballed the camber setting until I can get the car to an alignment shop.
The rear coilovers are very compact, but appear heavy duty as well.
The rear coilovers come with a heavy duty upper mount, which is a smart move since the stock mount isn't designed to hold the load from the springs. Once you get the stock springs out, the installation is very simple but tedious. The whole job took six hours on jack stands using hand tools, and I was taking my time since I've never lowered an S550 before. I could probably do it again in 4.
400# front springs and 500# rear springs installed without preload yielded roughly a 1.5" drop. There are 24 clicks of adjustment on the dampers. Ridetech instructs you to turn the knobs fully clockwise (full stiff) and then turn the knobs back 20 clicks, which would be pretty soft. I tend to like a very firm suspension setup, and these spring rates were on the higher end of what they recommend for the street, so I only turned back 5 clicks front and rear. [five clicks away from full stiff] Note: You can reach through the rear wheels to adjust the shocks, so the whole system can be adjusted in a minute or two on the side of the road, with no tools. That's convenient.
Now that I've been able to drive them around all day, I wanted to share some feedback on the system. In short- WOW, I'm impressed. It's difficult to put into words how much of an improvement this Ridetech system is! It's no secret that the S550 suspension is far more sophisticated than anything Ford has used on Mustangs in the past, but the factory shocks and struts were still insufficient. Randy Pobst had quite a bit of praise in his review of the 2015 Mustang GT PP, but his only real criticism (vs the Camaro SS 1LE in the same test) was that the dampers were holding the Mustang back.
Well I'm here to tell you- the Ridetech coilovers changed all of that! I've been fortunate enough to drive Z06s, Vipers, Porsches, BMWs, even a Lamborghini... and I can honestly say that I would put this car up against any of those cars, stock for stock, at an HPDE. Just let me run the Ridetech coilovers!
Mind you- the suspension on this car is bone stock. In the two weeks that I've owned it, I threw on an MBRP Race cat-back and wheels & tires- that's it. With no other suspension mods, the car handles so well that my biggest problem was finding a public road to test the limits. Even turning left at a four-way intersection in a 45-zone, all I had to do was drop a couple gears, didn't even touch the brakes, and it railed right around the corner, nice and flat without so much as a wiggle. Nice. I was concerned that it might not handle as well over the rough stuff since I have it set so stiff, but I found a high speed sweeper with some pretty rough seams in the pavement. I flew around that corner, hammer down, and though I could feel the bumps coming through the car pretty hard, it stayed planted and begged for more! This is insanity. The Ridetech system totally transformed an otherwise stock Mustang.
I look forward to pushing this thing a little harder at Sebring next month for the TrackGuys.com HPDE, with some UPR goodies thrown in to sweeten the deal.
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