V8HGT's Build

After waiting 11 months of waiting and two cars being delivered to the dealer I finally collected the second of those two (this time undamaged) cars from the dealer on Friday.
5 days later its got 400 miles on the clock, a new cue ball gear knob and an oil catch can, and is getting its oil changed tomorrow.

Pre-delivery I had all sorts of mod plans including KW v1, Kooks headers, Stainless Works catback,GT350 CAI to name a few. However after two long drives and a bit of daily driver duty I am now convinced Ford built a perfect GT car straight from the factory. The suspension is perfect for covering distance, and its perfectly quiet on a cruise. Try a Maserati GT. Its a lesson in how not to do a grand tourer! Too harsh, too noisy, hard seats etc.
Sure I can still see the appeal of doing a supercharged muscle car build, but I no longer think thats the way I'm going to go with mine as I need my car to be a daily driver and do big miles comfortably. In fact its going down to Spain and back early in the new year.

I am still tempted by KW v1's to get the stance I want. I also think I will look into borla touring type exhausts, or possibly just swap the centre resonator for a cut in H pipe. Im very intrigued by the Solo Mach XV, but i think the Stainless Works retro chambered would be too loud.

And now for the pics.

Solo Mach XV ... FOR THE WIN!

And how come you guys get the nice silver window trim and we get the POS black bendy crap.

wildcatgoal said:

Solo Mach XV ... FOR THE WIN!

And how come you guys get the nice silver window trim and we get the POS black bendy crap.

Click to expand...

Over here they do the "custom pack" which is essentially all the options boxes ticked, silver wheels, and chrome window trim. It only works on some colours. On Yellow, Grey, White etc most folks opt not to choose it. On Red and DIB it can look good.

How do you rate the Mach XV at a steady 80mph cruise in 6th? I'm after something almost as quiet as the stock exhaust in that 2250rpm range. Its got to be quiet enough to take phone calls, listen to the radio etc for hours on end, only stopping for fuel and to take a leak. This thing will be sitting on empty motorways for 3 days straight quite often.

You'll know the Mach XV is there at highway speed, but it's not obtrusive. You can adjust the J-pipes if you get drone - the RPM rang/cruise scenario is where the drone happens in these cars, especially if you have 3.73 gears in the back. I love the sound. At idle it is just a quiet burble. It doesn't really get LOUD (to me) until after 4K. There's a distinct increase in noise after that point according to people who've been behind me at a drag strip. I've been in a number of other cars with different catbacks/systems as I have and have always preferred what mine sounded like inside (and outside).

The Mach XV is louder overall than your standard quiet touring-level exhaust, like from Borla. I personally dislike Borla/Ford Racing sound across the board. Tinny. I've heard the Stainless Works exhaust you mentioned above, it was okay. I sort of like Magnaflow and they tend to be lower in tone like Solo, so the noise less obtrusive.

One of the best sounding quiet exhausts I've heard was an H-pipe with GT500 mufflers.

Thanks man. Im sold on the Mach XV now after looking at your build thread. I better get ordering myself one for Christmas. The wife was unsure what to get me as a gift ;)

Today I had it detailed and treated with gtechniq crystal serum light +exo.
Overall I'm very happy with the way it came up. The coatings certainly give it the lustre it was lacking at collection. Hopefully it will last well once I get some ph neutral cleaning products. The detailer warned me off my autobtite snow foam as it's highly alkaline, so I will need to constrain that to my wife's Volvo now.
The backs of the rear wheels were covered in underseal overspray and there was one small spot of dust in the paint on the bonnet. No sign of any touch ups, scratches or damage luckily. Next stop will be some proper underseal before starting the more obvious mods.

I've settled on the next mods an opened my Stackry account;
BMR cradle lockout
BMR performance springs
ARH catback pure thunder exhaust

Just need another payday before ordering

Well I've had the car a little over 1 month and 1300 miles now and all I have changed is the gear knob and the oil, and added the FRPP oil separator.
It's great in standard trim but the time has come to add a few personal touches.
I've ordered the following parts and they are starting their long sea journey to the UK. Looking forward to getting the spanners out in a months time to install the following:
GT350R steering wheel
ARH pure thunder cat back
BMR Cb005
BMR sp089 and BMR sp088 springs
Steeda subframe alignment kit


The car has now been fully under sealed with Dinitrol to stop the salt eating it away. This one is a keeper!

After a very long time in shipping containers I now have all the parts above. The steering wheel and ARH exhaust have been on the car for approx 800 miles now and they have transformed it. It feels and sounds like a GT should. The car is a daily driver so the exhaust suits it well. The headers will go on later this year with the Lund tune and gt350 im.
The springs and lock out kit are getting fitted early next month.

I'm planning a road trip in September down through France (stopping overnight at Le Mans) then down the east coast of Spain to Mercia. Hence I want it all done for then!

The car is now running an AED custom tune for shell vpower with knock sensor adjustments. It goes like a train!
I have recently bought a used gt350 inlet manifold, CAI and left side oil separator that is now waiting in my garage to be fitted and the tune adjusted to suit.

The springs and lock out kit made a huge difference and the lockout kit for sure is recommended.