What to upgrade next?

2015Etrac · Nov 19, 2017

Right now I have GT350R springs, BMR lockout, Koni Adjustable shocks. Should I invest in some aftermarket sway bars, or should I upgrade my 14" GT brakes to the PP Brembo ones, or will something else be a more worthwhile investment? I can't really add any power since I'm trying to keep my warranty, and cosmetically I'm happy with the car, so right now the only thing I can think of is to do some more suspension or brake work.

BmacIL · Nov 19, 2017

2015Etrac said:
Right now I have GT350R springs, BMR lockout, Koni Adjustable shocks. Should I invest in some aftermarket sway bars, or should I upgrade my 14" GT brakes to the PP Brembo ones, or will something else be a more worthwhile investment? I can't really add any power since I'm trying to keep my warranty, and cosmetically I'm happy with the car, so right now the only thing I can think of is to do some more suspension or brake work.

What do you want it to do better than it does now?

2015Etrac · Nov 19, 2017

BmacIL said:
What do you want it to do better than it does now?

That's the problem. It feels good as is, but not having much experience in performance handling and coming from a Jeep Grand Cherokee, anything feels significantly better. So I'm not sure if it really does handle well as is, or just good enough to make me think it does. If it wasn't for my warranty I'd be more focused on tune, headers, intake, etc. but I'm really limited with my choices right now, which is why I've been focusing on handling and appearance items. I don't track the car, so as much as I've been leaning towards the sway bars, I don't know if I'd ever really notice much difference in street driving and on spirited rides to make it worth the $400 investment. I guess I'd be better off saving the money for a car payment anyway.

BmacIL · Nov 19, 2017

2015Etrac said:
That's the problem. It feels good as is, but not having much experience in performance handling and coming from a Jeep Grand Cherokee, anything feels significantly better. So I'm not sure if it really does handle well as is, or just good enough to make me think it does. If it wasn't for my warranty I'd be more focused on tune, headers, intake, etc. but I'm really limited with my choices right now, which is why I've been focusing on handling and appearance items. I don't track the car, so as much as I've been leaning towards the sway bars, I don't know if I'd ever really notice much difference in street driving and on spirited rides to make it worth the $400 investment. I guess I'd be better off saving the money for a car payment anyway.

If you can't think of what to improve from a handling perspective, maybe a tune? I know what you're saying on warranty, but you could go with the PP2 for some comfort. It wakes up the car a lot more than you'd expect.

Another thing to get the most out of what you've got:
https://www.velossatechdesign.com/product/2015-2017-s550-mustang-big-mouth-ram-air-kit/ :thumbsup:

2015Etrac · Nov 19, 2017

BmacIL said:
If you can't think of what to improve from a handling perspective, maybe a tune? I know what you're saying on warranty, but you could go with the PP2 for some comfort. It wakes up the car a lot more than you'd expect.

Another thing to get the most out of what you've got:
https://www.velossatechdesign.com/product/2015-2017-s550-mustang-big-mouth-ram-air-kit/

Looks nice. Do those things add much power?

I'll have to have someone who knows suspension drive the car and tell me what they think. There's so many items I see people buying like sway bars, vertical links, bushing kits, shock mounts, etc. That I start thinking "well if they need them, maybe I need them too?". But the car is a daily driver, so I don't want it to feel like I'm driving a track car to get groceries.

I'd really like to get the Ford Performance Pack 3, with the GT350 manifold, but it's out of my price range for now. I am curious if that tune will work with long tube headers if someone decided to add them in the future, or would you need to go to one of the aftermarket custom tuners at that point?

Roadway 5.0 · Nov 20, 2017

2015Etrac said:
Right now I have GT350R springs, BMR lockout, Koni Adjustable shocks. Should I invest in some aftermarket sway bars, or should I upgrade my 14" GT brakes to the PP Brembo ones, or will something else be a more worthwhile investment? I can't really add any power since I'm trying to keep my warranty, and cosmetically I'm happy with the car, so right now the only thing I can think of is to do some more suspension or brake work.

Look into a 2 or 4-point K-member brace. The brace really wakes up the steering feel and increases mid-turn feedback. Install is a snap less banging out a bit of random metal.

2015Etrac · Nov 20, 2017

Thanks. Would a K brace make more of a difference than sway bars in hard cornering? I wish there were easy weighs to drop weight since I can't really add power yet. The only thing I can think of is a rear seat delete but being this is my daily driver I really need the rear seats, and fold down feature.

BmacIL · Nov 20, 2017

2015Etrac said:
Looks nice. Do those things add much power?

I'll have to have someone who knows suspension drive the car and tell me what they think. There's so many items I see people buying like sway bars, vertical links, bushing kits, shock mounts, etc. That I start thinking "well if they need them, maybe I need them too?". But the car is a daily driver, so I don't want it to feel like I'm driving a track car to get groceries.

I'd really like to get the Ford Performance Pack 3, with the GT350 manifold, but it's out of my price range for now. I am curious if that tune will work with long tube headers if someone decided to add them in the future, or would you need to go to one of the aftermarket custom tuners at that point?

Yes, and it helps control IATs much better because it prevents the radiator back-wash from getting into the intake stream. See thread:
http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39043

The braces are definitely a good option for improving the feel of the car. It won't reduce body roll while cornering but will make the chassis feel more rigid and responsive. Exercise caution here, though. It's easy to want to make the car drive like a racecar and then later regret not having the quiet & comfy ride anymore. There is a good balance to be had, which is very close to where you're at. Adding additional bracing will provide handling benefits, at the expense of a little bit of harshness, and sometimes some added noise.

I would seriously look at doing a front control arm bearing swap for something that provides a handling benefit without any ride quality or NVH hit. If you do all four front arms it'll be noticeably more direct and responsive.

Bluemustang · Nov 20, 2017

If you're happy with the car I say leave it alone.

2015Etrac · Nov 20, 2017

BmacIL said:
Yes, and it helps control IATs much better because it prevents the radiator back-wash from getting into the intake stream. See thread:
http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39043

The braces are definitely a good option for improving the feel of the car. It won't reduce body roll while cornering but will make the chassis feel more rigid and responsive. Exercise caution here, though. It's easy to want to make the car drive like a racecar and then later regret not having the quiet & comfy ride anymore. There is a good balance to be had, which is very close to where you're at. Adding additional bracing will provide handling benefits, at the expense of a little bit of harshness, and sometimes some added noise.

I would seriously look at doing a front control arm bearing swap for something that provides a handling benefit without any ride quality or NVH hit. If you do all four front arms it'll be noticeably more direct and responsive.

Nice, I'll check them out. The glow one or red one would look good on my car. I've noticed my IATs rise a lot since I've added the new intake.

Thank's for the advice. I'll probably just keep the car as-is, it handles well now for what I need, and I really don't want too harsh of a ride.

Grintch · Nov 20, 2017

Bluemustang said:
If you're happy with the car I say leave it alone.

Right. Putting race car suspension on a car that never sees the track is a waste of money. Plus you ruin the street manners.

Use the money for a track day. Then you might have some concrete ideas for things that might warrant improvement (if you ever want to do more).

Ebm · Nov 20, 2017

.

Grintch said:
Right. Putting race car suspension on a car that never sees the track is a waste of money. Plus you ruin the street manners.

Use the money for a track day. Then you might have some concrete ideas for things that might warrant improvement (if you ever want to do more).

I was just thinking that. Driver mod(gaining more experience).

2015Etrac · Nov 21, 2017

Hey Bmac, we have similar setups, and it says you daily driver and do autoX. How does it perform for autoX? I would like to try some autoX events in the future. I notice you do run a PP rear sway bar? How do they compare to the standard GT one or the GT350 bars. The GT PP and Gt350 bars seem reasonably priced from Ford vs. the $400 or so, for the BMR and Steeda sets.

BmacIL · Nov 21, 2017

2015Etrac said:
Hey Bmac, we have similar setups, and it says you daily driver and do autoX. How does it perform for autoX? I would like to try some autoX events in the future. I notice you do run a PP rear sway bar? How do they compare to the standard GT one or the GT350 bars. The GT PP and Gt350 bars seem reasonably priced from Ford vs. the $400 or so, for the BMR and Steeda sets.

It does really well. It's most definitely tire-limited. Some 305 square RE71Rs and I'd be flying. The suspension is plenty capable of extremely good PAX classification. The PP rear bar is an upgrade you won't really feel on the street, but is noticeable when you push the car hard (like autocross). I will probably upgrade to the GT350R bars at some point as well, as they are very little ride penalty but will improve roll control quite a bit.

The things (that I already own) on my install list are:
- Bearing-equipped front control arms (all four), the front upper arms with the J&M spherical bearings that I won, and the rear lower arms being the PP arms.
- BMR TCA048 Vertical Links

I'm moving into a house next week (finally!), so after that I'll have a lot more flexibility to try new parts.

What to upgrade next?

2015Etrac

Well-Known Member

BmacIL

Enginerd

2015Etrac

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BmacIL

Enginerd

2015Etrac

Well-Known Member

Roadway 5.0

Strassejager

2015Etrac

Well-Known Member

BmacIL

Enginerd

Bluemustang

Well-Known Member

2015Etrac

Well-Known Member

Grintch

Well-Known Member

Ebm

Well-Known Member

2015Etrac

Well-Known Member

BmacIL

Enginerd