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Ford Performance Street Handling pack experience

Dave2013M3

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I understand, however I was willing to spend a grand for the street pack. Not the 1400 for the track pack. My Mustang is base, the street pack/PP1 is an improvement.
You can get for a lot cheaper than that...Steeda has it for much lower.

Ford Racing Track Kit

Levittown Parts for $1159

Reach out to Levittown and they will give you free shipping. To be frank with the Vert you will want the stiffer springs for the heavier vert.
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shogun32

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I was willing to spend a grand for the street pack. Not the 1400 for the track pack. My Mustang is base, the street pack/PP1 is an improvement.
anything is better than stock. But for $400 you could have some actually good(ish) suspension instead of warmed over crap.
 

Norm Peterson

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Put that way I guess the biggest improvement would be handling at speed for the on & off ramps, wheel hop and just over all a more spirited driving experience.
That would be a good enough description of what I consider street driving to include.

Wheel hop would mean looking into some sort of rear subframe bracing or improved location . . . and perhaps a bit of driver restraint.

Compromising things like ground clearance, tire clearance, and suspension geometry for appearance reasons never made much sense to me. Then again, I've always been a "function first and let the appearance be what it may" engineer, so there's that . . .


Norm
 

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Get the street springs, but pair with Bilsteins. Excellent combo for a street car.


The FP Street handling comes with progressive rate springs
...those springs are clearly not linear.
FP Street and Track springs are indeed linear. The fronts are purely linear, the rears have a helper portion tied to the active linear portion. Here’s the Ford engineer who designed these springs (go to 2min):

 

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The FP Street handling comes with progressive rate springs, it takes the base to PP1 level type suspension feel. It drops the front and rear nearly "1. This kit can be installed by yourself, I recommend getting a buddy, the front ARB is a complete PITA. I managed to get it installed, with help. The FP Track handling package, drops the ride height almost "2 front and rear, and come with linear springs. If you do not plan the track it, those linear springs will likely hurt, a lot. Both were designed for the s550 chassis, however... I was under the impression the verts were not compatible, but if FP has them listed, go with what FP has published.
This ^

I was told by a tech @ Ford Performance a few years ago when I had my '16 PP that the FP street set-up is virtually the same as PP from the factory.
 

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I was told by a tech @ Ford Performance a few years ago when I had my '16 PP that the FP street set-up is virtually the same as PP from the factory.
True, the only difference is the lowered ride height and a very slight increase in spring rate with the X-springs. The street pack has the same terrible OEM PP dampers, which nobody should invest in.
 

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This ^

I was told by a tech @ Ford Performance a few years ago when I had my '16 PP that the FP street set-up is virtually the same as PP from the factory.
It is aside from the Street Lowering Springs (M-5300-X).

I added the outer rear toe link bearing as well since it was not included in this kit.

The car will be more than capable for anything the street will throw at it, but again this is all personal preference.

I was on the fence street pack / track pack when I did mine a few years back. I read plenty of reviews that said the track pack is harsh on the street. But what one person is willing to tolerate my be not acceptable to another for the ride quality. It may be acceptable to one person but harsh to another.

The only real way to find out is to ride in other peoples cars that have the different kits installed. But then there are other things that will affect the ride quality / stiffness of the car. Everything from tires, to bracing, to roll center correction and the list goes on.

All I can say is I'm more than happy with it. Then again I have quite a few supporting mods as well which the PP1 didn't come with so its hard to compare it to a stock PP1.

My car used to be a non PP1 base suspension fwiw, and that suspension was completely unacceptable to me. It was comfortable and that's about it.
 
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RonsterGT

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True, the only difference is the lowered ride height and a very slight increase in spring rate with the X-springs. The street pack has the same terrible OEM PP dampers, which nobody should invest in.
Yeah this is how it was explained to me.
 

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With my ‘15 PP, would it be beneficial to simply change to a better quality set of dampers? More than once ppl have mentioned that PP dampers are crap. Are they really that bad? I might like to go lower by an inch max but really prefer drivability in regard to not scraping on everything. Obviously, tearing all that down in the front to do dampers would be the time to do springs if ever.
 

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With my ‘15 PP, would it be beneficial to simply change to a better quality set of dampers? More than once ppl have mentioned that PP dampers are crap. Are they really that bad? I might like to go lower by an inch max but really prefer drivability in regard to not scraping on everything. Obviously, tearing all that down in the front to do dampers would be the time to do springs if ever.
100% yes, changing your OEM PP dampers to Bilsteins, FRPP Track dampers, or the like will pay big dividends. Going to the X-Spring when swapping dampers saves on labor — a 1” drop and no risk of a butchered ride quality makes them a safe choice.
 

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Dr. Norts

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Just out of curiosity what is it exactly that's so bad about the PP dampeners? I'm asking because with the X springs they work great and I'm curious what the downsides to them are....without just saying "the track dampeners are better" or something to that effect.
 

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With my ‘15 PP, would it be beneficial to simply change to a better quality set of dampers? More than once ppl have mentioned that PP dampers are crap. Are they really that bad?
Even when the S550 first came out and the PP was the "performance suspension upgrade", there were knowledgeable reviewer comments amounting to the dampers not being what they should have been.


I might like to go lower by an inch max but really prefer drivability in regard to not scraping on everything. Obviously, tearing all that down in the front to do dampers would be the time to do springs if ever.
Obviously doing it all at once or doing it in stages has to be your decision. Which might depend on how much of the work you can do yourself vs how much you might have to farm out.

I'd had plans to lower my car from the get-go, which would have been done at the same time as the dampers if I hadn't stopped myself (mainly because the lowering with the then-available springs was too much for my taste). I waited until nose dive under hard braking on track started to consciously bother me, meaning that I'd advanced to the point where I could actually start paying attention to the chassis moving around on the suspension. That's what told me I needed more spring rate (all around). This approach would not be generation-specific or car make/model specific.


Norm
 

Norm Peterson

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Just out of curiosity what is it exactly that's so bad about the PP dampeners? I'm asking because with the X springs they work great and I'm curious what the downsides to them are....without just saying "the track dampeners are better" or something to that effect.
Randy's comments about the PP dampers begin a little after 9:45.




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Randy's comments about the PP dampers begin a little after 9:45.




Norm
He says it feels very firm on the street but on the track it feels cushy / Rolly - too soft really. We really could use more shock for track work...he's only 1.5 seconds slower per lap than the SS 1LE which has more hp/tq than the mustang as well.

sounds like his complaints are related to the dampeners being used on a track. he seems to have no issues with them on the street from his comments.

This guy's skill level is also way above what most would bring to the table.
 
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Randy's comments about the PP dampers begin a little after 9:45.




Norm
Thanks. They do seem to indicate that dampers are a weak link in the whole setup. I am used to driving Japanese cars, which are usually pretty planted and predictable. They never make me think about what the shocks are doing, they just work. For them, it’s more about stabilizers and tire grip. Hard to explain exactly with the Mustang. It seems to handle less well than expected, given the harshness of the ride.
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