Can a case be made for leaving it bone stock?

[Reddirocket27]

My favorite is when something horrifically wrong happens and the list of "mods" is pages long and forces the powertrain to do things it was never designed to do long-term. Like, there's your problem.

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[Xzavior1818]

I'd say the best and least cost diminishing mods are a nice set of wheels, interior /reverse light led upgrade, a xpipe or h pipe, Ford performance crawl and strut brace, hood struts and lastly the passenger side Ford performance oil catch can.

 

[Mike Pfeifer]

You do you.

I love seeing modded Mustangs and will always throw a genuine Thumbs-Up when I see them in the wild. For me though: I work with machines for a living. Wrenching on a car is the last thing I want to do in my leisure time.

The factory floor mats are abysmally cheap looking, so those will get replaced. I'll also tint the windows because ATL in summer is balls hot. Other than that, I'm good.

I’ve been a BMW master tech for over 21 years and now have a very low tolerance for working on my own cars. I probably won’t do much. About the most I’m going to be willing to do is cosmetic, audio stuff and maybe that Ford Performance tune.

 

[young at heart]

I bet it sounds great with the top down. I had a TR6 and it was so much more fun to drive with it down.

It sounds unbelievable!

Mine isn’t a DD so I never drive it any other way than top down.

 

[pyrophilus]

Mike is 100% stock. I am weird in that I like to keep things looking like how it came when I bought them.

This is why I didn't even swap out my chrome lug nuts to black.

Furthermore, I am coming from two EB Premium 6MT with 201a, shaker.

I got my GT because wife said to me if I love the mustang so much, why don't I get one to keep (vs lease), and get a V8?

I was originally looking for a new GT premium 6mt 401a, with shaker/B&O, safe and smart, but some how came across my 19GT with the same options plus PP and Active exhaust.

I feel like this is more car than I need right now. While I do appreciate and enjoy seeing/reading about people who model their cars, I enjoy mot modding, but repairing my own cars for maintenance.

This is why I like this forum and its members, there are all kinds, people who tear apart their s550's and do crazy things like force inducting on their own, and people like me, who just barely pulled off a rusted hub/bearing and knuckle replacement.

So I guess my answer is, I will probably do a lot of work on it, but not to mod (plan on doing rest of the bearings, because I didn't realize that at 22k mi, swapping one bearing made such a drastic difference in the steering feeling taught). And yes, I have extended warranty, but to my wife's frustration, that's for big things, like blown tranny and/or engine (or if parts bill goes over $300).

 

[ddeluce]

My 2017 GT/CS is close to stock. I use it as a touring car not as a track car. I had the resonator replaced with an X-pipe, and the Ford Performance Power Pack 1 tune installed by the Ford dealer (to preserve the warranty). The PP1 tune is a mild, but noticeable, improvement. The power increases are small, but throttle response and auto trans shifting are much improved. I think Ford should sell the GT this way in the first place. I am also planning to change out the all-season tires to summer tires to improve grip. I live in California and don't drive this car in bad weather so A/S tires aren't needed.

 

[Norm Peterson]

When I got my GT Premium convertible last fall I started dreaming about what I might do to it. My first thought was a warranty friendly supercharger. Then I thought nah, too much trouble and expense. So next I thought about the Ford CAI/throttle body/tune kit. But even that requires a reflash.

At least the CAI/tune kit would involve a Ford Performance tune, which was almost certainly developed by the same people responsible for the production tune. That's as far as I ever wanted to go on my '08 power-wise, and it's been fine.


Norm

 

[Mikesc]

I have a 2020 GT/CS and will keep it stock. Historically stock is the best way to go. I do not need more than 460 HP.

 

[Coosawjack]

I have a 2020 GT/CS and will keep it stock. Historically stock is the best way to go. I do not need more than 460 HP.

My sentiments exactly Mike!!

I just cruised River Road to Yemassee and down to Pocotalago....back to my place with the top down....who needs "MODS" in a car this nice!!??

 

[Johnnybee]

I bought a catch can but have not yet installed it. After reading some more and realizing that my lightly driven, stock EB will not likely require the back of the valves to be cleaned until perhaps 160K kms, and currently at 32K, it didn’t seem to be worth the effort, although maybe I will get it on this summer. I thought about Steeda jacking rails but they are priced ridiculous north of the border, plus I currently only jack the corners to do the seasonal rubber change. For something around $25 I got a nice magnetic aluminum pinch weld jack support that works great. I did buy WeatherTech mats. For me it’s a pleasant cruiser and I don’t really need anything more than stock. I do enjoy reading about other forum members’ cars and what they have done, and helping out problem solving with my 40+ years of back yard wrenching where I can.

 

[kz]

So then I got to thinking: how much more could I realistically use on the street? And what about the expense and subsequent diminishment of reliability?

100% right. Most people mod car to mod them - and there is nothing wrong with it - that's what they like to to and spend money on. But this car is perfectly good to drive as is, it doesn't need more power or more suspension or more anything for like 99% of its owners use them for.

In addition there is zero resale value (if anything - negative) in most of these mods.

 

[Jetnoise]

100% right. Most people mod car to mod them - and there is nothing wrong with it - that's what they like to to and spend money on. But this car is perfectly good to drive as is, it doesn't need more power or more suspension or more anything for like 99% of its owners use them for.

In addition there is zero resale value (if anything - negative) in most of these mods.

If you are restoring a car ground up it's a different ball game

 

[Garfy]

Let me say right off that what anybody does with their car is clearly no one else’s business. Period. I get that.

When I got my GT Premium convertible last fall I started dreaming about what I might do to it. My first thought was a warranty friendly supercharger. Then I thought nah, too much trouble and expense. So next I thought about the Ford CAI/throttle body/tune kit. But even that requires a reflash.

So then I got to thinking: how much more could I realistically use on the street? And what about the expense and subsequent diminishment of reliability? Here’s a non-scientific factoid I’ve noticed: many, if not most of the problems guys post about here seem to be related to an aftermarket tune. If you’re willing to put up with that it’s fine I suppose. Each to his own. But if we have cars where changing out a stereo can screw with the traction and stability systems, in the long run are we smarter than the Ford engineers?

I might change my mind but I’m beginning to think that maybe I should save up the GT mod money and put it toward a second Mustang like maybe a Shelby. I guess I have a low tolerance for inanimate objects that don’t work right.

I'm in agreement with you for the most part. After having played around in my early years with a '71 Mustang 302-2V and putting a mild cam, headers, 3.50 gears (it had 2.79 w/o posi) intake & carb and yielding only 14.2 on a 1/4 mile (though fuel economy went up to 15 mpg with the mods; what do we expect with 9.0:1 compression?) I got tired of having to dink with stuff every day as the idle quality would change depending on humidity and baro pressure. Anyway, after getting my plain GT with 10-speed, I think I'm more than contented with it as we don't even have a drag strip where I can open it up at. If I turned off TC, it would smoke the tires quite a while when taking off, so why would I need more than 460 HP anyway? As it is, it will run "forever" without having to do much except routine maintenance so I'm happy not having to tinker with the car yet have that power at my disposal for a very affordable price. The only things I did to it was put a JLT oil separator (to keep the oil from coating the inside of the intake manifold), hood lifts so I don't need to use the prop rod and a set of jacking rails so I don't have to worry about jack placement when jacking the wheels up. I won't even replace the exhaust because it's loud enough to me as it is, plus I like the low rumble better than the harsh higher-pitched raspy exhaust that I hear on a lot of GTs where you can hear the backfire in the exhaust when they let off the throttle.

 

[Zrussian13]

My car is mostly stock too. I like it that way...

 

[young at heart]

I bought a catch can but have not yet installed it. After reading some more and realizing that my lightly driven, stock EB will not likely require the back of the valves to be cleaned until perhaps 160K kms, and currently at 32K, it didn’t seem to be worth the effort, although maybe I will get it on this summer. I thought about Steeda jacking rails but they are priced ridiculous north of the border, plus I currently only jack the corners to do the seasonal rubber change. For something around $25 I got a nice magnetic aluminum pinch weld jack support that works great. I did buy WeatherTech mats. For me it’s a pleasant cruiser and I don’t really need anything more than stock. I do enjoy reading about other forum members’ cars and what they have done, and helping out problem solving with my 40+ years of back yard wrenching where I can.

Since this came up I’ve got to ask something I’ve wondered about ever since I signed up here. Why in the name of all that’s holy would Ford build a car that couldn’t be jacked up normally without damaging the vehicle, thus requiring an aftermarket piece? Is that for real? Seems hard to believe but what do I know?

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