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Bluemustang

Bluemustang

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Some more pics!!

I have planned more modifications to my suspension.

-Steeda Front Control Arm Lateral Links with extended ball joints
-Steeda Front Control Arm Tension Links with Front Control Arm Spherical Bearing

Also in the plans:

-Ported 2018 intake
-LU47 injectors

Will post back once I add more modifications! And thanks if you participated in my thread.
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Ported 2018 manifold and 47lb. injectors going in tomorrow. Pics forthcoming :)

Wrenching with fellow M6G member @BmacIL. Thanks to him in advance! Can't wait.
 
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Manifold and injectors on! And man this 2018 manifold is awesome. Huge thanks to @BmacIL for helping me do this install (and doing most of the work!) I drove up to Michigan to meet up with him and he arranged for us to use his friend's @jbird60 garage to get this done. Big thank you to him as well, and I hope you kill your interview man, if you ever read this. Seriously, @BmacIL did so much to make this happen and also lived through my nervousness along the way lol So thanks man.

Just running off the base Lund tune file for the manifold and injectors - man this manifold is awesome. I'm so glad I did it. The differences were felt almost immediately.

The throttle response is improved and it feels really nice. The 47lb injectors might have impacted this I think. No noticable drop in low end torque driving around town with the IMRCs locked out. In fact it almost feels stronger around 2500-3000. If there is any drop off I can't feel it. On the highway in 6th there is a very small loss maybe around 2000-2200. And the 3.15 automatic gears, 5th and 6th are both overdrive gears so no need to even use 6th unless cruising over 80mph. At that point it's fine.

When the power comes on though, the torque curve is smooth. The abrupt midrange spike is gone and it just smoothly builds power. Once it goes a little past 7000 it's like another level. Definitely power added that pushes you back in the seat! There is no doubt about it.

My impressions match all of my expectations. I suspected it would become easier to drive fast with this manifold over stock and it is. Noticeably. It totally changes the feel of the car imo. Similar to reviews on how he GT350 manifold performs. It feels like a much broader powerband and does it in a smoother, building fashion such that it encourages you to rev it out. I am not a fan of the abrupt midrange torque spike of the stock 15-17 manifold. But this is the ticket. After trying it behind the wheel its readily apparent. And that TOP END wow. More top end pull and for longer. It's like the Coyote unleashed - is the best way we could put it lol.

Anyone who is the fence about doing this. Do it. Do it asap. Power increase. More importantly it improves the character of the engine response. It matches the abilities of the car - the way the GenII engine works, and the chassis and suspension. This how the Mustang GT should have been in my opinion. And I'm gonna say it, hunting for intake manifolds (or in general N/A tuning) for low end torque is the wrong way of going about it. It is not befitting the car or how the engine is designed. I did a lot research on this and looked at all the intake manifold options. The CJ is the king. No disputing that. But next to that, 2018 manifold or GT350 is the way to go. And the price of the 2018 manifold and how it has less torque loss vs the GT350, I'm leaning towards this. Both are very similar and produce great power curves. Even the Boss intake is a good curve, even though the low end torque is a penalty.

Once I go to flex fuel and E85 I should be well over 500 crank hp, which was my goal from the start. I was not just chasing the most peak hp though. My main reason for deciding to do the 2018 manifold was not just a peak hp increase - It is about HOW it makes the power. My theory was that it would make it is easier to drive by smoothing out and extending the powerband. And it's actually been confirmed. Putting the power down smoothly in the corners now allows me the control to be more aggressive. The chassis and suspension stay balanced, and around town the smooth response encourages higher revs. It's very exciting.

I've fallen in love with the car all over again. And it is so great that my modifications have come together to work in concert. It's been 3 plus years and it's better than it ever was. The drive back once it warmed up some was SO much fun.
 
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Control arms have arrived.
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which configuration are those? I went on their site and there are like a couple options.
 
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Yeah the PP car has a bearing in the lateral link from the factory. The Steeda version just has one difference - extended ball joints for roll center correction for people like me who have lowered their cars. As it turns out, the roll center correction is optimized for a 7/8" drop (which just so happens to be - EXACTLY what I have). This was probably the deciding factor for me. This should perfect my front geometry as much as is possible. Now I will have the advantage of the lower center of gravity and the stiffer spring rates, with none of the downsides from a geometry standpoint.

If you want bearings in both, you just need the front control arm bearings for the tension links.
 
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Fast forward on the recent power mods...

I am really enjoying the Lund FF tune and 2018 ported manifold. My last log showed 49.5 maf lb./min. at 7200 rpm. So definite increase in airflow. It pulls like an animal up top, especially after 6500. Also, the car loves E85. Haven't been able to log on E85 but I will do that soon once my 93 octane runs out.

Love the Lund tune, except the shift pressure is a little too firm for the type of driving I do so I asked Dakota to send me a revision with lower shift pressures. Trying to take corners coming out of 1st gear is a little harsher than I'd like it to be. I think the softened shift pressures should do the trick. Of course, it's generally not a good idea to shift will turning as it upsets the balance of the car. But I'd like to not have to completely straighten the car out before I upshift as presently even the slightest turn of the wheel upsets it because the shift pressure is higher. And sometimes an upshift is needed as I can't always rev it to 7K coming around corners. Will load it up tonight and see how she feels.

And then in a couple weeks I am going to do those Steeda front control arms. Then catch can. Then GT350 Rear Sway, maybe the front too. Then some new tires for my stock rims for the winter!
 

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Front control arms go on Monday. I'm excited to see what the new tension & lateral links do for the car. The tension link bearing looks very impressive in person.

I have a feeling it's going to take the car up another level. The rear suspension is very solid so imo the front needs a little improvement to match. Also, got the GT350 rear sway bar on last week and I noticed a positive improvement with that.

I am expecting the balance to change again from the roll center correction so it'll be interesting to see how it feels afterwards.
 
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I finally got the Steeda front control arms on today (lateral and tension links w/ bearings).

I need to drive it a lot more before I see all of the changes but here is what I noticed right off the bat.

The ride improved. It feels much smoother over bumps. The suspension feels like it is working better. Instead of bind and jiggle the suspension just goes up.down. Steering feels lighter and more responsive despite adding more toe in on my alignment. Steering also feels more stable and consistent in turns. Also seems to have improved turn in response and overall grip (but to be fair I need to drive it more). Much more stable at high speeds too. It seems to encourage me to go faster.

So far really impressed and feel like I should've down this a long time ago. Can't wait to drive it more to see how the car feels. It'll be interesting to see how the balance changed.

I also swapped the BMR rear bar out for a GT350 bar a little while back so that should impact things too. I think its going to end up working out good!
 

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Our setups are quite similar! By the way, have you sorted out the issue of AdvanceTrac cutting power on upshifts when the tires spin? I got the same issue with my car 3.15 auto AED tuned.
 
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Our setups are quite similar! By the way, have you sorted out the issue of AdvanceTrac cutting power on upshifts when the tires spin? I got the same issue with my car 3.15 auto AED tuned.
No. But, I am pretty sure I know why it is happening. The easy fix is to turn Advanctrac OFF, but be careful lol. The other fix is to ask AED. I am pretty sure based on information in this forum - The stock tune contains torque limiters which are engaged in certain situations, putting power down while the transmission is shifting is one of them. Most tuners turn off or significantly reduce the torque limiting.

I think what happens is that it lets the car get loose, enough that Advancetrac is shutting you down. I noticed it the worst in Advancetrac SPORT mode. I think it lets the car get loose enough that it tries to shut you down rather drastically. It doesn't seem as bad with TCS and Advancetrac both on because its not allowing the car to get that out of shape that it needs to cut power so drastically.

One guy on the forum has a Lund tuned car and was able to get his shifts dialed in better with a tune update called torque truncation off, which is what led me to my theory. When I asked him about it he basically confirmed my thoughts. I believe this is something AED would be able to change.
 

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Thanks so much for posting this. I've been looking for an easy to follow suspension plan for my car and thanks to this thread I now think I have one.

Based on your recommendations I'll skipping the diff bushings and only other planned change from yours will be gt350 front and rear sway bars.

Is there anything else you have on the wish list regarding suspension or do you feel this is fairly complete based on your goals?

Oh and just to make sure my list is correct you are using the Poly Steeda Vertical Links?

And did you upgrade to the PP rear toe link or did you find that mod to be unnecessary on a non PP car? No need to answer this since I found @BmacIL state that GT and PP GTs each have the same rear toe link (so much miss information on vendors sites).
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