Street Style Ecoboost Drift Build

I haven't really seen anyone doing this style of build on here so I figured I would document everything I do and learn along the way, in the hopes that other people will follow suit! If anyone has any questions about my setup, working around factory issues/sensors, or suggestions to improve the car, I'm always willing to help in any way I can!

Back in April, I picked up my first ever Mustang, a 2016 ruby red ecoboost.
But all good stories start with a backstory.

By and large, I have never been a "mustang guy" or really into domestic cars in general (aside from classics, but that's coming later) but something about the S550 really caught my eye. It's sleek styling, IRS, 6 speed, factory LSD, and a 4 cylinder turbo option made it pretty appealing. But at the time they came out, I already had a very capable drift car in my S13 that I had built over the past 6 years, as well as a daily driver/tow vehicle in my Tahoe.




But this car started to get out of hand. It was becoming more of a race car than I ever really wanted. Built motor, big turbo, full roll cage, no AC, etc. I couldn't really drive it on the street as I was always worried something would break. I had already gone through 2 stock engines, 3 steering racks, and various other parts. I've always been drawn to the more street style drift builds you typically will see in Japan, where it's a clean, simple car, that's still daily driven.
This car is a HUGE influence on me, NOB's street driven S15 Silvia.


At the beginning of this year, I was gifted a family heirloom, a 1955 Thunderbird. It was originally my grandfathers, and in years past, as his health was failing, I did what I could to maintain the car. When he passed away, no one was able to take care of it and drive it like it needed to be, so I got it.



In March, I took the S13 out to a drift event and blew my built motor. I was stuck at a crossroads. I now had a broken drift car I couldn't enjoy, a classic car that needs lots of love, time, and money, and a 2003 Tahoe that was getting up in miles. I made the executive decision to sell the Tahoe on craigslist, part out the S13, and get something new and fun. The day the Tahoe was sold, I went to the dealership and got my mustang.



This was the night I brought it home, and I was ecstatic. I wanted to sleep in the car. It was the car I wish Nissan had the will to make as a proper successor to the 240sx. In the next days, the mods started...

So, I chose a base model ecoboost because I knew weight savings was a priority, and many of the features of the PP model I wouldn't be using anyway with modifications coming. My only regrets were not getting the larger brakes, and the cooler looking rear bumper. But I would solve those in my own way, in time.

First up, was a set of BC coilovers and some wheels. I know lots of mustang guys tend to run the same wheels, but as this was going to be a japanese drift influenced build, some japanese wheels were a must. I went with a set of Advan RS [F:19x9 +22 w/ a 25mm spacer R:19x10 +25] and a pair of Advan Model 5s [19x10 +45 w/ a 25mm spacer] for drift spares.




A warning to those wanting to run japanese wheels! The hub bore on these is correct at 73mm but the S550 uses 14mm wheel studs. Most japanese wheels are drilled for 12mm studs. I had all of my wheel stud holes professionally bored out in order to fit them.

The next weekend I put the coilovers on, along with wheels/tires and spacers as needed. I was pretty excited with how much of a difference it made in the car's style!





I then added some leftover flair from the interior of my S13 with a large broadway mirror, subway handle, japanese AC vent cup holder, and a shift knob. Nothing major, just some little trinkets that add to the style I'm attempting to emulate. I also added a mishimoto catch can and some NGK plugs from Tune+ as a bit of engine insurance.



At the end of May, it was time for the car's first real test, it's first drift event. I had no clue what to expect and, to be honest, was quite let down. The car didn't want to transition or counter steer how i wanted it to, and the stock seat left me flailing all over the inside and just generally not feeling in control. Out of that first day, I got 2 or 3 good runs where I successfully linked the course. Not good.

I attributed the cars performance to the electric steering rack and host of driver aids that these cars have. Great for the street, not so great for the track. All I had done was turn "advance trac" off and left steering in sport mode. I began to talk to some friends and do some research to figure out what changes needed to be made.

In the meantime, I snagged a MMR rear diffuser, some rear valence things from ebay, trimmed them to fit, and a roof spoiler and installed all of that, as well as plastidipping the bottom portion of the bumper black. I was very pleased with how the exterior of the car was coming along. It's very subtle in photos but fairly aggressive in person.



As of 2 days ago, I took the car out to another drift event, armed with some new knowledge. Steering was left in "comfort" mode and there is a 4 wire wiring harness on the inside of the engine bay that controls the front wheel speed sensors and all stability and traction control. It is on the left side, right behind the air box. I unplugged that, and it was amazing. The car reacted so much better than before. I got probably 30 laps in that day and felt confident that I had made the right choice in getting this car. I finally got the see the car on the Model 5s, and took note of what needs to be upgraded next.





The car is squatting wayyyyy too much, so i need to increase the dampening in the rear, run some larger tires (these are just burners i had laying around) and some sway bars would probably work wonders.

I finally have a seat on the way as well, a Bride Gias, and that should help me feel more in control as well.


Next step is to start making the engine a bit more responsive with some simple bolt ons and a tune, but for now, I'm just enjoying having a car that I can drive and have fun with every single day.

Pics arent working

JuRuKi said:

Pics arent working

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Gah. They're all hosted via imgur, which i just realized, doesn't work on this forum. I'll have to re-upload in a bit when I have time.

badhaircutted said:

Gah. They're all hosted via imgur, which i just realized, doesn't work on this forum. I'll have to re-upload in a bit when I have time.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I've noticed the same, it's a bit annoying since imgur is amazing. I know if you right click and view it says denied. Refresh the imgur link and it pops up

Pics SHOULD be fixed now!

Love the way you're taking it with the japanese inspired styling - I'll be doing the same thing.

You have no idea how tempting it was for me to grab an ecoboost in Deep Impact Blue, lower it on gold mesh type wheels + ducktail type spoiler and have a decal saying "IMPACT BLUE" somewhere and see who else is a weaboo :lol:

I'm intrigued to see that BRIDE seat in!

Yeahhhhhh! I got my seat in! It was a bit of a pain as it's not a direct bolt in like a corbeau or braum seat, but it looks great!



So first thing, I wanted to do this right with no airbag/seat belt lights on the dash and without a hacked up harness.

I pulled the seat/harness out, cut the air bag sensor, and routed everything I needed. This video helped a TON with the location of different sensors: [ame="[MEDIA=youtube]HXNV5rg5UuY[/MEDIA]"]

I also wired in a 2.2 Ohm 1 Watt resistor into the wires i cut off the airbag sensor to keep the dash lights happy. There's info about that in the previously linked video as well. I then began to route that rats nest around the seat rail...




Then I had to drill out the bolt holes in the seat bracket and trim the edges a bit, and could test fit the seat in the car.

Once in there, I thought it sat just a BIT too low (I'm 6'0") especially considering how large the s550 dash is. I found some spacers off some old seat belt hardware I had laying around, and gave them a try. I put the 1/2" one in the front and the 1/4" one in the back bolts. This got the seat lower than stock, but still where I liked it.



Putting this seat in is far from a simple bolt in affair, but it was totally worth it and I can't wait to go drifting again with it! Here's a couple more pics!

Yeaaah son! that looks GREAT in the interior!

Love the progress Tyler, so rad! Keep it up

NightParade said:

Love the progress Tyler, so rad! Keep it up

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Thanks Justin! Wish you still had some of your old Ecoboost parts for me to scoop up

I like your mirror with the infinity glass look, its sweet. Haven't done any digging but would be interested to know where to get one like it. To each his own on the heart subway handle style though haha.

Definitely one of the more unique builds I've seen and its awesome! I can definitely appreciate it as once I settled on buying my Ecoboost I decided I was going to fully embrace the "ricer-stang" appeal the turbo 4 gives it.
Thoughts on VTA bypass valve mods? I know there seem to be some easy DIY methods, I ended up going with an adapter for the factory valve from AM though and love that BOV sound.

Ill be keeping an eye here for more inspiration.

yomamma219 said:

I like your mirror with the infinity glass look, its sweet. Haven't done any digging but would be interested to know where to get one like it. To each his own on the heart subway handle style though haha.

Definitely one of the more unique builds I've seen and its awesome! I can definitely appreciate it as once I settled on buying my Ecoboost I decided I was going to fully embrace the "ricer-stang" appeal the turbo 4 gives it.
Thoughts on VTA bypass valve mods? I know there seem to be some easy DIY methods, I ended up going with an adapter for the factory valve from AM though and love that BOV sound.

Ill be keeping an eye here for more inspiration.

Click to expand...

Thanks!

I actually got the infinity mirror and heart handle at UP Garage back in 2015 during my first trip to Japan. They're just little mementos from that trip.

As far as the VTA bypass, I just removed the recirc hose and capped it off with a rubber plug and the OEM clamp for now. I'll probably end up running some sort of BOV in the future once I get intercooler piping, but I've noticed no negative effects thus far. I'm more of a fan of no BOV and that sweet, sweet compressor surge sound, but definitely not doing that on a daily driver.

I installed my accessport the other day. Tried to go for a similar mounting position to where an Apex'i PowerFC Commander would be mounted in similar drift cars.



I figured it would make a huge difference in even stock form, but I didn't expect THIS much of a difference. The car feels completely different now, and in the best way. It really "woke up" this little motor and made it feel like a proper 4 cylinder turbo car. Throttle response is improved, boost hits much harder, and the overall powerband feels much more usable.

Once I get an intercooler, a protune from Tune+ is next on the list, and I cannot wait to see how that makes the car feel!

really digging the style man, i come from imports and get shit for wanting to mod the GT the same way you would and import lol