Beginner Advice

[Torched10]

Just know whatever you put in it as far as money you'll never get back.personally at your age I'd be looking to invest the extra funds rather than put alot of cash in your car.my 19 has 480 hp and ihad 2 gt500s one at 650hp.actually with the the 19 it's faster in 1/4 mile than gt500 was.
And unless your racing you'll not need much more than that for most red light digs
At least in atl they're after speeders the clockef one guy on 400 doingvl 125 and ne spent time in jail with a Huge fine and 6 Mos suspended license.a friend of mine is a trainer in driving school at road atlants. He put the car on the track and hit 125 I wasn't with him.said it'd go faster but told him nothing over 125.any way enjoy the car and sorry for fatherly advice.

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[Neigh]

Turbos with a manual transmission tend to be an annoyance, as they lose boost with every shift. A Paxton would probably be a more enjoyable choice, although not as much peak horsepower as turbos. Depending on how much you beat on it, your clutch and axles will definitely need upgrades. If you keep the boost low (5 psi), you should be OK with a stock engine.

If you are thinking of 700hp or more, you may want to rethink things, because that will start costing a lot. You may want to buy a better car that doesn't need the upgrades. It's cheaper in the long run.

Honestly anything over 500 will be plenty to start so I’m sure pretty much any application will be a good start. Jumping to 700+ sounds great but also a dangerous game for someone who hasn’t driven a car with that power haha. But I guess I could always sell it, it is paid off.

 

[Neigh]

Upgrading to FI properly is going to be about $8-10K. A lot of guys are liking the ESS G2 and G3 kits, which are a little less expensive. But you're going to need fuel system and other miscellaneous upgrades to hold the power regardless.

But yes, you can just go ahead and do it. Just keep in mind that you'll need to be responsible, these cars go from quick to genuinely fast when you slap some boost in them.

For sure, I’m not trying to kill any crowds haha. Honestly anything over 500 would be totally fine. Jumping immediately to 700+ sounds awesome but I’m not about to be a naive driver. I’ve never driven anything with that power especially rwd. I’ll definitely look into the ESS setups though thanks.

 

[Neigh]

Since I have the exact same car I recommend starting off with full bolt ons and e85 tune and flex tune. 440-450 wheel horsepower and 400 lb ft of Tq is plenty. On good tires you can move. And it’s reliable. I’m at almost 100,000 miles no issues.

This might be the move. I’m just looking to progress and like you said the reliability factor is a good reason to go that route. Thanks!

 

[Neigh]

How do you like to drive? Do you plan on racing, or do you just want something with more power around town?

In my opinion, the best street blower for 90% of folks with gen 2 mustangs is the roush 2.3L supercharger. With the Phase 2 kit, you can make damn near 650whp and be absolutely chilling on the motor. Your will have usable torque and power and it will remain very low maintenance.

If you want to go Paxton, I would recommend ESS instead. The ESS G3X seems to be the hottest centrifigual supercharger right now and for good reason. Around 10 psi on 93 octane you can make right around 650-680whp. You won't have torque, but that may not be an issue for you.

Turbos can be inherently more troublesome for maintenance. If this is your only car and your daily, I would stick to superchargers. If you do go with turbos, a hellion sleeper kit will set you up for a lot of growth, but as others say, it can be cumbersome on the street due to always falling out of boost.

Either way, just know that 10-psi of any forced induction will be your limit on 93 octane. If you want to go to E85, you can get any 1000cc injector (Injector Dynamics, FIC, DW), a return style fuel system (I prefer Fore), and party.

52k miles ain't no big deal with reasonable power

Good advice thanks! At the point of upgrading it would no longer be my daily. Likely it will be just a fun street car. I’d love to start going to the track/strip at some point but tbh I’m not sure how to even get involved in that. I’m not far from Bradenton, FL so I’m sure I could look into it. There’s also a few in the Tampa area I’ve been made aware of. 650 would be more than enough and if I can do that reliably I like that route. I’ll definitely look into the roush option.

 

[Neigh]

I've also got a 2017 PP manual. At 37,000 miles I had a Roush Phase 2 installed. It's a daily driver and brings a smile to my face every time I drive it. Do what makes you happy. If you plan to keep the car go for it but if not it's a bad investment. BTW, I'm 78 years old. Your car looks great.

Thank you same to you! Second reply recommending the roush. Seems like a great reliable option that will bring on the smiles per gallon

 

[Neigh]

Sir, welcome to the forum. You have a nice car. Congratulations on almost finishing school.

For mods, superchargers are street friendly but not as easy to tune as turbos. However, superchargers on the street are usually "set and forget" because they don't require much tuning after the car is sorted. My car has a Roush Stage 1 kit and makes 700 HP. It is perfectly reliable. Anyone can drive the car without worrying about the car, as long as the keep there foot off of the floor. The first 1/2 throttle is fun and will have you passing a lot of cars. The second 1/2 throttle is different and requires driving skills.

CJ Pony Parts, on YouTube, has a great installation video. Watch this carefully to determine if you want to tackle a project this big.

Thanks for the advice! I would really like to do it myself but I know that it won’t be easy. Feels like a right of passage though haha. I like learning, and I have a garage so why not. The roush is front running it seems like a great option for a reliable street car. A set and forget setup sounds great to me.

 

[Neigh]

Just know whatever you put in it as far as money you'll never get back.personally at your age I'd be looking to invest the extra funds rather than put alot of cash in your car.my 19 has 480 hp and ihad 2 gt500s one at 650hp.actually with the the 19 it's faster in 1/4 mile than gt500 was.
And unless your racing you'll not need much more than that for most red light digs
At least in atl they're after speeders the clockef one guy on 400 doingvl 125 and ne spent time in jail with a Huge fine and 6 Mos suspended license.a friend of mine is a trainer in driving school at road atlants. He put the car on the track and hit 125 I wasn't with him.said it'd go faster but told him nothing over 125.any way enjoy the car and sorry for fatherly advice.

No I respect and appreciate it. I’ve done cosmetic mods myself but I’d like to work on my own car mechanically and learn. I also love driving and it’s been 3.5 years so I’m itching to feel more power in a safe-as-possible way. But I know I’ll never get the return, I paid my car off before I started school. I’m not going to blow all my money on my car but I got to treat myself a bit!

 

[Shifting_Gears]

Nice looking GT. I agree about all the advice about money dumped into the car. It adds up, fast. If you’re in a good financial position and this won’t change it, then enjoy it! Otherwise, throwing $1,500-$2k into it can net some good gains (intake manifold, e85, injectors and tune… or even intake, headers, 93 octane tune skipping the injectors).

 

[Balr14]

I suppose you already know this, but your gas mileage will suffer a lot, especially with E85.

 

[FUN2RIDEFAST]

I have a 2017 mustang GT manual, my first performance car, whatever you’d like to call it. Certainly never driven any rear wheel drive car with this much torque. I’ve had it for about 3.5 years, stock, aside from air filter, exhaust, suspension, and tires. Only other mods are cosmetic. It has 52k on it currently. I am almost finished school and now have a garage to keep it, along with the money finally to do something fun to it.

Ideally I’d like to slap a Paxton on it, or TT. At 52k, is it still okay to just throw power at it? Are there any supporting parts or replacement parts I should be replacing before if go this route? Just looking for a starting point and some general advice for a newbie. Thanks

I hfad my Roush Phase 2 installed by Brenspeed which is in Pierceton Indiana, about five hours from me. Driving up mileage was 24.6 mpg and coming home with the supercharger installed I got 22.7. Around town the temptation to use the power is irresistible, at least for me. I filled up a couple of days ago and it'd been all around town driving and 10.5mpg. The smiles are worth the miles. It's usually not that bad but who cares. It's been just over two years since the installation and zero problems.

 

[Balr14]

I hfad my Roush Phase 2 installed by Brenspeed which is in Pierceton Indiana, about five hours from me. Driving up mileage was 24.6 mpg and coming home with the supercharger installed I got 22.7. Around town the temptation to use the power is irresistible, at least for me. I filled up a couple of days ago and it'd been all around town driving and 10.5mpg. The smiles are worth the miles. It's usually not that bad but who cares. It's been just over two years since the installation and zero problems.

That's always the case, isn't it. I always try to drive nice and easy, but that only lasts about 10 minutes, if my wife isn't in the car.

 

[FUN2RIDEFAST]

That's always the case, isn't it. I always try to drive nice and easy, but that only lasts about 10 minutes, if my wife isn't in the car.

My grandson won't ride with me. He's 25. Lol

 

[I Bleed Ford Blue]

My advice, try just the Ford racing stage 3 power pack and a set of long tube headers. The stage 3 kit comes with a GT 350 intake manifold, 87mm throttle body, GT 350 CAI and a tune from the engineers at ford to make it all work. With just the stage 3 and a set of LTH's you can expect about 50 hp increase to the wheels. That's enough to increase the smiles per mile, and it may be plenty for you for a couple of years. A proper boosted setup with all the supporting mods will cost between 12-15K by the time your done.

I would start there before jumping into boost right away if you've never driven a boosted car.

 

[wingnutt]

lol…

finishing school
first perf car
almost paid off
wants FI

…just go buy a gt500 and get it over with, save yourself some heartache and ignore those of us that were finishing school with our 174hp turbo Shelby’s

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