Kzanard
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #1
I have had the car (16 GT Premium & performance pack, 6sp) a week now and thought I would share my impressions. I traded in a 12 SRT Challenger for the Mustang and have had 4 prior mustangs (85 GT, 87 GT, 93 LX, 03 Cobra). This is primarily my weekend/fair weather car.
OVERALL QUALITY: I am rather impressed with how well the car is put together and it is definitely more upscale than prior generations. It is much more solidly built and had much less road noise than I had expected (better sound deadening?). Upon delivery the car was near perfect sans a scratch on the rear bumper that the dealer is fixing next week. I inspected closely for body panel alignment, etc., and there were no real notable issues. Sure, if I took out a caliper and measured gaps & symmetry I could find some minor issues, but barely noticeable to me and not worth having the dealer try to improve.
POWERTRAIN: I am very impressed with the high revving motor. It is very smooth in power delivery and just continues to pull. My SRT was a rocket when you punched it, but the GT feels almost as fast. The SRT was an auto so I am really enjoying being back in a stick. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are very fun.
MANUAL TRANSMISSION: I (like I am sure everyone else) did a LOT of research here before buying so I had some concerns regarding body panel gaps, notchy manual shifter, wheel hop, etc. I was very tempted to buy aftermarket shifter and various other "improvements", etc., even before taking delivery of the car. I am so glad I didn't (can save the $ for other mods). After driving it I can say it is one of the smoothest manual's I have driven and the best of any previous mustang I have had. Is there room for improvement, sure. But my $ is better spent in other areas before upgrading the shifter.
WHEEL HOP: it is very noticeable. Luckily I am at an age where smoke shows are not as exciting as driving the car, so wheel hop in daily driving is a non issue. I do not plan on tracking he vehicle. If I were to track the car, the IRS is what I would first upgrade/improve.
SUSPENSION: While the vehicle holds the road and corners extremely well (I was surprised how well on the stock tires), I was still expecting the performance pack set up to perform better overall. The front end lift and dive under hard acceleration & shifting is very noticeable and annoying. The first mod I have done in every previous vehicle was to lower it and replace shocks/struts. I was hoping to avoid it in this car. It looks like this is where my first area of improvement will be. if you are a casual driver, the PP suspension is fine. However, if you plan to flex your engine's muscles at all, you will be looking at replacing some suspension components.
MODS: I drove the car for a couple of hundred miles as is to get the feel of it before doing anything to the car. The first mods I did after that were the quick & easy ones:
- replaced the Clutch Spring withthe Steeda one (greatly improved the clutch engagement feel and too literally 10 minutes)
- removed the sound tube (bought the "kit" with the 2 plugs). What a waste of $ and space by Ford. I did not notice any difference in sound in the cabin and the engine bay looks so much cleaner without it. What a f*#@%** pain in the a$$ getting to that rear nut. I ended up trying to muscle the thing off by tugging on it after repeated attempts to squeeze my rather large hand/arm down there.
- tint (35% on door windows (legal in MA), 20% on all others)
For future planned mods I am planning on (when $$ is available):
- EXHAUST: this will be done next. Nothing crazy, just a little more volume (most likely Solo Mach XV).
- SUSPENSION: springs, shocks, struts, IRS goodies.
- F/I
Again, overall I am VERY pleased with the car and my decision to purchase it. It is a much more engaging experience to drive than my SRT was and I was missing that. I could likely leave the car as is and be very happy with it. However, I know my history, and I know full well that I will be spending way too much time & $ on mods....
Thanks for reading and I hope this gives some insight for those lurkers out there trying to decide if they should pull the trigger. DO IT.
~ Kevin
OVERALL QUALITY: I am rather impressed with how well the car is put together and it is definitely more upscale than prior generations. It is much more solidly built and had much less road noise than I had expected (better sound deadening?). Upon delivery the car was near perfect sans a scratch on the rear bumper that the dealer is fixing next week. I inspected closely for body panel alignment, etc., and there were no real notable issues. Sure, if I took out a caliper and measured gaps & symmetry I could find some minor issues, but barely noticeable to me and not worth having the dealer try to improve.
POWERTRAIN: I am very impressed with the high revving motor. It is very smooth in power delivery and just continues to pull. My SRT was a rocket when you punched it, but the GT feels almost as fast. The SRT was an auto so I am really enjoying being back in a stick. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are very fun.
MANUAL TRANSMISSION: I (like I am sure everyone else) did a LOT of research here before buying so I had some concerns regarding body panel gaps, notchy manual shifter, wheel hop, etc. I was very tempted to buy aftermarket shifter and various other "improvements", etc., even before taking delivery of the car. I am so glad I didn't (can save the $ for other mods). After driving it I can say it is one of the smoothest manual's I have driven and the best of any previous mustang I have had. Is there room for improvement, sure. But my $ is better spent in other areas before upgrading the shifter.
WHEEL HOP: it is very noticeable. Luckily I am at an age where smoke shows are not as exciting as driving the car, so wheel hop in daily driving is a non issue. I do not plan on tracking he vehicle. If I were to track the car, the IRS is what I would first upgrade/improve.
SUSPENSION: While the vehicle holds the road and corners extremely well (I was surprised how well on the stock tires), I was still expecting the performance pack set up to perform better overall. The front end lift and dive under hard acceleration & shifting is very noticeable and annoying. The first mod I have done in every previous vehicle was to lower it and replace shocks/struts. I was hoping to avoid it in this car. It looks like this is where my first area of improvement will be. if you are a casual driver, the PP suspension is fine. However, if you plan to flex your engine's muscles at all, you will be looking at replacing some suspension components.
MODS: I drove the car for a couple of hundred miles as is to get the feel of it before doing anything to the car. The first mods I did after that were the quick & easy ones:
- replaced the Clutch Spring withthe Steeda one (greatly improved the clutch engagement feel and too literally 10 minutes)
- removed the sound tube (bought the "kit" with the 2 plugs). What a waste of $ and space by Ford. I did not notice any difference in sound in the cabin and the engine bay looks so much cleaner without it. What a f*#@%** pain in the a$$ getting to that rear nut. I ended up trying to muscle the thing off by tugging on it after repeated attempts to squeeze my rather large hand/arm down there.
- tint (35% on door windows (legal in MA), 20% on all others)
For future planned mods I am planning on (when $$ is available):
- EXHAUST: this will be done next. Nothing crazy, just a little more volume (most likely Solo Mach XV).
- SUSPENSION: springs, shocks, struts, IRS goodies.
- F/I
Again, overall I am VERY pleased with the car and my decision to purchase it. It is a much more engaging experience to drive than my SRT was and I was missing that. I could likely leave the car as is and be very happy with it. However, I know my history, and I know full well that I will be spending way too much time & $ on mods....
Thanks for reading and I hope this gives some insight for those lurkers out there trying to decide if they should pull the trigger. DO IT.
~ Kevin
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