Roush Powered 2021 Mustang GT "Ella" - My Build Journal

[MCS]

You will be happy w purchase and peace of mind via warranty!!!

Indeed Anthony, indeed. I can't imagine going through all this without a warranty. I would have lost my shit by now. Meadowvale hooked me up with a rental until sometime next week.

Roush plugs arrived at Ford however their Master Tech is deep in another project right now. He'll try and get them on this afternoon however he's off tomorrow so Monday will be the minimum until we see what the results are.

I also see that Roush has a Field Services technician? I'm assuming this is the guy that helped Roush and Noah build the Ark and knows all? I'd hate to have one of them come up from South of the Wall to work here in Canada and fix things but at the same time, I'm glad to see that they also take their warranty seriously!

As for their Max Cooling kit. That will be next year. As a single-income dad, I'm tapped out for the year! Do you have any issues with heat soak on the street?

Sponsored

 

[MCS]

Well, I got her back from the dealership today. Oddly enough it may have been the spark plugs.

Apparently, two cylinders were misfiring; one of them almost all the time and the other sporadically. Roush sent replacement plugs so the Master Tech swapped them out and let it idle for 15 minutes in the shop then took the car for a road test. He wasn't able to reproduce the issue at all.

I just took it for an hour-long drive myself and it never stalled once. In fact, it didn't even stumble.

I'll get some more seat time this weekend but she looks to be good to go, knock on wood!

 

[Stage_3]

Awesome. Good deal. I hope it stays that way.

So, possibly the spark plug gaps or the spark plugs themselves were bad? I don't think Roush supplies the spark plugs for these kits, do they? Just curious.

Enjoy the machine man!

 

[MCS]

I don't think Roush supplies the spark plugs for these kits, do they? Just curious.

I don't know; the Tech at Meadowvale said they came with the kit, and then Roush had to send replacements.

 

[NJMike]

Just throwing this out - I had a 2014 GT (current photo) with a Roush and had a very similar problem after my install. Stalling constantly.
Came to find out the air filter wasnt completely on. Leak where it wasnt obvious caused the whole problem.
Hope they figure this out for you. Too nice a ride for it not to be driven!

 

[MCS]

Just throwing this out - I had a 2014 GT (current photo) with a Roush and had a very similar problem after my install. Stalling constantly.
Came to find out the air filter wasnt completely on. Leak where it wasnt obvious caused the whole problem.
Hope they figure this out for you. Too nice a ride for it not to be driven!

It was sorted. They replaced the plugs yesterday and the problem hasn't come back. Two cylinders misfiring; 1 constantly and 1 intermittently. I did some heavy-footed seat time today and will do some more tomorrow morning but, knock on wood, today she was driving like a Beast!

 

[NJMike]

It was sorted. They replaced the plugs yesterday and the problem hasn't come back. Two cylinders misfiring; 1 constantly and 1 intermittently. I did some heavy-footed seat time today and will do some more tomorrow morning but, knock on wood, today she was driving like a Beast!

Awesome congrats!

 

[MCS]

It's been a fun couple of days. The team at Meadowvale Ford has really provided some white-glove service during this whole process. Yes, it was a learning curve but they took the time and spent the money to make sure my car was done right! You try waiting on hold with a company for hours on end to get an answer. Definite kudos to the team, Michelle, Brian and Fidel, for advocating on my behalf and putting up with all my questions and feedback.

Some things I have noticed; and am still getting used to:

• After the Supercharger/tune my car no longer automatically reverts to COMPUTER-ASSISTED shifting, when using DRIVE and SPORT or TRACK mode. It requires me to hold a paddle up for 3-4 seconds before it takes over again. No big deal. An argument can be made for people wanting this feature because when it's flappy paddle time it's for a reason and the computer shouldn't take over. So I can live with that.
  
  
• NORMAL mode is... well... Normal. The car actually feels close to stock although she growls a little more than before (intake? supercharger noise? combination?). However don't be fooled it you lean into her the beast under the hood wakes up and sends it.
  
  
• SPORT+ mode is a little jarring when the computer shifts me from 1st to 2nd and also when the computer shifts me from 4th to 5th. No other gears do this. This is where the car starts to drive around while the beast is awake!
  
  
• TRACK mode? This is like a fucking Viking invasion; especially when shifting from 1st to 2nd and also from 4th to 5th. The same as above but with more teeth and bone-jarring. Again, computer-assisted. I do have a little concern about the safety of the transmission working this way. I like driving in TRACK because of the growly growls with the AE open all the way. Not sure if this is a problem with the tune or if the transmission needs to "re-learn how I drive?".

Are there solutions to the rough shifts? Yes. Sort of.

If I want to avoid the jarring nature of these shifts I have to look at the RPMs and let off the accelerator when it's about to shift and then it seems to slip into gear with no problems.

I really, really hope, that the computer is sort of relearning how I drive and that this will settle down. Maybe that is just wishful thinking? If you have answers, post them down below!

"Yes, yes, Michael. Blah blah blah but how does it perform?".

Power for days. Yes, people are going to say "You should have gotten a Whipple because.... (insert reasons)" however this process would have been expensive AF had I not gone through Ford and Roush. It was already expensive enough so the Warranty Matters to me! I also don't need to go Mach 22 on the street.

In all honesty, from my perspective, 750 hp and 670 ft-lbs of torque is more powerful than 99% of the cars you will ride beside and, speaking frankly, is more power than you can really use on the street. This includes Lambos etc. The 2021 Huracan has 661 hp and 413 ft-lbs of torque.

I took my girlfriend for a ride and leaned into the accelerator from around 10kph and it was wheel-spin city down the street, that's on drag radials, and it still took us to the legal speed limit in literally the blink of an eye.

It definitely changes the way the Mustang performs and increases the smiles per hour while decreasing the miles per gallon.

 

[MCS]

Roush wrote me. Looks like there is an update for my calibration and I'll be taking her in spring time. Also, I was not told about driving around in normal with no shifting for a tank. So we'll be doing that as well.

After confirming with my tech department, your vehicle does have an update for your calibration. We recommend taking your vehicle to an authorized Roush dealer, so the dealer is able to open up a case with our tech department who will be able to receive the needed codes to do the update. After flashing, we will have the dealer complete the relearn drive cycle for the trans adaptive. Once you receive your vehicle back, we would recommend driving your vehicle for at least one tank of gas in normal mode with no manual shifting.

 

[MCS]

Got the calibration done and the learn mode initiated. Beautiful day so it required some discipline not to do anything but normal mode, light foot pedal and NO paddle shifting.

Filled up the tank and will drive it on good weather days to get it ready for REAL spring and not this fake spring stuff. They did tell me "Don't touch anything for a full tank. Just start it, drive it, stop it. No 10-second passes or crazy stuff on the street until after the first tank is done".

Side note, NORMAL mode with light pedal driving seems to have me at about 14mpg. Very limited seat time after filling up the tank and resetting the sensor. Will see what it balances out to with some more seat time. This is already better than the 10 MPG I was getting before after first getting it after the blower was installed. But that's on me for TRACK + PADDLES 2 minutes after taking possession post install. Ignorance and all that.

 

[StangTime]

Got the calibration done and the learn mode initiated. Beautiful day so it required some discipline not to do anything but normal mode, light foot pedal and NO paddle shifting.

Filled up the tank and will drive it on good weather days to get it ready for REAL spring and not this fake spring stuff. They did tell me "Don't touch anything for a full tank. Just start it, drive it, stop it. No 10-second passes or crazy stuff on the street until after the first tank is done".

Side note, NORMAL mode with light pedal driving seems to have me at about 14mpg. Very limited seat time after filling up the tank and resetting the sensor. Will see what it balances out to with some more seat time. This is already better than the 10 MPG I was getting before after first getting it after the blower was installed. But that's on me for TRACK + PADDLES 2 minutes after taking possession post install. Ignorance and all that.

I'm betting on good spring weather coming just before May. I think the car will stay in the garage until then. April's forecast looks like a bag of squirrels.

 

[MCS]

I'm betting on good spring weather coming just before May. I think the car will stay in the garage until then. April's forecast looks like a bag of squirrels.

Y U SPOIL MY SUNSHINE Todd?!?!?!?!

I heard there is going to be a mix of rain, rain and probably some rain over the coming weeks. On the dry days though I'll take her out and use up that tank of gas. I've always got The Beater if I need to go somewhere in bad weather.

I'm hoping for another Mustang cruise this year; whether it's Mustang Day in Paris or a cruise to NOTL. The gf and I were there last summer and about 100 Mustangs went by while I in the little driver's room at Starbucks but she made sure to tell me all about the fact that I missed it. Still trying to track down what club that was.

 

[StangTime]

Y U SPOIL MY SUNSHINE Todd?!?!?!?!

I heard there is going to be a mix of rain, rain and probably some rain over the coming weeks. On the dry days though I'll take her out and use up that tank of gas. I've always got The Beater if I need to go somewhere in bad weather.

I'm hoping for another Mustang cruise this year; whether it's Mustang Day in Paris or a cruise to NOTL. The gf and I were there last summer and about 100 Mustangs went by while I in the little driver's room at Starbucks but she made sure to tell me all about the fact that I missed it. Still trying to track down what club that was.

Oh don't worry. There will be enough sun to burn off your gas.
I'm going to participate in whatever Mustang events come up this year. So hopefully I will get to see you again and check out your new power mods.

 

[tosha]

Rain is good, rain will wash away all the salt. Go rain go for 3 days and then go away

 

[MCS]

Well, FINALLY completed the "Drive for a full tank" stuff. That's a fresh tank of 94 octane with some extra KM thrown in so I have completed the FULL tank of gas + NORMAL MODE + NO PADDLE SHIFTERS. I was pretty impressed with the gas mileage after the retune. The full tank I ran before this (from full to yellow warning and 50km left to go in the tank) was at like 16.2L per 100km and this one was even better because I didn't really have a lot of stop-and-go traffic today.

Once that was completed I started trying SPORT and TRACK modes; honestly, I'm disappointed! Not in the performance (OMG TRACK is pretty pucker-inducing fast) but in the drivability. I did not exceed posted speed limits and there was no racing; at least not with me. I did see an M3 go with what I think was a Grabber Blue S550 but he had some pretty skinny tires so I am wondering if he was still rolling Winters?

I digress.

TRACK mode isn't really drivable in the city like it was when the car was not supercharged. It sounds AMAZING, especially with burble pops on deceleration however unless you are the first person in the line at the stop lights your shifts will be hard as hell because you can't press the peddle down far enough to get that smoothness of shifting in a couple of the gears. If you push down far enough to get those nice smooth shifts you will be slammed into the back of the person in front of you before you can blink. Yes, Track mode is fast and "for the track". Save the judgment LOL.

SPORT mode is much more drivable and doesn't require quite the aggressive peddle that TRACK does (for smooth shifting) but it just doesn't sound as loud as TRACK which is kinda fun. I mean when you are in TRACK mode + you are first at the lights + you push down far enough the Coyote starts to wake up and roar. Pretty sure more than a few Mercedes drivers shit their pants today and the cute late-model Porsche that had the audacity to rev at me slinked away and made a left-hand turn after the driver gave me a "no go no go" shake of his head at the lights.

I may have to make a new MYMODE where it's got TRACK EXHAUST + COMFORT HANDLING + SPORT performance or something. I actually did this over the weekend; built a MyMode to make it a little louder without having to have my spine snapped in TRACK MODE in city driving.

Sponsored