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What did you do to your Aussie S550 today..

OzS550

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Finally finished off my exhaust with a pair of X-Force Varex mufflers.

Two years ago I had Pacemaker long tubes and 3” centre pipe / resonators installed blending into the standard (2016) mufflers. Sounded ok sometimes but very loud Sunday mornings at start up and raspy at full noise.

I’ve had the 3” oval Varex mufflers on for 6 weeks now and couldn’t be happier with the result. Quieter than completely stock (ie stock headers, etc) with the valves closed and race car like with valve open. Even more amazing is the variation between these extremes. 25% open is different to 50% and 75% etc. The mufflers are normally polished but I had the exhaust shop paint them black - personal preference.

Mufflerbox.jpg


It’s hooked up to X-Force’s Smart Box which allows for 1% adjustments in manual mode. Because it plugs into the OBD port, it uses RPM, road speed and throttle opening in Matrix mode and it has its own GPS input for Geo mode. You can set it to be quite around your neighbourhood and whatever you want elsewhere. All controlled by an app on your phone.

Closed.jpg

Open.jpg

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Next I needed a mount and because the X-Force app can stay open and prevents the phone from closing, it needed to charge the phone.

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This Course Motorsport mount is designed for our cars and has a MagSafe option. Very solid mount. You have to pull part of the dash apart to install and I did manage to break four clips behind the large silver bezel that spans across the top. A quick trip to Ford and I picked up replacement clips, at about $10- each. Plus GST.


But the end result is very functional and discrete. With the MagSafe the phone sits very securely and constantly charges. My car only has Sync 2 but those with Sync 3 may find the X-Force app works with Car Play and so may not need the phone mount.

Very pleased with the outcome!
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GT 550

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Nice work Michael. Is there much difference in full throttle performance between say 25% and 100%?
 
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OzS550

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Nice work Michael. Is there much difference in full throttle performance between say 25% and 100%?
Hard to say and haven't tried gunning it with valve partially open. I am sure it feels more lively than with the previous set up of headers and standard mufflers, which you'd expect.
 

raptor17GT

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Hard to say and haven't tried gunning it with valve partially open. I am sure it feels more lively than with the previous set up of headers and standard mufflers, which you'd expect.
likewise not sure it makes much of a difference re valve position but maybe i'll take mine back to the hub dyno and see if anything is measurable. I just have the two button remote for mine as 'operating' a phone while driving is a no no here and they've changed the law i think recently so that even handling a phone is a ticket. As you say, the app allows you to geo fence your home so it's always stealth mode sneaking in and away from home. I really like the exhaust.
 

snake bite

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Lowered the car in the rear even more using the old fashioned method of tiles in the boot 🤣🤣🤣👍
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snake bite

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@snake bite I see you've discovered the button that deploys the air brake. Also is that the optional Drag Pack? :rockon:
🤣🤣🤣🤣yeah man the old boot brake works a treat. Gonna try it at speed tomorrow 🤘😎🤘
 

OzMustang S550

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ShadowMustang161

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No big deal. Had my 2019 Bullitt recall notice fixed within the hour by the local Ford Service Centre and was advised that it amounted to a software upgrade which would/could have been done at the next regular service.
 

KermiStang

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I had noticed a very significant difference in gear performance in sport plus from the usual quite relaxed behaviour of the car,
I agree. When I do it all the hairs on my arms stand up. You can feel the engine, suspension, and gearbox all change significantly, like a cat wound up to pounce. It's quite an exhilarating feeling. I've had the car on the track in race mode a few times and pushed it to its limits (read, it pushed me beyond mine), however Sport+ with the A10 in the hills is something else. I've never experienced the gear hunting some people talk about. That could have been a hangover from older software. On mine it always seems to know the right changes when in this mode on the tight windy stuff. I must say though that I don't enjoy driving in this mode in traffic. It's very twitchy for stop/start driving.
 

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TeeCee

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For interest: Standard GT PP1 sway bar alongside the FP upgrade version for the GT.

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I have purchased the below Ford Performance suspension parts for my 2017 Mustang GT to hopefully improve the handling to suit the engine performance (430RWHP) - No track use intended just spirited street use. Am I on the right track??????

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KermiStang

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I have purchased the below Ford Performance suspension parts for my 2017 Mustang GT to hopefully improve the handling to suit the engine performance (430RWHP) - No track use intended just spirited street use. Am I on the right track??????

1658015975984.png
Should be very nice. How many KM's on your car? If high then new adjustable struts/shocks could make a big difference too, but these are a great start. @MaxQ did his struts/shocks a while back so may have some comments. We have not so good roads down here so you can't dial up the struts/shocks too much. If you were going to do it I'd wait for Black Friday sales and get direct from the US. It's hard to say at the moment as their (and our) inflation is high and going higher, so costs are going up. Shipping prices are still all over the place too, and vary a lot between vendors. Just lots of research required before.
 

TeeCee

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Should be very nice. How many KM's on your car? If high then new adjustable struts/shocks could make a big difference too, but these are a great start. @MaxQ did his struts/shocks a while back so may have some comments. We have not so good roads down here so you can't dial up the struts/shocks too much. If you were going to do it I'd wait for Black Friday sales and get direct from the US. It's hard to say at the moment as their (and our) inflation is high and going higher, so costs are going up. Shipping prices are still all over the place too, and vary a lot between vendors. Just lots of research required before.
Hi KermiStang - Car has just under 40,000km on it - I found it was cheaper the purchase the above parts from Steeda in the US as their price including freight price was way cheaper than getting in Aus - Not to mention no one here has stock until October!
 

KermiStang

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👍 40k kms is not much. Yep same experience, especially when they have "real" sales on about 4x a year. I think my FP kit was AUD 1750 inc ship' & duty vs AUD 2800 not inc shipping.
 

TeeCee

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👍 40k kms is not much. Yep same experience, especially when they have "real" sales on about 4x a year. I think my FP kit was AUD 1750 inc ship' & duty vs AUD 2800 not inc shipping.
Gee that was a good price - Best I could get for the M-FR3A-M8A Track Handling Pack was $3,358.36 AUD delivered - I wanted the M-5300-XA springs instead of the Track Springs as this it what the Shelby GT350's use - I paid $1,808.20 AUD delivered for the springs & Sway bars.
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