What handling mods for street driving on a stock S550

[GrabberBargeCaptain]

^Nah. IMO no point in doing all that if you're gonna stick with the stock marshmallow suspension. Why would you do all that and on top of it, use stickier tires? so you can push the stock suspension even harder and make it feel even more roly-poly? It's only gonna exacerbate the issue and make you upgrade the suspension even faster

Sponsored

 

[ShadesOfBloo]

I am interested in enhancing my handling experience.

I think the handling on the Mustang is perfect, but I never had the opportunity to experience any mods that claim to improve handling.

What mods would you suggest that can improve handling for street driving and what would that mod improve?

I do prefer OEM parts but will consider aftermarket if OEM is not an option.

I don't see where anyone has asked yet, so:
How are you driving your car? What are you doing that tests the handling?
- Puttering around on city streets?
- Going around cloverleaf ramps and trying to catch the car in front of you?
- Cruising through a mountain pass every so often? (My personal favorite)

How do you like the road feel and steering feedback right now?

If you think the handling is "perfect", and I take that to mean you like the steering response and front/rear balance, can you pick out a characteristic you'd like to improve?

 

[Järn]

What mods would you suggest that can improve handling for street driving and what would that mod improve?

Here are some of the best suspension threads I found over the eight+ years I have been here:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/mild-suspension-upgrades-is-there-such-a-thing.111669/
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/suspension-update-and-upgrades.142762/
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/making-a-non-pp-gt-handle-like-a-gt350.102590/
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/fp-track-handling-pack.147572/page-3#post-3027351
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/m6g-suspension-nirvana.122473/

 

[Dave2013M3]

Just get one of the ford performance kits and call it a day. I like the track pack-it’s not too stiff for the street in the slightest. The shocks are really nice on it and the springs don’t lower you a crazy amount.
If you want you can do it piecemeal but these cars are so soft and squishy out of the box you should be able to tell what you’ll be satisfied with if this isn’t your first rodeo.

^^^^This^^^^. I too had the FP Track Kit, this kit should have been OEM.

 

[MrMike]

^^^^This^^^^. I too had the FP Track Kit, this kit should have been OEM.

I love my FP track kit... I just wouldn't roll it with 235 wide tires on 17s.

Something very similar was OEM on the Base GT350 lol.

 

[GrabberBargeCaptain]

I love my FP track kit... I just wouldn't roll it with 235 wide tires on 17s.

Something very similar was OEM on the Base GT350 lol.

Nope, it sure wouldn't be optimal.. but it was still a huge upgrade from stock even when rolling the Pirelli 255 all seasons. Just got my PS4s on finally and the difference is another night and day over the pirelli + trackpack, which was exactly 1 night and day above stock suspension

doesnt the gt350 come stock with pilot supersports?

 

[MrMike]

Nope, it sure wouldn't be optimal.. but it was still a huge upgrade from stock even when rolling the Pirelli 255 all seasons. Just got my PS4s on finally and the difference is another night and day over the pirelli + trackpack, which was exactly 1 night and day above stock suspension

doesnt the gt350 come stock with pilot supersports?

I meant that the FP Track Handling pack is similar to the old, base 2015 GT350 non-magride suspension.

 

[mookieit]

I don't see where anyone has asked yet, so:
How are you driving your car? What are you doing that tests the handling?
- Puttering around on city streets?
- Going around cloverleaf ramps and trying to catch the car in front of you?
- Cruising through a mountain pass every so often? (My personal favorite)

How do you like the road feel and steering feedback right now?

If you think the handling is "perfect", and I take that to mean you like the steering response and front/rear balance, can you pick out a characteristic you'd like to improve?

I drive the car light. Basic street driving in flat Florida roads.

The steering I test it when turning into an on ramp to a highway at 30-40MPH

I think it is perfect because like you said it is nice and responsive, stiff and accurate especially after alignment. Before alignment, I was feeling the wheel slipping and had to compensate opposite to make the turn.

I like the feedback, but I think it is important to mention, I don’t have a reference from another car to compare, and I am wondering if anything can be better.

If I had to pick a characteristic that I like, I do enjoy the stiffness when handling in sport mode. The other modes feel to mushy.

 

[ShadesOfBloo]

I drive the car light. Basic street driving in flat Florida roads.

The steering, I test it when turning into an on ramp to a highway at 30-40MPH

I think it is perfect because like you said it is nice and responsive, stiff and accurate especially after alignment. Before alignment, I was feeling the wheel slipping and had to compensate opposite to make the turn.

I like the feedback, but I think it is important to mention, I don’t have a reference from another car to compare, and I am wondering if anything can be better.

If I had to pick a characteristic that I like, I do enjoy the stiffness when handling in sport mode. The other modes feel to mushy.

I remember being sooo bored with flat Florida roads, and I lived in the panhandle where they were less flat.

When you talk about stiffness in Sport Mode, that means the steering, right?
I don't think you have Magneride, and steering is the only thing where I can change stiffness.
I keep mine in sport mode and... Like your case, it's better since the alignment.

When Ford asked me what I thought of the car, I chewed them out for the auto-dimming mirror and asked if their baseline for steering feel was a Crown Victoria.
My references are an Evo X - the steering's not as sharp as it used to be, but still pretty sharp and by 100,000 miles it started to have decent feedback -
and an old-ass 240SX that has the best steering feel of anything I've owned. (Also has 150hp and isn't as comfortable as my Mustang.)

There are threads around here that discuss how to tighten up the steering and get more feedback from it. For example:
Strut tower brace, to reduce the flex in the structure
Ball joints from the GT performance package,
Sportier tires. Look at traction ratings and read lots of reviews.
Be careful where you put harder bushings in the suspension. They can ruin the ride and turn your feedback from "The road texture just changed" to "BAM! THERE'S A CRACK IN THE ROAD!"

EDIT: Here are links to some steering threads
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/steering-feel-and-accuracy-improvement.157054/

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/steering-feel.163559/

 

[ShadesOfBloo]

Do you have a friend in the area that has some other kind of Mustang?
Or could you go to a dealership and bullshit your way to a test-drive, with no intention of buying from them?
If you could compare the ride and handling between your Mustang, and some sportier trim like an EB-HPP, and if you still liked the way that car rides, then we'd be able to look up that car's spring rates, tire size, and so on. With that info you could make an improvement in handling by using similar parts, and still have a comfortable ride.

Granted, these changes would still cost you in time and money.
If it costs less than trading in for a Mach 1 (and seeing what that does to your insurance) it's probably worth it.

Even then there are things to consider like, you just got new OEM struts and shocks and they probably won't be happy with anything but your stock springs.
Swaybars and flatter cornering might make the car more fun in curves, and might not affect the ride at all in most situations but a swaybar is a kind of spring. When your car is leaning over and twisting the swaybars, now your struts and shocks have to dampen the swaybars in addition to their original duties. Stiffer swaybars might throw that out of balance. Or not, depending on who you ask.

The stock 17 inch wheel and are on a second set of the Hankook noble 2 tires 235/55R17H

I just looked these up on the Tire Rack web site and
DEAR GOD...
Treadwear 700, Traction B...
The Temperature rating of A is the only good thing I see about this tire.

I can see where someone would think this tire doesn't befit a Mustang.
The size and compound are made for little-old-lady cars.

...But with that treadwear rating it's going to be a while before you have an excuse to replace them.

If you bought some different wheels and tires (and there's a lot to consider before you do) I suppose you could sell the Hankooks on the existing wheels.
They probably still have LOT of tread life left.

 

[mookieit]

Do you have a friend in the area that has some other kind of Mustang?
Or could you go to a dealership and bullshit your way to a test-drive, with no intention of buying from them?
If you could compare the ride and handling between your Mustang, and some sportier trim like an EB-HPP, and if you still liked the way that car rides, then we'd be able to look up that car's spring rates, tire size, and so on. With that info you could make an improvement in handling by using similar parts, and still have a comfortable ride.

Granted, these changes would still cost you in time and money.
If it costs less than trading in for a Mach 1 (and seeing what that does to your insurance) it's probably worth it.

Even then there are things to consider like, you just got new OEM struts and shocks and they probably won't be happy with anything but your stock springs.
Swaybars and flatter cornering might make the car more fun in curves, and might not affect the ride at all in most situations but a swaybar is a kind of spring. When your car is leaning over and twisting the swaybars, now your struts and shocks have to dampen the swaybars in addition to their original duties. Stiffer swaybars might throw that out of balance. Or not, depending on who you ask.


I just looked these up on the Tire Rack web site and
DEAR GOD...
Treadwear 700, Traction B...
The Temperature rating of A is the only good thing I see about this tire.

I can see where someone would think this tire doesn't befit a Mustang.
The size and compound are made for little-old-lady cars.

...But with that treadwear rating it's going to be a while before you have an excuse to replace them.

If you bought some different wheels and tires (and there's a lot to consider before you do) I suppose you could sell the Hankooks on the existing wheels.
They probably still have LOT of tread life left.

I don’t have anyone I know with a Mustang.

I wish I can add magnaride, but I read that is not worth attempting as it is costly and not simply plug and play.

I appreciate the feedback. This is great. I have an idea now how to approach this.

Time and money is not the issue in a sense, it just would be super annoying if I upgraded something that only made things worse for me.

My tires, I have read that my tires are not ideal, but I am or was ok and I know that because I don’t know any better.

Thanks for laying things out for me. I think I will start step by step by adding a strut tower brace, GT performance ball joints and then tires and observe improvements and Will use this thread to guide me for other parts as well.

Sponsored