I am new to the forum and looking for a little advice on what to upgrade first. I have a 2011 GT that I bought new that is completely stock with the 401a package, brembos and 3.55 gear set. After driving it for a couple of years I am looking at upgrading the suspension/handling as well as adding some engine upgrades. I am looking for some help on which to do first and why. Any help will be appreciated.

 

Suspension before power. These cars put down more power than the stock suspension can get to the ground. If you haven't done wider wheels and tires yet I would consider that as well. Good luck!

 

Suspension and brakes. Then speed IMO.

 

I have the Brembo upgrade on the car from the factory, I have looked and can't find matching Brembo's for the rear. What type of brake upgrade would you recommend?

 

When you drive it, what bothers you? When I prioritize my mods, I ask myself this question. For me, it was brake dive and bouncing on uneven roads. This lead me to do suspension first. I won't add anymore power till the factory warranty wears out. As my car sits today, I'm very happy with it. All I have done is suspension and some very minor interior mods.

I think you have to ask yourself what is the worst thing about your car.

 

Well if you already have the Brembo upgrade you should be set. I would think.

 

I was waiting for the warranty to get closer to expiring before doing anything to the car as well. That is why I haven't touched it yet and I have had it about 2 1/2 years. I am starting to plan my mods and want to take the time to plan out since I can't do them all at once. I was leaning toward the suspension upgrades first, since I do not like the brake dive. I was thinking about springs and shocks/struts to begin with. I am not sure about the sway bars or control arms.

 

Stick with the stock Brembo's, if you get anything larger in the front then you will most likely have to upgrade the rear as well, then you will most likely overpower the tires, vicious cycle. Upgrade the pads though, HPS or HP+ (if you can deal with squeal) would be my recommendation for the street. Stickier tires will also help you stop better.

 

brembo package comes with regular rear brakes. is there something i can do to update this to match the front brembo brakes.
rear

front

 

I have looked for a rear Brembo upgrade to match the front as well and it doesn't appear to exist. I think it has something to do with the Brembo calipers not being compatible with the parking brake, but I am not sure. The only rear brake upgrade that I have been able to find is from Steeda. It has bigger rotors (still smaller than the fronts), but uses the stock calipers with an adapter bracket to relocate it for the larger rotors.

 

^ thanks... it doesnt look right to me... would have been happier if i had brembos all around... when i have enough funds planning to change them out for wilwood all sides.

 

To have Brembo's all around, if you mean 4 pot calipers on the back, you would need to convert to a full floater rear which would be too expensive just to look good. Not to mention even if you did do it you would over power the rear when braking.

 

^ just out of curiosity.. how much would that cost.

 

Upgrading the rear brakes beyond a pad upgrade is only for looks unless you are into real heavy road racing. The front brakes do 70% of all the stopping.

There are some really expensive, super high performance cars out there that have an almost identical rear brake setup to our cars. The reason is simple, that is all that is needed!

If you want matching 14" rear rotors for your brembos, Baer brakes offers a kit with two piece drilled and slotted rotors for the rear with matching rotors for the front, but as I stated, it's really just for looks.

But, to the original title question, definitely suspension before adding power.
_

 

1550, not including the rotors and calipers, that we be a stupid amount of money just to add something that isn't needed.

And like everyone has said OP, suspension will get the power down that you have, no point in increase power without increasing grip.

 

sorry to take this off topic.. forgive my ignorance too...definitely would not spend 1500 on that for the looks.

 

This. What do you plan to do with the car? Any track or dragstrip work? Or is the modding purely for street use?

 

On the original subject, suspension first. These cars have so much power it's hard to use it all on the street. Yes, it's nice to have a little more for a 3-4-5 gear pull, but how often does that really happen? Not much for me...

Suspension is something you notice every minute of driving... best improvement available in my opinion

To the question on brakes - the Brembo's are more than adequate for street driving. For just looks of a bigger rear rotor, buy the adapter piece for the caliper and a larger rotor - will look better and offer a bit of performance improvement as well (in terms of heat dissipation from the rear brakes). You'll be slightly more rear biased with a bigger rotor (due to increased torque from larger diameter rotor), so you might want to get a grabbier pad up front to help compensate.

I immediately got new pads for the car as I was thoroughly disappointed with the OEM pads after having 'performance' pads on my previous car. Grippier pads made the brakes feel fantastic. ALthough they do dust a bit more!

 

You can take your Mustang to this level ... will be a nigh and day difference!


Let me know if I can help assist with anything moving further? You can reach me at tim@steeda.com.

Best Regards,

TJ

 

Mods are primarily for street use. I live in East Tennesse and there are plenty of mountain roads. I have no interest in the drag strip, but would like to participate in track days or one of the driving schools on a road course.