Cool man. I went to the first Solo points event of the year (SCCA NY region) to 'test em out', more great feedback. Push 'em hard/get some heat in them and they come alive - chopped off a lot of seconds from last year right off the bat and everything about operating the car becomes so much clearer now with the RE-11s, I'm very happy with my choice.

A couple of guys are still running RE-11/As and concur with how great they are on the street given how much performance there is on the parking lot.

And I didn't even play around with tire pressures, koni yellows adjustment, etc.. just drove in w/ street pressures (33-34 psi) + full soft and let them warm up to operating temperature (consistent all around at 38-39 psi all heat long). I can't wait to play around with the settings and lop off more seconds this year with these tires.

 

Just wanted to provide an update...I have about 1000 miles on the new suspension/wheels/tires now.

1.) Wheelhop is gone! The Steeda upper control arm that I installed last year got rid of ~65% of the hop but it was still a factor in the driving experience. After the new springs/shocks, it's possibly completely gone. I'm only hesitant to say "100%" gone because I'm doing my best to not smoke through these RE-11s and therefore don't spin the tires as much.

2.) Traction is GOOD. Yes, the Coyote still has the power to overwhelm the 285 RE-11s but the evenvelope of how hard the car can be reliably pushed in any direction has expanded dramatically.

3.) Negative Camber is GOOD. The car feels much more eager to turn in and almost lighter on its feet. I went with the Eibach camber bolts (which some insist are a potential failure point) and was able to get -1.5* negative camber...which may be a good compromise.

4.) Ride comfort penalty- the car is absolutely harsher. The stock BBP springs/shocks aren't exactly plush and at first, I didn't notice much of a change but after some seat time, I can say that the car will rattle you a bit more. That said, it's not a bother to me and it's not unreasonably rough. It feels purposeful.

5.) Visual change- The stock Mustang suspension is cartoonishly high so the 1"/1.5" drop from the Eibach Pro springs is a big improvement...but after looking at the car for a couple months now, it doesn't look like it's lowered to me at all. It sits approximately as high as a 2015 Mustang. I think a slightly more dramatic drop would look better...but that wasn't my first priority.

6.) Overall driving experience- significantly better. If feels quicker, tighter, flatter through turns. It feels like a smaller car and it feels like it took a big step closer to being a sports car...which is what I want. It's very difficult to apply a bang:buck evaluation on suspension/tire upgrades...but I'm fairly certain that 90% of the performance improvement came from the RE-11 tires...but those also required that I buy wider wheels...and that all looked silly at stock ride height. It kinda had to be done as a package, IMO.

7.) What would I do differently? I would save up just a bit longer and buy real camber plates. They represent a significant cost added onto a project like this but the alignment potential and not having to worry about broken camber bolts seems like a good investment in retrospect. I'd also investigate springs that offer another .5" of drop...

Another weirdly lit picture...but I am very happy with the RTR wheels after looking at them for a while. The crusty XJ in the background is my faithful bad weather companion.

 

The car looks great man! I like the wheels. I lowered mine too with the SR Springs and after putting them on, it doesn't really look like the car was lowered. It just looks like how it should look. I think these cars look kind of weird slammed anyway. The profile of the car is too tall and the wheel well looks odd when slammed.

 

Nice write up Mike, thanks for sharing your results. I am envious of your RE-11s! I may go with that exact tire when my S04s wear out. I'm debating between the RE11 and BFG Rival right now. And the car looks great!

Good point about CC plates. I'm planing to do suspension work next year, and I decided to go with CC plates as well. Its $325 or so but I think it's worth the investment to get the right camber. I push my car pretty hard at road courses, so using camber bolts could be potentially disastrous