When I bought my 2011 Brembo Brake Package Mustang, I knew that it also included a totally different suspension system, than the standard GT.

The Ford Engineers designed the Brembo Suspension to work at its maximum while retaining everyday drivability.

To bring it to this level over the standard GT, Higher springs rates were used, struts and shocks were revalved and the electric power-assisted steering, (EPAS) was custom tuned to work within the parameters of the suspension, thus creating a “perfect” suspension package.

To illustrate this point, look no further than the testing done by Motor Trend magazine (Oct 2010) that took a "stock" Brembo Mustang to the "track" and achieved an average .96g in lateral acceleration and a Maximum number of 1.3g on the race course. That's "supercar" performance.

However, the one thing that disturbed me and many others was the fact that the wheel well gap between the fender and the tire was 3/4” higher in the rear than in the front. Creating an abnormal "bug like” stance.

While there are many Lowering Spring Kits currently available that can get rid of the “ugly gap” or “stance”, none of them are the "true" solution and here are the reasons why.

Slamming the car down may look cool, but it has many side effects that will hurt the Mustang's performance characteristics. Lowering the Mustang more than 1" will change the suspension geometry, which will require other components to correct it. Control Arm angles change, and its arc motion become limited vertically. Camber/Caster angles go beyond what factory specifications and parts can handle. Super high spring rates will add to your traction loss off the line and may lead to snap oversteer in the corners, not to mention that the ride quality of the car will go to hell.

If you don't believe this, then look no further than Ford's very own 2012 Boss 302 Program. These cars are designed as a true dual purpose “track/street car”, and yet they do not even use Ford Racing's current offering of the 5300-K or P Lowering Kits, made by Eibach.

Instead, the Boss 302 uses the same "spring heights" as the current production Brembo Mustang with slightly higher working spring rates that never exceed 200lbs.

Some will argue, that they have all the “trick suspension” from what the aftermarket sells and that their suspension will perform “better than stock”.

While this may be true for an all out “road race mustang” or if you do a lot of “autocross” events, it’s not true for the majority of Mustang Owners.

The aftermarket Industry has done a fantastic marketing job, convincing 98% of Mustang Owners, that they NEED to have these parts in order to have "high performance".

But lost in all this hype is the simple fact that the majority of Mustangs never see “racing conditions”. With that said, why would these Mustang Owners want to compromise their finely tuned factory suspension system, sacrifice their ride quality and of course, lighten their wallets with the continuous need for other suspension components that are not practical for most Mustang Owners who do everyday driving.

After a year of researching spring rates, blueprints, talking to engineers, racers, and mustang owners, I finally had a set of goals to aim for.

I wanted to retain the factory ride quality, I wanted the suspension to perform the same or better and most importantly I had to have the correct and equal stance that the factory didn’t give the Mustang.

Working with a major U.S. spring manufacturer, we utilized several computer programs to design and test my new spring. Finally, real world testing of prototype springs were put on vehicles to test in real word driving conditions on the mean streets and highways of Southern California.

All the work culminated, into the 55D Spring Kit specifically designed for the 2011-2012 Brembo Package Mustangs. This kit has many advantages.

First, it lowers the rear end of the car by 1/2” and gives the Mustang a much lower and equal stance with a very slight rake.

Second, The Lowered Spring height also equalizes the “center of gravity” front to rear for improved handling, thus allowing the car to feel "flatter" going into corners and provides confidence to the driver at the wheel.

Third, the Brembo Suspension System has not been compromised due to the fact that the OEM Spring Rates are still retained and continue to be tuned to the OEM struts and shocks.

Finally, because the 55D Spring Kit only consists of rear springs, there is no need to have the front end re-aligned. There is no need to buy expensive adjustable struts and shocks to soften the rebound. There is no need to buy new strut mounts. There is no need to purchase aftermarket camber/caster plates. There is also no need to buy an adjustable panhard bar, because the rear end doesn’t shift due to the fact that the car hasn’t been lowered beyond 7/8” of an inch.

So there you have it, the 55D Spring Kit, gives your Brembo Mustang,

The Ride, the Look and the Performance, without the headaches.

 

very nice. But the brembo package isnt that extreme

 

Hogwash.

 

Did he state it was extreme?? I must have missed that in my reading if he did.

 

That's what we always say when we don't agree what someone else says. their opinion isn't the same as ours so it must be "hogwash"

 

I understand your point, but he goes into directions that make the bb package sound like the appollo 13 mission. I think what there saying is maybe he looked a lil too far into things. Informative yes, but as a brembo owner I am less than impressed with the "way" different suspension than a standard gt.

 

Interesting. Great write up and research. Where to find this 55D spring kit and how much?

 

A Brembo equipped car is far off from having a perfect suspension system.

 

"PERFECT" in the sense that it is at is "maximum" level of performance before it compromises the RIDE QUALITY and COMFORT.

For a car to achieve 1.3g on a track and still be driven to work without "rattling my brain against my skull" from the factory, is my point.

In the simplest terms, sometime we overlook what engineers do and what their purpose is.

The Brembo Mustang is a "Street Car", not a race car.

The 55D Spring Kit isn't rocket science, but it was researched and it's an option to improve the cars "LOOK", while retaining the "factory" parameters of RIDE quality and slightly improve on it's HANDLING.

Hope this clarifies some things.

 

For you, this is what you wanted. For the other 99.9% of Mustang owners who do suspension work, we don't just want rear springs and then to call it quits. If you set up your suspension correctly, the ride quality and performance will be much better than stock and won't cause headaches.

Sure, there's a noticeable difference in the appearance of your car after the springs but all you did was lower the car. The handling won't change a bit seeing as how you say this kit retains the factory spring rates. The reasons the Brembo car performs slighty better than the non-Brembo cars is due to rotors, pads, stiffer bushings and some computer programming. Not a huge difference. Like said above, you're making this kit out to be the greatest thing in the world when it's not.

 

I have to respectfully disagree with you.

The Ride Quality WILL NEVER be better than "stock" unless you leave the "stock ride" height and use Better Shocks & Struts. (i.e.Konis).

Since I assume when you talk about suspension modifications, you are speaking of using other lowering springs kits. They all have much higher spring rates which degrade the "ride" even more.

Of course, as I originally said you can always make the Mustang handle better with "race car" suspension upgrades, but it makes it very hard to live with as an everyday car.

As for the 99.9 % of Mustangs Owners who do Suspension modifications, 99% are probably doing it wrong. ( not a "complete system", wrong spring rates, too low of a ride height, not using adjustable shocks/struts, bind of poly bushings, etc, etc.)

And those who do "complete suspension" upgrades, are less than 97% of MUSTANG OWNERS as a whole.

That being said, while the 55D Spring Kit was designed to just lower the rear of the car by 1/2", it also does make a difference in handling by lowering the Center of Gravity by the same amount, which thus also equalizes the CG front to rear. The car will therefor handle "flatter".

I don't think I ever said that the 55D Spring Kit is the best thing ever, but it's probably the best option if you have a Brembo Car, that you are happy with ( and I am) and want a better "Look".

As for what makes a Brembo Mustang suspension different from a "standard" GT you may want to visit Brembo50.com
since what you said is a little off.

 

Great addition to our car. Thanks

 

Thx for the effort.

I have read a few people's questions about whether they can just put rear springs on or cut a coil on the rears but have not seen any definitive answers as to what it would do to the handling characteristics.
Don't know if springs for just the rear (that Roush sells), are the same rate as stock brembo springs but stock rate is what I would want if I was doing this.

Looks much better and as described a very simple addition.

 

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. Only have 25 sets being made. Not to get rich, just made them to offer a solution to Brembo owners like me, who love everything about their cars but just wanted the major rear gap between the tire and fender lip to drop and match the front.

 

any additional pics of this mod? seems like an ideal option for those out there who are just looking to snug those wheels up a bit in the rear but not do a mess of suspension changes. maybe pics with a different set of wheels that look better on lowered cars, RTRs or the like?

 

 

Very cool man.

 

are you one of those people that cannot take feedback? Feedback is given to help and the proper response for any feedback is thanks you.

 

I can't even finish reading this trash. You're "trying" WAY too "hard" to sound *like* you "know" what you're "talking" about by using *TERRIBLE* "punctuation". Post a before and after with the sun at the same angle showing the dirt on the tire treads in both pics. The pics look the same to me. From what I gather...you lowered only the rear less than an inch, and created the perfect suspension...That about right? Well there's always someone out there that will buy anything...good luck with sale.

 

1. Ok, so I left out that Brembo cars have slightly higher spring rates than non-Brembo cars. The difference isn't much. Also, they use different shocks/struts. Cool?

2. I'm a non-Brembo guy.

3. Must be a personal preference because I like stiffer spring rates as the car handles more tightly. You obviously feel differently.

4. Why would you say 99.9% of people are doing their installs incorrectly?

5. We're probably never going to agree on anything. I just don't like how you make the Brembo equipped cars out to be lightyears ahead of non-Brembo cars.