This thread is just my random musings during my build.

In September of 2012 I took delivery of my PWV6 Base with M82 6 speed and 3.31 gears. I added the Tech and Performance package and some dealer installed appearance mods and was out the door at just a touchover 23K. I am asked all the time why didn’t I get the V6 Premium or even the V8 GT? The answer is simple. I had a master plan going into this purchase, and I determined early on that I didn’t need all the extras like ambient lighting,leather, pleated door inserts, Recaros etc. I didn’t want to be car rich, cash poor. While I could afford something better, I didn’t see the need. My payment is low enough that I can afford to do a mod or two per month and once this build is finished I should be making more HP at the wheels that a stock Boss 302 from the factory while still being thousands ahead. That is the hope anyway so with that being said, onto my build.

Here is my car the day it came home from the dealer on September 12th 2012.

Bear with me, as I have not gotten “go fast” bits yet. The dealer painted and installed FMC GT 500 spoiler,the side scoops and louvered window covers. I supplied them with the 3.7 fender logos and a template, so my car was delivered with those installed as well.Once I got her home I pulled off the black mirror covers and replaced them with prepainted white ones. At that time I also replaced the tall antenna with a shorty black billet one.



Next for appearance was to replace the wheels. I went with AM 19” wheels in charcoal. While the wheels were off I painted the factory brake calipers red. I went with red to tie inwith the red “point” in the fender logo. Once the wheels were on the red behind the charcoal wheels popped quite nicely.


Finally the first “go fast”bit. After much hand wringing, I went with an Airaid CAI. Install was fine, and the sound was amazing. Not really sure what it did performance wise.

With 3K miles on the clock and winter storage fast approaching, I added Bassani axle back exhaust. I was really pleased with the appearance and sound. They were more expensive when compared to most systems, but I felt it was money well spent to have something that sounds a bit more exotic.

Fast forward to April of 2013. Salt was still on the roads and I was getting cabin fever. I went out and installed Redline Tuning hood struts and JLT oil separator. I don’t have a photo of these parts. I really like the hood struts. It is a high quality product and works as intended, and is a no drill add on. Ford should have included these from the factory, as the volume of sales could have easily offset the cost of the struts.

A week later (salt still on the roads) I was out in the garage again installing my Roush high flow upper and lower grille and chin spoiler. Finally got rid of that darn pony in the front, and gave my car the aggressive look I wanted.





May 5th, the first drive of 2013!! I installed my white rally shift **** and shiny chrome shift boot retainer. Yummy chrome. J Oh, and I packed 100 miles onto the car.

That brings me to where I am now. I have recently installed BBK long tube headers and their matching catted X pipe. It took me 11 hours, but I did it myself and that was the important part. Holy Cow though that car is LOUD now. At idle it is nice and low, but when I push the go pedal it screams. At that time I also put in a Bama 93 performance tune. I wasn’t too impressed. Torque went away, fuel economy dropped and there were a host of other issue. Some were solved with a revision but others are still out there.

Over this past weekend I took my car to West Bend Dyno Tuning (local speed shop) to do a baseline pull on their Mustang Dyno. With 2k worth of “go fast” bits, I wanted to see what I was getting at the wheels. Keep in mind the brochure for the 2013 mustang says 305HP for the V6 at the crank. My V6 with all her current mods put down 261hp and 255ftlb of torque at the wheels with correction.

Now those numbers were a bit disheartening to me. I expected to be in the 280rwhp range. I thought “2K worth of bolt on parts and I saw almost no gains”. However the pulls were done in 3rd gear, not 4th gear which would have been 1:1. The reason for this is that the V6 has a driveshaft issue, and when the dyno operator tried to do a pull in 4th they hit the speed limiter. I was assured that the numbers would definitely have been higher if it had been a 4th gear pull, so I felt a little better about that.

So my NEXT mod will be a new strengthened driveshaft and then a proper dyno tune. A dedicated dyno tune should make the most of the current mods and still find power left on the table by Ford.

I mentioned a master plan early on in this post. From day one my plan going in is to build a V6 sleeper.While I am not a racer, auto crosser or someone to take my car to the strip,the goal is to have a reliable daily driver that puts down 450rwhp. This will be accomplished with the addition of a Procharger supercharger. Based on what my car is currently putting down, the “advertised” gain of 175+ HP will not come close to the motors breaking point. It has already been done on ‘11s and’12 V6s so while it is nothing new, it will be done to my car as well.

While saving for the Procharger I’ll be tackling the suspension. I already have Eibach Pro Kit lowering springs, J & M LCA and Panhard bar ready to go in. I am just waiting on the Eibach shocks/struts which are meant to be matted with the springs.Since I am not made of money the parts will take time to purchase and I’ll be doing the install myself. I am hopeful that the lowering will be completed before this year’s winter storage.

Keep an eye out for updates as they happen. J

 

Very interesting plan.. not sure I'd go that route myself but to each his own. In any case, your car looks great and I'm looking forward to how it all turns out. Wish there was more mustang people around here like as enthusiastic as you are lol

 

Can't wait to see the finished product. Your mustang looks great thus far. If I had the money, I'd be doing close to what you were, but for now, that's way in the future. I appreciate the write up and detail. Very informative. Thanks and hope to see more progression!

 

You haven't really put anything on your car to get you past 260HP. Your best bet is to gear it higher and make it handle/stop well.

If you want more juice, you need a tune and higher octane fuel. The most economical way to tune is to go to American Muscle, and buy one of the SCT tuners and get their "tunes for life" thing.

If you want to see what the car is truly capable of, apply the 93R tune that comes with the tuner, fill your tank with 93 octane gas, and revisit the dyno.

Finally, the only thing other than a supercharger and/or porting heads that you can add to your car to find power is a set of long tube headers and an offroad X-Pipe.

 

Good luck! In '09 I bought an '05 v6 fitted with a Roush stage 1 appearance package originally from new at the dealer.. I too was on a budget, and eventually became obsessed.. The list of mods grew extensive.. I'm about done now and moving on to my next project, but I can tell you I ended up spending approx 35k in parts, nearly all the labor done myself in my garage. I value your interest in taking the road less traveled, just be prepared to take some heat from some of the v8 guys.. It is rewarding when you beat out a guy with a super snake in a show whose main achievement (other than being able to afford one) was putting a coat of wax on it!
I too looked at Procharger.. However they utilize centrifugal SC which tend to benefit the high end.. I'm not sure you're true intentions with the car, mine is mostly show and light to light pulls, so I opted for the X-charger roots m-90 SC which tends to be a lil more beneficial on the low end since its pulley driven. I agree with a 1 piece aluminum driveshaft.. It'll make a difference. Also 3.73 was a worthy gear upgrade + a posi/lim slip diff rear end. Like you I managed my upgrades, both appearance and performance over a number of years.. Take your time and enjoy it, cause regardless of engine size or performance preference, it's all about the satisfaction you get out of it, and the learning experience!

 

5th gear is 1:1, not 4th. This is for the MT82:

Gear Ratios
1: 4.236
2: 2.538
3: 1.665
4: 1.238
5: 1.0
6: .7

 

Sexy car btw.

 

Already have a SCT tuner and free tunes for life. Total waste of mod money IMO since neither of the 3 tunes or the revisions performed as they should. They get the user in the ballpark, but for them to be perfect they need the car in front of them. Next month my car will be dyno tuned. One and done, then the unmarried SCT tuner will be sold.

The car has had 93 octane in it for the past few months. Mileage suffered, and so did my wallet (4.59 per gallon), especially with no gain from the performance tune or the race tune and the 4 different revisions. I tried them all. It was on the dyno with 93 octane in it. The tune wouldn't have mattered at that point since they couldn't have tested it past 3rd gear.

As you may remember from our discussion in my other thread, I have long tube headers installed and a catted Xpipe. Off-road Xpipe is out of the question since we have emissions testing here and need cats. The V6 comes with a Xpipe....had I put shorty headers on I would have been able to reuse them but wanted the extra power

In the end, other than the throttle body I have installed every bolt on for the V6 that I could find. The next will be a proper dyno tune from this speed shop/engine builder. Once I am satisfied with the performance of their tune, the supercharger will be next. After handling/suspension mods of course.

 

Thanks for the kind words. In the end these cars are a labor of love. As long as the money spent generates result, it is well spent. That type of SC system doesn't seem to be made for '13 MY V6 Mustangs. If you have the time PM me some engine bay photos.

 

I'm in Greenfield WI. Let me know what speed shop you've chosen (and trust). Could use a good resource.

 

Sorry, missed the West Bend Speed Shop in you're earlier post.

 

No worries. I am new to WBD, but several road course drivers I know personally swear by them and I felt comfortable with them from speaking with the owner (he answers the phones) and the other technicians there.

 

Didn't read!