So I've been kicking myself in the bum lately for not buying a Boss 302 after my first track day at Circuit of the Americas. I own a GT/CS right now. It's bone stock with the OEM 245s.

Of course throughout the day I was annihilated by Bosses and a few Laguna Seca editions. At the time I didn't have the ability to spring the extra 10k for a Boss but now that I've gotten a much better job it's too late. I don't want to trade in. I would much rather keep my CS as it has a much better interior than the Boss. And my seats have my *** groove so If I got a new car, I'd have to work on that again.

I was thinking of starting off with a quality set of shocks/struts and springs. I felt that the car was a bit sloppy under braking and hard cornering with the OEM components. It could also be because they are about 33k miles old.

First suspension mod should be Koni Sports/Steeda or Wheels/Tires?

Before anyone asks. The car is my DD with about 5-10 road course track days a year and maybe some AutoX thrown in if my friends decide to go one weekend. Not on a competition level.

 

If you want Bang for Buck. Go with a good wheel tire combo. But you have the right idea on shocks...I would do that next. Koni has a boat load of R&D time on the S197 Mustang for their Koni Yellow. It's cheap and awesome.

Best street tires out there right now is arguable. My advice on tire would be the Dunlop Direzza Z2 or the BFG Rival.(again, based on bang for buck)

Wheel choices are wide and varied my friend, have fun with that.

 

I'm going to agree with this statement. A good wheel and tire combo coupled with upgraded adjustable dampers will net you the biggest improvement.

 

I was in the same boat at Ibnz (OP). Wanted the Boss, but my real-life boss (Wifey) wanted leather, GPS, and all the nice GT Premium stuff. So I got a loaded GT Premium, and we love it. But first day on the track bone stock revealed all of the car's needs. I track a few days a year, but these few mods have TRANSFORMED the car:
* Suspension - springs, dampers, sway bars...do all at once to save time and money, get a kit tuned to work together, and don't skip - get all three, plus front alignment. Adjustable PHB only if the rear is off-center after lowering (I did not need one with 1.5" drop in rear). After 33k miles you'll probably need new front strut mounts, too. Ford Racing has a great suspension kit.
* Wheels/tires - ditch the all-seasons for Max Performance Summer rubber, lots to choose from. For wheels go at least 9" wide in front, and at least 10" wide in back. 255 minimum front, 285 minimum back. If you can go bigger, by all means yes. Oh, and if you can, upgrade to metal valve stems.
* Brakes- if you already have the BBP (Brembo Brake Package) you should be good, maybe upgrade front and rear pads. If you don't have the BBP, upgrade your fronts to at least a 14" rotor with 4-piston fixed caliper (Ford Racing, Baer, Brembo, etc.)
I have a lotta more info, PM me if you're interested. Good luck!

 

For the 10k difference I think you could easily make your car handle better then a Boss.

 

Yes. I Must admit. I love the way the CS wheels look! But those 245s.... Calling them awful would be a compliment. I read that it's the same tire package that comes on the V6 premium? Terrible.

I think I will go with wheels and tires first. Are 300+mm tires in the rear feasible with Koni/Steeda combo? I have made the decision to go with Koni/Steeda because of the great reviews I've read on that combination. I've seen a few track mustangs on other forums with like 285s up front and 315s in the back. Crazy amounts of meat.

Would dropping down to 18's instead be a much easier path? It would reduce some unsprung weight at the least and allow for a little more clearance. I plan on buying the Wilwood front and rear BBK with my annual bonus this year so that takes care of the brakes.

Wheels: Avant Garde M310

• 19 x 9.5 Front
• 19 x 11.0 Rear

Tires: ???????

 

You can run a 315 in the rear for sure...335 might be pushing it. You may not want to go down to an 18" unless you plan to lower the car more than 1", otherwise wheel gap is a little extreme. Clearance probably wont be a factor on wheel height...you will need to pay more attention to your wheel width and offsets. In front a 295 is about all your going to get without running some kind of spacer.

Tires: I will repeat my previous advice. Dunlop Direzza Z2 or BFG Rival if you want the best handling tires that also happen to be very competitively priced....BFG supposedly will last longer.

 

[QUOTE="PJRManagement;6568419"]
* Wheels/tires - ditch the all-seasons for Max Performance Summer rubber, lots to choose from. For wheels go at least 9" wide in front, and at least 10" wide in back. 255 minimum front, 285 minimum back. If you can go bigger, by all means yes. Oh, and if you can, upgrade to metal valve stems.
QUOTE]

I think this is really interesting. I want to run a 285 35 19 in the rear. I am planning on widening the rear brembo rims. The place I called said that they would guarantee the construction but not the fit. They are adding an inch of material to the inside of the rim. Would it still fit my car?

 

[quote=Mr. V;6569078] ---
Rich - sorry, I have never heard of that.

 

The Avant Garde M310 only comes in 19x9.5 that fits our platform. I currently have the M310's on our 13 Boss. I also just grabbed a couple Ace Mesh 7's that we sell to test fitment of the 19x10's for a square setup. They fit the fronts without issue but seeing how we run coilovers I think the Swaybar endlink bolt may need to be trimmed down. But take a look, its actually great quality.

 

Do these come in a machined face like the M310s?

 

They come in a hypersilver.

 

This is tire and rim only advice.
You are going to want 18" rims because 18" tires are cheaper than 19". Im running a square 18x10 setup with 285/35-18 hankook r-s3's and its doing well. I compete in autocross, so my tire width was limited to 285 for my street tire class. Ill be running 295 or 315 hoosiers when the hankooks wear out, and ill move to another class (esp).

Bottom line, get 18s. A good set to get is the wheels vorshlag sells for 300 a piece. I use the LMR sve drifts, they were only 150 a piece. Im sure hypermotive has a quality set as well

 

[quote=Mr. V;6569078]I think the best way to know whether they will fit is to get up under there and measure to see if you have more than an inch clearance between the inside of the tire/rim and the closest fixed item. I bet you'll be fine but I don't know for sure. I want to widen my CS wheels too, but I haven't measured yet.

 

Thank you! I will sound ignorant for saying this but when people said to look if there is room, I didn't know what they meant. Thanks for clearing it up. I'm a dork sometimes.

 

Are you going to move to a wider wheel for the 295 or 315s? I'm looking 18" wheels square setup for autocross ESP as well. was looking at 18x10 D-force or f14 and 9.5 and 10.5 pf01s. Have you looked at spacers for the front while moving to a tire that width and if so what spacers have you been looking at?

 

Don't the Boss guys move up to the FRPP springs and shocks or Koni Yellows and XXXX springs anyways? Tires and aftermarket springs and dampers should do the trick.

 

This is true, Koni Sports and some good springs will let you out handle a Boss.

 

[QUOTE=Ibnzmonkey;6568518]Yes. I Must admit. I love the way the CS wheels look! But those 245s.... Calling them awful would be a compliment. I read that it's the same tire package that comes on the V6 premium? Terrible. QUOTE]

What's weird is the V6 has wider wheels!

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!