Hello to all I'm very much new to mustang family my last car was a 2006 WRX which I loved very much but it was time to move on to a new car/project.

So last march I started looking around and found out to my surprise that a GT mustang was a good pick for a new car. I have fallen for my mustang!! great car fun every day no turbo lag!!!! I will say the suspension is not bad but could be improved. My last car turned into a black hole that much of my money went into. (thankfully I didn't keep track of how much money I spent... I don't want to know) I turn my little WRX into a little monster of a car. I would autocross any chance I got and it was a lot of fun.

Let me get to the point I'm older now and track day won't be an every month affair but I'd like to have a setup id be happy with at the track and for a daily driver. Gotta keep the wife happy and cant be to harsh for future planed little ones.

Im learning all over again with this car. Any help would be great.

 

Well your question is a little vague. How much do you want to spend? And how complete do u want it? Im going through the same thing with my 12 and 13s. Im going with eibach sportline springs and pro dampers. But if u want your wife to be happy id go with the pro springs. They have a full kit for it on A/M. Also got to get a panhard bar. But if u have the cash i would spring for a watts linkage for the rear. Welcome to the family BTW

 

If you are interested in taking your Mustang to the next level then check out this video we did on a 2011 Mustang GT.

This is a very affordable package that will allow you to accomplish your goals. The ride quality is great ... and it will give you the flexibility of tracking it too.

http://www.steedablog.com/2011/10/mm...ck-with-a-5-0/

Let me know your ultimate goals and budget and we can piece something together for you.

Steeda parts are proudly made in the U.S.A by the American worker in our locations in Georgia and Florida.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,

TJ

 

Thanks for the info I'm looking to spend around 1k to 1.5k on setup I want to do it right but don't want to go crazy overboard cause it will spend most of it life one the street an not the track. Question about the panhard bar and watts link kits. Again relearning suspension with this new car so u need to buy and new panhard bar when u lower your car and I see that a watts link does the same with your rear axle but better right? So for a for my DD is a 800 dollar watts link worth it?!?

Thanks again

 

It's not worth getting a watts link for a DD, its a great upgrade but overkill for your plans. Shoot me a pm or give me a call, I can get you a great package for around your needs, goals and budget.

 

I have the following installed on my 2012 V6:

- Eibach/DUB springs

- Koni STRT struts/shocks (I would recommend shocks that are actually MADE for the 2011+ - the Konis are nice but they're made for the 2010's and they stick WAY up over the top of the shock towers.)

- Maximum Motorsports caster/camber plates (there are other brands, and whether or not you feel you need to spend the money on them is really up to you. At the very least, you have to replace the upper strut mounts with the GT500 parts, and that approach is 1/3 the cost of getting caster/camber plates, but the plates are infinitely more usable if you want to play with those settings Keep in mind that S197 mustangs do not have any way to adjust caster/camber UNLESS you use caster/camber plates.)

- J&M Adjustable aluminum panhard bar (don't get the aluminum one that I got - you can't adjust it after it's bolted into the car).

- 18-inch AM wheels and Michelin Pilot Sport tires

The ride quality didn't degrade at all, and the handling got better (it corners a bit flatter). I've been daily driving on that setup since June. The car feels good the way it is - for a daily driver.

My wife got me an Eibach adjustable sway bar kit for XMas, and I'll be installing that this weekend. It should reduce understeer, making the car turn-in more responsive.

A note on the panhard bar: Do yourself a favor and AVOID any panhard bar with the adjustments right at the ends (like my J&M aluminum bar has them). The adjustments nuts are impossible to get at when the bar is bolted up to the car. A better choice would be a bar that has a single adjustment about a foot from one end. When you look at pictures of various bars, you'll see what I mean.

While you're at it, consider replacing the panhard bar brace with a reinforced part (also available from AM), and if you don't already have one, get a shock tower brace. It doesn't have to be a fancy one - it just needs to connect the shock towers together.

You should end up with a very streetable car that can be taken to the track every once in a while (and you can adjust the front sway bar to suit the situation).

A complete suspension upgrade like I described above is going to run you between $1000 and $1500. American Muscle gives a 6% discount with a coupon code (I assume you already have that), and has free shipping. Steeda is also a good source for suspension stuff, as well as Maximum Motorsports. My advice is to shop around, and remember, "Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?"

Lastly, I installed all my stuff in my garage with basic hand tools (except putting tires on the rims). I also had to find a place that could do an alignment on a car that wasn't designed to have it done.

 

You also need to decide whats more important to you. Handling like a track car, looks, little bit of both? Do you want low or just better ride?

I came from an 09 wrx with BC coilovers and Whiteline sways/links. It was a handling monster.

With this mustang, i wanted low, but not coilover low. I ended up just putting on the Eibach Sport-System Plus kit which includes the struts/springs/sways. Ill be buying a panhard bar next but my rear end didnt shift much if at all.

It sits nice and low to my liking, and still handles more comfortably than my wrx on coilovers. Still nice, not too bouncy. If you want adjustability on the struts/shocks, id go with the above and get the koni adjustables.

Just my .02 though. A lot of people say that the eibach sportline springs are too low, but i LOVE the stance. Its perfect to me and will be perfect once i throw some wheels and a 295/305 rear tire on

 

Based on what the OP is asking for, the car will be DD plus track a few times per year. IMO, to stay within budget, have good ride quality on the street, lowered, and a reliable track performer, I think springs, dampers, and sway bars is all he needs. If the rear drop is 1.5" or less, you do NOT need a new pahard bar, you do NOT need new front strut mounts, you do NOT need a Watts linkage, you do NOT need adjustable caster/camber plates. If you add all that, you'll be in for double your $$. One post suggest a strut tower brace - and I agree (about $100). I hope this helps.

 

Just my 2 cents, after reading a lot of info on lowering and springs I have learned that one of the most important mods for Cornering and Handling is the adjustable camber plates, Mustangs need this to effectively change the camber/caster on the front struts whether you lower the FRONT by 1/2 inch or more.
As a matter of fact I have been told the camber plates are more important than sway bars or panhard bars.
If you are going to lower the car for Handling purposes you will have to install camber plates, don't listen to anyone who says you don't need them.

 

i lowered mine with one of the biggest drops (eibach sportlines) and all my alignment specs are almost perfect. My camber is RIGHT on the border of being "out of spec" for going negative. im 1.7* negative and thats the most negative before going "out of spec"

If i wanted to bring it back out a bit more, ill just buy the camber bolts and bring it to 1.4* negative. You still want some negative camber for handling. I had -2.0* on my subaru which was a handling monster.

 

I find it hard to believe that you car is in spec with sport lines and no camber plates.

 

I'm in spec with Eibach Pro-System-Plus-Kit (springs, dampers, sway bars), 1.0" drop in front, 1.5" drop in rear. Used Eibach camber adjustment bolts in front, and that's it. Perfect alignment without new caster/camber plates. Also NO new pahard bar, NO new front strut mounts, NO Watts linkage. And I track my car several times per year. You do NOT need these additional items unless your going to the track once a month or more. Will some cars out-handle me? Absolutely yes. But my ride is worlds better than the stock set-up, and I did not have to break the bank to do it.

 

I can scan the sheet if need be lol.

 

Can you recommend a particular spring, damper, and sway bar set that you find performs best for the dollar? Im interested in light track and auto-x time as well

Edit: how about the eibach kits or the frpp kits?

 

Listen to this. Springs, dampers, and maybe sways are all you will absolutely need for what it sounds like your goals are. Maybe camber bolts, gt500 mounts, and ph bar. You can get the rest later. I wish someone would have told me upfront what I 'didn't' need.

As far as good springs most people go eibach, ford racing or steeda and I've noticed recently bmr. Just the most popular ones.

 

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So, why do I say the OP only needs springs, dampers, sway bars? Because first, my Ford dealer has a performance division that has helped me with mods on my car. And the Performance Manager explained that if the car will not spend half it's life on the track, or the dragstrip, you don't need the ancillary items. He would love to sell the extra parts to me, and make money, but he knows I won't need them (love this dealership BTW). Second, my own personal experience. I have the Eibach Pro-System-Plus-Kit (springs, dampers, sway bars). All designed to work together. 1" drop in front, 1.5" drop in rear. About 10% stiffer on the street. But about 100% better on the track. No 'floating', minimal body-roll, no squat under hard acceleration, and no dive under hard braking. The car sits low and stays level. See Eibach's video:
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The Pro-Kit [mine is NOT the Sport-Line Kit, which is much more agressive and requires extra parts] sells for around $1000 together (plus $35 for camber bolts). I'm very happy with how the car performs with this set-up, I track around 3-4 times per year. However, I do have a strong wheel/tire set-up also, and that helps a lot, too. Important to note, I had a long, rough road with Eibach and TireRack, since they sent me the wrong equipment to begin with, see two threads:
#1 - https://themustangsource.com/f800/wa...e-rack-508697/
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#2 - https://themustangsource.com/f800/eibach-saga-513871/
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So, the Eibach kit is one option, about $1000. Ford Racing is another option, costs $1300, but also includes a strut-tower-brace (I already had the stock one), and new strut-mounts (mine had only 1K miles on them so I could re-use them). But, after my bad experience, I would definitely go with FRPP the next time around. Another option is Koni Yellow struts/shocks, with Steeda springs and sways. A lot of TMS users went with this last option, and many have good things to say. Important to note, all three components work together, so if you're gonna do it, do it right and upgrade all three together, at one time. And don't forget a front-end alignment when your done! Hope this helps! Let us know how you make out.

 

OP, BMR, Steeda, Hotchkis all provide great springs. Currently I run Hotchkis springs, Koni yellows, Ground control CC plates and a few other things for the Boss but its going to be set up for some road course driving. Althought PJR makes a valid point on Eibach (dampers specifically) being better than stock its by far not the best out there, Koni is worlds better than Eibach dampers but thats just from what I've experience. Second, all cars act differently to mods. Some cars wont need a PHB after a subtle drop but some will, likewise for camber bolts, CC plates, etc. A good struts/ shocks setup and springs will put you in the right direction, then you can add from there (upgrade your strut mounts). A PHB may not be necessary but you'll never know until you drop it. I have to use a PHB on mine even with the subte drop from hotchkis.

 

Jay
You mention Ground Control cc plates in your post, I have not heard of them until now and went to thier website. The CC plates look very well made and are a little more expensive than the Max Motorsports plates.
Since you run them can you give us a little insight on how they handle,NVH and why you chose them over the Max Motor CC plates?

 

You're correct, GC CC plates are extremely well made and are very easy to use similare to the other brands. NVH is not noticeable.

I try and use all the products I offer and GC is one of them. Of course I don't just sell any brand, after talking with GC over several weeks and after reading the reviews of their product I picked them up. Also the employees including the owner are a great set of guys that know their stuff. The detail they put into the plates are great to include the torque specs they put right on there.

 

Before you spend your $$$, I'd suggest you check out www.whiteline.com IMO, the best suspension components available for your car. They have everything, and their tech staff can put together a package to suit your needs exactly.