Getting More Power from Your S197 Mustang GT
Community Input on the S197
The first member to respond was MRGTX, who provided quite a bit of information on how to improve the overall performance of the OP’s 2013 Mustang GT:
“You’re not missing much! Just a few thoughts:
The Boss intake is really oriented around high RPM performance and the stock bottom end can’t tolerate much of an increase to the redline so it’s sadly largely wasted on our cars. You have one…so maybe you can disagree here but this is the what the “tribal knowledge” says about that manifold.
The Cobrajet manifold may be better here but the stock manifold is likely better for drag racing and definitely better for around town.
You’ll want performance tires…if you go with slicks, you’ll need to have the axle tubes welded at the housing.
Unless things have changed recently, a larger throttlebody does nothing for our cars. Use that money for gasoline.
You’ll also want a driveshaft loop, especially with that aftermarket shaft.
Next would be drag-oriented suspension and weight reduction.
The only other piece of advice that I’d lend here is to know before you buy.
It looks like you put together some great equipment but it’s possible that 50% of this improvement is from just the 93 octane tune…sometimes this information can save us some money.
In any case, the car is going to be a blast. Please keep us posed on your progress.
So your question is about how much power you’ll make? From what I’ve seen from others, you probably picked up ~50hp to the wheels and with a broader power band too. So…420-430 rwhp peak? Totally a guess…but it should be pretty obvious when you’re hammering on it, no?
With good tires, you should be well into the 11s, assuming you know how to drive.”
After some other members asked the OP questions about his car, including the RPM limit with the canned tuned. He isn’t sure of that, but 5.MONSTER shared some insight into his tune and the idea of swapping to the Cobra Jet intake manifold:
“My tune is 7200 from Steeda and the HP just starts dropping off at that point. I track mine, so it lives in the 4000-6500RPM for 8 hours each summer, but I’m with you. I short shift when I can to lessen the strain. CJ maniford makes power in the 7000 to 8000 range.”
Finally, in addition to the aspect of adding more power, the members discuss the aerodynamic issues facing the OP as he prepares to go racing on the mile, including this input from MRGTX:
“I believe the high speed hood problems can be alleviated with hood pins. Again, the 2010-2012 cars have the hood that goes all the way to the leading edge where the ’13-’14 cars have the grille piece that is flush with the hood…and it also has the vents which should alleviate under hood pressure. I’ve never gone fast enough to worry about it but if you notice your hood starting to bow at high speeds, that’s your cue to get out of the throttle gently.”
This thread does a fine job of touching on the most common upgrades for an S197 Mustang GT owner who wants to make more power and go racing without adding forced induction. Whether you are looking for tips on your own NA build or if you want to share input with the OP, this thread is a great place to discuss naturally aspirated performance upgrades.
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