Ford Mustang GT (4.6l) S197

AndyCr15 said:
Jumping on a little late to this thread, I've had a quote on a remap from ModUrStang already, but how much was the cold air intake?

Also, is the remap only worth doing if you're going to then use 99 octane? Can you map for regular fuel?

LCA's where a good mod, I also got larger Stop Tech front brakes done for around £550.



Seem pretty effective in stopping me at speed!
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Sorry - only just seen this reply.

ModUrStang seems to be the go-to guy in the scene. I've only bought parts off him though as I have my own garage I use and I'd struggle to get the time to go up to him.

You can remap for any type of fuel, they ask you to specify. I just said 99 without realising only Shell really sell it in the UK. You can do it for 95, 97 or 99.

I got my (new) CAI from a member of the MoCGB and was about £150 delivered but I'd probably expect to pay about £250-£300 if you buy one from a shop.

For the remap you need a tuner, again I got mine (second hand) from a member on MoCGB and paid about £150 but they are quite expensive new. The actual tune was only about £75 and was emailed to me. I then loaded it onto the tuner and did it myself (really easy). The tuning company ask you for loads of stuff (engine codes, serial numbers, mods etc....).

CAI and remap are well worth the £350-£500 it costs, completely removes the throttle lag (which is pretty bad from stock).

I'm still not happy with my brakes (after a fluid change), they're pants compare to my Boxster but the mod most people seem to go for is the GT500 brakes which can come in at around £2k (which I'm not prepared to pay).
 
Car is being used for my wedding on Friday so I've paid someone £5 to chuck a bit of water over it to get over a years worth of crud off it and taken some photos with my Samsung Galaxy S6 (Black 32GB);















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I'm coming up to nearly 2 years of ownership now so thought I'd put down a few thoughts on the car.

First off the car is my only car, it's used every day (rain or shine). It's a complete and utter nightmare in anything other than dry weather. The slightest bit of rain on the road really does make the handling a bit hairy. It'll easily throw the back end out doing 10 mph and 1/3rd throttle in 2nd gear so you really do have to watch yourself.

In the dry it's a completely different story, and although I don't have any of the confidence I had in my Boxster the handling isn't completely awful. It boats about a bit but the LHD and basic-ness of everything certainly makes it quite a raw experience.

Power is somewhere around 330bhp, and every gear has massive amounts of power. Providing you can put it down on the road (dry and warm) it certainly pushes you back into the seat and gives you a real thrill.

LHD isn't as much of an issue as you'd expect. I'm completely use to it now and jump between my Mustang and RHD cars daily without any problems. The only annoyance is the rear windows being tinted black meaning joining motorways can be a bit hairy. I tend to have to really look out for a gap between two cars and then use the ample power to ensure I make that gap.

The interior is basic and it's not plush or well done so that's annoying, but I knew that buying the car. It feels like a 11 year old Ford so the inside looks like crap.

The noise and looks I still love to this day, and I'm constantly being photographed and asked about the car. Children and parents stop what they are doing to point and stare and it really does put a massive smile on my face every time I drive it.

The running costs - now this is the bit I was expecting to make me cry, but it's nothing like that at all. Servicing is nice and easy, I have a trusted local garage who like these sort of cars and everything has been pretty cheap. It's annoying now to be able to get parts off the shelf, and ordering most things from the US means paying £20 postage for even the smallest thing.

It's had a few minor MOT failures but nothing that any normal car wouldn't throw at you. I'd say my total garage bills for repairs, services (2) and MOT (2) have been about £500 over the 2 years.

MPG isn't quite as good - I tend to average 12-14 US MPG on a wide range of roads. My morning commute of 4 miles in stop start rush hour traffic is easily sub 10 MPG. Thankfully I only do about 5k per year so none of these figures actually end up costing me that much.

The best running cost of all is the fact the car completely refuses to lose any money. Looking at recent sale prices I'd likely make a small profit, or at least break even on the car if I was to sell now. The lack of depreciation means that the car is actually stupidly cheap to run - seriously, this is both great and a massive pain as it means I'm stuck on what to replace it with.

I'm left in the awkward position of not knowing what to do with the car. I love it, every day I drive it I enjoy the experience. The interior annoys the hell out of me and the fact I can rarely actually use all the power is a pain.

The option of getting a newer one (2010 onwards) with the 5l 410bhp V8 engine is one I've considered, but it would probably end up costing me my car and about another £10k, and I'd still end up with a pretty basic interior and a car that struggles with the UK roads and winter conditions.

I've considered pretty much every other car, but the fact they all cost significantly more if I make a decent step up is annoying. I don't really want to spend more money than I already have in the car and anything I buy will instantly start to lose money. A decent 997 911 or similar sort of performance car is going to set me back my car and at least £10k. Moving away from a Mustang also means I lose the 'experience' and wow factor that I get from the looks, sound and rarity of my car.

Which brings me back to just sticking with mine, keeping it until the brand new RHD Mustang model hits sensible (£20k) money, that's going to be 3-4years and I'm not sure I want to keep it that long.

TL : DR - Still love the car, handling in the wet and interior suck. It costs Fiesta money to run so no possible sensible way to upgrade away from it - therefor no idea what to get next.
 
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Clarkey said:
Bit surprised by the lack of depreciation you mention. Would have thought the new model being out would have hit the value of these hard.
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As with any car there is a 'rock bottom'. The classics (60's and 70's) go for big money and the rubbish stuff in the 80's and 90's still go for £3k-£8k.

A base 2005 V6 will still go for £10k and that instantly makes the V8's worth £12k-£14k.

So far the new models have had 0 impact on the price of my model really, someone looking at a £15k 2005 V8 isn't also going to be eyeing up a £45k RHD new one. There is a big gap in the market currently, you basically have the following;

£10k - V6
£12k-£15k - 2005-2007 V8
£15k-£20k - 2008-2010 V8
£20k-£25k - 2011-2014 V8
£25k-£40k - the odd rare special, Shelby, no miles garage queen car or dreamer
£40k - new model

The new model has a lot of money to lose before it starts to impact the top end of the S197 stuff (£25k).

My car was imported into the country in 2007 (at 2 years old) for £18k, the owner had it for 7 years and lost about £5k in that time.
 
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I've had the lower control arms and it has made things better, but still not great. Aside from that I think most of the suspension is stock so that will almost certainly be the issue. The tyres still have plenty of tread left (4mm-5mm) and are (iirc) Falken FK453.

Now that I'm use to the car I never spin the wheels or lose the back without meaning to. It just means when it's wet / damp I limit myself to driving very carefully, in the dry I feel fine to use full throttle etc... but in the wet I'll never really go above half throttle. The back end out at 10mph in 2nd gear is something like a small roundabout and always easy to control once it does start.

Spending money on the suspension has crossed my mind, but every time I price it all up I remember that I'm still going to be massively annoyed by the interior quality and the 'old' feel to the car so I then look a 2010/2011 V8's and then I end back deciding to do nothing.
 
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Acme said:
I dare-say that is your problem. Not exactly the sort of tyres I'd want to put on a Mustang!

They are supposedly not as good as the mid-range Falkens I have on my Corolla... :p
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I'll need to double check, they are Falkens and the set that came with the car. I remember taking a quick look when I got it and thought they came out s half decent so might not be 453's.
 
It's been an eventful few weeks for my Mustang.

Firstly I managed to spare a few minutes on a Saturday to make the Audi / OcUK RR day in Surrey and got the car on the rollers to see what sort of power my cold air intake, exhaust and remap had given me.

The car is rated from standard as the following;

300 hp (224 kW)@5750
320 lb·ft (434 N·m)@4500

2016_05_03_14_57_50.jpg


So 353bhp and 'about' 350lb·ft torque - not a bad improvement!

So I rushed home in delight and popped it up for sale;












Buyer has collected today and the replacement (a BMW 650i with a 4.8L V8 engine) has already been in use for a few weeks now (thread on that to come eventually). A few photos of the pair together;












The cost to change has resulted in me making about a £2000 profit on the Mustang during my ownership which is very rare and testament to the mental prices people will pay for a 10 year old Ford!
 
AndyCr15 said:
I've been put off the CAI and tune as a few people have said it's not as useful on a manual?

I'm toying with the idea of supercharging, but worry I do like to put my foot flat down a little too often and might end up in someone's front garden...
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I had my CAI, tune and the MAF cleaned (30 minutes job, helped make the car feel smoother overall) at the same time and it made a big difference. Certainly worth the £300-£500 it cost and I'd recommend doing it.

Certainly get it done before a supercharger.

I'm assuming yours is a V8?
 
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