NEARLY 2 YEARS WAITING: New Mustang GT PP is finally mine!

[Gibbo]

I've lost track of all the changes you've made since you got. Could you post a list?

OK I shall list the individual items and there prices individually, but a lot of items I purchased as full kits or in Black Friday bundle sales, helped me save around $1000 of regular prices.


Suspension:
- FRPP Race dampers/shocks: $500
- Steeda Ultralite linear springs: $200 (FRPP progressive springs sold from kit)
- FRPP adjustable anti-roll bars: $200
- FRPP Toe link bushes: $50
- Steeda G-trace brace: $200
- Steeda Differential bushing insert system: $90
- BMR Cradle lockout kit CB005: $150
- Steeda transmission support mount
- My own alignment settings for road use.
- Stock wheels and stock Pzero tyres.
- Stock brakes (Brembo 6 pots / 380mm disc)


Power, noise, asthetics:
- Corsa catback exhaust system (no power gain): $1100
- Cold air feed to stock air box (no power gain): $100
- Shelby steering wheel: $200
- Titanium shift knob: $200
- RTR side splitts and rears splats: $200
- Steeda front splitter: $200
- Ford side decals: $50
- Black Pony badge: $50
- Pony rear decklid: $130
- LED lights throughout interior and exterior: $350



Struggling to really remember anything else, probably missed a couple of things, would have to read through the thread.

But to make it this good handling wise actually cost very little and it keeps it a very well mannered road car with great comfort, but surprising how incredible it was on track performance wise and so flat. Of course you could go more extreme with KW coilovers, stiffer anti-roll bars, weight reduction etc but its not a track car, my daily and fun car.

 

[Gibbo]

The uprated parts there look seriously cheap (good value) for what you're getting, suppose the American tuners know they will shift a lot of these given the size of the market, and this drives the price down a bit.

They are not cheap, they are just fair, profit margin on car parts is insane in the UK, I get to see the cost of some items, you talking 300% markup in some cases on performance parts. Though saying that some parts still have insane profit margins.

Guy at OcUK just got a full bilstein damper/spring setup for his BMW 130i brand new for £500, so just gotta shop around.

Another example, two-piece AP, Alcon, Stoptech front disc for Mustang are like £1200 for a pair. Yet two-piece Audi R8 disc are £560 for a pair from an Audi dealer, sub £500 from ebay, for essential same thing.

Another example Ford will sometimes sell the Mustang GT PP front brake setup for $500, thats a pair of 6 pot Brembo's, pair of 380mm front disc and performance pads for £300. Now go and price the same up in the UK or from a performance Brembo dealer, more like £1500.

Really have to shop around, just like some garages charge £25 labour per hour and others £150 per hour.

 

[Gibbo]

Gibbo, where are you ordering from? I have someone that brings a container over every few months, but I tried to order from American Muscle and I can't pay for a US delivery with a UK Credit Card... or PayPal for that matter.

I've ordered a few bits from CJ Pony Parts last night, who would take my credit card and deliver to a US address...

I have purchased from CJ Pony, American Muscle, Lethal Performance, Lund Racing, JDM Engineering, Diode Dynamics, Levittown Ford, Hypermotive and never had an issue with shipping to UK and paying with CC or Paypal.

I also join forums and email the companies as well for discount, voucher code and competitive shipping quote, always had fantastic service.

For example Corsa Sport exhaust was $1549, I shopped around and emailed Hypermotive if they they would match $1100, they agreed and shipped it for just $168.

Gotta shop around, email people and be cheeky. Americans tend to also give incredible service and be hands on.

 

[Gibbo]

Who would have thought in Germany the Mustang would outsell the Audi TT, Porsche Boxster & Cayman combined and the 911 too:

http://www.autoblog.com/2016/04/08/ford-mustang-germany-audi-porsche-sales-news/


It seems the Germans are loving the Mustang and its selling in some fantastic volume.

Seem Mustang is proving a massive hit in the EU and UK, but we have had to wait 50 years for this to happen.

 

[Gibbo]

I may have missed it but did you get to the bottom of the noise Gibbo?

Nope, but it is looking like drive shaft slip yoke is potentially dry, gonna pack it with grease at weekend and see what happens.

Ford are fitting pretty crud 2-piece shafts to them, gonna inspect it and if its damaged will let warranty swap it, but I'd rather diagnose myself otherwise it would mean Ford potentially having the car for days/weeks and that is something I would be unhappy with.

Also US owners state the noise is pretty common and it does drive fine so I am not worried about it I am just very sensitive to odd sounds, to be honest in normal driving it rarely if ever does it, you gotta be loading it up pretty harsh to get it to the clunk/pop noise. Will also at weekend undo every bolt I worked on with car suspension loaded and then re-torque also just in case the track day caused something to move and its now binding.

But I am just enjoying the car, since it got warmer the Pzero's are working better and its so much fun to drive.

 

[Gibbo]

I got a red GT with comfort pack 3 weeks ago and love it. Love how it drives and love how it looks. Not too many about Northern Ireland yet so it's turning heads. Red isn't a "fail" imo but I guess colour is a personal thing.

Lets see images please.

Got quite a few owners on this forum now.

 

[Gibbo]

I see that Chevrolet are bringing the Camaro in to the UK in limited numbers this year. Big fail though is that they are LHD. Idiots.

They always do that though and end up selling like 2 cars per month. In Germany they are selling around 30 cars per month where LHD is fine, yet the Mustang is selling around 750 cars per month in Germany.

Ford have absolutely killed GM sales wise on this generation, in US Mustang is now pulling ahead so much it is outselling Camaro/Challenger combined.

Someone at Ford is very happy with themselves that is being so sucessful as a global product with Australia, Germany and UK sales way above forecast.

 

[Gibbo]

Hopefully the image works ok. I like red��

Nope.
On photobucket you need to take the url from the direct link box and that should then work with the IMG tags.

 

[Gibbo]

Looks great, how you finding it, keeping the smile on your face?

 

[Gibbo]

Yes, smiling lots and loving it. Any excuse to get out for a drive and I'm away. I changed the clutch spring on day 3 and fitted a gt350 steering wheel yesterday. Got them both through Steeda UK. Easy mods and well worth doing.
I know the hood alignment is easy to sort but Ford fixed my hood alignment under warranty, just to let others know.

Front number plates... mmm... When I look at the sculpted lines and shape of this car, add to that the wonderful V8 soundtrack and joy to drive it, then I do not let a front number plate upset me. Folks will have their own views on it which is fine. I'm indifferent regarding my plate. It's a bit like dissing the car because the air freshener isn't the right colour

The plate is a minor thing and everybody likes different things, that is why we mod. I am personally driving mine with no front plate, police have not bothered with me in the slightest, sometimes if I am on dual carriage way I can see them looking and they slow, wait for me to pass to no doubt check a rear plate is affixed and then don't bother.

Steeda are putting more resources behind their UK operation now, some of the vendors are now realising the huge success that Mustang is in the UK and as such support for UK is growing. I still prefer buying directly from US though as it saves me so much money. CJPony and American Muscle are great and make shipping to UK easy and cheap, they also have discount codes for your basket worth around 5-10%.

 

[Gibbo]

I have a soft spot for these new ones. Seems like yours is now hero spec Gibbo

Yeah I love it, handles lovely, still compliant and comfy, yes a bit more suspension noise in rear over harsher bumps due to solid inserts on subframe but I love driving it and now its warming up enjoying it even more.

The track day left me in shock in a good way, I never expected a close to 1700kg on a track to take it so easily and feel so agile, yeah the tighter corners it was no Boxster or 911 but really not a million miles away and on the faster stuff it just had way more grip then I ever remember the 911 having which is mind boggling as the 911 had semi-R's as does the M3, yet the Mustang just had insane grip. But the party piece was simply how forgiving the chassis was and how neutral it remained, really I expected it to be a bit boat like on track, but absolute opposite nothing but a joy to drive. I don't need speak of the engine as Coyote has a superb power band being 2000-6500rpm having great torque/power.

Yep love it, just keen for my wheels and spoiler now, but I have no other changes planned accept for more power next year.

 

[Gibbo]

Christ is that how much they weigh lol. I think they've just hit every right note for me on a personal level short of driving one. It's a hell of a lot of car for 35k.

I'd need to weigh it to be sure, some people quote 1600kg, some 1700kg, no one seems to know exactly, performance wise it feels more like a 1500kg car due to the torque no doubt.

I would suspect mine once the wheels are on will be 1575-1625kg region.


They will do the quarter mile in around 12.5s @ 109mph stock, so they shift pretty well. A simple remap transforms them though, not because of the power increases but because remap dial back the clutch torque limiting protection systems. This is why cars just with tune files and nothing else have gone as quick as 11.5s @ 116mph which is very impressive.

There are some guys going sub 11s @ 120mph+ with just NA bolt on's such as panel filter, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds. Guys running the Roush/Whipple supercharger setups in the 700-800BHP region, again seems safe as house on the S550 Coyote especially if you upgrade the OPG's are doing 9-10s quarters at 140+ terminals, of course supercharger kits cost more, if you go all out talking £7500 area. There are a few guys now in the US running close to 1000BHP on completely bone stock motor and transmission, not even upgraded the OPG's and still its in one piece. Not saying this is safe by any means I believe at 900-1000BHP they are on borrowed time especially with no OPG upgrades. But 650-750BHP all day long even Ford, Roush, Shelby, Steeda sell them from the factory with upto 777BHP with a warranty. Also a car that can do 10s quarters is absolutely bonkers fast on the road, so there really is not much need to go beyond 700BHP.

It is this that really makes the great value aspect of things change because for less than 40k you can buy the car, mod/tune it and go 11s area in quarter mile on stock tyres/wheels, suspension etc with just a simple remap.

The remap really wakes the car up and it cost like £250-£350!

 

[Gibbo]

700BHP would be fairly mental. Wonder if it would ruin the drivability though. I noticed you were on MLR for a time. I bought my first Evo last month, bog standard 8 MR 340. Loving it!

Your going to lose first gear.
Second gear dry upto 650BHP should be fine.

Also its no longer an issue as Whipple as flight control software so you can limit torque/throttle in each gear, so effectively boost by gear so if your the kind of person who just mashes the pedal you can setup the supercharger kit to only deliver so much boost in each gear. So maybe 1st gear, 65%, 2nd gear 90% and 3rd gear up 100% etc.

So the Whipple kits are pretty damn impressive and is why people are managing such fast quarters, one guy is now low 10s at 140mph and just floors the car in 1st gear (AUTO) and it just explodes into acceleration with hardly any slip.

This is what I am really loving about the new Mustang, its great value, its a nice place to be, it corners well all in all its pretty epic for the money.

Even more impressive the above video was the first guys pass and he did a 10.2@140mph seriously quick and its a car you can use every day and it drives just like the stock car drives, until of course your mash the loud pedal.
Bear in mind he has done that on 20" wheels with road tyres, hence his 1.7 60ft time, smaller wheels with slicks you can get that down to 1.2s if you want to trailor it to the track or carry a set of wheels in the boot. I just love the idea you can have a Mustang, not impact its drive ability or reliability and drive to strip, do a sub 10s pass and drive home in comfort and be able to have fun on the twisty bits too.


Here is one going 0-162mph in 15s, again another daily running twin turbos with around 700BHP, but no intelligent boost by gear just driver:
https://vimeo.com/161699897

 

[Gibbo]

To be fair anything sub 11 is seriously quick lol.

Yes, I've done a bit of tweaking on mine so I think its bang on 12s@115 or so area now and yes it feels damn quick, first 4 gears are over in a blink of an eye and it puts it all down in 1st gear quite easily surprisingly, the chassis has huge traction in the rear.

So 11s area mental quick, my last Mustang did a 12.4@126mph, yeah I know could not launch it haha but once moving it was insane. My new one is quicker of the line and does not feel vastly slower once moving, but the 5.0l engine develops a lot more torque in all the right places compared to the 4.6l

 

[Gibbo]

OMG what a spotter! "Well if you look at my intake temps they are only two degrees above ambient because of the mods that I've done!" How excited you sound

It's a car not a computer Gibbo

We was having a lot of fun and the guy was interested in what I'd done to it because of it feeling stronger.

Also you are aware the car is full of many computers and it is those computers and sensors which instruct how much power the car makes. Lower intake temps, higher octane results in the cars ECU advancing some spark.

I've done some datalogging past couple of days and my ECU is maxing out negative knock at -8.00 degrees which is the maximum set by Ford in the knock tables. Negative knock is good on this setup because when the ECU detects negative knock it advances the spark to make more power/torque if its within the ECU's parameters.

So yes it is a computer and if you give it what it wants it shall make more power (ensure your making claimed power). People are so focused on adding more power with modifications, instead on first ensuring their car is making the full power claimed by the manufacturer and as much of the time as possible. As owners of cars we can try to ensure this is happening by running correct oil, better fuel, reducing intake temperatures, forcing more colder air into the air box etc.

But forgetting the techno babble it was incredible fun and can't wait to get it around Donnington at some point.

 

[Gibbo]

I'm jesting; it's really nice to see someone so passionate about their hobby. The car looks incredible.

Just spent few days datalogging the cars factory map to fully understand what its doing and what it can adjust automatically etc. On my car it is always trying to further advance spark, which will be because I put good fuel in the car and because of lower intake temperatures.

Plus I wanted baseline info for a map I've tried on the car.

 

[Gibbo]

Not often you see night and day changes from bolt ons. He seems to think it's worlds better

I''ve actually done very little that should effect power if at all, my bolt-ons are just to ensure the car makes the quoted figures as much as possible.

I don't believe in changing CAI on this car, the stock system is more than adequate and is a true sealed cold air intake. The big air open cones cause huge arguments in US as the maybe give 10BHP on a dyno but in the quarter mile they actually seem to make the car no quicker, sometimes even slow it due to the higher intake temperatures, causing ECU to not advance timing as much as it could do (upto 8 degrees).

My view is give the car good fuel, keep intake temps as low as possible and put a remap on the car and it will feel incredibly strong and cost very little to do so and I can tell you it feels superb.

 

[Gibbo]

If you're heading to Donington this year make sure you post about it an advance, I'll be there a few times myself so wouldn't mind seeing what it's like on track

I hope to organise our own event and rent the track ourselves so it shall be mainly OcUK staffers, suppliers and maybe a couple of forum members. I will take both M3 and Mustang, as will compare them back to back.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there


After fitting the sideskirts I loved the look and was happy with them at the front of the car as they ran up against the mudflaps so it all neatly blended into the body work as such and looked factory.

However at the rear I felt they seem to stick out a little too much, so I wanted to fit Roush winglets but in order to do so I'd have to hack and cut the new sideskirts and just fitting the winglets to the sideskirts would just look odd and actually stick out more.

So got a friend who works a lot with plastics to do some hacking with me, they have come out great, they still need tidying up a little with some tiger seal and precision use of a scalpel, I will then blow them over with some ABS black plastidip to make it all look like one true piece.

But looks better and more finished/factory than before, once I've tidied them a little more and blown over with plastidip I will be happy with it, just for me they are not perfect yet upon very closeup inspection and although no one else will see it, I can and it will bug me so shall perfect them over coming days.

 

[Gibbo]

Huge torque and big RPM.