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

[Gibbo]

So..............................

Just been out in Andy's Mustang and TBH i'm a little lost for words, yes we all know its fast, and it really is (all his cars have been), but this to me feels the most special out of all of them, the way it puts power down (straight line, mid corner, corner entry / exit) even with Pzeros in the cold is VERY surprising (in a good way) and the way it gains speed, well.....

With the above out of the way i will say this: I've never really been a fan of Fords products, always found them a little disappointing, yes sure all the fast Fords I've ever been are fast (shocker), however I've always found the total package to be poor and can tell Ford have cut corners in some areas so they could spend more money on making the car quicker.

Today the above opinion changed.

I can't remember my exact reaction when getting into the Mustang but i was SHOCKED at how well built it is, i mean that from both a design, fit, finish and materials used point of view, is it up to VW/Audi standard? Well i have to say yes, yes it is.

Lovely car and a fantastic place to spend any amount of time, i'm very jealous right now.

Glad you enjoyed it, you can see why I like it so much now and the noise, oh the noise.


This is what I was upto when you visited OcUK:

Before they were white, I've changed them to blue to match the interior and sill lighting as I've set all the RGB lighting in the car to blue so wanted these to match. Cost like £3 to do and is reversible in seconds and you can pretty much do any colour you wish.

 

[Gibbo]

Only just got back from my test drive as the sales guy was with another customer all afternoon, so it was fairly dark and tbh i'm slightly underwhelmed

My seat ended up in the wrong place so I found the clutch really uncomfortable and I didn't find it very quick at all

So I've arranged for another test drive in the day next week.

MW

The clutch is aweful, as I originally stated, the clutch assist spring has to come out otherwise it is just zero feel and makes the car unpleasant.

Its 415BHP that does 100mph in around 10s, it not quick like an M4 quick or GTR quick, you have to work for it. But also if you drove the car in normal mode the throttle will be very lazy and you will have bury the throttle to the floor for it to pick up and if it detects spin it will probably limit or take power away. Hence my suggestion for race mode, better throttle feel.

But I've done a few test now and compared to 911 the performance is very even so its not slow, but in normal mode you do need to mash the loud pedal to the floor.

By any chance does the Mustang have an economy feature that shuts down cylinders to save fuel, the Mustang I drove only had 30 miles in the tank ?

MW

If your worrying about economy now, V8 is not for you, check the ecoboost out.
It has no cylinder shut down mode, the absolute best you can hope for on a run between 60-80mph is 28mpg area and expect 15mpg in city driving.

 

[Gibbo]

HI there


So today I made a start on improving the rear-end of the car. Though the car drives great as I already mentioned in my more detailed review it can get floaty and when you do power oversteer from a corner, though it is progressive and controllable, there is a floaty sensation coming from the rear.

So today I started by installing BMR Vertical Delrin/Spherical links, these are advertised as helping reduce deflection and wheel hop with no added NVH.

Removing the old ones is very easy, wheel off, undo the 18mm bolt and undo the 15mm bolt, they comes right off. To make my life easier I had a jack under neath the rear hubs to support it so once I removed the vertical links all remained in place.


Stock vertical link VS BMR vertical link

The first thing you can see is the BMR looks a far more solid and stronger item compared to stock. Yet it weighs less due to being made from billet and is vastly stronger and uses much larger bushes that fill the entire space.

I used energy suspension lube everywhere as I had heard of some people getting knocks/clunks after vertical link installations, but those were delrin/delrin version and I had gone with spherical/delrin to help eliminate any noise/NVH.

The instructions say put the supplied top bolt in first and then the original stock bottom bolt. Doing it this way round meant I could not line up the bottom bolt to go all the way through and instead of using pry bars and going wild. I removed the top bolt to give me some more wiggle room for the bottom bolt, worked and the top bolt went straight in. Top bolt tightened to 81lb/ft and bottom bolt to 129lb/ft and used blue loctite on bottom bolt for safety, no need on top bolt due it using a nylock nut.


Test Drive

First thing, no knocks, clunks and zero added NVH, to drive the car feels hardly any different. But putting power down in 1st gear, wheel hop is reduced, the wheels just spin instead with less hop/judder, but have to say grip seems improved. Power oversteer feels more direct and the car feels more planted in the rear. Were talking all minor improvements in here, but a change for the better indeed and again at £100 cost they are well worth the price.

Picture of one installed:

Set aside 1-2hr for install!













So then it was time for the Steeda differential bushing insert kit. When accelerating hard, especially if you get wheel spin the whole differential bounces around in its housing and typically give a bit of a sloppy feeling, it also no doubt contributes to the rear end bounce a little as well and wheel hop.

These are very easy to install, first just support the differential with a jack, then undo the two rear subframe bolts by about 2-3 full turns. Now undo the bolts in the rear differential, one at a time. Put the bushing insert into the void, it will only fit one way and then re-tighten, getting a socket on is hard due to lack of room, so a 22mm and 18mm spanner is very handy. Re-tighten to 129lb/ft and also re-tighten rear subframe bolts also to 129lb/ft.

The front differential bushes are a little harder, you need to support the rear subframe with a jack and remove the front differential bolt on one side at a time. Then remove the bolt and replace with a shorter bolt. Then insert the bushing insert on the opposite side using the short bolt.

As this is a fiddly job it will take you anywhere from 2-4hr in driveway.

These bushes fill the void and help prevent the differential having excess movement, keeping it under far more control. The kit comes with red and black bushes, black being firmer, I went with red ones as again they claim no added NVH.


Picture of an insert installed and one not:

You can see that the stock rubber bushing allows the differential to have a lot of movement, no doubt for comfort, but it does no favours for control and wheel hop. These kits cost around £70 so are great value for money!












Test drive with BMR Vertical Links & Steeda differential bushing insert system


Now things become more noticeable, but not in a bad way, ride comfort is practically as it was and again there is no added NVH, something I am very sensitive too.

These two combined together and really got rid of a lot of the rear-end slop and rubberized feeling the car had. To be frank the car feels bloody awesome now in the rear with just these simple modifications, it is far more direct, the car just feels a lot more sharper whilst still also being the great tourer as comfort and ride quality is un-changed. If anything for me it feels better as the car feels a lot more connected, it bounces less, wheel hop is practically all but gone and power oversteer now the rear-end no longer feels like it is floating and if anything the car is more controllable on the throttle.

These pair of modifications together are superb, if you also feel your Mustang feels a bit rubberized and sloppy/bouncy in the rear and you have wheel hop and/or traction issues. Well give these parts a try because they reduce all of those symptoms.

This car just keeps getting better and better!

Monday I am going local garage to get the springs and dampers fitted, plus an alignment.

 

[Gibbo]

It wasn't a question regarding economy as such, I was trying to understand why it didn't feel quick. I thought maybe because they hadn't put any fuel in the car it was running in some kind of economy mode as I've heard some cars shut down the cylinders.

My next test drive might be in an automatic anyway

MW

Nope I have had mine down to 10 miles in the tank, no effect on performance.

The car is extremely refined, it can do 200mph and not fly apart unlike old Mustangs, they hide speed remarkable well, 90mph feels like 60mph etc. and power delivery is incredibly smooth. But saying that if you floor it 2000-3000rpm in 2nd gear it should just pin you and pull right to 7000rpm. Or you can be doing 30mph in 5th and floor it at like 1500rpm and the car pulls and your at 60mph in not time. But it is refined. This car is a little slower than my M3 in the real world, but in reality it feels a lot slower as the M3 is a lot more brutal due to how light it is and the SMG gear box smashing through the gears.

Drive the auto and make sure you absolutely floor it in 2nd say doing 30mph, once it has decided to kick down the thing should fly, even though its refined it is still 400+ horsepower and 400 torques.
For this car to feel properly fast it will need well over 500 horsepower and closer to 600BHP to be honest, if you want something that feels truly fast.

 

[Gibbo]

You don't hang around do you For very little money and just a little time both of those mods seem made a serious improvement so it'll be interesting to see the further improvement once the new suspension gets installed.

PS I surprised that the spherical on the Stock vertical link is showing rust already.

Pretty normal I find for suspension parts to show rust quick, just like differentials go rusty in colour in no time at all.

Nope I knew what I wanted to do before I got the car, I know the look I want and I knew about the weak areas others had complained about.

Yeah the new dampers and linear springs will be interesting, am hoping the ride comfort is not to badly effected by them, will know Monday. Will then aim to get the anti-roll bars fitted a few days later.

 

[Gibbo]

How does one put the car into race mode ?

MW

Use the mode switch, but the image is a US car, on UK cars they are opposite way round.

Mode options:
Normal: Lazy throttle, ECS only marginal slip, TCS some spin, normal steering weight.
Sport+: Normal throttle, ECS more slip angle, TCS more spin, sport steering weight.
Race: Sport throttle, ECS lots of slip angle, TCS off, sport steering weight.
Wet/Snow: Very lazy throttle, ECS no slip, TCS no spin, comfort steering weight.

I use normal for only greasy or extremely heavy rain.
Sport+ I use for wet conditions and Race I use in the dry.

Sport+/Race transform the car, make it feel a lot more awake compared to the default normal mode. I always set steering weight manually using the other switch simply as in sports mode it has less feel due to artificially adding more weight. So I select sport+ or race and then I put steering weight back to normal using other toggle switch.

If the sales guy won't let you drive it in those modes then simply floor it to the floor.

 

[Gibbo]

Well, I'm in absolute LOVE.



Test drove the above, don't like the soft top. Nor the white. But wow, what a car! And the quality inside is just fine! Considering it's so cheap.

How many miles did it have?

Mine is nearly 500 miles in and the interior is rattling and falling apart.




















































Oh wait, its not, no rattles or anything.

 

[Gibbo]

I gotta pay for it some how

As stated above it's someone else's order they cancelled

MW

Looks lovely, same as my car but without the custom pack by looks of things? I do hope it got the shaker and satnav optioned back in though?

I am starting to wonder if I should have gone with black wheels and black window trim, looks so much meaner but the black gloss wheels do look a bit lost.

Decisions decisions.

 

[Gibbo]

Description I was sent says:

Heated cooled seats
Reverse parking sensor
shakepro prem audio
satelite navigation

I was under the impression these were all 3 of the available options

MW

Yep that is spot on!

Custom pack was chrome trim, nickle wheels, satnav, pro audio and reverse sensors at a discounted price.

Satnav, sensors and audio are important options. The others are just styling.

 

[Gibbo]

black window trim for sure, the chrome looks totally out of place imo.

I can't decide, today I was meant to be off work and fitting springs/dampers but not being able to sort it today.

Then a guy in US just installed the same dampers and springs as I'm going to install and posted pictures to upset me.

How good does that look!
The difference an inch makes.

But it got me thinking, seeing how good the gloss black wheels and lack of chrome trim looks. Well it looks really good I feel, though black wheels are a bit meh, the car pulls it off well, but still black wheels is just a bit not so great.

I am thinking:
- Gloss black wheels with a silver lip on the edges as per the 911 had.
- Gunmetal/Anthracite gloss wheels in either a lighter grey or a darker grey than body work colour.

Then the chrome trim can either stay or be wrapped gloss black.

Decisions decisions...........


But I cannot wait to get my springs and dampers fitted now see the stance on that car as mine will have identical stance, it looks great, I might not even fit the spacers I have.

 

[Gibbo]

dont like the wheels on that at all tbh

Same wheels as mine, just gloss black. I am going to do some photoshops on mine with different shades of grey for the wheels, need to tone down the silver/chrome look of my wheels a little.

 

[Gibbo]

The non chrome window trim makes such a difference to the car (just from seeing the photos mind)...wouldn't it be quite a ball ache to get it wrapped?

Wrapped, sprayed, removed whatever is easiest.

 

[Gibbo]

The non chrome window trim makes such a difference to the car (just from seeing the photos mind)...wouldn't it be quite a ball ache to get it wrapped?

Checked with the guy who did the M3's roof, says he does Audi's all the time as the black trim option is £1200 from Audi, so he does it for £120.

That Audi had chrome trim, that is wrapped with 3M gloss black. Looks spot on, should I wish to change this seems best option and at £100 is OK and reversible, stock trim is not removed from car either.

 

[Gibbo]

Go for it... I have seen all the colours apart from Orange in the flesh and Guard is the nicest WITHOUT the silver wheels/chrome trim.

You see I like guard when its NOT looking green haha. Hence going magnetic!

Agree.

I already have 25mm front and 23mm rear, but am not fitting unless I get some discreet mud guards as I don't want the paint getting stone rashed to the extreme. 23mm is the smaller spacer I can, otherwise I'd need to cut studs down so wheels still fit on, something I'd rather not do.

Or I could go with just basic 5mm spacer all round like the 911 had, once lowered I can do some trial fitments and see what I like.

Where are you thinking of having this done Gibbo? I am considering getting the screen surround on my MX5 wrapped but not sure of anywhere that is any good, in the last couple of years around Walsall and Birmingham theres been a fair few places offering wrapping and detailing opening but I'm not sure on the quality, most seem to cater for the wikkid sick bruv crowd who are busy ruining their remapped hot hatch.

The guy who did my M3, one man organisation with his Mrs, but his work is top quality, end of the day people are taking Fezza's and Lambo's to him for wraps, I am contemplating a full wrap for the M3 in the E92 in your face orange.

Here is his company, add him on facebook and message him as he responds pretty much 24/7 lol and let him know I sent you.
http://www.wrapstarzpro.co.uk/

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there


So tonight I fitted, the BMR CB005 cradle lock out kit which performs several functions as one kit such as:
- Rear cradle allignment, perfectly centre's rear cradle.
- Helps stop deflection in all directions of the IRS subframe bolting to factory locations.
- Vastly reduces / eliminates wheel hop.

So a little like the differential bushes, this kit uses solid aluminum pieces to fill the voids around the rubbers on the IRS subframe/cradle to the body and then helps prevent excess movement. It is very hard for me to explain, so let this video do the talking:

Hope that explains it better.


So what are my findings:
- There is added NVH, but it is slight and not in the form of buzzing or annoying harmonics, just a little more tyre noise I'd say that shows itself generally at motorway speeds or on rougher roads, but it is slight, so if your on the motorway turn the radio up a further notch.
- The driveling thud that these cars experience when taking clutch up has gone from a thud to a light clunk which I believe others found.

Those are the slight negatives, onto the positives:
- Way more feel for the car in the rear where grip levels are, communication in the butt dyno are improved for sure inspiring a lot more confidence to really push hard.
- Wheel hope is GONE!
- More traction!


So the car has more feel, more traction and the rear-end floatyness is even less so now, of course dampers should impact the this the most, but all these rear-end modifications have all helped reduce it and the rubberized feeling in the rear is now completely gone.

Car still rides really well, but response is vastly improved, when I steer the rear end is not catching up, it is now in complete sync, like I say the rubberized feeling/sensation is now completely gone in the car. So yes there is a little more NVH but it is the welcomed variety like the 911 had, feel and communication of grip. I shall report more on tyre roar at higher speeds in more normal driving when I am not driving with radio off trying to hear the slightest of noises, so yes I have to try to hear noise.

So if you too feel the rear of the car is rubberized, suffers wheel hop and deflection and well feels a bit disconnected from inputs, the BMR vertical links, BMR cradle lockout and Steeda differential bushing inserts make a great transformation. Even better that all these parts combined cost less than £300 !!

Also to note the BMR CB005 cradle lockout does the job of three Steeda seperate parts that come to more than double the price and the jury is still out on those parts, yet CB005 is proven to work and for half the price!

Really hope to get dampers and springs on later this week and anti-roll bars following week, then that is it, POWER is next and with all this grip I now have I need more power for sure!



P.S. Picture of them installed, a fried has a 4 poster in his unit, made this job a lot easier!

As you can see I just put the energy lube everywhere, I do have an entire tub of the stuff though!

 

[Gibbo]

Good stuff. I do find it slightly amusing though, all this stuff is really common on the Nissan rear end from the 90s. 25 years later and people are still at it on brand new platforms

Seems EU/US like to over-bush things for maximum sloppyness m8, the E46 M3 is the same, it needs limiter kits and differential bushes to tighten it up from stock.

I just prefer bushing insert than going poly as poly bushing for me makes a road car rather unbearable, whereas inserts give you a lot of the positives without negatives and the fact inserts are much easier to fit.

 

[Gibbo]

I had the locking pineapples installed but there was still a lot of lateral movement.

While static, the arch was sitting right on the tyre

Stiffer rubber bushes put in, all arms changed to harder rubbers cradle side, 90 shore poly knuckle side, pretty solidly located now.

Lovely car mate, just keep this one away from the walls and lose that rear wiper.

 

[Gibbo]

Right so I change my mind almost daily when it comes to real spoiler, I was set on 350R but it is very OTT, seen a few ducktail ones I like and then today I see the 350 track pack spoiler on a regular magnetic GT.

I Was sold!

Works so well, not ordered as Iceman may also be getting one so he is ordering the pair and shipping onwards to me, but like me he also changes his mind daily on what wing to go with.

 

[Gibbo]

I do like those bonnet vents

MW

Standard on US cars, UK cars for some strange reason did not get, but I kind of prefer the car without them, looks more grown up.

 

[Gibbo]

Grown ups don't buy Mustangs

MW

True, what is very surprising is the amount of customers who paid deposits for the Focus RS are moving their orders to Mustang, were not just talking 1-2 people, seems a lot of people have walked into Ford who had deposits down for the RS, seen the Mustang in the flesh and transferred their deposit.

Says a lot for the Mustang really, with RS owners changing their mind for the Mustang. There is also a huge thread on PH, similar outcome everyone very pro Mustang.

Seems the Mustang is Ford UK's own enemy though I am sure every RS will still get sold twice over anyway.