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Bob Morales posted:Start reading these two magazines. Lots of content online as well. I reeive both of those. Just be prepared for 100 pages of shiny color ads for ugly body kits/cheap headers, and maybe 15 pages of actual tech and features that are something other than a Fox Body with a non-intercooled Vortech on it. I've spent some time on the Corral classified forums. Lots of good stuff on there, but be prepared to wade through a bunch of junk and used aftermarket parts that the sellers are asking new prices for. With that said, I am very excited about the 2011 GT. I had a 1999 GT a couple of years ago, but it was balls slow and felt extremely cheap. Still somewhat fun to drive, but not really what I wanted so I sold it. I've been driving a 2004 E55 for about a year and a half now, and after seeing the 2011 GT I'm about ready to sell the Benz and get back into a Mustang. It won't be as quick or fast as the E, but I bet it's a hell of a lot more fun to drive every day. I've got the July MMFF in front of me, and they got their STOCK 2011 GT to run a 12.342 @ 110.77 mph(with slicks), so it is definitely no slouch. Plus I like to mod, and I know what Mustang parts cost. I will never again bitch about a $600 set of headers or a $200 throttle body after owning the E(E55 longtubes are $2,300 to $3,999, TB's are $1,000 to $2,000, pulleys for a couple more pounds of boost are $1,000, and a tune is $800 to $1,500 for a box tune).
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Jul 16, 2010 01:27
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 09:17 |
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SHUT THE gently caress UP (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST) (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jul 16, 2010 06:02
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I drove my Z/28 for 4 Chicago winters with a set of cheap Winterforce snow tires. It drove perfectly fine. I drove my E last winter with a nice set of Bridgestone Blizzaks on it. It also drove fine. However, the key to driving a RWD car in winter is not just snow tires, but also weight. Throwing 180 lbs of sand bags in the Camaro's hatch gave me a ridiculous amount of straight-line traction over just having the snow tires. For comparison's sake, I once tried to move my Mustang with 315mm Summer tires around the driveway in 2 inches of snow. After about 10 minutes I gave up and just left it where it was sitting. I will also warn you that traction control can not magically create traction out of thin air, but it will lessen the chance of you losing control. I don't know if the new Mustang has ESP(it'll be mandatory next year anyways), but if it does that system can be a lifesaver.
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Jul 16, 2010 15:19
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Wrar posted:gently caress no. Modern direct injection turbo motors are amazing. I'm here to second this. As a current owner of a 2011 Mustang GT convertible(BAMA tune only) and former owner of several V8-powered cars, all modified(2004 E55 AMG , 1999 Mustang GT convertible, 1995 Z-28, and a couple of Firebirds) , nothing has impressed me more than the GDI 2.0T in my DD 2013 Kia Optima SXL. It's not a light car, I am not a light person, it has 200 pounds of equipment in the trunk, but the combination of the engine and six-speed automatic make it the best overall powertrain I have owned. The engine makes nearly full torque by 2,000ish RPM, the transmission shifts seamlessly and nearly instantly when you step on it, and it still pulls down 34 MPG. I can only imagine how much fun a more powerful GDI-T engine in a lighter RWD car would be. It is certainly not the most powerful, quickest, or best car out there by a long shot, but the engine and transmission programming are top-notch, making for a more enjoyable car all-around. It's the instant torque that does it, and even though the my Mustang puts out far more power, you still have to wait until ~4,000 RPM for the engine to really come alive. That's the beauty of modern GDI-T technology, there's torque everywhere, and the turbo sounds pretty cool too. Granted, the E55 had torque off idle and pulled like a freight train, but overall fuel economy over my 70,000 mile ownership was 15.6 MPG, and it was a heavy car that was really only fun in a straight line. The combination of the transmission, torque management, and supercharger clutch made it a jerky ride, and I can clearly see why Mercedes went to much smaller TT engines in some of the newer cars. I think the EcoBoost Mustang will be a winner, and the aftermarket support for more power without compromising drivability will surely be there. There is a replacement for displacement, and it's a turbo or two and direct injection. All of the benefits of a much larger engine, torque in spades, and fantastic fuel economy. I was a die-hard V8 fan for years, but the Kia has really opened my eyes to the great things technology can bring to the table.
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Dec 11, 2013 17:35
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bowling 4 buttcoins posted:Changed oil after 7500 miles with a Royal Purple kit, 8 liters. Installed the Steeda upper arm and mount, learning how to remove the rear seat in 10 seconds. Took about 3 hours to remove and install the arm, recenter the rear end (pan hard bar was off by 2cm at full droop?), and torque everything down. The centering of the rear wheels should be checked at ride height, not full droop. As the rear end is moved up toward the chassis, the panhard bar arrangement will make it move toward the driver's side. I used a piece of string with a nut on the end(plumb bob) and a small $2 machinists ruler to measure the difference side to side with the car on the ground. Measured from the string taped to the wheel arch to the wheel lip on both sides and had to shift it about 1/4" to the right to get it centered with the new coilovers. You have to take the weight off the rear end to adjust it anyways, so you may as well measure it on the ground, then jack it up, support it by the chassis, and adjust the bar. I think I did 2 turns or so. You'll have to set it down or I guess jack and support the rear end to check it, but I got it close enough the 1st time. BMR says to get it within 1/8" side to side, and that's where I'm at. Some people never even bother with it after lowering, but after all that work an extra $150 or so for an adjustable bar and some time to install and set it up must be worthwhile. You may want to drive it a little, park it on a flat surface, and check again. I also learned that you can check your front camber(if you have CC plates that aren't marked, and even if you do.....) by using the same plumb bob, machinist's ruler, and some simple arithmetic. Mine came out to 1.7 degrees, so I'm going to go back in and adjust it to about 1.2 since the car is only used on the street and I'd like to keep some tread on the inside of my tires. I went with coilovers because I didn't want to lower it much, wanted to keep good ride quality, and knew that doing the springs without the proper dampers was pretty much a waste of time if you actually want the car to handle better. In the end it all came out good, and I can lower it another ~1.5" front and rear if I ever really want to. Once I added everything up it was only a few hundred more dollars to just get coilovers with Koni Yellow's and be done with it.
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Jan 15, 2014 23:01
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bowling 4 buttcoins posted:I adjusted everything after lowering the car back down, I was just very shocked no one mentioned how the pan hard bar would effect the 3rd link dropping onto the differential. At this point I'm thinking going watt's link + coils would have been the better option, but way more expensive. I still have to figure out if I want to install the balljoint/bumpsteer kit myself or let AED handle that due to the adjustment procedure. That's good to hear! I figured you did it right, but the comment about being at full droop threw me off. I don't know much about swapping gears other than the fact hat I am very happy with the 3.15's I have now. I know with the lower 1st gear in the automatic it equates to something like having 4.88's in the M6, but I've always liked having tall gears. It may take longer to get out of the hole, but once you're moving it's nice being able to pull a relatively long gear. I believe my E55 had 2.65's and they were great with the ~600 lb-ft of torque because they would tame down 1st gear enough to make it actually usable on the street, and the track(it cut a 1.73 60-foot on street tires). I do wish the Mustang had more torque below ~3,500 RPM, but the Coyote is a fantastic engine and the gobs of power up top only makes the low-end FEEL weak in comparison. The one thing I will say about gears that most people don't realize is this...........Hypothetically if you have 4.10's and the guy next to you in the same car has 3.15's, you shift into 3rd gear at say 60 MPH, but they can take 2nd gear to 80 MPH, they are effectively running a shorter overall ratio from 60-80 MPH. Once they shift into third you have the advantage until you shift into 4th, and then they have the advantage. Obviously for accelerating from a dead stop(with adequate traction) the car with the deeper gears will probably be quicker, depending on whether an extra shift is required to reach the desired speed(say 112 MPH at the end of the 1/4 mile). I would personally keep the stock gears in my car and put in a Circle D converter to get the engine into the powerband almost immediately, and let that torque pull the tall gear. With an M6 you don't have that option, but if 1st gear is already traction-challenged with the stock gears, changing to a deeper ratio will only slow you down. I know much of this is common knowledge and I am not talking to you or anyone in particular, but I wanted to throw it out there and maybe generate some discussion.
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Jan 17, 2014 23:15
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Cage posted:Man, $410 shipped for four brand new bullitts is tempting. I was in the market for some decent 18" wheels to get a bigger tire under the car to compliment the coilovers and all the other suspension stuff I finished up over the winter. I happened to click on AM's March sale and they had a closeout on the chrome AMR 18X10" wheels for $99 each(usually $269 I think). I searched and searched and it seemed like they would fit all the way around, as I was set on having a square setup so I could rotate, even though they were listed as rear only. I pulled the trigger and as soon as they arrived a threw a wheel on the front and it fit with 7mm of strut clearance. The day after I bought them they were gone from AM's website. Anyways, I had a set of 275/40/18 Firestone Wide Oval Indy 500's mounted up because they had good reviews and Firestone was running a buy 3, get 1 free sale. Soooo, I ended up with some really nice wheels and great tires for about $1150 all in, which isn't bad at all. The grip, even on 50 degree days is astounding, and the wheels/tires/suspension totally changed the car. It still rides great, has plenty of clearance, and goes/stops/corners like crazy. No issues at all with the wheels turned at full lock, and I have no doubt I can lower it another inch and have 0 clearance issues. This is the first time I have ever spent good money on suspension before power mods, and I am glad I did. I do have a BAMA tune, but I got it primarily for the transmission calibration(A6), and run the 91P tune every day. It drives like stock, pulls great, and shifts firmly right at 7,000 like it should. I did upload a new tune today that was revised with the new tire size(and unlocked so I can make changes) and I can attest that in the last several months BAMA has done some good work to the shifting calibration of the A6. It's much more friendly at part throttle, with firm but not hard shifts like before, and at WOT it shifts quickly and firmly but does not shock the tires like the old 91P tune. For a heavy-rear end convertible with a heavy-rear end driver, the car is pretty amazing. Even coming from an E55 AMG that ran high 11's, the near-stock power of the Coyote is very impressive for what it is, especially after having driven Fox and SN-95 5.0 Mustangs. I'm definitely going to look into some autocross events in the area and have some fun this Summer. Edit: I was wanting to run even wider tires, but after looking long and hard at actual tread width I found that 275/40/18's(at least the Firestones) put as much tread on the ground as tires that are technically 20mm wider, and they maintain a decent height. I would have liked to find a tire an inch taller to fill the wheel well, but I'm not willing to compromise on clearance or suspension travel to do so. Meathole fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Mar 19, 2014 |
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Mar 19, 2014 03:24
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El Scotch posted:Who here has a convertible that they use in the winter months (somewhere that actually has cold and snow)? I'm curious how you find it as a DD in cold/crap weather. I have a 2011 GT convertible that honestly stays in the driveway most of the time because I have other vehicles better suited to the Chicago winters and have no reason to drive it every day. I'm sure it would be fine out on the roads with decent tires, just like my Z/28 and E55 were. The issue is that if you leave it outside in the snow/rain and it freezes, the door windows will freeze to the plastic/rubber piece at the top of the door. When you pull the door handle on the covertible, it lowers the window about an inch so it will clear the overhang on the convertible top. When it's frozen, the window will not move. You may be able to open the door, but if you don't notice the window didn't go down, and you shut the door, the glass WILL NOT clear the hard edge of the top. If you're lucky it will just push the top of the window out, but in the extreme cold I would guess that you'll be shopping for a new window. It's already happened to me 3 times this winter just moving the car around the driveway. I'm sure some silicone grease on the rubber would help a lot, but with the freezing rain and everything we get, that window is pretty much glued to the door. If you're outside the car you can use your fingers to work the glass past the top and at least close the door. Otherwise you're stuck idling in the driveway for 15 minutes until the heater can do its job. I even tried running the window up and down while pushing/pulling on it and couldn't break the ice seal. It's not a big deal to me, but the first time it happened I was very lucky that I caught it. This may not apply to earlier/later convertibles, but on the 2011 that's the way it is. Also, I'll add that this is the first car I have owned that I did the suspension first(before anything other than a tune), and the coilovers make the car 10X more fun to drive than any other mods I have done on past cars. Power is great and all, but when you do nothing but spin and slide every time you stand on it or go around a corner, and have to put up with the musy stock suspension, it sucks. I thought about putting a blower on it after the suspension was done, but instead decided it was great as-is and spent $5k on a bike that'll trap 140 mph without trying, even with my fat rear end on it. I would still love to supercharge the Mustang, but after realizing that it would never really hook on the street at any sane speed without sticky tires with heat in them, I decided to wait.
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Jan 10, 2015 23:35
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PT6A posted:Is there an issue with snow loads on top of the convertible roof? I don't think so, the roof seems to be very very strong. I've got about 6" of snow and ice sitting on mine right now. Obviously you should care for the roof and use the appropriate products to clean and treat it(I use Ragg Topp), but I have no doubt it will support hundreds of pounds if it ever came to that. Mine is seriously thick, well-braced, and tight as a drum. I would however recommend a roll bar or styling bar. It probably won't do a single thing if the car actually rolled over, but it makes the car look a million times better with the top down, and doesn't impede back seat entry in the slightest, top up or down.
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Jan 11, 2015 04:43
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 09:17 |
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bowling 4 buttcoins posted:Right out of the box any non-brembo/track pack GT is straight up unacceptable for "spirited" driving. The rear end gets so unsettled and squirrelly on broken road surfaces that the only place to go flat out would be highways and newly paved roads. Yeah, it wasn't even good enough for comfortable cruising to the grocery store. The whole car just wallowed around all over the place like an old Cadillac. Even going down the highway it always felt like a 5,000 pound sled with missing shock absorbers. I did the coilovers, panhard bar, and relocation brackets together, drove it for a while, and then put the BMR control arms on just so I could use the top hole of the relocation brackets. The control arms did jack poo poo, I never felt a difference, but i needed them regardless so the geometry would be halfway right. My UCA is stock, and I don't care enough to mess around trying to replace it. I have zero wheelhop(never had any stock either), it rides way better, and with my Summer wheels and tires(18X10's all the way around with 275/40's) it'll go around corners scary fast for something that weighs what it does. I'm very very happy with it, and don't see any need to swap sway bars or even firm up the damping on the struts and shocks much above full soft. On a track things would certainly be different, with quick directional changes, heavy braking, etc., but on the street I don't see any reason to mess with what's working.
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Jan 13, 2015 01:08
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