DPE

Just to be clear, I have no issue with a bit of increased effort. My only issue is that some folks say there's some slack at the top of the pedal travel with the spring removed, and I'd wondered if anyone had done a GT500 pedal box instead of just removing the spring and made it 'perfect'. I need to just go out and take the damn thing off and see what I think before I worry about it I guess, but I'll probably wait until after break-in and the flogging really starts to be certain I need to do anything. Preliminarily though, I can already feel weirdness in the few high-rpm shifts I've done, so I'm guessing I'll need to do something. Fully planning on spending a lot of quality time near 7k rpm.

More just wanted to see if anyone actually had changed the pedal box, as I have not seen where anyone has done so. Perhaps the reason is that one doesn't need to. . .

A side note, noticed most everyone seems to have a black spring. Mine is red. Doubt that means anything, just noticed it. My car is a November 2013 build, if that means anything regarding this particular issue.

Black Fire

It was my understanding that some time in early 2012 production the assembly was changed. The new assembly is the same as the GT500 setup but still uses the assist spring. Honestly my Firebird's clutch always had a slight amount of play at the top of the pedal travel. And now the Mustangs clutch feel is the same as my Birds since the spring was removed.
I suggest removing the spring and driving the car like that for a good while. My guess is you won't even notice a difference after a few days.

UPRSharad

I was worried about the slack at the top of the pedal too, but I never notice it.

DPE

Turned 1000 miles a couple weeks ago and curiously I seem to end up near redline a lot since then. As suspected, this results in a clutch that, in my case, doesn't stick to the floor, but seems to stay partially down and generally feels cocked up during high rpm shifts. So I took the spring off last night. Just to confirm what all others have said, it's exactly as advertised; pedal comes back naturally even if you hit the limiter, and very little increased effort. Like not enough increased effort to matter to anyone, I wouldn't think. We'll see. My wife drives the car on nice days, so by mid-week we'll see what she thinks. Not that I'll put it back; she can drive the minivan if it's just too much effort .

The only negative is that there's just a bit of slop in the top of the pedal now; just feels a touch mushy for lack of a better term. While slightly annoying, it's a VERY small price to pay for a clutch that works properly at high rpm. I did notice that at normal speeds, it's maybe a quarter inch or so of slack in that you can pull the pedal up that much with your foot. After a high-rpm run though, I'd say it's closer to an inch that it's down right after a shift. Nothing to worry about I don't believe, but it does say something about how the clutch may be a little too weak overall for a motor that spins up like this one does. And that's another thing; holy hell it has a nice surge up top. From looking at dynos it kinda seems to flatten out up high, but it feels like it's got more to give beyond 7000rpm. I knew the motor was good, and love the broad torque curve and potent midrange, but it's beastly up high. More so than I expected.

One other thing related to the clutch spring fix, it makes it easier to find the engagement point and is a bit more on-off feeling without the spring. I consider this a plus.

And last thing, it's frustrating that Ford would do this. I can live with a little slop in the clutch pedal, but it's simply absurd that I should have to on a car that isn't exactly something untested and brand new and different when it comes to the driveline. I mean seriously. So much is so right on the car, but in all of their testing they decided to make the clutch maybe 10% easier to push in and sacrifice high-rpm functionality? On a Mustang GT? There must have been some corporate parameter that any clutch pedal on a mainstream Ford car can't require more than X pressure to push in and hold. And they got the car all done and then realized they didn't hit that target, so they cobbled up this idea. Anyway, preaching to the choir here.

Has anyone tried a Boss clutch (if they are different?) or beefed up aftermarket clutch and had success without removing the spring or gotten a firm pedal with the spring removed? Not going any further with it right now, and it really does drive vastly better with this fix and I'll probably forget about the play in the pedal after a few more drives, but I'm wondering if a stronger clutch does the trick as well.

Black Fire

Don't tell the wife and she likely won't notice.
I also found the engagement point to be very vague until I removed the spring. And this is something that can make or break the experience especially for someone who is a veteran stick shift driver.

DPE

Asked the wife if she noticed anything different after driving the car to work for a couple days. And she noticed nothing at all. Mentioned that the clutch may be a little stiffer now, and she said whatever I changed was still okay by her. Still beats driving the Sienna anyway . Further proof, or at least strong supporting evidence that one, Ford didn't need to add a helper spring, and two, the increase in pedal pressure is insignificant. Even to a woman of average strength.

draxxus131

I have thank you very much, and btw some people do have elderly parents that like to drive their sons vehicle. So once again SOME PEOPLE do have bad ankles.....

Or the fact that some people have advanced arthritis!

Then again I guess some people just aren't built perfect like you.