pandastang

So obviously there are tons of threads on lowering our cars and which route to go etc etc. I'm making this thread because I was to know your experiences with your set-ups. Tell me what you did, what parts you used, and how long you have had it. let me know if you like/didn't like it and if you changed it what you did and how it compares now. First thing on my list is to go lower, I've lowered my past cars in the past but this is my first mustang so feel free to type away!

Jazzer The Cat

Sorry... not gonna go there

What are the ULTIMATE goals for your ride?

Jazzer

PS. Are you related to SSSTANG10, by any chance

pandastang

guessing from your sig i would assume u know about suspension ha.

as far as what i want to do...
I want to lower my car of course, but i will not do it at the expense of other parts.
I will work on a race suspension later once my car is fast but for now i want to lower it and have a good ride quality. I also want to make sure that when i drop it that i dont neglect anything else and mess up my suspension for later.


ps its late and i have a round of beers in me hope i make sense.

Jazzer The Cat

Not sure what you mean by expense of other parts, but figure maybe not wanting to replace things a second time?

To this end, suspension is VERY difficult to do efficiently and why I asked the question above. The other issue that about 98% of all suspension upgrades bring is NVH (Noise Vibration Harshness). My recommendation is to change the order of your mods to the following:

#1 Tires
#2 Brakes
#3 Suspension
#4 Driver-mod (need this to take advantage of the other 4 and really should be #1)
#5 Power/speed upgrades

Not what you want to hear, but before you make your car fast, you must be able to turn it at higher speeds and reduce it from them! Tires can be expensive and takes some research to find a set that meets your needs as a driver. But without good tires, an upgrade of brakes will only take you soo far. Fortunately, wonderful brakes are a very economical mod and can be done for around $300. These brakes willl be VERY resistant to heat build-up (brake fade) and serve you VERY well reducing velocity from really high speeds.

As mentioned above, suspension is hard not to continously replace parts even if you already know exactly what you want to do with your car. Example: I purchased a Saleen, thinking this was pretty much the be-all/end-all suspension I would ever need.... *end-of-game buzzer sound here*.... WRONG! I have since learned vast amounts on how the above items come into play and will forever be working on #4

Your concerns: You WILL lose a certain amount of ride quality via lowering springs. You can minimize it by a great pair of dampers, but if you get really into a specific type of racing, you will very likely replace all of them later on down the road. I am more than happy to help, as others on here, but for the sake of your wallet..... give some real serious thought to your end-goals to limit the wasted expense of replacing parts later you figured were gonna be all you needed now.

Look at the threads in my sig for an introduction to the first 3 items on my list here. I compiled and wrote them for exactly the situation you are in and to help those who read it to understand why I think they are important. The opening few paragraphs of each of them, will give you the basics of each item and how I think one should get started. If you want to know my thoughts on good brakes, just read the last paragraph of Brakes Upgrade thread!

Jazzer... like Bonnie Raitt, givin' his pepes something to think about

pandastang

I see what you are saying and thanks for the input.
im taking time to read your links to really pinpoint what I want to do.

I guess what im most concerned with is getting a set up that's gonna last me a while. I deff want to go faster in the future but am i trying to get into the 10's? By no means. Ive never cared for only speed but having a nice balance of looks and function is perfect for me.

I have a lot of reading to do haha if

Jazzer The Cat

If your looking for fast, as in off-the-line and the 1/4 mile, this is a WHOLE different direction in which my suspension guide is geared. There are a few things that translate between corners and quarters, but quite limited.

On the extremes:

if you wanted to build an all-out twisty beast and take it to the 1/4 mile, you would be OK... but NOT great!

If you wanted to build an all-out 1/4 mile beast and take it on the twisties, it would outright suck hard!

To this end, is why I asked the ULTIMATE question

Jazzer says... read on, my brutha

Norm Peterson

What you need to do is move "lowering" down lower on the list of priorities. Unless it's first, last, and always a show car or a cruise-to-the-meet-and-greet ride, this matter is so overrated that I can't find the right word to describe it. No flame intended, it's just that I do get a bit blunt about some things.

It's OK from a performance point of view to do some lowering, but the lowering that you end up with should be a consequence of the spring choices you make for other reasons rather than being the main reason for choosing the springs in the first place.

Keep in mind that the actual improvement that you could possibly get from lowering is not as much as the change in "look" or "stance" (*ackk* - I'm beginning to really hate that word) suggests - even if the lowering wasn't sacrificing geometry. Which is a significantly bigger drawback with strut suspensions than with most upper & lower A-arm suspensions.

You'll need to have (or develop) some idea what your tolerance for NVH is, because you won't want to drive a car that beats you up more than you care to cope with on a full time basis. In my experience, harshness (the 'H' part) is more of a shock/strut issue with some being better than others. Bilsteins seem to be pretty good, Illuminas not so nice. The Koni single adjustables (Koni 'Sports', aka "yellows') on my '08 are quite good, as I can dial the stiffness down some for when my wife is riding with me, and back up for my own preferences. Only takes a couple of minutes or so to do all four.

How far towards a "race" suspension are you considering? As in what sort of use - auto-X, road course track days, or ? And how serious of an effort? Keep in mind that a relatively 'softer' setup may be easier for you to drive. BTW, I don't mean "OE soft" here. More that you might well be better off overall with 600# springs than 1000's.

Give some thought to adjustable shocks/struts and sta-bars (short for stabilizer bars - they aren't really "sway bars" like so many people seem to insist). That gives you a little room to grow without buying those things twice, and will let you tweak the understeer/oversteer balance. Remember that just because they are adjustable does not mean that you have to keep fiddling with them, only that you have the ability to do so should you need to or decide to experiment a bit. FWIW, I have 3-way adjustable bars front and rear on my '08. I've reset only the rear bar once since installing them.

You might also want to call Sam Strano at stranoparts.com. Sam is a member and site sponsor here and will discuss your situation with you at some length. He's a very successful autocrosser and quite good about not trying to sell you things you don't really need.


Norm

pandastang

First off, let me start by saying that the input I have received has given me a better insight on what direction I want to go with the pony.

Jazzer- I have been reading the suspension guide you have provided and there is so much info that's helping me decide how I want my suspension. At first, all that really mattered to me was getting it low and having the perfect "stance" Keep in mind that I come from the import world so it was mostly looks over function for me. Now that I have a good platform to start off with I want to make sure I have all my bases covered.

Norm- I appreciate your feedback on the matter cuz as Jazzer probably figured out I really didn't have an idea on what I wanted to do. Lowering will not be my top priority, I'm switching my focus to the wheel and brakes then go from there. I'm very new to mustangs but I can tell you that I'm super excited to have my car. There are so many bad a$$ mustangs on here that all I do everyday is go thru the albums.

I will keep you guys updated, as I had mentioned I'm looking at wheels right now. Hopefully Ill have them by next month.

Again thanks for the info. I would still like others to come on here and tell me about the suspensions on their cars, I would like to hear everyone's opinions and experiences.

Norm Peterson

Right up front (in case it wasn't already obvious) I'm a cornering addict, so with the exception of a mild cold air & tune everything I've done to the Mustang so far has been aimed at making it corner and handle better. As will everything that's on the to-do list at this point. (Side note: cornering and handling aren't really the same thing.)



I really haven't done all that much to the car yet.
"3-season" wheels - 18 x 9.5" 2008 GT500 wheels all around
"3-season tires" - 255/45-18 Goodyear Asymmetrics
Shocks/struts - Koni "yellows". Availability seems to come and go, but they're worth the wait (I waited several months on the struts)
Upper strut mounts - Steeda HD (they include camber adjustment capability and are better/stronger for lowered cars)
Sta-bars - Sam's adjustables, with the UMI endlinks
Rotors - ATe grooved (they call them something like "PremiumOne")
Pads - Hawk HPS

I do have an unusually aggressive camber setting, but I swear it's the way the care came (I measured it before I swapped the front struts, liked what I saw and the way the car felt) so I put it back there. The only thing I'm going to say is that both sides were equal and technically "out of spec".

That's it so far. Springs are in the future, but I'm looking at that part a lot differently and in more depth than most. Maybe a Watts link.



Norm

Tig

Lower doesnt necessarily mean handle better. Correct?

Ok, random question. Remember, I'm a newbie so be gentle.
Would stiffening the chassis prevent NVH?

Thanks