John814

Hey there,

I'm new on here, been lurking around, but decided to kill 2 birds here. I'm 20 years old, from just north of Indianapolis, Indiana. I was previously looking at buying a German car, but after test driving a manual GT, I'm in love! I'm pretty sure I can get one for just a little above dealer invoice, too - on a brand new one from the factory.

I want one in Vista Blue (the darker of the two), in manual, with black leather. I was thinking of white or black racing stripes, and throwing some blacked out 20s with the chrome lip, and dropping it to make it appear level with the wheels.

Are the seats in black already leather, or are sports buckets def. suggested???

What about the 3.55 gearing limited slip? which one is better for what? I'm lost here....

Any other help or suggestions would be appreciated. I'm still searching around on here, trying to find as much as I can on these cars.

Thanks!

suoperdave84

I can't be much help on the seats since mine are cloth...but I have heard that the front seats are real leather, and the rears are fake leather. I am not sure on that though.

The 3.55 gears are standard on the manual. Basically the higher the number, the lower the gear. The lower gear is going to make you feel all the power a lot sooner. However, there is not THAT much difference in the 3.31 and the 3.55 gear sets. Most of us either have, or plan to have a much lower gear installed. The favorites are the 4.10s, and 3.73 coming in second. There are other options like 4.30s and 4.56s, and more custom sets like 3.90s.

You can search on this site and see all kinds of info on the gears. It basically comes down to the lower the gear, the faster your car can reach its optimum power range. There's a lot more to it than that, but it's all you really have to know. Don't worry too much about the stock gears from the factory because they are pretty close and you will probably want to upgrade later anyway

owero01

The leather seats come in the GT Premium and are all leather. As Souperdave84 said, most of use change the gears anyway. A lot of people have had trouble with the Shaker 500. I'm on my second one. You will find that you will start looking at other mod in addition to the wheels and lowering it. When you lower it, you should look into replacing the LCA and getting an adjustable UCA. You will definitely catch the performance bug and want to get a CAI and tune.

Just a couple of suggestions

2007GT/CS

Check the various interior upgrade packages available to determine what the various material and color combinations are.

As far as the gearing goes - the 3.31 is standard for '07 in both manual and automatic transmission cars. It is a $100 upgrade to order the 3.55. They are all limited slip on the GT so no worries there.

You can find out a TON of information by reading these forums but I'll try to give you the *much* condensed version:

A 'shorter' (higher numerical) gear gives you more torque multiplication at the rear wheels which will improve your acceleration and lower your 0-60 and 1/4 mile times. This comes at the cost of some gas mileage so you might want to factor that in depending on how you plan to use the car.

So - order your Manual GT (excellent choice) and set aside a couple bucks to:

1. Buy a tuner and cold air intake (CAI) - This is almost always the first mod because a tuner is required equipment for a number of the later mods. You'll immediately gain 20+ hp/torque and eliminate the 'throttle lag' that Ford saw fit to inflict on us with the 'drive by wire' throttle. Good package deals run around $600. Brenspeed is in your neck of the woods (Ft. Wayne I think). You should give them a call.
2. Get a gearset. 4.10s are the hot ticket (various opinions on this of course). Again probably about $500-$600 all up (parts and labor).

At this point you should have a low 13 sec car that is a blast to drive and is what we call 'traction limited'.

John814

I will probably be ordering the car brand new from the factory. Has anyone installed those clear bra's made by 3M on their Mustangs???? That would be a top priority before it got any highway miles. Or does anyone really notice many rock chips in the first month of ownership????? This dilemma has me frustrated! Plus I'm thinking of white stripes down the center, but I think it might look too flashy.

PLstang

I had silver stripes painted to match the silver on the rims. It's not quite as flashy as the white and a little bit easier to see then the black. If I could figure out how to post a photo I'd show you (stupid mac computer).

John814

Ya. Mac's are weird. But gotta love 'em. I have a MacBook Pro..

Black stripes might be more low-key....

Drop Top 06

Don't get the stripes as a dealer option.. the vinly is not the greatest... chips and discolors easily... get them painted on by a real shop. I would also order it with spoiler delete. The spoiler on this is crap.. and you can get a real nice aftermarket one.... or go bare...

TxLonghorn

I just felt I had to chip in because I'm 20, and just got exactly what you want- 07 GT, Vista Blue, black leather, manual. And it's amazing. Anyway, painted stripes are much better than vinyl but will run $1500-$2000. I got my vinyl stripes from Baltimore Street Mods for $150 and applied them myself. I've heard clear bras arn't worth it because they still get scratched and it looks like your car is scratched. You could replace the bra then, but that would cost about the same amount as just getting the paint touched up if you didn't have a bra.

John814

Did you get any of the interior upgrade packages??? Like making the instrument panel change colors, or the chrome rings on the gauges - any of that???