91five_oh

the 4.10's surley aren't helping with the undrivablilty. i'd take a step down to 3.73's if it is really that much of a hassle to drive, plus a set a of different tires.

legendlime05

i would start with the suspension, the stock dampers blow from the get go.
call up sam strano, or even upr and see what somethings the can do.

Derf00

The tune is the first (and cheapest) place to start. I don't know how Brenspeed does it but with AM they have Street, Performance, and Race tunes. I hate the Race tune for DD because the throttle repsonse is instantaeous. The fact I drive an auto makes it even more of an issue since I can't use a clutch to moderate how fast that throttle response gets modulated to the wheels.

Yonco

Well, after thinking about this a lot for the past few days i think i have a plan. I already pulled insurance off of the car till spring so i will be doing a few things over the winter and just driving my zx2/Ram.

-Putting on 87oct tune i got from brenspeed.

-Upgrading tires to a LARGER diameter. I run 285/35/18's, I will add an eibach pro kit and get nitto 555's in 295/45/18. These will give me about ~1" dia. larger tire to help offset the 4.10's and also fill the wheel well gap and look more pleasing.

-Selling the ZX2- once spring comes, ill sell it or trade it for another dirtbike that way i dont have any panzy excuses not to drive the stang.

-Gas milage isnt really that bad, my onboard data shows avg 19mpg now and thats with me having a heavy foot on race tune.

-Planned a roadtrip with the girlfrield and plan on taking the mustang!

Thanks for the ideas, now i want to go tinker with it and cant wait to test out this new planned setup!

moochman4life

Hey man, I think you might be going about this the wrong way. Just my opinion. The whole point of the 4:10s are to get you from 0-whatever pretty damn quickly. By going with a larger tire, you are effectively dropping that gear ratio back down to the mid-to-upper 3's (slowing you down), but I'm not a math genious so I don't know what it would be for sure.

Instead of screwing with your gear ratio and trying to find a better ride quality by going with bigger tires, you should really look - instead - at a set of adjustable shocks/struts, Tokicos or Konis (but people swear by Konis). I'm telling you from personal street/DD/road trip/on-track driving experience that the difference in ride comfort and handling is immense...like night and day.

And for the record, I thought there was a punch line in here somewhere, too. Some people would kill to have your "problems".

Figured I'd throw this in here: on the street, my 1st gear sucks...so I've taken to starting in second. "Problem" solved.

mayo

Sounds like a plan to me, and I will give you a heads up on the 295/45/18...its big, its heavy and it grips like a mother! It should drop your "effective" gear to about 3.90ish, which will be more street friendly. I personally will be very curious to the results you recieve from this gear/tire combo in everyday driving. I am still on the fence with going 3.73 or 4.10 and run a 295 currently on the rears.
As for the drop, I only plan rear springs to decrease the rake created by the larger dia rears, but have seen 1.5 drops with the 295's and it looks good...you will love.
IMO this is the right move if you are willing to sacrafice a little performance for drivability and fast at the track doesn't always = fun on the road.
Goodluck and keep us updated bro!

moochman4life

Sure it does...if you have the right setup. Setting your shocks/struts to a softer setting makes road trips more pleasant, makes ****ty roads feel less ****ty, and you can plant the *** end for some more traction.

All I'm saying is, a set of lowering springs installed without an upgraded set of shocks/struts is only going to set you back driveability-wise (comfort), and bigger tires might only - hypothetically - hold up your acceleration.

Here's my recommendation:

1. Street tune (87-93, don't matter...but I'd go 93...why not).
2. Adjustable shocks/struts....ADJUSTABLE.
3. If the 4:10s are pissing you off that much, step it down to 3:73s.

As noted above, Sam Strano is the man (www.stranoparts.com). If you call him up, he will tell you exactly what you need to hear.

However, at the end of the day it's not my car and I don't know the OP. I'm just saying that lowering springs without upgraded dampers on a car where the OP is already getting fussy over driveability is probably going to make him crazy.

Simon1

Get some shocks/struts at the same time you do the springs. if you don't, after a while your car will start to "porpuse" or bounce badly. Get shocks that will match your springs.

You can also get the 305/45/18 drag radials and leave the springs alone. Those tires will not fit under a lowered car, so just beware.