stanged

Talked to three people at the dealer. All said something different. Seems the strongest recommendation is doing nothing until the warranty is finished.

Sleeper_08

If you are worried about needing chains in the winter then isn't lowering the car severely going to increase the chances of getting stuck?

PizzaDriver

i'm interested in the warranty stuff myself, as i would like to lower my 2009 GT, and do a bunch of other stuff, but i don't want to void the warranty when it's practically brand new.
Re the snow questions, my advice is to buy yourself a junker of some sort that is better suited to driving in the snow. i have been delivering pizzas here in south dakota for far too many years, so i have some experience driving on snow and ice (although i've never driven my stang in the snow). i know that my 63 Falcon (w/289 engine) is "unsafe at any speed" on snow/ice, and the mustang probably has similar weight distribution/geometry. chains definitely help, but they're not really necessary unless you've gotten close to a foot of snowfall; in that case, you're probably not going anywhere in a lowered mustang anyway. buy a crappy pickup or econobox car, and leave your stang in the garage when it snows. you'll be doing yourself and your mustang a favor.

PizzaDriver

i'm interested in the warranty stuff myself, as i would like to lower my 2009 GT, and do a bunch of other stuff, but i don't want to void the warranty when it's practically brand new.
Re the snow questions, my advice is to buy yourself a junker of some sort that is better suited to driving in the snow. i have been delivering pizzas here in south dakota for far too many years, so i have some experience driving on snow and ice (although i've never driven my stang in the snow). i know that my 63 Falcon (w/289 engine) is "unsafe at any speed" on snow/ice, and the mustang probably has similar weight distribution/geometry. chains definitely help, but they're not really necessary unless you've gotten close to a foot of snowfall; in that case, you're probably not going anywhere in a lowered mustang anyway. buy a crappy pickup or econobox car, and leave your stang in the garage when it snows. you'll be doing yourself and your mustang a favor.

cobra443

You can do anything you want to your car and still have a warranty on the stock parts. I had issues with the pcm and fuse box. They wanted to charge me like 1100 for a new pcm and stuff, yeah that didnt happen. I fought with them for about 2 weeks and didnt pay a dime for anything! They ended up swapping 2 new pcm's, a fuse box, and some other misc stuff. NO CHARGE TO ME! I have quite a few mods so you just have to fight with them a little more to get things covered.

rdsx18

I was thinking the same thing! Don't use chains in the snow, they suck. Just get an extra set of wheels and some good snow tires. Or, if you take care of your wheels in the winter, even just some good snow tires will work fine.

Edit: I should add that I live in MA and it snows a decent amount every winter and I have seen plenty of people with snow tires but never, not even a single person, with chains.

Norm Peterson

As far as lowering is concerned, the wheel size doesn't matter much because the outside diameter of the various tire sizes are all about the same.

After that, it's more of a personal usage and preference thing. Cliff's Notes version, the 1.5" is skewed somewhat more toward appearance, while at 1" the suspension geometry isn't altered quite as much and in some respects can actually be the better choice for performance.

If you already have quite a few miles on the car, you may not be given the 3 year/36,000 mile warranty on the FRPP cold air & tune (drops to 1/12,000 I think). Food for thought.


A little less than two years ago I was about where you are with respect to choosing mods. I did get the FRPP cold air/tune right away, and I've been happy enough with it so far. My thought was that I don't drag-race at all and don't really run the engine up past 5500 rpm on the street often enough to make it worth having any extra power available way up there.

I considered, but decided to pass on, the FRPP suspension kit in favor of waiting and seeing what I wanted to change - and then piecing it together over time. So far, that's meant Koni single-adjustable shocks (and struts, whenever the national backorder on these things actually gets caught up with). There's a little more suspension movement at both ends than I prefer under heavy braking, so there will eventually be some spring swapping happening. I'm kind of a hardcore cornering addict, and I don't see myself lowering the car any more than an inch (even if it means I need to make some small spacers to bring a low ride height back up a bit). Too low forces driving compromises and makes it too hard for my wife to get in and out of (and sometimes me if my back is acting up) anyway.


Norm

stanged

Thanks to all who have added information to this thread. I have learned much that will help me make some decisions.

PizzaDriver

okay, that makes me feel better. i was thinking of some nightmare scenarios like the engine blowing a week after i lower the car, and i'm screwed on the warranty. plus, i don't trust my ford dealership any farther than i can throw them.

GT Bob

Just remember... the burden of proof is on the stealership to prove any mods you made to the car DIRECTLY caused the failure of the part in question, and even then, they can only void the warrenty on that part.

AS for your choice in CAI... If your not into gleaning every single last possible hp from each part you install, you'll be very happy with the FRPP. Its a nicely made piece, and the tune is solid, tho not particularly impressive. You will notice a nice increase in power. Just head over to the FRPP website and look up the list of local dealers that are FRPP certified near you and it should be covered under warrenty.