Hey all


I'm pretty new to cars in general, so I might have some stupid questions ahead. lol.

I thinking of changing the suspension up on the new mustang and i'm certainly in need of some advice.

Part of me realizes that I'm a poor college student that doesn't need to be spending extra money on things like that, but on the other hand I'm already feeling the mod bug. From what I've read, adjustable struts would be the best for a combination of an almost luxury smooth ride when I'm just cruising and then a nice stiff ride for when I feel like sporting around. I'm no professional racer thats for sure, but hey everybody with a mustang likes to have days of sporty driving.

I have no idea what to aim for in terms of a spring setup, what kind of drop do you guys think would be best for a setup with 19" wheels? I'm debating between either 18" 2010 SVT wheels or 19" Laguna Seca Wheels. In either case, I don't want to be rubbing I'm so low, and I'd like to have a little clearance so that working under the car while on ramps and such won't be terribly hard.

Thanks for any advice you can give me!

 

There are some pretty good non-adjustable shocks and struts out there like the Koni STR-T's, and they're cheaper and not on national backorder like the Koni Yellows. As for the adjustable dampers, the consensus is that the Koni's are better than the Tokico D-specs, although I am happy with my d-specs and found them to ride much better than stock.

As for springs, I guess that's up to you. The ford racing P springs advertise a mild 1" drop and are a little cheaper than the Steeda sports that everybody recommends, but then again, the steedas are recommended for a reason and aren't that much more expensive.

If you're on a budget, I would probably recommend going with a milder drop, less chance you'll have to spend money on camber bolts/plates or an adjustable panhard bar.

 

The total drop on your springs doesn't have an impact on whether a 19" wheel would rub vs an 18" wheel. Your goal is to keep the overall outside diameter of the 19" tire the same as an 18" tire. You just get a lower profile tire if you go with a 19" wheel.

I'd stick with a mild drop as parchisi mentions. Also don't replace just the springs and call it a day. The stock struts aren't meant to be paired with a lowering spring. If you're on a budget the Koni STR-T's are the best deal out there today for a non-adjustable setup. They're having a huge sale on them with all vendors giving 20% off. These were selling in January 2010 for $450 a set. You can get them today for around $300 from Sam Strano.

My opinion, best slightly dropped kick a$$, set it and forget it suspension out there today for someone on a budget would be this one.

• Koni STR-T's - $318
• Steeda Sport Springs - $255
• GT500 Upper Mounts - $85

You're looking at a setup that is $628 shipped and it would spank the stock Mustang suspension in nearly every regard as it pertains to handling and ride comfort. It's the way the GT Brembo Package and V6 Performance Package should've come directly from the factory. That narrow 1/10th of a second loss that the GT gave up to the M3 last year would've easily been the opposite outcome if the GT was riding on this setup. It would be more like a 1-2 second advantage though to the GT.

The Laguna Seca wheels are pretty sick. You could save yourself quite a bit of headaches though if you stuck with just the 19x9 front wheel on all 4 corners. That way you don't have to do a staggered setup with the 19x10 wheels in the back. You would benefit from full tire rotations and save yourself a $hit load of money down the road. I'd love to see what the weight is on the Laguna Seca wheels. The 19" Brembo option wheels are grossly overweight. They look great, just 6-8 lbs on the porky side.

 

Thanks for all of the advice guys, it's much appreciated.

I agree that I think a mild drop is what I'm looking for anyways, so it works out well that it's a setup that won't cause me any problems in doing so. My one question is just whether the combo of STR-Ts and Steeda sports will feel like a pretty rough ride any time I hit a bump. To be honest even though I know the stock suspension of the mustang is soft by sport standards, people that ride in the car complain from time to time about the ride being stiff when the road isn't smooth. While I don't care all that much what they think lol, it would be nice to know that the new suspension setup won't irritate anybody's tailbones too much.

Also with regard to the wheels, if I end up going the boss wheel route, I'm really glad you mentioned the idea of just going with two sets of fronts. It's something I was thinking about but wasn't sure on. I love those boss wheels but for my uses I don't want to spend extra cash on the extra rubber on the back and plus the ability to rotate the tires fully. Also just sent a vendor an email asking about the weight on the wheels, asked if they could throw one on the scale for me. We'll see if they get back to me!

 

Thought I'd thrown in that the wheels weigh in at 35lbs each.

 

Wow. Thanks for checking on the wheel weights. So the vendor weighed them? That's a little worse than the 33 lb Brembo package wheels.

As far as ride quality/comfort. I've never seen anyone say that the STR.T/Steeda Sport combo was harsh. About half of the people actually say it's less jarring than the stock setup but handles substantially better. The other half say it's as comfortable as stock.

 

Yep, hah actually in their response when i referred to the fact that ford was referring to them as light, his response was "I wouldn't call 35 pounds light" lol. That's a pretty big disappointment. To be honest my uses don't make super light weight wheels all that important, but at the same time why carry around extra weight when you don't need it.

 

My response if anyone complains about the ride in my car is that they can walk.