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S550 dampers upgrade. BILSTEIN VS FORD PERFORMANCE

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Hello guys.
I have OEM suspension (no magnaride) with BMR springs.
Bmr springs are the stiffer springs you can find for Mustang before coilovers.
250 lb/in front , 980 rear (about 50% stiffer than OEM)

I would like to explore the possibility to upgrade the dampers to have ,especially, a stiffer rebound.

BEFORE YOU SAY I'm not considering COILOVERS.
I personally believe i can use those 4000 $ for somenthing else like online coaching (racers360) or consumables. For the moment.

So dampers seem a simple and (maybe) necessary upgrade for my car.
What are your thoughts?

I've heard great things on both products memtiomed im the Title.
But zero data around (no more than " better than OEM)

PLEASE LET ME KNOW

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Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile
My Buddy got the Ford Performance track suspension package with sway bars springs and shocks etc.... transformed the car. Lowered his time by two seconds and the car has room to go faster.

For me I would perfer to have adjustables just because I like messing around with things.
 
On my 2012 Boss 302, which had better dampers than a stock 2012 GT, I installed the FP dampers and they worked better. Then a couple of years later I installed some CorteX JRi dampers and there was a big difference on how the car handled on track and it rode nicer on the street.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is to go straight to the best products you can afford and ship the middle steps. You’ll save money in the long run.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
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Blair, Nebraska
There are a couple of solid systems out there, but since you are in California, and in the Bay Area, I would take VoodooBoss's advice one step further and wander up to Sonoma , to Cortex's home base. They have less expensive systems, and you will be able to get a first hand look and experience with one of the top suspension tuners in the US. Take the trip, make the effort, as it will save you mega bucks in the long run!!! Check out their site information at the side of TMO's site. Heck, you are quick with your current set-up, and the money spent will damn near guarantee you two seconds improvement!
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
1,797
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W2W Racing
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20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
I have the complete FP track suspension on my car. If it's a dual purpose car you'll be hard pressed to find a better setup, excellent on track with virtually no change in the quality of street ride compared to the OEM PP1 suspension.

If it's a pure track car then I'd probably have put on coilovers, but I'm not there yet and may never be.
 
Thanks so far for all the inputs.

I know cortex is 35min from my home. I'll definetely make the trip happen soon.

Thing is.
If I decide to buy a coilover system it will be THE ONE.
Spending 1500-2000 to ok stuff i think is not worth it.
In the other hand
Those ford perf or Bilstein costs 700$ ish.

And yes
The car is dual purpose (not a daily drive tho)

So. i was considering the "light upgrade" for budget and go next year with the coilovers. I like the idea of step by step improvement.

But
I'll Definetely go see CORTEX :)
if anyone has data on those 2 systems please share!

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Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,425
8,356
Exp. Type
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Blair, Nebraska
I think what Voodoo Boss and I are saying, is, waiting( to save up ) just a bit longer to get the better system will save you money in the long run, since your videos already show you are pretty damn fast! So why go with a slightly better set-up , when you can go super quick if you do it right the first time? Granted, we see the difference in price , but from all of us that had the same thoughts as you did many times over the years , we are just trying to be good stewards for our fellow Trackraticus friends. We figure in two years you will probably step up anyway? Take the trip and then you can make a much better educated decision if delaying this improvement might be worthwhile to wait?

Being an AARP member means we spent too damn much money, over the years, getting upgrades and regretting we had to buy more since we let a inexpensive compromise cloud our judgement! Isn't it fun getting car advice from your Dad, haha?
 
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TymeSlayer

Tramps like us, Baby we were born to run...
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Three years, going on four and still biding my tyme.

Bill is right of course. If you get hooked and improve greatly, any improvements now will have been wasted cash should you move to coilovers down the road. In my case, the deeper I get into this the more the consumables get in my way to coilovers. With that being said, if I could sell half of my wife's 300 pair of shoes or half of her 150 purses, I'd have these Cortex's on my car and a spare set to boot!
 

ChrisM

Mostly harmless.
1,180
1,419
Exp. Type
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3-5 Years
South Carolina
Adding up the cost of all the crap parts I've replaced on my car, I could have just gone with a set of Cortex coilovers and a couple other nice things from the get-go and saved myself twice as much money and time. Soon as I switched to coilovers it was "OMFG what have I been doing with my life up until now?!" moment. Buy once, cry once.
 
6,363
8,187
Ford Performance all day long..
The issue with coil overs is that there is little middle ground, inexpensive coil overs are worthless, moderate priced ones will still require rebuilding every 20K miles of street use, the hi zoot setup is $10K
So is being able to easily set your ride height worth the price of a moderately priced set of coil overs, or..go with with a pre engineered suspension like FP (or others). I still have to wonder if most of us will ever appreciate a good set of coil over shocks..with the exception of the tuning aspects...and when does a "street car" become a race car? It's not like you get do overs, once you make the jump..you're done, get out the check book.
 
898
544
So, the OP asked about a choice between two different shock packages. But, most of the replies have been "buy coilovers" or "buy the Ford Performance Track Suspension Package."

I would not disagree that the Ford suspension packages are a good / well matched setup. But, the OP is not planning on buying the whole kit. He simply wants better dampers at a reasonable cost that would work with his existing BMR springs.

Not to ruffle anyone's feathers, but the Ford Racing / performance shocks have typically been the lower end of the aftermarket direct replacement spectrum. For example, the S197 kits used lower end Tokico D-specs, unless I am mistaken. If the S550 dampers are the same approach, I would much rather have the Bilstein dampers. Or even Koni Sports.

I don't necessarily disagree with the recommendations given, but they aren't really what the OP asked.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
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20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Agree we have all wavered a bit, but I do believe the consensus was like a bunch of experienced brothers trying to help a younger sibling from making a mistake they felt they had made. By the time labor, alignment, etc. are all done you do have to evaluate your expenditure? Plus , with Cortex so damn close to the OP, he may be able to get a deal , or even find out they have some trade in shocks they could set him up witYou called us out since we did get off track , but the intentions were well meaning and difficult for many of us not to mention --- based on our own mistakes.
 
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