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S197 Alon's 3v Build Thread Profile - S197 Mustangs

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Hi everyone.

First, I'd like to thank Bill Pemberton for the warm welcome.

My next suspension step on the car will be a complete handling kit with new springs, shocks and dampers, sway bars, panhard bar.

Since this is a street car and is intended to stay that way, with random trips to occasional track days, I'm looking for a good value kit that will still fit and ride well enough. It doesn't have to be adjustable but that is an advantage for me.

Also, I would not like to mix-match different brands as much as possible.

How is the current Ford Performance handling pack (https://www.americanmuscle.com/frpp-handlingpack-0514gt-assembled.html) for that purpose? Is it sorted enough, or does it leave a lot more room for improvments?

I would love to hear your suggestions for my goal.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
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Blair, Nebraska
Welcome Alon and it is always great to have Mustang owners from other parts of the Globe sign up. The Ford Performance handling packages are used by many, but we often ask what tires, rims, brake pads and rotors folks are using also, as these are the simplest , yet often the most effective way to increase track performance. There are quite a few 3V members on the site , so I am sure you will get plenty of input from many of them.
 

Boone

Professional Thread Killer
If you want to keep things simple, I'd suggest staying with one company and purchase a kit, especially since you are located overseas. I'm partial to the Maximum Motorsports stuff. You decide whether to go Sport or Road & Track. Either way you get a massive improvement to make the car turn, and it can still be comfortable on the street. Cry once. Don't piece it together over time.
 
Sorry if I left that part out. It's just that in order to swap out those tiny oem brakes, I will need to change my wheels as well, and that's not something that I can afford to do right now.

Tires are Goodyear Assymetric 3 for now. There arent a lot of extreme performance choices for the stock tire size. Suv's nowdays come with sportier sidewalls.

So that leaves me pretty much with a good handling pack for now.

Allow me to share some information and photos from my last mild build, my 2011 Mustang:

it was a 2011 5.0 Brembo Pack MT-82 car with 3.73 gears.

Engine modifications:

Airaid cold air intake.

Borla S type Cat-back exhaust.

AED custom tune.

DSS Carbon-fiber drive-shaft.

JLT Oil catch-can.


Suspension and handling modifications:

BMR Lower control arms.

BMR Adjustable panhard bar.

BMR Upper adjustable control arm w/mount.

BMR Radiator support.

BMR Lower control arms relocation brackets.

Whiteline Adjustable sway bars kit with end links.

Ground Control street/track adjustable coil-over kit with camber plates.

Michelin CUP2 tires on the rear, MPSS on the front.

Steeda bump-steer kit.

Cosmetic Modifications:
Boss 302 lower valance w/street splitter.

Self made boss 302S style grille

Shelby GT-500 rear spoiler.

Forgestar F14 custom 19X10 wheels all around with 285/35/19 Michelin Cup2 on the rear and 255/40/19 MPSS tires on the front.

Boss 302 style shift knob & boot.

5.0 badges OEM floor mats.

Roush side splitters.

2010 Mustang dark horse emblem.


Other modifications:

MGW Short-throw shifter.

Goodridge braided stainless steel brake lines.

Pretty sure I left some more stuff out.

WhatsApp Image 2020-07-03 at 13.34.53 (1).jpeg

WhatsApp Image 2020-07-03 at 13.34.53.jpeg
 
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Ludachris

Chris
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Sorry if I left that part out. It's just that in order to swap out those tiny oem brakes, I will need to change my wheels as well, and that's not something that I can afford to do right now.

Tires are Goodyear Assymetric 3 for now. There arent a lot of extreme performance choices for the stock tire size. Suv's nowdays come with sportier sidewalls.

So that leaves me pretty much with a good handling pack for now.

Allow me to share some information and photos from my last mild build, my 2011 Mustang:

it was a 2011 5.0 Brembo Pack MT-82 car with 3.73 gears.

Engine modifications:

Airaid cold air intake.

Borla S type Cat-back exhaust.

AED custom tune.

DSS Carbon-fiber drive-shaft.

JLT Oil catch-can.


Suspension and handling modifications:

BMR Lower control arms.

BMR Adjustable panhard bar.

BMR Upper adjustable control arm w/mount.

BMR Radiator support.

BMR Lower control arms relocation brackets.

Whiteline Adjustable sway bars kit with end links.

Ground Control street/track adjustable coil-over kit with camber plates.

Michelin CUP2 tires on the rear, MPSS on the front.

Steeda bump-steer kit.

Cosmetic Modifications:
Boss 302 lower valance w/street splitter.

Self made boss 302S style grille

Shelby GT-500 rear spoiler.

Forgestar F14 custom 19X10 wheels all around with 285/35/19 Michelin Cup2 on the rear and 255/40/19 MPSS tires on the front.

Boss 302 style shift knob & boot.

5.0 badges OEM floor mats.

Roush side splitters.

2010 Mustang dark horse emblem.


Other modifications:

MGW Short-throw shifter.

Goodridge braided stainless steel brake lines.

Pretty sure I left some more stuff out.

View attachment 57134

View attachment 57135
Welcome, and great photos. As Bill said, it really is nice to get some track enthusiasts from around the world logging in and participating!
 
What do you guys think about the adjustable version of the Ford Performance handling kit (https://www.americanmuscle.com/frpp-adjust-handlingpack-0514gt-assembled.html)?

Is it worth the extra money over the non adjustable kit?

The M&M pack looks very good as well but the lowering drop is a little too much for my liking (2.0" on the front and 2.1" with the rear on the m&m kit vs 1.0" all around with the Ford Performance kit). I don't want to lower the car to the point it will alter the geometry too much.
 
6,345
8,135
Well, adjustable is always preferred,, but it does let you adjust yourself right out of the correct setup if you're not careful. Still, just put the shocks on the center settings until you get some experience, then you can go back and do some tuning later. the people I work for use out of the box FP suspension kits on their competition cars, in the faster classes they allow coil overs shocks, which you basically don't want to go there if it's a car you are just having fun with. (Penske coil over kits are around $10K, anything decent will be north of $5K). So you might as well buy the adjustables to begin with since you'll be playing tuner sooner or later, it's a good medium between the two.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,405
8,333
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Alon, Blacksheep 1 is sometimes a bit too humble, because the Team he works for is a multiple time National Championship Team in SCCA , and is well known in many racing circles as a competitive force to contend with. He is one of the very respected Professionals on this site and he can be trusted to give folks honest and experienced examples. You can take his advice knowing it is genuine and he is one of the folks on here that will be happy to help you. There are others on TMO that are equally knowledgeable, but since you are new I just wanted to let you know Blacksheep 1 is a great source of information.
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,513
8,134
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
Choices are better than no choices....unless you make bad choices.
Set everything to the center position and go from there making one change at a time.
You'll be fine.
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
Is it sorted enough, or does it leave a lot more room for improvments?
@VoodooBoss ran it with the adjustable dampers in the -MGTAA kit. I believe he would recommend it. That said, he did end up upgrading to the CorteX/JRi SA coilovers.

My question is if the adjustable kit is worth 500$ over the non-adjustable one? If anyone did a comparison between the two that would be great.
I don’t know of anyone doing a direct comparison. But I think the adjustability - particularly in the dampers is easily worth the ~$500 on any car that sees track time.

My only hesitation in recommending either is if you think you will end up with coilovers in the future anyway. Then you should just pass on both and wait.

Welcome to TMO.
 
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8,135
I'm old school, I just don't like coil overs on a street car, mainly because they will need to be rebuilt about every 20K miles. They do let you adjust your ride height, but that is the only advantage I can see, except possibly weight, but it's a street car so....The Ford Kit is a fire and forget thing.
 
I'm old school, I just don't like coil overs on a street car, mainly because they will need to be rebuilt about every 20K miles. They do let you adjust your ride height, but that is the only advantage I can see, except possibly weight, but it's a street car so....The Ford Kit is a fire and forget thing.

Exactly. That is why I'm debating so much this time - because I've already had experience with coil-overs (it was a Ground Control street/track kit with custom spring weights which I can't remember as of this moment) with my last Mustang, and it took a lot of time and effort to get to the right set-up with these coil-overs. And by the time that happend - I sold the car so I didn't get to really enjoy it.

I don't want to go over that this time. I want something that is proven, simple to bolt on, and not too expensive.

One more question I have is about the UCA - right now I'm running a J&m 3-piece poly adj. UCA, because the stock one was dying. I've read some bad things about running a poly UCA with a live axle (binding, etc). Do I have anything to worry about with the 3-piece design?

Also, regarding cooling - What boils first in the early S197's? Is it the diff that needs cooling asap, or anything else? Taking into account the car sees 1-2 track days in a month, running for about 5-6 sessions, 10 minutes each one - Do I have anything to worry about (besides that shitty automatic which will probably be swapped into a manual in the future)?
 
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8,135
this is the preferred upper trailing arm, but I see nothing wrong with the one you have, I've never heard of anyone having problems with them binding, no matter what brand. With regards to overheating, the 8.8 diffs are pretty robust, but that trans will definitely give you trouble if not taken care of. Fly Half has written an entire buildup on this subject, and there's too much to repeat, so just find it in the search area.
If you want a bolt on and go, that Ford pack is IMO pretty much plug and play

 

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