New Boss owner...my impressions, and questions

[arabbit]

Hey guys, I'm new on the forum here, I just bought a 2012 Race Red Boss 302 w/Recaros & Torsen. I bought her with 11000 miles, and got the full owners kit, as well as the trackkey already installed. I went from having an 05 GT with a decent amount of bolt-ons, to this monster. So far, I love how fast these Bosses are, how great they sound, and how well they handle. Heres a pic!

Definitely impressed so far. So, with all that being said, I have some questions about it too. First, after I've had it for a bit, I've realized that it has a little more gap between the fender and hood on the passenger side than the drivers. I'm not aware that its ever been in any accidents, and I know I am incredibly anal about this kind of stuff, but would this bother anyone else? Or does this look just like a factory misadjustment? Here's a pic:

Also, I bought my Boss from another state, and drove it to a significantly higher altitude where I live, should I do a reset of the computer to let it relearn everything, or will it adjust on its own?

Last thing, I've never had Brembos before, but I find a decent amount of brake dust coating my rims after a few days-week of normal easy driving. Is this normal for these kind of brakes? I never had this on my 05, but it had tiny brakes in comparison.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to talking to more of you about these cars (since I don't know anyone else that has one), and I will post updates when I start to add new things. Thanks!

 

[Raymax]

Congratulations on the new car!

Not sure on the computer, sure someone else will chime in. But I would imagine that it is self adapting.

As far as the brakes, yes that's normal. The stock Brembo pads (I believe they are Ferodo) are very dusty. If it bothers you, you can switch them to a less dusty brand/compound. A quick search should get you many opinions on which ones are best for your driving style.

Welcome to BMO, have fun out there!

 

[arabbit]

Well thats good to hear, I was wondering why I got so much dust! And I will probably reset the computer just to make sure everything is fresh, I don't think it will hurt.

What do you think of my hood gap? Is that within normal standards for these cars? I will probably end up trying to adjust it myself, I'm just trying to make sure that this car has, indeed, never seen any accidents in its 11,000 mile life.

 

[VoodooBoss]

Congratulations and welcome to BMO. The stock pads dust a lot and I think you can adjust that gap on the hood. Do you know if the car was in an accident?

 

[drano38]

Welcome to Boss ownership!
And congrats on choosing the fastest color. 8)
Glad you got the owners kit with it.

Yes, the pads will dust, as others have said. I've got Carbotech 1521 pads on for street, and they're not too bad.
I've never ran them, but Hawk ceramics may help with dust--maybe someone else can reply with their experience.

I've also heard PFC makes the stock pads, so not sure if its PFC or Ferodo.

Hope you plan to track the Boss, where it was bred to run.

 

[arabbit]

NFS Boss, i was told by the dealer that it has never seen an accident, so is it normal for the gap to be that noticeable on some cars? I took it to my dealership and they said it was probably like that from the factory. It.just seemed like alot of gap to me.

And Drano, i do plan to hit the track, when I actually get the time to do it. Cant wait!

 

[VoodooBoss]

NFS Boss, i was told by the dealer that it has never seen an accident, so is it normal for the gap to be that noticeable on some cars? I took it to my dealership and they said it was probably like that from the factory. It.just seemed like alot of gap to me.

And Drano, i do plan to hit the track, when I actually get the time to do it. Cant wait!

I don't think that's normal and the dealer or a good body shop might be able to adjust it.

 

[302BOB]

Brake dust & Boss ownership go hand in hand......... ;D

 

[Grant 302]

Welcome to Boss ownership!
And congrats on choosing the fastest color. 8)
Glad you got the owners kit with it.

Yes, the pads will dust, as others have said. I've got Carbotech 1521 pads on for street, and they're not too bad.
I've never ran them, but Hawk ceramics may help with dust--maybe someone else can reply with their experience.

I've also heard PFC makes the stock pads, so not sure if its PFC or Ferodo.

Hope you plan to track the Boss, where it was bred to run.

PFC in the back and Ferodo in the front.

 

[PTRocks]

I don't think the factory would allow the car to ship with the hood gap like that. If you take off the front fender liners (really easy to do, the clips pop out with a philips screwdriver, plus a couple of screws) you should see the greenish electro-coating on all the frame parts. If so, then the car was not in an accident.

 

[mcmmotorsports]

On my Mini JCW I had an issue with brake dust too. Hawk pads fixed that and I am sure once I get my Boss, I will do the same upgrade. Sonax wheel cleaner has been my best friend.

 

[BOSS2664]

Congrats on your new Boss!
I wouldn't be surprised if the misalignment is from the factory. I bought my 2012 race red Boss with just 5 miles on the odometer and it has a misaligned drivers door. Its either the left fender or door but the door is slightly sunken when viewing from a side angle. I'm okay with it. I consider it my unique factory mistake.
If your hood alignment bothers you have it fixed...it may need a hood or fender tweak but I wouldn't sweat it, the car is awesome!

 

[Hambone]

I say take it too the track, run her hard and see if it is still misaligned. If so repeat until it is aligned.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Great color combo there.

 

[arabbit]

PTrocks, dumb question for you, what do you mean by fender liners? Inside the wheelwells?

 

[arabbit]

I'll throw in a quick update: finally got some smoked taillight covers on. I hate the 10-12 tails, I think it looks much better now!

 

[BOSS2664]

ring,ring,ring....the '90's called and it wants its tail light covers back...lol
Actually they look great on there! Kinda looks like it came that way from the factory!

 

[Ranger117]

Noticed the tag, you from north Texas or Oklahoma?

 

[TymeSlayer]

Just as an FYI, I ran into a guy at a Mustang show who put on hood struts and had issues doing it. He tried doing it himself and while having the bolts on the hood loose, the hood did not line up correctly. Do you have aftermarket struts? That could be your hood alignment issue. Just a thought.

 

[arabbit]

Ha yeah I can't stand those 2012 tails, and I didn't want to swap 2013's, I think they actually look pretty good...and makes it look different from everyone else's.

And actually I picked up the car in TX, but I live in CO. Still waiting to register it.

TymeSlayer, that is a good point. I talked to the previous owner, I don't think he did any modifications to it other than deleting the sound tube. But who knows, its a possibility. I readjusted the screws and made it look normal, and when I did, the paint on the hood and fender screws were still sealed to the rest of the paint in the engine bay, so I don't believe anything was ever damaged. I even went to a local Ford dealership and they had a bunch of 2013's that had the exact same gap on their hoods, I guess its relatively normal.