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Ride Height

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One of the things I'm wondering about the new Boss is the stock ride height. On my GT500 the stock ride height was literally like a 4 x 4. Before I headed down to the auto show in Omaha, I measured the front of my GT500. It's currently set at 4" off the ground with the adjustable Koni coilovers. I didn't measure the rear. I didn't bring a tape measure with me, but my phone measures exactly 4". The Boss appeared to be about 5" at the front splitter, but that's just a guess using my crude measuring device. ;D I checked the outside diameter of the stock front Pirelli 255/40/19 tires and they are 27.2". The tires I'll run at the track are 275/35/18 and they are 25.6". This should lower the front of the car by 0.8" getting it close to where I have my GT500 set. Does anyone know for certain the actual stock ride height clearance?
 
don't know the specifics just this

The Boss 302 takes the Mustang GT’s suspension and adds higher-rate coil springs, stiffer bushings, and a larger diameter rear stabilizer bar. The body is lowered 11 mm up front and just 1 mm in the rear to give it a more raked stance designed to recall the original
 
Big Vito said:
don't know the specifics just this

The Boss 302 takes the Mustang GT’s suspension and adds higher-rate coil springs, stiffer bushings, and a larger diameter rear stabilizer bar. The body is lowered 11 mm up front and just 1 mm in the rear to give it a more raked stance designed to recall the original
This.

The splitter will lower the front by almost half an inch as well relative to the GT.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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Arizona, USA
The wheel gap will be better than a stock GT in the front, but not by much. Visually, the car will benefit from lowering via sport springs or coilovers. Handling wise, who knows--but the aftermarket kits for the GT should translate pretty much directly to the BOSS.

Personally, I'm going to keep the stock suspension bits for 2-3 years (until the factory dampers are toast) then go with a single-adjustable coilover setup like an AST4100 or Roush Track Pack kit. I can't justify spending on the suspension right out the door when Ford's supposedly worked very hard to make this car a total package. Also the BOSS should get over the speedbumps in my subdivision a lot better than my lowered GT :)

Anyone know if anybody other than Vorshlag makes camber plates for the 11+ Mustang yet? Vorshlag's stuff looks to be great quality, but they're about $200 more than I paid for my J&M plates for my '06.

Cloud--think I've mentioned this before but you might want to consider running a 40-series track tire to keep the tire OD a little closer to stock. I know you were worried about running out of gear at BIS.
 
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cloud9 said:
The Boss appeared to be about 5" at the front splitter, but that's just a guess using my crude measuring device.

This is probably very close...5 inches is considered to be a minimum acceptable factory ground clearance. Although I want a lower stance, I do not want a modded out/screwed up suspension with a bunch of compromises like super high NVH, crashing over various road surfaces, squeaking, creaking or other mystery noises etc.(getting the suspension setup just right is exceedingly difficult even for people that do it for a living). I will be very careful before I start screwing up the suspension Ford has spent so much time getting right.

Maybe we can get a few of the development guys to work on putting a kit together that lowers the car but leaves the rest of the factory tuning in tact (and correct any geometry issues from lowering as well).
 
ArizonaGT said:
The wheel gap will be better than a stock GT in the front, but not by much. Visually, the car will benefit from lowering via sport springs or coilovers. Handling wise, who knows--but the aftermarket kits for the GT should translate pretty much directly to the BOSS.

Personally, I'm going to keep the stock suspension bits for 2-3 years (until the factory dampers are toast) then go with a single-adjustable coilover setup like an AST4100 or Roush Track Pack kit. I can't justify spending on the suspension right out the door when Ford's supposedly worked very hard to make this car a total package. Also the BOSS should get over the speedbumps in my subdivision a lot better than my lowered GT :)

Anyone know if anybody other than Vorshlag makes camber plates for the 11+ Mustang yet? Vorshlag's stuff looks to be great quality, but they're about $200 more than I paid for my J&M plates for my '06.

Cloud--think I've mentioned this before but you might want to consider running a 40-series track tire to keep the tire OD a little closer to stock. I know you were worried about running out of gear at BIS.

Agreed not looking to change the suspension out either but wondered what the height difference would be compared to the GT500.

MM makes them and J&M is working on them after I emailed them telling them the 11+ were different. They thought it would be 2-3 months.

I am thinking of running the RA1s and they only come in a 35, but yes that could be an issue at BIR. Not at some of the shorter tracks. I keep waffling on tires.
 
Mark said:
cloud9 said:
The Boss appeared to be about 5" at the front splitter, but that's just a guess using my crude measuring device.

This is probably very close...5 inches is considered to be a minimum acceptable factory ground clearance. Although I want a lower stance, I do not want a modded out/screwed up suspension with a bunch of compromises like super high NVH, crashing over various road surfaces, squeaking, creaking or other mystery noises etc.(getting the suspension setup just right is exceedingly difficult even for people that do it for a living). I will be very careful before I start screwing up the suspension Ford has spent so much time getting right.

Maybe we can get a few of the development guys to work on putting a kit together that lowers the car but leaves the rest of the factory tuning in tact (and correct any geometry issues from lowering as well).

I agree and I don't want to start screwing it up either. I do have a Fays2 Watts Link that I plan to put on fairly early on, but I think I'll track it with the panhard bar first just to see the difference.

I really think I want to get some c/c plates and about 2 degrees of neg camber in though.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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Arizona, USA
I've run the RA1s before and I wasn't particularly impressed. I'd only run them if it was a class requirement for NASA or something.

NT01 all the way...and they come in both 275/35 and /40.

Of course, a Hoosier R6 in 275/35/18 will provide a little more grip, if you can afford to buy a new set every weekend :eek:

Also, thanks for the tidbit on J&M. Their 05-09 plates are both effective and economical--if their 11+ product is as good, I'd buy em in a heartbeat. I can pull -2.4* with the J&M plates using the stock shock tower opening. Might be able to get -3* or greater if you hog out the inboard part of the tower a little bit with an dremel or air cut off tool.
 
ArizonaGT said:
I've run the RA1s before and I wasn't particularly impressed. I'd only run them if it was a class requirement for NASA or something.

NT01 all the way...and they come in both 275/35 and /40.

Of course, a Hoosier R6 in 275/35/18 will provide a little more grip, if you can afford to buy a new set every weekend :eek:

Also, thanks for the tidbit on J&M. Their 05-09 plates are both effective and economical--if their 11+ product is as good, I'd buy em in a heartbeat. I can pull -2.4* with the J&M plates using the stock shock tower opening. Might be able to get -3* or greater if you hog out the inboard part of the tower a little bit with an dremel or air cut off tool.
I haven't run the RA1 but the Porsche guys say they like them much better than the R888. I'll probably just give the NT01s a go and see how I like them. Yea the gearing gets weird and at BIR I'd top out at 153 mph versus 159 mph with a 35 vs a 40 sidewall. The bigger issue may be the 155 mph speed limiter if it's not turned off or raised with the TracKey tune. Running a shorter tire will show a higher speed than actual on the factory speedometer if the tune isn't adjusted for the smaller tire size, resulting in an even lower speed limit than 155....... I'm not sure how the PCM calculates speed when engaging the speed limiter (spark or fuel cutoff), but I have to assume it's off the speedo.

Oh and no I can't justify running the R6s if I want to track as much as I like to ;D
 
1,255
2
GA
When I watched the Boss 302 special on Speed, I noticed that a test mule had Tokico Spec D shocks- does anyone know if that is what they ended up using for the production car?
 
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5 DOT 0 said:
I'd like to lower the Boss by an 1" or so, similar to how Steeda sport springs lower the car, but I don't want to mess with the handling. So I'll let you guys figure it out first. ;) OTOH the raked look is kinda cool so maybe I'll leave it along. Once the car arrives I may think it looks perfect as is and just leave it alone. But that's no fun.

Seriously, maybe we can talk someone into producing a quality drop spindal. Then all we need are shorter rear springs with the same rate and it would have the drop with factory suspension tuning.

Or, Maybe that racecraft spindal will turn out to be ok. The springs will be easy to source.
 
Mark said:
5 DOT 0 said:
I'd like to lower the Boss by an 1" or so, similar to how Steeda sport springs lower the car, but I don't want to mess with the handling. So I'll let you guys figure it out first. ;) OTOH the raked look is kinda cool so maybe I'll leave it along. Once the car arrives I may think it looks perfect as is and just leave it alone. But that's no fun.


Seriously, maybe we can talk someone into producing a quality drop spindal. Then all we need are shorter rear springs with the same rate and it would have the drop with factory suspension tuning.

Or, Maybe that racecraft spindal will turn out to be ok. The springs will be easy to source.

You do realize that the "factory suspension tuning" changes when you drop the rear. So even if someone manages to cast a decent drop spindal with the same factory strut, lower control arm, and steering arm attachment points, the rear suspension geometry, good or bad, changes with an equal 1" spring drop. How much it changes remains to be measured, but it does change nonetheless. The shaft of the rear shock will also sit 1" deeper into the body at static height even though it might not effect overall performance. Since the range of travel (bump) is reduced, the factory bump stop should keep the rear shock from bottoming out. Without looking, maybe there's a boat load of travel that 1" is minimal. Just something you might consider when looking at a drop spindal.

Dave
 
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might require shorter bump stops and adjustable panhard. Regardless, mine will stay stock for a while.
 
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cloud9 said:
ArizonaGT said:
I've run the RA1s before and I wasn't particularly impressed. I'd only run them if it was a class requirement for NASA or something.

NT01 all the way...and they come in both 275/35 and /40.

Of course, a Hoosier R6 in 275/35/18 will provide a little more grip, if you can afford to buy a new set every weekend :eek:

Also, thanks for the tidbit on J&M. Their 05-09 plates are both effective and economical--if their 11+ product is as good, I'd buy em in a heartbeat. I can pull -2.4* with the J&M plates using the stock shock tower opening. Might be able to get -3* or greater if you hog out the inboard part of the tower a little bit with an dremel or air cut off tool.
I haven't run the RA1 but the Porsche guys say they like them much better than the R888. I'll probably just give the NT01s a go and see how I like them. Yea the gearing gets weird and at BIR I'd top out at 153 mph versus 159 mph with a 35 vs a 40 sidewall. The bigger issue may be the 155 mph speed limiter if it's not turned off or raised with the TracKey tune. Running a shorter tire will show a higher speed than actual on the factory speedometer if the tune isn't adjusted for the smaller tire size, resulting in an even lower speed limit than 155....... I'm not sure how the PCM calculates speed when engaging the speed limiter (spark or fuel cutoff), but I have to assume it's off the speedo.

Oh and no I can't justify running the R6s if I want to track as much as I like to ;D
R888s have a much rounder profile than the RA1. While harder to drive, it can be quicker in some applications. The NT01 is probably the most popular R-compound tire out there with a very square carcass, easy to drive, and fast.

As far as aftermarket suspension goes, the ROUSH Track Pack is quite good. Firm and responsive yet compliant and dosn't "crash" over bumps like most 'stiff' suspension out there. While sportier, the NVH isn't ruined and I feel its a pretty good compromise. What is 'acceptable' is subjective but many people would agree.


0.02
 
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I agree 100% with those who say they'd be hard-pressed to mess with the Boss suspension out of the box given how much time the engineers took to perfect it. I know there's plenty of smart people on this blog, but the only reason I could possibly imagine tinkering with the supplied suspension would be folks with full on racing technical background who wanted to make some fine-tuning adjustments for racing a particular track. Other than that, I know it's fun to tinker but I, for one, am certainly not smarter than the Ford team who built this beast. Man, the wait is harder than I thought! :-\
 
stuntman said:
As far as aftermarket suspension goes, the ROUSH Track Pack is quite good. Firm and responsive yet compliant and dosn't "crash" over bumps like most 'stiff' suspension out there. While sportier, the NVH isn't ruined and I feel its a pretty good compromise. What is 'acceptable' is subjective but many people would agree.


0.02
I had a lenghty test drive in a 2011 Roush Stage 2 Mustang (with 20's on it) and was very impressed with how firm yet compliant it was. Does the track pack have a similar ride with improved handling?
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
The Track Pack kit is a coilover system w/ adjustable rebound. It's a good "entry level" (compared to 10k triple-adjustable Motons or Sachs stuff) suspension for people that are serious about tracking. The hardware is actually rebadged KW stuff.

Haven't driven it on the street but it works great on the track.
 
jimprw said:
I agree 100% with those who say they'd be hard-pressed to mess with the Boss suspension out of the box given how much time the engineers took to perfect it. I know there's plenty of smart people on this blog, but the only reason I could possibly imagine tinkering with the supplied suspension would be folks with full on racing technical background who wanted to make some fine-tuning adjustments for racing a particular track. Other than that, I know it's fun to tinker but I, for one, am certainly not smarter than the Ford team who built this beast. Man, the wait is harder than I thought! :-\

Answer me this.... Did the Ford Engineers set the street Boss' suspension to be a full-on race car like the FR500, 302R, and 302S? Or did they set it up to obsorb the everyday public (crap) roads with a little bit of race in it (hence adjustable struts/shocks)? The spring rate that comes on the street Boss is no where near close to the race versions. The Ford Engineers did an excellent job of setting up the street Boss for the average Joe driving on public roads with respectable Summer tires. To say that, little to no improvement could be made from the factory shows how very little the average Boss enthusiast knows about race suspensions (no offense intended). I laughed when someone in another thread stated that the Boss, from the factory, will have little to no body roll, lol.

I don't mean to be so harsh, but statements like these serve no purpose but to bury the truth.

Dave
 

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