Hey I’m Justin with AmericanMuscle.com, and this is our handling bolt on build up
for all 99-04 V6 Mustangs.
It’s no secret from the factory these V6 Mustangs weren’t exactly set up to succeed
as far as handling is concerned.
Case in point, Ford didn’t even equip these cars with a rear sway bar.
But, just as we can throw a pack together to make these V6’s a little quicker, we
can also make them handle a little bit better as well by addressing a few key areas.
That’s exactly what we did in our 2000 V6 behind me.
I’m going to walk you through a few of the parts we installed today, then get our car
out of the shop and onto the street so we can see how they perform.
One of the big things that come to mind when you say aftermarket suspension build is a
set of aftermarket lowering springs, and it should be, because as far as bang for your
buck is concerned, nothing will make your car handle and look better than a set of aftermarket
springs.
We went with a set of these Eibach pro kit lowering springs, which is going to reduce
our body roll, help the car feel more planted, and aesthetically, help out our stance by
getting rid of that ugly wheel gap.
These springs lowered our V6 an inch and a half or so on all 4 corners.
It is worth pointing out that that’s the lowest you should go on stock shocks and struts,
without risking blowing them out.
Because our shocks and struts were in great shape here on our 2000, we decided to forgo
the aftermarket option.
Moving onto another area of the car that we already mentioned needed some help, referring
to our sway bar situation, or in this case, lack thereof.
We installed Eibach’s anti roll sway bar kit, Eibach is a company that knows how to
make a car handle, and I’m not going to lie, in stock form, our V6 is a pig in turns,
and is an understeer nightmare, but by adding a 24mm rear sway bar and by upgrading our
stock 25mm front sway bar to a 35mm option, we’re going to get rid of a lot of that
understeer, and actually help the car handle a lot flatter in turns, ultimately giving
the driver much more confidence behind the wheel.
Up front we’re looking at a couple of products the first of which are these QA1 caster/camber
plates.
These are going to give us the added adjustability to help get our V6’s alignment back into
spec after we’ve lowered it.
Now in the right hands with the right knowledge a properly set up alignment can be beneficial
to your handling, but just keep in mind it’s a fine line between great handling, and rapidly
destroying your tires, so just check with your local alignment shop to find out what’s
best for you and your driving style.
The final part is equal parts bling and function, I’m talking about this SR Performance strut
tower brace, that we have laid into place before it gets installed just to finish up
our handling pack.
That bling comes from the bright chrome finish of course, which I have to admit looks great
under the hood, and that’s just the start.
Since this part utilizes bracing at both the strut towers and at the firewall, it’s going
to really help firming up our front end, and reducing chassis flex, and it should fit nicely
into anyone’s budget.
Now that you know what we’re working with on our 2000 V6, we’re going to finish up
getting that strut tower brace installed, then get our car out of the shop and look
for some nice turns, just so we can see if our handling has been improved.
So we just got our handling pack installed with our 2000 V6, and what better way to test
it than a sharp right hander, hold on.
Oh yeah, the car is so smooth through the turns now, a night and day difference, and
I mean that, before when we used to drive this car in its stock form.
Obviously those sway bars make a world of difference considering there was no sway bar
on the car to begin with in the rear, which is mind boggling to me in the first place,
this is supposed to be a sports car, how can Ford send you out without a sway bar?
But that’s neither here nor there, the important thing is, we have the sway bars on, the car
is firm, the car is planted, the springs have really brought our center of gravity down,
which has really tightened up the overall feel of the car, it doesn’t want to wander
all over the road, it doesn’t feel floaty like you’re out on the ocean anymore.
You’re planted now, you feel like you’re in a Mustang, you feel like you’re in a
sports car.
Finally, those QA1 Caster/Camber plates, brought our Mustangs alignment back into spec after
lowering it a little bit, so we’re not going to chew through tires every few months.
Another sharp left hander coming up, let’s see how the car does.
A little bit of brake dive, nothing too crazy, but again, I’m staying pretty much in the
throttle, and we felt great the whole time.
So, overall I’d say the handling pack on our V6 was a success.
That does it for our handling pack, be sure to check out some of our other bolt on build
ups for the 99-04 V6 where we improve our performance, and our appearance.