2010-2014 GT Bolt-On Build-Ups

Justin: Hey, I'm Justin with americanmuscle.com, and this is our Power Pack Bolt-on Build-up for all 2011 and newer Mustang GTs.

Power, it's a simple thing, really, but it puts a smile on our face every time we bury the throttle, and that's why we drive a Mustang instead of a Prius. Never before has there been a factory GT that has made more power than these newer Coyote Mustangs. Now, even though this amazing 5.0 motor produces over 400 horsepower at the crank, eventually we get used to it and it's at that point we begin our search for more. And that's what this Power Pack is all about. We're going to be installing some of the bolt-on basics, and then using our Dynojet here to see what kind of improvements we made. So, enough with the talking already. Let's get a quick baseline number down, and then get to work installing our parts.

Hey, Mike. I know the guys just finished up installing the parts on our '11 here. It looks like we've got some great parts that should help our Coyote motor bleed a little easier. Let's work from front to back, starting with that AIRAID. Now, what makes those a little bit better than the stock air box?

Mike: Well, it's got a high-flow reusable air filter that's going to allow more air to enter the engine. The closed air box blocks all the heat from the engine getting into the motor, and the increased size of the intake tube, again, is going to allow more air to get into the motor, allow it to breathe better, and make more power.

Justin: Awesome, man. Speaking of allowing more air into the motor, we also went with an 85-millimeter BBK throttle body. What are some of the benefits of going with that?

Mike: Well, while it doesn't pack the biggest punch in horsepower, it's a great complimentary mod. And thanks to the pre-installed electronics from BBK, makes it a very simple install.

Justin: Now, let's move on to the business side of things. I know we've got a couple parts from MagnaFlow for the exhaust, starting with their Tru-X X-pipe. Explain a few of the benefits of using an off-road X- or H-pipe and what can we expect.

Mike: Well, you're going to eliminate the catalytic converters, which is going to increase airflow, and we have the X-pipe, which is going to do a real good job at scattering the exhaust, again making more horsepower. Now, at the back, we've installed the MagnaFlow Street axle-back system, which is an aggressive sound, but it's not too loud, and we're not going to have any of the drones.

Justin: Now, I know each one of these parts individually does not require a tune, but you really stress the importance of kind of bringing them all together with one of your custom BAMA tunes. Why is that?

Mike: Well, with a BAMA tune, we take all the modifications into effect when we build the tune for the car. While the AIRAID doesn't require a tune because of the modular venturi insert, we've removed the insert to increase the airflow, increase the horsepower. But it also wraps everything else together, the drive-by-wire, the calibration for the pedal, the transmission calibration. There's a bunch of other things that we do to kind of wrap the whole package together.

Justin: Well, there's only one more thing to do, I guess, right, and see what kind of power it makes?

Mike: Absolutely.

Justin: Let's do it.

So, our baseline run with our automatic 2011 GT gave us 337 horsepower and 325 foot-pounds of torque. With our Power Pack installed, we put down 381 horsepower and 359 foot-pounds of torque, making for a peak horsepower gain of 44 over our baseline numbers, and gains of 44 horsepower and 51 foot-pounds of torque throughout the curve. Now that we know the power's really been increased, I'm going to get to work unstrapping the car so I can take it out on the streets and have a little fun.

All right, well, what better way to start off our Power Pack with the 2011 GT with a nice big smoky burnout, huh? I tell you what, man, the exhaust sounds great already, definitely more grunt than the stock exhaust. We've got a nice straightaway coming up here, so let's get around this bend, hammer on it, and see if our Power Pack's doing its job, shall we?

Woo-hoo! It's got a solid chirp in third gear. The car whines out way harder than it did before. Those shift points have definitely been raised a few hundred RPM, and the car pulls like a bat out of hell, man. It's awesome.

Like I said about the exhaust, MagnaFlow did a great job at creating the Street Series, which is a nice balance between that classic muscle sound, but also, you know, it keeps it tame. You can still cart your mom around town and she's not going to be complaining the whole time, my car is too loud. So, I love it, man. It sounds great.

Now, of course, we've got the cold air installed, along with the throttle body, parts that you're probably not going to notice are installed when they're working in conjunction with everything else, but we've seen the results on the Dyno. We know they're doing their job, and that's just the whole point of this Power Pack, man. We've got a bunch of parts working together for us to one common goal of making this thing really rip. And boy, does it, as you just saw.

So, that's it for our Power Pack for the 2011 GT. I'm going to go incinerate some more tires. But in the meantime, be sure to check out more of our 2011 and up Bolt-on Build-ups, where we make the car look a little bit better and make it handle like it's on rails.

Hey, I'm Justin with americanmuscle.com, and this is our Appearance Bolt-on Build-up for all 2011 and newer Mustang GTs.

Now, these Coyote Mustangs are the culmination of nearly 50 years of innovation and design, and some may argue, are Ford's best offering yet. From the '60s inspired exterior styling cues to that tire-melting 5-liter V8, what's not to love? So, we decided to approach this build in a way that's going to compliment the lines of the already stellar 2011 here without distracting from them. In other words, we kept our build simple by introducing little bits of both new and retro styling that helped us achieve a look of a modern-day muscle car with its roots firmly planted in the '60s and '70s.

If there's one company that knows how to invoke that classic heritage styling on these modern 'Stangs, it's MMD, and we have a bunch of their parts on our 2011 here just for that reason. We started off with these Eleanor-style side louvers, which are inspired from that famous Hollywood GT500. We then went with these side scoops and hood scoop, which draw a little similarity from the earlier Shelby GT350s. Of course, we got the rear deck lit panel, which gives us a little bit of that Mach 1 flavor, and finally, these retro-style mirrors. Besides the extra attitude each one of these parts gives our build, I'd have to say the best part is the convenience. Every one of these parts has been pre-painted, so they're ready to install the moment you receive them. No more waiting on your paint shop to get all your stuff sprayed, and install's easy enough for the first-time wrencher to tackle. It's a perfect combination.

Okay. So, we know the goodies from MMD took care of the retro side of things, but now let's check out some more modern additions, starting with a couple parts from Raxiom. First up are their smoked arrow taillights. Now, some folks don't really mind the factory taillights on the '11 and '12 Mustangs, but others really aren't too fond of the location of the reverse light placement. These lights from Raxiom move the reverse lights from the center of your factory taillights to the bottom, resulting in a much cleaner look. And the aggressive smoked lens certainly doesn't hurt either. We also decided to go with Raxiom's smoke projector halo headlights as well, which we're very familiar with. Now, if you've been following our Project Blackout, then you've witnessed the cool stealthy stylings that these headlights give to any Mustang. Now, these modern touches from Raxiom should really help balance out the more retro-themed items from MMD and add to the overall cool factor of our build.

All right. We saved the best for last. When it came time for wheels and tires, we could have gone retro with a set of Bullitts, but we decided to take the more modern route instead by going with these 19-inch staggered AMR wheels, along with some new tires from General. Now, these wheels are inspired from the modern-day motor sports world and have quickly become a favorite of Mustang owners everywhere. Checking out how good they look here on our 2011, it's easy to see why.

All right. The cherry on top of our brand-new wheel and tire package are these MGP bright-red caliper covers, complete with a Mustang logo up front and the 5-0 logo out back. Now, I know some people are going to knock on these, but here's the deal. The factory calipers are pretty ugly, and a set of Brimbos or Wilwoods aren't exactly cheap. These covers actually do a great job of improving the behind-the-wheel appearance and actually help keep brake dust off your rims. It's a win-win.

So, that does it with our appearance build here with our 2011. I hope I showed you that you don't have to go strictly retro or strictly modern with your car in regards to exterior styling and have it work. Be sure to check out some of our other Bolt-on Build-ups for the 2011 and up GT, where we really crank up the performance and improve our acceleration and handling.

Hey, I'm Justin with americanmuscle.com. This is our Acceleration Pack Bolt-On Build-Up for all 2011 and newer Mustang GTs. This pack contains a simple two mod approach that should help us accomplish one goal, to get our GT off the line much faster. So by addressing our gearing and our grip we're not only gonna help our GT hook up much better both on the street and at the track, but we should also be on our way to some much improved 0 to 60 times. Now, before we get dirty, we need to grab a quick baseline 0 to 60 run just to see where our automatic GT stands now.

To help us with our baseline 0 to 60 time, we're gonna use the iTSX wireless tuner and my iPhone which should give us a good idea on where the car stands now. So we got the program cued up, hit Start, here we go.

All right. Looks like we just clicked off a 4.30 to 60 run for our baseline time. With that out of the way, let's get the car back in the shop and get to work on our acceleration pack.

Let's get in on the first part of our pack which would be our gearing. Now, our automatic 2011 GT came equipped with a 315 rear from the factory which is great for cruising and all but this is an acceleration pack and not a cruising pack. So those 315's got the boot in favor of Ford Racings for 10 years which should really help our car fly off the line. Now the best part is, we shouldn't see too big of a hit on our fuel economy, thanks to the awesome six-speed automatic trans which will allow the car to cruise on the highway without breaking a sweat. That is, of course, if you can stay off the throttle.

Now, having all that gearing and power won't mean much if we can't transfer it to the pavement. So to help us hook, we went with BBK's rear lower control arms. Now hot-rodders have been using a variation of these box-style arms for decades to help improve traction and reduce wheel hop. Now these arms from BBK actually improve on a timeless design thanks to the high-performance polyurethane bushings that are greasable. It's only gonna prolong life of the bushing itself. Now, this fact, paired alongside the powder-coated durable steel construction will make for a package that not only performs great but will remain looking good for years to come.

So there you have it. We didn't go crazy with this pack because honestly, we're betting the two parts that we did add will make a considerable difference versus our baseline setup. So with that said, we're gonna get our car out of the shop and do another blast to 60 and see if our keep-it-simple method paid off.

All right. It looks like we just clicked off a 3.90 to 60 run with the Acceleration Pack installed. That's a great improvement over our baseline times. Now, granted we did have a little wheel spin coming out of the hole, but honestly, it hooked a lot harder this time around. Those gears are really moving this GT off the line like a freight train. So overall, I'd say the Acceleration Pack was a definite success here on our GT.

Hey, we got some other great Bolt-On Build-Ups as well for the 2011 and up GT where we work on our appearance and tweak our handling. Check them out.

Hey, I'm Justin with americanmuscle.com, and this is our handling pack bolt-on build-up for all 2011 and newer Mustang GTs.

These new Coyote Mustangs are a far cry from previous generations in many ways, but specifically in regard to both performance and handling. In fact, several reputable automobile publications have tested these cars to be on pace with other European and Japanese sports cars at nearly twice the price of the Mustang. Not too shabby for a live axle car, huh? So, why mess with the handling then? Well, because we can make it better. And since Ford already gave us such a great platform to start with, it shouldn't take much to get our car to the next level. So, with that said, let's check out the three parts in our handling pack.

First up, we installed Eibach's anti-roll sway bar kit. Now, again, from the factory, our GT came with a pretty decent setup, but it was more of a balance of comfort and handling performance. This kit from Eibach upgrades our factory 24-millimeter rear bar to a larger 25-millimeter bar, then also upgrades the front 34.5-millimeter bar to a three-way adjustable 36-millimeter bar. The adjustability of that front bar is going to really allow the driver to dial in their optimal settings to better fit their driving style. Now, finally, these sway bars are going to be vital in reducing any excess body roll the car possesses in stock form, which will really give the driver much more confidence on the road and in turns.

To further help strengthen our chassis, we installed this SR Performance black strut tower brace. Now, we enjoy using this part on a lot of our builds for a number of reasons. It's easy to install, it looks great under the hood, and it's going to further help reduce our suspension flex. It's a win-win mod that just so happens to be easy on your wallet.

Finally, we threw on a set of these SR Performance lowering springs, which, as you might have guessed, lowered our Coyote an inch and a half on all four corners. Now, the lower center of gravity and stiffer spring rates will no doubt improve our handling, and when paired with Eibach's anti-roll sway bar kit, should make for a firmer, sportier ride without being uncomfortable or offensive. Now, as you can see, lowering our car certainly improved our stance, as well, by getting rid of that ugly wheel gap.

We kept our build simple by using only three basic parts that should take our already great-handling Coyote to the next level. With that said, let's get our GT out of the shop and see if we succeeded.

All right. So, we're out on the road in our 2011 GT with the handling pack installed, of course, and immediately, the car feels great. It feels much firmer than before, but like I said, not in an offensive way. It's not uncomfortable. It just feels more sporty now. Things feel a lot tighter. The car, overall, feels more solid, just cruising down the road. Even just a couple of short jerks of the wheel here, I mean, lane changes at high speeds now are definitely going to be improved.

But let's put these things to the test. We've got a hard left-hander coming up. Let's see how she does. A little bit of brake dive coming into the turn, point it, stomp on it, and it goes. Man, the body roll has definitely been reduced, thanks to those Eibach sway bars. The front end feels a little tighter as well, thanks to the SR Performance strut tower brace. And again, the springs just make the car feel more nimble. I mean, let's face it, this is a big car. Big right-hand turn coming up. Boom, no problem whatsoever.

As I was saying, this is a big car, man. It's a heavy car, but it doesn't feel like it's lumbering through the turns anymore. It actually feels a lot lighter and a lot more nimble than it probably actually is. Overall, I'd say job well done with us here in our handling pack.

So, that wraps it up. Be sure to check out some of our other bolt-on build-ups for the 2011 and newer GT, where we make our car look a little better and really crank up the performance.