1994-1998 GT Mustang Bolt-On Build-Ups

Hey, I'm Justin with AmericanMuscle.com and this is our Acceleration Pack Bolt-on Build-Up for all '94 to '98 Mustang GTs. Acceleration is the sum of a couple of different parts, power, gearing, grip, and of course, driver. And that's what we're gonna be addressing here with our '98 GT and our Acceleration Pack with one exception, the driver.

Now, the parts we have lined up will not only help the car accelerate faster but it's also gonna help me, the driver, get the car out of the hole and through the gears as quickly as possible. Now, before we go nuts and bolt and everything up, let's get our GT out of the shop and do a quick 0 to 60 run just to see where the car stands now.

Now before we bolt everything up, we want to get a quick baseline 0 to 60 rundown just to see where the car stands now. We're gonna do this using my wireless ITSX tuner and the help of my iPhone. It should give us a good idea where we stand, so hit start. All right, it looks like we just clicked off a 7-second flat 0 to 60 run here with our '98 GT which isn't too bad but honestly, we can do better. So we're gonna get the car back in the shop, talk a little bit more about what we have in store here for our '98, and then get it installed.

Now when you think of all-out acceleration, what's one of the first parts that come to mind? Well, if you answered gears, then you're right on the money at least here with our bill. We will want a set of Ford Racing 4.10 gears. And why not? Since we're looking for maximum acceleration while still maintaining great street ability. Now from the factory, SN95s came equipped with anything from a 2.73 ratio all the way to a 3.27. So making the big step up to a set of 4.10s is really gonna be the shot-in-the-arm our GT needed to get out of the hole and on its way to faster acceleration.

The next three parts all revolve around our shifting experience and getting that power down to the ground. First up, we went with Exedy's Mach 350 stage 1 clutch. Now this clutch is more than capable of handling the power our GT is putting out now and we have room to grow just in case we wanna experiment with nitrous or different power adders down the road.

This next part may not be as important as our gears per se when it comes to all-out acceleration but it's just as important, especially on our older car here. I'm referring to this clutch adjuster kit. Now besides offering a full range of adjustment for your factory clutch pedal engagement, it's also gonna beef up a weak link in your factory clutch cable. Namely, that cheap plastic factory clutch quadrant. Now this plastic part has been known to flex or even break under hard shifts and we all know there's no better way to kill your acceleration than a miss shift. By replacing those cheap plastic parts with these hardcore, built-up pieces and tossing in a brand new clutch cable, we're halfway on our way to a better shifting experiencing.

The second part of that equation should be pretty obvious to just about any SN95 owner. We replaced our factory school bus power shifter here in our SN95 with this short throw unit from SR Performance. Now, not only will this reduce our throws by about 30% to 40%, but it's also gonna clean up the entire shifting experience, taking all the sloppiness out of our stock shifter which is gonna make it a lot easier for me to bang through the gears when we're doing a hard pull. All these for a price that's very hard to beat.

With our quick shift goodies in place, the grip of the clutch, and those gears, we should be well on our way to some lower ETs off the line. And I guess there's really only one way to find out, so let's get our GT out of the shop one more time, do another blast to 60, and see if we've improved our times.

All right. So it looks like we just clicked off a 6.3 0-to-60 run with our acceleration pack installed. That's nearly a full second difference over our baseline times and it just proved our acceleration pack is doing a great job. I mean, the clutch was grabbing hard off the line and we're really rolling through those gears with the SR Performance shifter. So that wraps it up here with our acceleration pack for the '94 to '98 GT. Be sure to check out some of our other Bolt-on Build-ups as well where we work on our appearance and our handling.

Hey, I'm Justin with AmericanMuscle.com, and this is our Appearance Bolt-On Build-Up for all '94-'98 Mustang GTs. Now, as you can see, we really raised the bar in regards to our exterior styling, with our Grabber Blue SN95 here. We were able to do this using 15 or so different appearance parts that just about anybody can bolt up in the comforts of their own driveway or garage. Now, with the exception of these headlights, a majority of the parts used in our Appearance Pack stay true to the Mustang bloodlines. Take for instance our Cobra R-style hood, Saleen Style spoiler, Bullitt wheels, and Bullitt fuel door.

Now that's just the tip of the iceberg. What do you say we take a closer look at some of the other parts used in our build that really separated our GT from being just another Mustang build? For starters, we really went to town with our AmericanMuscle Graphics, and why not? Since they're made right here in house. First up, we installed these matte black rocker stripes, which will give our GT a touch of heritage style. In addition, to further help tone down the brightness of our Grabber Blue paint, we decided to tint just about every light we could, using some of our AmericanMuscle Graphics tint. This includes our quarter marker lights, our third brake light, and also our tail lights as well.

Now, using our AmericanMuscle Graphics tint is full of benefits. For one, it's very easy to install. It's also gonna be pretty easy on your wallet, and I think we can all agree, it really helps turn up the aggressive styling on our GT. A final piece of that AmericanMuscle Graphic can be found right here, with our black rear lower valance panel, which is working nicely with our black bumper insert letters. Now, these insert letters are a subtle addition to the rear bumper and fill the void perfectly. Now, these letters are made from 100% stainless steel, which is gonna offer you quality, along with durability, and of course, that black finish was a no-brainer on our build. These are a must-have for sure on any SN95.

We have a couple of Raxiom products spread around the car, two of which can be found right here in the tail lights. Now we, much like many other Mustang enthusiasts, love sequential tail lights. So we installed Raxiom's Plug-n-Play Sequential Tail Light Kit, along with their turn signal modifier. Now, this slows the light pattern down, and really allows the entire package to shine. Moving on to the side of the car, it's pretty obvious where I'm going next. Nothing says AmericanMuscle more than a set of Staggered Bullitt Wheels, and that's exactly what we have going on here. We were able to shove a massive 18x10 in the rear, along with 18x9s up front, all sporting some new rubber from Sumitomo, which should really help our grip, along with our looks, thanks to that black and polished lip combination.

Wrapping things up on the front of the car, you'll see a very popular mod with this Mach 1 style chin spoiler. Now, this spoiler really finishes off the front of the car, and gives the illusion that the car itself is actually a little lower to the ground. Finally, we have one more product from Raxiom, I'm referring to their Smoke Projector Halo Headlights. Now, these are probably the most radical part we've included in our build in regards to modern styling. Now, they feature the very cool Halo accent lighting, which is certainly unique to say the least. So what did we accomplish with our build? Well, we blacked just about everything out, we added parts with some classic Mustang DNA, and threw in some modern styling, just to mix it all up.

The end result, in my opinion, is understated and over the top at the same time, and what I mean by that is, look at any one area of the car, take the rear end, for instance. We have the spoiler, the tail lights, the fuel door. All these parts have been modified, but they don't scream parts catalog. That's because they all work so well together that, to the untrained eye, could be mistaken as factory additions. So, that wraps up our build with the '98 GT here. Be sure to check out some of our other '94-'98 Bolt-On Build-Ups, where we get our handling in check, and crank up the power.

Hey, I'm Justin with AmericanMuscle.com, and this is our Handling Pack Bolt-On Build-Up for all '94 to '98 Mustang GTs. Now, if you've been following our Bolt-On Build-Up, or you're just a Mustang fan in general, then you're probably already aware of a couple reoccurring themes. In stock form, these cars look great and have enough power to keep people happy for the most part. However, they just don't handle well. Now, a lot of that has changed with the addition of the newer Mustangs, which are now on par handling-wise with some sports cars nearly twice the price of the Mustang. But, as you can see, this is not a new Mustang, and our SN95 needed some serious help. So, we installed four different parts that will not only help our handling, but it's also gonna help make the car feel more solid overall. So, what do you say we check them out?

First up, we want to strengthen the overall structural integrity with our GT, so we decided to install these SR Performance full length subframe connectors. Now, these are a very popular unibody mod and will help keep chassis flex to a minimum, in turns and on hard launches. We did opt for the weld-in version which did require a little bit more work, but they're gonna be much stronger than other bolt-in options, and it'll be far less expensive.

Moving onto the cornerstone of any handling build, let's take a closer look at our suspension. Now, we were attempting to keep the cost down with this build and our factory shocks and struts are in great shape. So, we decided to install these SR Performance lowering springs onto our existing setup. Now, I know some of you may not agree with that, and generally I would agree with you. However, our '98 GT is extremely low mileage and these springs offer a very mild drop of only 1.5 inches on all four corners, so our factory shocks and struts should be able to handle the job with ease.

Now, besides lowering our center of gravity, which is gonna improve our handling, we've also eliminated some wheel gap, which is gonna improve our stance. Finally, these spring rates are only slightly more aggressive than your factory spring rates, so don't expect the ride to be bouncy or harsh at all. With that out of the way, let's check out our final two parts in the front of the car.

When you tweak your suspension or your ride height, typically your alignment gets thrown out of whack. Now, depending on how radical your new suspension setup is, your factory parts may not give you enough adjustability to get everything back into spec. And that's when you'll need to look into something like this. We installed a set of these SR Performance caster/camber plates that will give us enough adjustability to properly dial in both our caster and our camber, which will make for better handling and even tire wear. Finally, we decided to add a little bling to our suspension build with the addition of this SR Performance chrome strut tower brace. Now, there's more to this bar than just good looks. It's really gonna help tie in the rest of our suspension mods and further help us reduce our chassis flex.

All right. So, now that you know what we installed, what do you say we hit the road in our '98 GT to see if we succeeded in improving our handling. 

All right. So, we got our '98 GT out of the shop and we found some nice country roads with a bunch of turns. So, here comes our first one. I'm gonna approach it with some caution. We don't really know how the car's gonna react yet. So, little left-hander here. Not bad. The car feels really firm with those SR Performance springs, and the center of gravity lowered. I'm gonna push the car a little harder on this next turn. We got a nice big left-hander coming up, so all right. Floor it through the turn. Oh man, the car reacts so well now. Much more predictable. The chassis itself just feels much more rigid as well. I mean, we've got our SR Performance subframe connectors working with the SR Performance strut tower brace to really firm everything up. Another long sweeping right-hander, kind of cut it hard, got the back end a little happy on that one, but that's all right. It's a lot of fun. I mean, the car feels like a totally different animal now. We got the SR Performance caster/camber plates, no hands on the wheel. I know it's a little dangerous, but just to show you we got a nice fresh alignment. The car tracks straight and we're not gonna be chewing up our tires. 

I'm having a blast, man. I'm gonna go look for some more turns. But in the meantime, that wraps up our handling pack with our '98 GT here. Be sure to check out some of our other Bolt-On Build-Ups as well for the '94 to '98 GT when we work on our appearance and improve our performance.

Hey, I'm Justin with AmericanMuscle.com, and this is our Powerpack Bolt-On Build-Up for all '94 to '98 Mustang GTs. Now, before we get started, we're well aware of the fact that the '94 and '95 GTs came equipped with the 5.0 motor before eventually being replaced by the modular 4.6 in 1996. So with that said, all the parts used here in our '98 today will not apply to those earlier years, but the idea remains the same, to increase the power. So, that's why we put together a pack of parts that should help our GT breathe a lot easier, in turn making for some more horsepower and torque, and all will make it one mean exhaust note. Now, before we get started on our car, we need to grab a quick baseline number, and then hand it over to the crew to get everything installed.

Justin: Hey, Mike. Looks like the guys just finished up working on the car here. You wanna walk us through a few of these mods?

Mike: Absolutely.

Justin: Well, I know we have a trio of parts from SR Performance under the hood, starting with their cold air intake system. What's up with that?

Mike: It's a very budget-friendly piece and it's gonna give us an increase in airflow we're looking for, which can equate to more horsepower.

Justin: And speaking of increased airflow, we also went with a 70-millimeter throttle body as well as that upper intake plenum from SR Performance. Now, these are big two-valve mods. Why are they so important?

Mike: Again, more airflow is gonna equate to more horsepower. You could put a larger throttle body on with a stock plenum, but you're not taking full effect of that larger opening. Put the throttle body on along with the Plenum, you get the total package.

Justin: Well, it looks like we definitely took care of the intake side of things. As for the exhaust, I know we went with Pypes Off-Road X-pipe along with their Violator Series Catback. Now, besides really cranking up the volume on our 4.6 liter, what are some of the other benefits?

Mike: Well, we're definitely getting a louder exhaust note because we deleted the catalytic converters. Besides the louder sound, we're gonna increase the airflow by not going with the factory restrictive size exhaust pipe, and out back, those 3.5-inch chrome tips are really gonna look good on the bumper.

Justin: Absolutely, man. Now Mike, I know we tweaked a lot of stuff here on our little two-valve motor. It's gonna be seeing a lot more air than it did before. Do we need a tune with these mods?

Mike: These parts don't necessarily require a tune, but we're gonna put on one of our Bama Performance Tunes to modify the fuel, the spark, speed limiters, rev limiters, and the cooling fan temps to help make this the total package.

Justin: Well, I can't wait to see what this combination's gonna put down. You ready to make another pull?

Mike: Absolutely. Let's do it.

Justin: Okay. So, our baseline run with our '98 GT gave us 185 horsepower and 252 foot-pounds of torque. With our Powerpack installed, we were able to put down 210 horsepower and 283 foot-pounds of torque, making for a peak horsepower gain of 25 over our baseline numbers, and gains of 26 horsepower and 34 foot-pounds of torque throughout the curve. Well, now that we have the numbers we're looking for, I think it's time to get our GT off of the dyno and out onto the streets so we can have a little fun with some of that newfound power. And honestly, I'm pretty excited to hear that Pypes combination in action.

All right. So, we're out on the road here in our '98 GT with the Powerpack installed, and I just want you to listen to how sweet that exhaust sounds, man. Then, I'm gonna wrap it up for you real quick. That sounds incredible. I've driven a lot of Mustangs, don't get me wrong. I mean, that's my job. And quite honestly, this is probably one of the better sounding setups I've heard in a long time, man. It doesn't sound raspy at all. I mean, you're getting rid of the cats, usually it's a rasp machine. But, this thing sounds amazing. But, enough with the sound already. 

This is a Powerpack so let's see how we feel when we actually get into it a little bit, shall we? Wind second out a little bit. The car definitely pulls a lot harder in the upper RPM range, and a lot of that could be attributed to how well we're making the car breathe now. I mean, we've got everything working for us, from the intake all the way back to the exhaust. This thing has definitely flown a lot more air, and it shows whenever you get on the throttle. 

All in all, I think the Powerpack is a success here in our '98 GT. We made a bunch of power, and that exhaust note says it all, man. That wraps it up, so be sure to check out some of our other Bolt-On Build-Ups for the '94 to '98 GT, where we work on our appearance a little bit and make our car handle like it's on rails.