Top 6 Mods For 2011-2014 Mustangs: GT and V6

For starters, any Mustang owner can appreciate a brand new set of wheels to set their ride apart from the rest. Not only can wheels give your Mustang a unique look, but with some new rubber they can give it better traction. New wheels on your Mustang can really change the overall styling of the car, giving it a more intimidating look with a staggered fitment or a more classic one with some chrome mags.

A personal favorite, as well as a top seller on AmericanMuscle, is the AMR Charcoal Wheels that will fit all 05 – 14 Mustangs. They come in a variety of finishes and sizes which give you a wide array of options for different tire setups. Whether you are looking for traction or for styling, the AMR wheels are sure to satisfy your needs.

For the manual Mustang owners out there, getting rid of the stock factory shifter is high on the list of priorities. The stock shifter has long shifts and can sometimes leave you questioning what gear you are in. To remedy this, an aftermarket shifter for your manual transmission like the one offered by Barton Industries is an excellent solution for your shifting problems. Barton Industries Short Shifter offers your Mustang 40% shorter shifts and is crafted in billet aluminum and stainless steel. V6 and GT folks alike can benefit from this amazing shifter.

One of the most rewarding modifications is getting rid of the factory exhaust and upgrading it to something louder. The stock Mustang exhaust just doesn’t cut it for enthusiasts so going with an aftermarket exhaust from AmericanMuscle is a great way to give your Mustang a unique sound and will really bring the whole car to life.

There are many benefits of upgrading the exhaust system on your Mustang which can include:

-Improved, more aggressive exhaust tone
-Better flowing/scavenging of exhaust gases
-Added Horsepower and Torque
-Weight reduction
-Cleaned up look

Depending what your vision is for your Mustang, there are many different ways to approach how you upgrade the exhaust system. It can be something as simple of upgrading the Axle-Back exhaust, to upgrading the factory Mid-Pipe, upgrading the factory Shorty Headers to a set of Long Tube Headers, or going all out and doing a complete exhaust system. The tricky part is figuring out what is right for you and your Mustang, but no matter what, by upgrading the stock exhaust system you are taking a step in the right direction.

A great inexpensive option for GT owners that is a great place to start is the Flowmaster Outlaw Series Axle-Back. Flowmaster has been a longstanding go-to option for Mustangs across many platforms and continues to be a favorite for the S197 crowd.

The Outlaw Axle-Back provides an incredibly aggressive tone, that can be heard for some distance. You do not need to retune your Mustang’s computer and it is a very simple install.

For V6 owners who want to improve the sound of their Mustang, look no further than the Pypes Pype-Bomb Axle-Back. Crafted out of high-quality 304 Stainless Steel with 4″ tips, this Pypes exhaust offers up an aggressive exhaust note by deleting the muffler and replacing them with resonator tips.

To go a step deeper, you can upgrade your factory Mid-Pipe. Stock, your Mustang has an H-Pipe design which is not the most ideal for having your exhaust flow freely. A common modification that yields and improved sound and picks up a few horsepower is upgrading to an aftermarket X-Pipe. A great option worth considering is the Magnaflow Offroad Tru-X X-Pipe. It has high-quality stainless steel construction and offers unrestricted airflow for your exhaust gases.

If you are looking to go all out and have a beautifully loud mustang as well as pick up some more power by allowing the exhaust to be more free-flowing, then you may want to consider a set of long tube headers. From the factory, your Mustang comes with heavy and inefficient cast iron Shorty Headers. By upgrading to a set of Long Tube Headers you not only shave off some weight in the nose, but you also make it easier for your Mustang to breathe, which in turn adds power and makes your Mustang sound like a beast.

Stainless Works Long Tube Headers with a Catted X pipe give your Mustang undeniable auditory dominance. Stainless Works Long Tube Headers and Catted X pipe replace the factory headers, catalytic converters, and mid-pipe with a high quality 304 Stainless Steel which reduces the overall weight of your Mustang and allows the engine to breathe easier, which in turn makes more power.

For the V6 owners, a great part that will provide a much more aggressive exhaust note, as well as great performance gains, are the BBK Chrome Long Tube Headers. These are the same headers we used on our project car and saw some great gains with them, plus an improved exhaust tone.

One of the best and easiest ways to make more power with your Mustang is by ditching the factory air box and upgrading to a Cold Air Intake (CAI). A CAI will improve how Mustang breathes and bring down intake temperatures and when paired with a tune, make a good amount more power over your stock air box. In many ways, a CAI is a great first mod for any Mustang owner because they are reasonably priced, installs are relatively easy since it can be done in a driveway, and you can see great performance gains either at the track or on the street.

A Cold Air Intake that every Mustang Enthusiast should consider is the Airaid Cold Air Intake. The Airaid intake will not only net you 11HP and 11TQ, but it will also improve gas mileage. The Airaid Cold Air Intake features high-quality air filtering through washable and reusable air filters. The best part is, it does not require your car to be retuned!

Airaid also offers V6 owners the same luxury with their Airaid V6 Cold Air Intake. Not only will you see better fuel economy, but also gains of 13HP and 15TQ. Just like the GT version, you get improved air filtration with reusable filters, but you also do not have to retune your Mustang.

A great way to really change up your Mustang driving experience is to buy a handheld tuner for your Mustang. A handheld tuner with preloaded tunes can make your Mustang feel like a whole new car. A handheld tuner we, as well as a majority of Mustang enthusiast, endorse is the Bama SF4/X4 Power Flash Tuner. When you order the SF4/X4, it comes preloaded with three tunes already on it, created for different types of driving styles as well as free tunes for life.

American Muscle is fortunate enough to work with one of the best tuning companies in the business, Bama Performance. Bama writes all of our tunes and delivers incredible results to customers that are tailored specifically for your Mustang. This isn’t just some canned tune that is written for a wide range of Mustangs, it is written only for you. Bama tunes deliver dyno proven results of 31 RWHP and 37 ft-lb Torque by improving air/fuel ratio, throttle response, and optimizing variable cam timing.

The Bama SF4/X4 tuner offers a slew of new features that range from a larger color screen, built-in WiFi, on-screen data logging and more.

A Bama handheld tuner is a must-have part for any Mustang owner; whether you have a GT or a V6 it can arguably be one of the best mods you purchase.

Changing the final gear ratio in your Mustang really turns your Stang into the red-light-ripper it was meant to be. The gearing ratio dictates how much work or how many revolutions your engine needs to make to get up to certain speeds. A lot of Mustangs come standard with a gear ratio 3.31 or 3.55 unless you opted for the track package of 3.73. By switching to something like a 4.10 ratio you can drastically improve acceleration times as opposed to a 3.31 or 3.55 ratio; the higher the number, the faster the acceleration.

The 4.10 gear ratio from Ford Racing comes with everything you will need to install these gears into your car and deliver you great performance on the street or on the strip, while not ruining drive-ability. You will need to correct your speedometer with either a handheld tuner like the one mentioned above or with a speed calibration device.

The parts listed above are a great way to get started on the right path to modifying your Mustang. The aftermarket Mustang parts’ world is a large one and can be easy to get lost in; it is hard finding a place to start and where to go. While each build is individual to the owner, there are some tried and true mods to get you started like the ones listed above. The real question that every Mustang owner finds themselves asking is, “What’s next?”