By According to SEMA, 45% of Mustang owners modify their vehicles. Ford recently celebrated the production of their ten-millionth Mustang– that’s a lot of custom ponies. It’s a fantastic platform with tons of different customization options, and at Motoroso we’ve got over ten thousand different accessories and parts for you to make your 2015+ Ford Mustang GT yours. Whether you’ve got a 10 speed automatic GT premium or a 6-speed manual transmission base model fastback, there are plenty of options to take your S550 from stock to wild. Here are a few we love!
1. Exhaust System
The Coyote 5.0 is one of the best sounding V8 engines ever produced. That being said, the stock exhaust keeps it relatively muffled. The first step in changing your Mustang from tame to mild or wild is an aftermarket exhaust system.
There are a few different types of exhaust systems available: there are axle-back systems which effectively just replace the mufflers of your stock system; there are cat-back exhausts which replace your factory resonators as well, and bolt onto the catalytic converters; last but not least, there is a header-back system, which replaces everything behind the stock exhaust manifolds.
On our 5.0L Mustang we have a 3” stainless steel exhaust system made by Gibson. It has an X-pipe design and black mufflers and exhaust tips, and we think that it’s one of the best values on the market for construction quality and sound. You can shop for the Gibson 619013-B HERE:
Here’s a few others we like:
– Magnaflow 19256 Competition Series Cat-Back Exhaust 2.5″ with Y-Pipe for 2015+ Mustang GT
– Magnaflow 19254 Competition Series Cat-Back Exhaust 3″ with X-Pipe for 2015+ Mustang GT
– Borla ATAK 140630BC Cat-Back 3″ Exhaust for 2015-2017 Mustang GT
– Corsa Performance 14337 Sport Cat-Back 3″ Exhaust System for 2015-18 Mustang GT
2. Cold Air Intake
A free flowing exhaust is a great way to get hot gases out of your engine, but what about getting air in? A cold air intake replaces your factory airbox with a high performance filter and redesigned intake tubing to maximize the flow of cool air from the outside of your car into the combustion chamber. Not only does a cold air intake help increase performance, but it can also give you a bit of an edge on fuel economy, and opens up your intake for even better engine sound.
The Motoroso Mustang uses an intake that came with its supercharger kit, which is another fun thing to think about if you’re looking for more power. If you want to stay naturally aspirated, we recommend the aFe Power Momentum GT Pro 5R intake system . It boasts a 15-hp and 24-lb-ft increase in power over the stock system, especially when combined with an aftermarket exhaust.
Here’s a few options we really like:
– BBK 18475 Power Plus Intake for 2015+ Mustang GT
– Mishimoto Mustang GT Intake
– Mishimoto Mustang EcoBoost Performance Intake
3. Independent Rear Suspension
For nearly half a century, Mustangs used a solid rear axle, which meant that the rear wheels were linked in a straight line across the center of the car. For 2015, Ford blessed the Mustang with independent suspension, where each wheel can move freely up and down without jerking around its friend on the other side of the car. While this has already done worlds of good for the S550’s handling, the aftermarket is there to help your Mustang go the extra mile.
Lowering springs are a good start. They can lower the car’s center of gravity, and stiffen the ride to help with body roll around corners– and they look cool. However, this still leaves you with stock suspension dampers, meaning you’ll still have zero adjustability. Combining lowering springs with aftermarket shocks is the logical next step, but the best change after lowering springs is actually to replace the entire set with coilover suspension.
With a coilover setup, you not only get better spring rates, but also full adjustability over things like spring preload, compression and rebound damping, and even the ride height. Name-brand coilover kits for the S550 run anywhere between $1000 and $3500, so they’re not cheap. Still, they are the best available upgrade for suspension on your Mustang.
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4. Sway Bars
Whether or not you go with coilover suspension, sway bars are another good upgrade for your vehicle. When a car goes around a corner, forces pull the body away from the apex of the turn. This is called body roll, and in addition to pulling the outside tires down into the pavement, it pulls the inside tires up, lessening their contact with the road. This can induce oversteer, and in serious cases, cause the vehicle to spin out. Sway bars work as a lateral brace between the left and right side of a car. The front and rear swaybars attach via links to the wheel hubs, and use torsional stiffness to keep the vehicle as close to level over its axles as possible, with the outside wheels effectively forcing the body and the inside wheels back down towards the ground.
Sway bars for the S550 Mustang are very available, and we suggest the Whiteline BFK006 Sway Bar Kit. It comes with front and rear sway bars, adjustable clamp locks, and adjustable end links for each one. Not only will this help keep your Mustang more planted around corners, but thanks to its adjustability you can keep your Mustang as loose or as tight as you want on the road.
5. Brakes
With intake, exhaust, and suspension figured out, you’re going to want to figure out how to stop all that power. The Mustang GT and the Ecoboost have an optional GT performance package, which includes larger front and rear rotors and calipers. If you’ve got that on your car, you’re already fairly well set up, but you may want to consider a set of higher end pads that can handle higher heat for longer periods of time.
If you don’t have the Track Pack, take a look at rotor and pad upgrade kits. Companies like EBC, StopTech, and Power Stop make sets of brake rotors and pads that can help your Mustang stop not only faster, but safer; thanks to drilled and slotted rotors and different pad compounds from stock, your new brakes can last longer without fade and stop harder without locking up.
If you’re thinking about track days, you should really think about a big brake kit. Companies like Wilwood, Baer, and Brembo offer replacement calipers, rotors, and pads that up the size of your pistons and rotors compared to stock. These kits are a little pricier, but they can clamp down and stop much faster than stock. Combining a big brake kit with replacement stainless steel brake lines gives you better pedal feel, smoother and quicker engagement, and the best possible brake upgrade for your Mustang.
6. Tuning
Taking your car to a speed shop with a dyno to get it tuned will always be the best solution for sorting out air/fuel ratios. However, that’s expensive, and not everyone lives down the street from a mechanic with all of the necessary hardware. The best thing short of that is a tuning module from a place like SCT or Diablosport. These plug-and-play devices allow you to download custom engine maps for your particular application, and allow you to eke out an additional 5-15% more power, depending on your supporting modifications.
7. Shifting
Everyone wants to feel like they’re driving a racecar. Unfortunately, you’re pretty far from that in a stock Mustang: with the 6-speed manual, it can feel a little more like you’re driving a tractor than a sports car. Fortunately, short-throw shifters can solve that problem pretty handily! These upgraded shift linkages tighten the connection between the shifter in your hand and the transmission down below, giving you faster, snappier shifts. Additionally, if you opted for one of the later models with a 10-speed automatic, some tuning companies make revised maps for those transmissions that can make it feel like you’re pulling the paddle shifters in a real GT racecar rather than your daily driver.
8. Wheels and Tires
The standard wheels on an S550 Mustang have quite frankly awful fitment. They sit pretty significantly inside the fenders, and only fit 235mm cross-section tires. A nice set of aftermarket wheels will push the edges to right along or even just outside the fenders, giving you a nice, flush look; additionally, pushing out that extra way adds more room for bigger tires!
Tires are super important– arguably, they are more important than anything else on this list. If you don’t have good tires, you won’t be able to put the power down, and you won’t be able to stick to the road. R-compounds and slicks might be a little pricey, but even a good max-performance summer tire is a significant upgrade over off-the-lot all-season tires.
9. Lighting
Everyone drives at night, and with your new performance mods, you may even be driving a little faster. Safety is always of the utmost importance, and aftermarket lighting is a great way to make sure you can see everything and everyone else can see you. An LED lighting upgrade is one of the best ways to make sure you don’t put your Mustang into a ditch or into a crowd of bystanders.
10. Forced Induction
Spinny bois. Snails. Woosh machines. Blowers. Turbochargers and superchargers go by many names, but under any of them they still provide the same benefit: making your car fast. It’s not really fair to call forced induction a must-have mod because they are expensive, but they are the end-all-be-all in making your 5.0 move. Superchargers in particular are bolt-on upgrades for the Coyote V8 engine, and some of them are even 50-state legal. Make your muscle car even more brawny with a setup from Roush, Eaton, or Whipple.
The Motoroso Mustang uses a Roush Phase 1 kit, offering a bump from the stock 460 horsepower to over six hundred and fifty horses– and that’s a bolt on kit! It includes a supercharger (obviously), custom intake system, a 60mm throttle body, an 85mm boost pulley, and all the fun stuff that makes that much power safe.
That wraps up our list of cool stuff for the S550. Mustangs are great cars both on the road and the track, and we hope you’re enjoying yours. Visit the Motoroso Marketplace to find the right parts for your 2015+ Mustang build, whether it’s going to be a street cruiser or a track monster!
