Part 1 of 2 on our Steeda G/Trac Suspension for the Mustang S550.
Part 1: Get a Grip!
You're traveling at great rates of speed, Things are humming a long great and then a dreaded hairpin corner comes into view. Do you panic? Nope. You just swing out slightly, double apex the corner with amazing smoothness and then get back hard on the throttle relegating the competition to a mere dot in the rear view mirror. The newest Mustangs are awesome in many ways, but there are a number of things you can do to make them handle even better, and best of all, you don't have to give up ride comfort.
Getting big power to the ground regardless of the curviness of the road can be truly frustrating especially when drivetrain upgrades are added to the mix. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on the front suspension upgrades and follow up with a secondary article on the rear suspension in the very near future.
Steeda Suspension offers packages for the 2015-2019 Mustang GT and EcoBoost vehicles. These kits come in two flavors: one for those vehicles with the original OE Performance Pack option and for those without. Once installed, both Steeda equipped kits ultimately deliver a similar level of handling performance.
Our subject vehicle was this 2018 Mustang GT that was previous upgraded with a brand new Vortech supercharger system. With all that added power it was time to make sure the power reached the road in a way that was efficient yet comfortable for this daily driver. Photo: Mustang360.com
Much of the improved handling centers around Steeda's use of progressive rate springs. What that means is that for regular driving, the spring rate is fairly soft but when compressed through the application of increased cornering G's, it engages the higher rate portions of the spring for increased "push back" to control roll and squat. That means that while you'll have the potential for high rates of spring pressure when carving a high-speed corner, you won't have to worry about the comfort of your passengers when taking long trips.
As our 2018 Mustang did not include the factory Power Pack option, we ordered up the appropriate Steeda S550 Mustang GT handling kit that included the front and rear progressive springs (the front springs range in rate from 220 lb/in but to 350 lb/in and the rears from 800 lb/in to 1,200 lb/in), non-adjustable front struts and rear shocks, adjustable rear toe links, front camber plates along with the front and rear sway bars.
For some Mustang owners, this level maybe more than enough to achieve a heightened performance suspension experience. For others, they will need a bit more. It should be noted that this kit lowers the front end 1.125-inches over stock height and 1-inch in the rear, to the benefit of front-end aerodynamics and lower roll center/center of gravity.
Because we were looking to do some serious autocross along with limited "big track" driving, we opted for the next steps in Steeda suspension upgrades, which meant the addition of the subframe alignment and support kit, the ultimate "stop the hop" kit, the strut tower brace, Ultralite 2-Point G-Trac brace and rear camber adjustment kit. Each of these parts worked in tandem to improve the handling and acceleration-from-stop performance. Again, for this article we are only dealing with the front suspension upgrades, but as you can see, there are some big plans for the rear as well.
Read the whole story and see the entire installation by Clicking Here to Mustang360.com.
Steeda Part list (Front suspension only)
- 555-8210 - 2015-2019 Steeda Mustang Front Sport Springs - Progressive
- 555-1015 - 2015-2019 Steeda Mustang Front Sway Bar
- 555-8139 - 2015-2019 Steeda S550 Mustang Camber Plates
- FR3Z-18124K - 2015-2019 Ford Performance Pack Front Struts
- 555-5533 - 2015-2019 Steeda Mustang Ultralight 2-Point G-Trac Brace
- 555-5731 - 2015-2019 Steeda Mustang Strut Tower Brace
More information on Steeda Autosports performance parts can be located at www.steeda.com and vehicle specific information can be found on www.steedavehicles.com.