So I come from the 96-04 world where stiffer lowering springs that were handling biased, pretty much meant you lost .1 in the 60'; but the car didn't handle like a minivan anymore. The only solution was somewhat soft coilovers which helped body roll a lot, and didn't sacrifice launches. My 04 mach was in the high 1.5s low 1.6s fairly consistent, with front coilovers and rear stock (stiffest short of H&R race) springs.
Reading some of the threads on here it seems life is much more complicated in S197 land. The stock shocks suck (and I've noticed this on my own as well), and lowering it you need new gt500 strut mounts, preferrably new shocks and then you have to consider the driveshaft/pinion angle, which is much more critical it seems as these cars are more prone to wheelhop.
My question is this, is there a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too setup - kind of like coilovers on the sn95/new edge - that doesn't lose you much in terms of launching/60' ability, yet stiffens up the handling a bit?
What are the must have mods - I've read that the upper control arm and mount are fairly vital in avoiding wheel hop, and the driveshaft seems to be a weak point... Question here is, if I lower it, I should be looking for a driveshaft with a rear cv joint to not worry about pinion angle, correct?
Are there any bushings that get worked up with hard launches and need to be replaced from factory rubber to something more durable? My upper control arm bushings - diff side - needed replacing every racing season it seemed on the old mustang... Stock lower control arm bushings were toast after 1 season, but the maximum motorsports poly ones were great year after year.
Reading some of the threads on here it seems life is much more complicated in S197 land. The stock shocks suck (and I've noticed this on my own as well), and lowering it you need new gt500 strut mounts, preferrably new shocks and then you have to consider the driveshaft/pinion angle, which is much more critical it seems as these cars are more prone to wheelhop.
My question is this, is there a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too setup - kind of like coilovers on the sn95/new edge - that doesn't lose you much in terms of launching/60' ability, yet stiffens up the handling a bit?
What are the must have mods - I've read that the upper control arm and mount are fairly vital in avoiding wheel hop, and the driveshaft seems to be a weak point... Question here is, if I lower it, I should be looking for a driveshaft with a rear cv joint to not worry about pinion angle, correct?
Are there any bushings that get worked up with hard launches and need to be replaced from factory rubber to something more durable? My upper control arm bushings - diff side - needed replacing every racing season it seemed on the old mustang... Stock lower control arm bushings were toast after 1 season, but the maximum motorsports poly ones were great year after year.
