Stuff I wish I would have added years ago - 2014 GT

crjackson2134 said:

Personally I think the track key is a total waste. The first time you do a mod that requires a custom tune, the track key is irrelevant, and becomes a throw-away part.

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DudeStang said:

I don't know if I could call this a build thread because the modding has been fairly limited on my 2014 GT and even though I bought the car seven years ago and should have done this sooner, I thought it would be nice to have a thread on this car, tracking some of my updates, ramblings, etc.

Long story short - bought my 2014 GT (base model, black, 6M) brand new back in summer 2014. I had wanted a Mustang of my own for years and even more so when I heard that Ford was bringing back the 5.0. When I moved from NYC to the DMV area, I was finally able to justify buying a car again.

Here's the car the first week or so that I picked it up:
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And here's pretty much how it looks currently:
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I've done some mods over the years but nothing too crazy. Exterior additions - MMD ducktail spoiler, 19 inch track pack wheels, window tint, and Saleen hash stripes (a friend of mine who really got me into Mustangs years back had these stripes on his black Fox Mustang and I always loved the look). I can appreciate some of the more wild Mustang builds but for my cars, I prefer a mostly stock look with subtle changes/updates.

I've upgraded some suspension components to make the car's stance a little bit more visually appealing, and to make the car handle better. List so far includes Koni orange shocks & struts, Roush lowering springs in front, SR springs in rear, J&M caster camber plates, Whiteline panhard rod, Whiteline rear LCAs, and relocation brackets. I also have Steeda low profile jacking rails, which have been a godsend when wrenching in the garage the last few years.

I added Roush axle backs for better sound, which I had on the car until last year. I loved that sound but eventually got tired of the drone. I tried a set of generic axle backs I found for cheap, went back to stock, and eventually switched to the GT500 ABs. I recently added the LTH over-the-axle pipes and I'm pretty happy with the sound on that setup.

My most recent additions are probably the two things I wish I would have thought to install a few years ago - the Blowfish Racing shifter bracket and the Ford Performance Track Cal.
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On the shifter note, I've tried the Barton bracket, the Barton shifter + Barton bracket, the Steeda shifter + Barton bracket, and the stock shifter with a weighted shift knob. I currently have the Blowfish bracket with the stock shifter and the weighted shift knob. This setup has been the best I've experienced so far. The Blowfish setup makes the shifting feel a lot more smooth and the increase in NVH was noticeable at first but not bothersome. It also looks pretty cool on the car but obviously not something you see very often.

This weekend I added the Ford Performance Track Cal. The install was fairly quick and once I got the car out for a drive, the changes were noticeable. I also dig the lopey cam idle, even if it feels a little bit gimmicky. I finished a video last night with a bit on the install and my first impressions.

Anyways, all this just to say that after seven years, I'm still happy with the car. I still love the way it looks and love the way it drives, even more so with the most recent additions. There are a few small things I'd still like to do and I go back and forth every few months on whether I want to do anything crazy like throw a supercharger or turbo on it but I'm going to do my best to enjoy and appreciate the car as it sits now and we'll see what happens.

Edit: mods, feel free to move this to pics and videos, or another sub-forum if this isn't the right spot. Thanks.

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DudeStang said:

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