Any cheap suspension mods to upgrade to make em a better handling car for cheap. I am already ordering 18x10 rear rims and tires and 18x9 for the front and lowering springs.
what kind of handling are you going for? from what i've read, going staggered rim size is not going to make handling much better. and lowering springs will make the ride suffer a little bit.
i'm running 15x4 in front and 15x10s out back. the handling is still worlds better then the previous years mustang i've had.
going with some adjustable coilovers you should be able to make it handle how you want.
Dropping it I would imagine will make it feel stiffer. I actually like how the stang handles out of the box. As I mod it and increase the power we shall see if my opinion changes.
Your putting 18x10's in back. Is 285 the widest we can go with the s197"s?
I currently have the Roush kit on mine $1500 and their 18x10's all the way around. All I can say is OMFG this car is so so awesome. It does ride a bit rougher but it is well worth it. Taking corner's are just as smooth as spreading butter.
Dropping it I would imagine will make it feel stiffer. I actually like how the stang handles out of the box. As I mod it and increase the power we shall see if my opinion changes.
Your putting 18x10's in back. Is 285 the widest we can go with the s197"s?
I just finished my second autocross event today and I have a Roush suspension with 18x10 wheels with 275/40/18 Nitto Invos. I would not recommend going wider in the rear than what you have in front. My car handles a lot better than stock but still understeers quite a bit, so going with a smaller wheel in front would make it worse. It is nice to be able to balance the car with the throttle, but more front end grip would help a lot. I am switching to Nitto NT05 in the spring, hoping for a little stiffer sidewall.
The Mustang suspension is very soft from the factory, coupled with the weight of the car and a very tall ground clearance that's recipe for tons of understeer and body-roll. Cheap mods to even things out a little would be a BEEFY rear sway bar and rear control arms. That alone will shift the balance toward oversteer. After that go for shocks, springs and a better wheel/tire setup. Staggering your wheels isn't necessarily a bad thing however you have understand how that impacts your handling characteristics.
Having 4 even wheel/tires (18x10) makes for a car that has higher cornering limits but is prone to more oversteer. It also makes for a bit slower steering which can affect your handling a bit.
Running smaller wheels up front will shift your balance to understeer and reduce cornering a bit but your steering will be a little quicker improving your handling a little (especially in the slalom if you Auto-X).
Staggered tire size is going to make handling worse but not bad. Depends on what your looking for in handling. Go with the ford racing or roush springs because that's why they have spent billions of dollars figuring out what works best for the mustang. Sway bars are going to improve handling and control arms will too. If you want to do the full suspension kit it will handle better than just the springs obviously