Road Test: My 98 GT 100K Miles Thread!

007 said:

Cobra brakes right, not stockers...? For tires KDW2s are far better than anything else I've tried.

Click to expand...

My brakes gave up suddenly. I never even thought to price the Cobra brakes upgrade. So, I have new OEM stuff.

Road Test

The install of new tires and suspension parts is complete!

I was able to take her out for a mild road test and in a word, the ride is “tight”.

Date:12-20-07
Time:20:10-20:25
Car: 1998 Mustang GT
Mods: In signature
Miles: 100,350
Temp: 64 F and clear

Had the new springs, struts sway bars and tires installed today. Finally had a chance to test it a bit tonight on some semi-deserted roads being careful to keep the speed to a safe point where I could make an emergency stop if required.

I got to a red light and used the same amount of pedal that would have broken loose my old tires. These new Sumotomo HTR Z III perform exactly as reviewed by Tirerack. They held against the torque (about 295 rwtq) pretty good so I did it again at the next light. Too bad for the poor bastids behind me but I gave it enough to light them up. I took it to about 5,000 rpms spinning and let off the gas a bit. As soon as I did, the tires bit and I launched into the darkness pretty hard. I banged 2nd/3rd and hit 4th and let off.

I made a right onto a road with some decent banks and went much faster than the posted speed. It was a lot like playing a video game at home. There was no roll at all and the car effortlessly glided from curve to curve with a very controlled feeling. It was begging to have me accelerate to a speed that most would consider foolish. So, I resisted. In the distance I saw a red light. I approached the light a bit fast on purpose to give the whole new brake system a test. There still seems to be some shimmy when the brakes are applied quickly from a fast speed. The brakes have a little less than 400 miles on them and I wonder if this is normal as the pads seat to the new rotors?

As I approached another right turn with a green light, I fully intended to make the right but I approached the intersection at the speed you would normally use to go forward. Instead, I signaled and made a hasty right. Ahhhhhh. The car moved into the correct lane as smooth as glass with no roll at all. I was pretty surprised because I expected some improvement but not quite this. This was done at the speed where you may have to counter-steer to align perfectly with the lane. Not so. It may have been my 31 years experience behind the wheel combined with the new parts & tires. When I turned into the target lane at a high speed (for a turn) the car went exactly/perfectly where I wanted it to
And seemed to say to me, “OK Matt, what next?”. LOL

I had a chance to make 1 more turn pulling out of a convenience store on my way home. This road had some construction sand so I expected to fishtail accelerating at this speed. Again, I left myself a wide margin for error. I exited the store and made the turn at a speed that would be considered a little too fast. The backend slid out just a tad and immediately straightened out and I was on my way.
So, in summary, the tires and Bullitt suspension kit work very well together. Great performance at an affordable price. In case anyone is wondering, the car appears to have noticeably dropped a good inch and has lost the 4x4 look. No pics, car is filthy, maybe this weekend!

Thanks Matt. I may get to wash it this weekend. Freezing your ass off up there?
Damn I hated to see the car with salt all over it and not being able to wash it until a warm spell.

I need to buy a castor/camber adjust plates thingy so I can get within spec during alignment. Any ideas?

Matt: I check the MM & Steeda C/C plates out. Went with Steeda. Reason in thread in tech section. I did need them. I want to be in spec.

As far as the tires. I believe TireRack's test was accurate. They are great tires for the $. I got to check them out this mornign in a light then heavy rain. They did a good job; I did not crash.

Since I've been using all-season radials for the last 20+ years I have never experienced summer performance tires before.

For you northern folk: these bastid's who live in warm climates have it made!
The summer tires are quite a bit better grip than our all-season radials!
(Sumitomo HTR Z III 245/45/17 $103+tx+ship+install)

Just took this pic. Car is washed, not waxed. As you can see the weather here is misty & cold. If it gets just a bit dryer, I'll wax it later.

You can compare this pic to the one in my sig to check the difference in how much lower the car is.

Before:



After:



Rear:

1st of all if I cut the antenna down my wife will not be able to see where I am when I leave the area.

2nd, your car most likely has problems because you put MAC products (if you can call it that) on it. Your best move now is destroy every MAC product near your car and replace it with real parts not junk. MAC is only good for beaters.