Drag Radial Tires
Approximate Cost: $300-$500
Available From: Nitto (www.nittotire.com), BFGoodrich (www.bfgoodrichtires.com), and Mickey Thompson (www.mickeythompsontires.com)
Ease of Installation: 3
What better way to apply all of your horsepower to the ground than to run a set of tires that don't spin? From type to size, there are a variety of options when selecting tires. Luckily, the aftermarket is full of choices that fit every need and application.
Among the most popular sticky tires for mildly modified Mustangs are the Nitto 555R drag radials. Nitto has focused these tires to be perfect for everyday driving but also to satisfy the weekend trips to the dragstrip. The concept is to buy one set of tires and use them for both performance and street. It works great on mildly modified Mustangs as well as higher-horsepower rides. We've run these tires on everything from near-stock 13-second test cars to our in-house supercharged '01 Mustang GT, which ran 10.80s on the 555Rs.
If you want something a little stickier, check out BFGoodrich's Drag Radial tires. They're more aggressive than Nitto 555Rs and can still be driven on the street, albeit not as much as the 555Rs. BFG Drag Radials were the first radial tires designed for excessive acceleration. The company released the tires in 1997 and they have grown in popularity since.
Moving up the scale in rear grip, we arrive at the pinnacle of drag radials, the ET Street Radial as offered by Mickey Thompson Tires. These tires offer the ultimate grip for radial tires and carry a DOT-rating, much like the BFG and Nitto tires. However, we don't recommend these tires for street driving. Wet-pavement performance is sacrificed for the outstanding racing surface performance, and the tread-wear is next to nothing. These tires should be mounted on another set of wheels and swapped at the track.
Sizing depends on the body type--'79-'93 cars fit up to 275/50 or 275/60 tires on 15-inch wheels. The '94-'04 and '05-current Stangs have larger wheelwells and Dezotell, Burcham, and Gonyon all agreed that anything from 275 to 315 series tires on 16-, 17-, and 18-inch wheels will work. Important: Remember that when changing tire sizes, a taller tire knocks down the gear ratio, so be prepared for a decrease in performance if you go with a tire that's too tall. Also, all '96-present Mustangs will need to have the computer tuned, as a drastic change in tire size will throw off the speedometer and send the computer into safe mode.
10-Minute Tune-Up
Approximate Cost: $50
Available From: Local Auto Parts Store
Ease of Installation: 4
The 10-Minute Tune-Up was first broke by MM&FF many years ago; the exact date of implementation is unknown. Essentially, former magazine scribe and now freelance extraordinaire Neil Van Oppre, along with former staffer Tony DiFeo, collected several popular modifications for a stock 5.0 and packaged them together as one group, affectionately called the 10-Minute Tune-Up. The package has taken on legendary status in the 5.0 world.
First on the list is bumping the ignition timing to anywhere from 13-15 degrees, with the spout out. Some cars like as much as 15 degrees of timing, while others can tolerate only 13. Other stuff on the list include dumping the air silencer assembly in the fenderwell and replacing the stock air filter with one from K&N. Icing the intake manifold in between dragstrip runs yields great results on a 5.0, or any car for that matter. Just be careful not to let the water puddle on the manifold and spill out under the car during a run down the dragstrip. Disconnecting and/or removing the front antisway bar helps weight transfer on the launch. It allows the nose to come up easier and plant the rear tires. Street driving is effected with this modification, and we suggest you reconnect/reinstall the antisway bar before leaving the track.
The final two mods are parts you can buy at the local auto-parts store. A 70.5-inch serpentine belt allows the power steering and alternator to be bypassed in an effort to save on parasitic loss. A 160-degree thermostat is also a staple on the 10-Minute Tune-Up list. It opens the radiator at 160 degrees rather than at 190 degrees (stock thermostat setting) to cool the engine sooner and help in between round cooldown.
Exhaust Upgrades
Approximate Cost: $150-$500
Available From: Ford Racing (www.ford racingparts.com), Bassani Xhaust (www.bassani.com), MagnaFlow (www.magna flow.com), Corsa (www.corsaperf.com), BBK (www.bbkperformance.com), Pypes (www.pypesexhaust.com), Kooks Custom Headers (www.kookscustomheaders.com), JBA (www.jbaheaders.com), Hooker (www.holley.com), Flowtech (www.holley.com), SLP (www.slponline.com), Borla (www.borla.com), Flowmaster (www.flowmaster.com), Dynatech (www.dynatechheaders.com), MRT (www.mustangracing.com), UPR (www.upr products.com), American Racing Headers (www.americanracingheaders.com), Steeda (www.steeda.com), Stainless Works (www.stainlessworks.net), and MAC Performance Products (www.macperformance.com)
Ease of Installation: 2-5 depending on which exhaust component and model year.
There's nothing like the distinct, throaty growl of a Mustang. The topic of modified exhaust systems is a heavy one, as many companies offer something for Mustangs of all years. The effectiveness of headers, midpipes, and after-cat exhaust systems vary on the different generations of Mustangs. The older 5.0 cars are more responsive to exhaust mods than the newer S197 models--thanks to Ford supplying it with a 2.5-inch exhaust.
Factory 5.0 cars come with tubular headers that feature crushed pipes, a dinky 2-1/2-inch H-pipe with four catalytic converters, and a 2-1/2-inch after-cat exhaust. To say adding larger exhaust and mufflers adds substantial power is an understatement. Typically, adding a 2-1/2-inch x pipe system and after-cat exhaust increases power by 25-30 rwhp.
"We don't find much when changing headers on the modular Mustangs; the exhaust manifolds are pretty decent in stock combinations," Dezotell says. He said most '96-'04 Mustangs that roll in the shop get a larger x pipe system and an after-cat exhaust, which generally picks up 20-or-so rwhp. Burcham and Gonyon agree about leaving the exhaust manifolds in place on stock engines and spending the money elsewhere.
As for the S197, our experts all agreed that swapping mufflers in these cars should be done to tailor the exhaust tone to your liking--just don't expect to see the same gains you would with a 5.0 car. Simply swapping to an x pipe system and after-cat exhaust brings about a 10-rwhp increase. Power gains with exhaust modifications increase as you wring out more power from the Three-Valve engine.