For the entire months of August and September, MSD Ignition is giving you up to $50 back on their products! It’s really simple. All you have to do is purchase any MSD Mustang Ignition parts that we sell, and then fill out the rebate form! This is a great time to update your dated factory ignition system…
Continue reading ‘How To Upgrade Your Mustang’s Ignition for $50 Cheaper!’
Great question, stangin! Lowering your Mustang has a number of benefits, the most noticeable being appearance and performance. By lowering the vehicle, you lower the center of gravity, which greatly improves handling and reduces body roll & nose-dive. Unsightly wheel gap is also eliminated, giving your Stang a sleek, intimidating look (especially over a set of 17”, 18” or 19” wheels).
Lowering kits that are designed solely for performance gains often make big sacrifices when it comes to ride quality, and lowering the car more than 1.5” will require caster/camber plates and a ball joint kit to properly realign the suspension. Considering you want to maintain decent ride quality, I’d recommend the Eibach Pro-Kit; match it with the Eibach Pro-Damper kit or a set of Tokico shocks & struts and you’ve got a great performance suspension without sacrificing ride quality, or rattling your teeth out of your skull!
The Eibach kit lowers the front 1.3” and the rear 1.4” (approximately), so a simple alignment after installation should be all you need to get your pony rolling again. This is the same set of lowering springs that we installed in our 2011 Mustang project car, and we’ve taken that car both to the track and the grocery store. Best of luck with your suspension and keep the questions coming!
When choosing aftermarket Mustang gears (or any aftermarket mod), it’s important to consider what type of driving you do/want to do with the car, how much power you currently make, and how much power you intend to make.
Aftermarket rear-end gears are designed to get you off the line faster, so you’re going to burn through first gear (and second… and third…) much more quickly than with your stock gears. This isn’t as much of a hassle with an automatic transmission because you aren’t the one shifting, but if your Mustang is a stick and you do any kind of driving in a city or heavy traffic, you’d be wise to avoid the steeper ratios. Considering your pony is already super charged, I would have to side with your friends and recommend the 3.73 gears; they’ll give you the extra kick off the line that you want without making driving a chore.
When installing aftermarket gears, it’s always a good idea to get a bearing kit and replace the shims, bearings, and other items that wear out over time. This will complete your rear-end rebuild and make sure you keep that rubber burning for a long time.
Ok guys, heads up – I’ve broken this article down by exhaust component to cover as many of our common Mustang exhaust questions as possible. If there’s a question you have that isn’t answered here, then you know what to do! (If you’re scratching your head right now – the answer is call/email us!) You can also check out our tech article on Understanding Mustang Exhaust Systems if you need a refresher or some basic info.
How does an aftermarket exhaust improve my car’s performance?
I’m sure many of us are familiar with the “air pump” analogy – that is, an engine is essentially a big air pump, and the faster we move air into and out of the engine, the more power it will make. Therefore, replacing your factory exhaust with a larger, freer-flowing aftermarket exhaust can improve horsepower and torque.
What’s the difference between long-tube and shorty headers and how do they help my car?
Long-tube headers can also be called full-length headers, and require a shorty mid-pipe, oxygen sensor extensions, and a tune. Stock manifolds restrict airflow, especially on 2-valve engines. Tuning is required because long tube headers relocate the oxygen sensors further down-stream than factory, so a tune is necessary to compensate for the delay in response. For all you track-rats out there (or anybody who’s looking for a little extra kick from your pony) – long tubes are the way to go. Shorty headers are a direct replacement for your factory exhaust manifolds and do not require additional parts or tuning. Power gains differ between the two as well; long tubes will see the most gains in the mid-low to mid-high RPM range, while shorty headers will see their biggest gains in the mid-RPM range. Shorty headers are a great upgrade for your daily driver, but long tubes are best if you’re going for all-out performance, on the street or the strip. Another option for your Mustang headers is ceramic coating, which is more durable than chrome, and absorbs heat better.
Continue reading ‘Everything You Need To Know About Your 94-04 Mustang’s Exhaust’
Question: I’ve heard that NOS is the easiest way to boost power, I wanted to know if that was true and how nitrous actually works.
Answer: Great question! You can learn a lot “through the grapevine” but it’s always important to do your research. Nitrous is considered to be the cheapest power-adder available, but it’s important to understand how it changes your car’s performance before you go all gas-happy…
The History Behind the Ha-has
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia.org
Nitrous oxide was first “discovered” by an English minister/chemist named Joseph Priestly, in 1772. For years, it was touted for its use as a medical anesthetic until the convenience and potency of chloroform and ether made it largely obsolete. Later, the German Luftwaffe (Air Force) used it to boost performance of their high-altitude plane engines during World War II. Although the Germans only used nitrous on specialized bombers and high-altitude aircraft, the technology was later adapted for use in automotive applications. After being banned by NASCAR in the 1950’s, nitrous made its debut on the drag racing scene in the 1970’s. The term “NOS” is actually an acronym for “Nitrous Oxide Systems” – the company that pioneered the use of nitrous oxide as a power-adder for cars and motorcycles and made the technology available to the average shade-tree mechanic. Thanks to the Fast and Furious films, “NOS” has now become synonymous with nitrous oxide.
Question: “What do I need to know about tuners?”
Answer:
I can’t get an easy question this week, can I? This question isn’t so much difficult as it is very broad – and there is a lot you should know about Mustang tuners before purchasing one for your Stang. A tuner is a device that reprograms your car’s computer to produce the best performance results, with or without modifications. A chip or tuner is mandatory if you want to tune your car. While a chip/tuner cannot fix mechanical problems, it can improve horsepower, torque, and yes – even fuel economy.
Chip vs. Tuner
The most noticeable difference between a performance chip and a tuner is the method of use. A chip installs directly onto the car’s computer and has a selector switch that allows you to change tunes “on the fly”. Chips can hold up to 4 tunes and are recommended for pre-OBD II (1988-1995) vehicles. The SCT 4-Bank Eliminator Chip that we offer is not like the pre-programmed chips you see elsewhere on the internet (like eBay for example); if you do not order tunes with the chip it will arrive blank, with no programming whatsoever. While they don’t possess the DTC-reading feature like the flash tuners, they are still eligible for the “Free Tunes for Life” program; however they must be mailed back to us to have new tunes installed.
I'm pretty certain this is the best shopping experience I've ever had. I found what I wanted on AmericanMuscle.com, then did some price shopping and ended up coming back and order from them because they had the lowest price AND free shipping too. I honestly look forward to spending more money with American Muscle. They have customer submitted photos in addition to their great product photography as well as installation guides from users and manufacturers. Their videos are honest and incredibly useful. I can't think of anything else I'd like to see from them. Ryan B
|  | DanMarketing All my other cars were all-wheel drive, my brother had an 04 cobra and i wanted to compete and beat him with naturally aspirated so i went with a mach1 - and beat him. Now he works here too! I got lucky and was able to find one of the... |
 |  |  |  |  |  |