How to upgrade a new Mach I

Hello

  I am new to the boards here. I have been driving a 96 Mustang 6 cyl, I spent some time and money making it achieve better horsepower, with duel exhaust and a cold air infusion, but it still did not keep up with the foriegn auto's the guys I have been dating drive.

  So I went looking for a replacement. Yes, I even went to the  foriegn automakers lots. Then I saw in an ad about the new Mach I's available with far better speeds, and horsepower that might give me an advantage when I am messing about on the roads (always safely) with my friends.

  Yet, I cant seem to keep it on the road, the back end just spins the tires. I am certain that I am not an expert on how to drive this car, it is far more difficult then I had imagined. I am hoping someone can help with ideas how I can obtain keeping the back tires grabbing the road better. Everything is stock, it has only 800 miles on it.

  Do I need new tires? More weight on the back end? Better technique?

Any help would be most appreciated.

Simply discouraged.

Sonya Ebb  

change your driver gasket    it's mostly practice.   if you want a good traction tire Nitto 555r are the stickiest tire i would recommend for the street but you may only get about 8000 miles out of them.

The Nitto Drag Radial is a very good tire. That said, you can still spin those if you don't know who to launch your car. Your new Mach 1 is a fast car. It has great horsepower, and good gearing. Put those together and you get tire spin as you found out. You can go get some sticky tires, or a good aftermarket suspension. I don't think you want to spend that kind of money right now though. So you need more seat time to learn how to launch the car. If you try to leave hard like you did with your v6 it will just spin. Try leaving soft. Like you would at a stop light. After you are rolling then stand on the gas. Don't worry about the imports getting out on you. You'll have enough steam to blow on by them. Sorry did you say your boyfriend drives a import? Dump him. He's not good enough for you.

Thanks for the nice replies.

  I am not a expert that is true. I will spend some time trying just to get it to go from a stop. I really love the car, that is never an issue. But, the control is something I was not  expecting.

   Tires: I will go look into the ones you mentioned.I use the stock ones. I asked about them, I was told that the Goodyear Eagles that came with the car are very top notch. I will have to ask about it seems. Thank you.

   Import car or boyfriends(not): I should be able to out perform him. It will take me time I guess.

Wish me luck. T

Thanks again for the replies.

Sonya Ebb  

after you learn how to use that, you can get a real gear (4.10 or 4.30) for that high reving 4v motor and really sit yourelf back in the seat.

forgot to ask, is it a stick or auto?

It is a 5 speed manual tran. I special ordered it. It took a few days to get it here. I think it is called "Midnight grey". It is a very nice car. But, as many have told me, it should take me a few months to learn how to drive it now.

Sonya

the first thing to buy for it is a shifter, pro-5.0 or steeda tri-ax.   It will give you solid more positive shifts, and help protect your tranny.  the shifter you have now will feel down right sloppy once you get a good one in there. It should be every stick mustang's first mod.  

Anywere I can look Joels98GT? I would be in your debt to have some advice, were I can read more of that on the net.

 

good technical sites are:

http://www.modulardepot.com/

http://www.corral.net/main.html

these 2 IMO are the best techinical mustang sites on the web.  and the corral has a good classified section too.

for a shifter a good place to go is:

mustang-x.com

One last question while someone is here. (This is so great) Someone spoke of .....Tires, and the cars shocks, springs and such. I have some money that I can spend to upgrade if needed (not much), please let me know if this can help, I am really working on my technique on a closed road. I was told to work on my stop and start issues. My tires are new and stock. It is lowered 1 1/2 inches from a normal GT.

 Advice please.

Sonya  

Sorry I missed the online chat. Joel is right. The first place to start is with the shifter. I'm a fan of the Pro 5.0 shifter, but it's all about what feels right to you. The best advice I can give about shifters is, Find someone with a shifter in there car and ask if you can check it out. Sit in the car and see if it fits you. The 5.0 shifter is very short. I like to sit close to the dash and really jam on the shifter when I'm racing. That's just me though. Somepeople don't like to sit that close and like the Tri-ax better. I'm not sure what Goodyears came on your car but I'm sure they're not that great. The Nitto Drag Radials will help you get out of the hole faster. The price for that is they don't last very long on a car you drive everyday. They do handle well and are ok in the rain. When they get some heat in them you know when you run over any stones. Because they pick them up and throw them at your wheel well. For know I would say keep the Goodyears. They won't last all that long anyway. By then you'll have a better feel for the car, and know more about what direction you want to go in. As far as the suspension? leave it alone for know. If you really want to  have a drag car then go ahead, but again for now leave it alone.  Any ? let us know.

Thanks.

 I am certain I dont wish a drag car. I was hoping to obtain as much information regarding making it better managable on the road and of course how I can make it easier to drive. It is new so I will learn alot over the next few months.

  Curious about tires and traction and how to do some stop to starts without using all my tires in the timespan. I hoped to learn some information from many of you people who have taken the jump to these cars before me.

  I dont wish to lower my car anymore then it came stock, it is way to low already. "grins" I think I will spend the time reading up on the webpages sent to me. Thanks once more.

 

 Getting smarter everyday.

Sonya  

if traction is your primary issue you could get a set of upper and lower control arms, they are the single best modification for rear traction besides tires.  a good set of uppers and lowers is about 250, 

but i recommend a shifter first, I trive a tri-ax and love it, but i'm 6'3" and would be slumping forward with a short handle, i try to stay unbiased about parts i put on my own car, pro-5.0 is an equally good piece if not better.

the color is called dark shadow grey,,just thought id help.  

The tires on your car are Goodyear Gatorbacks. They have been put on Mustangs from the factory forever. They're what my old 91 LX convert. came with. My 93 Cobra also came through with them. They totally suck. They don't last very long, and don't stick well either. I'm betting in about a year and a half or two years if you take care of them they will be trash. Another thing that doesn't help with traction is the time of year. Unless you are some where it's warm right now. The cold roads and cold tires make it a lot easier to spin the tires. Good luck with your new Mach. It sounds very nice. Most important. Have fun with it. That's what it's all about.