2005-2009 GT: Bolt-On Build-Ups

Justin: Hey, everyone. Justin from americanmuscle.com. And this is our Power Pack Bolt-On Build-Up for all '05 to '09 Mustang GTs. Now, the goal of this Power Pack is to take our stock '07 GT and combine it with some of our most popular performance bolt-ons. Now, the result will be two-fold. We're gonna add more horsepower and torque at the rear wheels, while really cranking up the volume on our 4.6-Liter to make our GT sound as tough as it looks.

So currently, our 2007 GT is bone stock, performance-wise. So let's get it outside and hear how that stock exhaust sounds, and then get it back on the dyno to get some baseline numbers down. So our stock dyno run gave us 259 horsepower and 282 foot-pound of torque. All right. Now that we got some baseline numbers from our '07 GT, we're gonna talk to Mike Wilson, our lead calibrator from BAMA Performance to walk us through some of the mods that we're gonna do today. Mike, what do you got up first for us?

Mike: Well, first, we're gonna install this Airaid Race Cold Air Intake, which is a great first mod. It's gonna increase airflow, give us a big gain of horsepower and torque. It's a really easy install.

Justin: All right, Mike. I know with some cold air intake systems, you need to tune, sometimes you don't. What's up with this Airaid?

Mike: The Airaid Race Cold Air Intake does require a tune, and because of that, we're gonna install a BAMA Performance 93 race tune, which is gonna increase our horsepower and torque by adjusting those spark curves, the fuel map to drive our water calibrations and really boost the horsepower and torque.

Justin: That's awesome, man. And I know, in addition to that, we're also gonna throw in Pypes Off-Road X-Pipe and also, a Pypes Axle-Back system as well. What could we expect from that?

Mike: That's also gonna free up the exhaust flow, which will give us more horsepower and torque, and it's gonna sound incredible compared to your stock exhaust. Our second dyno run with all the performance mod installed in our 2007 GT, gave us 294 horsepower and 309 foot-pound of torque, making for a peak gain of 35 horsepower and gains of 36 horsepower and 29 foot-pound of torque throughout the curve.

Justin: All right, Mike. Well, that sounded awesome, man. What do you think of the results?

Mike: Exactly what I expected. When putting the cold air kit on the exhaust and wrapping it all up with a custom 10, you're definitely gonna feel a big difference on the street.

Justin: Awesome. Well, with that said, we're gonna get our '07 GT back on the streets because I'm dying to hear how this pipes combination is gonna sound versus our stock exhaust. So thanks again, Mike.

Mike: Anytime.

Justin: Well, now that we have our '07 GT out on the road, we finally get to see these mods in action. And I gotta tell you, they're really doing their job. Our GT just pulled so much harder in the upper RPM range, which means our car is breathing a whole heck of a lot easier. The best part is they all installed easily in about two hours, with simple hand tools and a few floor jacks. Be sure to check out our other '05 to '09 Mustang GT Bolt-On Build-Ups, where we work on our appearance, help get our GT off the line, and make it handle a little better.

I'm Justin with americanmuscle.com and this is our Acceleration Pack Bolt-on Build-up for all '05 to '09 Mustang GTs. This entire pack has been assembled with one goal in mind, to get our '07 GT off the line much faster by addressing our gearing and our grip, we're gonna actually lower our 60-foot tons and improve our overall acceleration making the car a blast to drive in the process.

But before we go over the list of parts we had to install today, let's get our GT out of the shop and onto the streets and do a baseline 0 to 60 run just to see what we're working with.

Before we go installing our acceleration pack here on our '07 GT, we wanted to get the car out of the shop and just do a baseline 0 to 60 run using our ITSX wireless tuner and my iPad. So here we go, start.

All right. So it looks like we just clicked off a 5.5 second baseline run for our 0 to 60 time. Now that we have that out of the way, let's get our GT back in the shop so we can talk a little bit more about some of the parts we have in store for our GT and see if we can't knock that time down a little bit.

First, let's talk gearing. From the factory, our '07 GT came equipped with 3.55 gears which are great for daily driving but not the best for all-out acceleration. That's where these Ford Racing 4.10 gears come in.

Now, 4.10s are totally gonna wake up our GT off the line and really give us that low-end kick in the pants we're looking for. Now that shorter gear ratio means we'll be rowing through the gears a lot more than we were with our previous setup so we need to make every shift count.

We decided to go with the competition Billet Hurst shifter which it looks like the guys have already installed for us. Now this shifter should make for quicker, more precise shifts which should lower our 0 to 60 time and make for improved performance overall.

Now, having all the power in the world doesn't mean anything if you can't put it down to the ground and that's where these next two parts come in. We decided to go with the Exedy Mach 350 Stage 1 clutch to handle the added drive train abuse. Now even though this is only a stage 1, this clutch has been rated to hold up to 450-foot pound of torque at the crank which is more than enough to handle some bolt-ons and then some. Now besides being able to handle that extra power without breaking a sweat, the pedal feel in this car is only slightly firmer than stock which won't wear you out on long trips or if you get stuck on traffic.

Last but not least, we address that other very important G-word, grip. We opted for BBK's rear upper and lower control arm set which should definitely help our GT hook up. Now basically, these are gonna help reduce wheel hop, get us out of the hole a little better, and overall, lower our ETs.

So now that you know what we have in store for our GT, let's hand it over to the crew and get the rest of these parts installed then get it out of the shop and onto the streets where we can take it for a test spin and do another 0 to 60 run and see what kind of improvements we made.

All right. So we're in our '07 GT that just got done working on, got our acceleration pack installed, and wow. I mean, the car just goes now. Every time you shift, you're always in the power bend, which, I love these 4.10s, they're a lot of fun to drive now. The shifter's working great. A little notchy but some people like it, some people don't. I, for one, like it. I mean, it makes you feel like you're actually in gear. Kinda hard to miss a gear using this thing.

Yeah, and as I was saying, those 3.55s that the stock Mustang come with are probably good for daily driving. I take that back. These gears, the 4.10s, you stomp on it and you're going. There's no downshifting for passing anymore, nothing like that. If it were up to me, I'd have 4.10s in all of my cars.

Now, we haven't really got to feel the improvement that those BBK control arms made yet just because I haven't done any hard launches. However, we're gonna take our car back to the shop and do another 0 to 60 pull to see if we improved on our time.

All right. Now that we had the acceleration pack installed, we did a little driving. Car feels great on the street, but now the true test. We're going for the 0 to 60 time one more time using my iPad and our ITSX wireless tuner. So here we go, start.

All right. So we just clicked off our second 0 to 60 run in 5 seconds flat. Now, that's a half a second improvement over our baseline time. Now, granted our '07 GT isn't completely stock. We do have some basic bolt-ons and a tune, but the general idea is just to show you how the acceleration pack is working. And clearly, it's working pretty good.

So that does it for the acceleration pack for the '05 to '09 GT. Be sure to check out some of our other bolt-on build-ups as well where we dress up our GT a little bit, make it handle a little bit better, and pump up the power.

Hey, I'm Justin with americanmuscle.com. And this is our handling bolt-on build-up for our '05 to '09 Mustang GTs. Now, the goal of this build is pretty simple. We're looking to make our '07 GT handle better by tackling two different areas. We're gonna reduce our body roll and lower our center of gravity using some pretty basic suspension components.

So I'm just finishing up installing this SR Performance Black Strut Tower Brace that will really tie-in the rest of the parts we've used with our build. And this is really gonna help firm up the front-end by reducing that chassis flex and body roll. And you have to admit, that black powder coated finish looks really good under the hood. It's gonna flow nicely with our black on red thing we have going on with our '07 GT here.

Now, that was a piece of cake to put on. It really only took me a couple of minutes. Now that we have that all finished up, let's take a look at some of the other parts we've used for our build.

One of the most important products of any suspension build is a new set of lowering springs. We even installed a set of these SR Performance Lowering Springs on our GT, which lowered it about an inch and a half or so on all four corners. Now, that lower center of gravity is gonna do two things for us. First and most importantly, it's gonna greatly improve our handling. But another nice thing, it's also improved our appearance as well by getting rid of that four-by-four status and eliminating that ugly wheel gap.

Last, but not the least, are these front and rear sway bars from Eibach. Now, sway bars are one of the biggest factors in reducing body roll and are a great tool for fine-tuning your suspension. Now, from the factory, these Mustangs tend to plow or push through few turns, and this is referred to as understeer. By replacing your factory sway bar with a larger rear sway bar and a smaller diameter front, you're actually gonna get rid of that understeer and induce a little bit of oversteer.

Now, this means the rear-end of your car comes around the turn a lot quicker and actually makes it a little bit more fun to drive it in the process.

This is one of those builds where success won't be measured by a dyno run, but rather, out on the road and in the turns. So with that said, let's get our '07 GT out of the shop and see these mods in action.

So we got our '07 GT out of the shop and onto the streets here with our handling pack installed, and right off the bat, the car feels so much more solid. Steering response has been greatly improved. It just feels much, much more responsive. So the understeer has definitely been reduced. As a matter of fact, we got some turns coming up here. Let's see how she does in terms of our handling and even our braking. Awesome. The car feels so great. The springs are reduced, and the dive-in from the braking, the sway bars are definitely reducing our body roll. I mean, the whole...all the parts are just working so well together. Here we go. We've got a pretty sharp left-hander coming up. All right. No more understeer. Whoa. The rear-end, you know, definitely comes around a lot quicker. The car doesn't plow through the turns anymore. It totally feels like a new car, and a lot more fun to drive at that.

Now, with the install of these parts, we're looking about six to eight hours. Basically, because those springs take a little bit longer to install. And of course, if you don't feel confident with installing those, your local shop should be able to take care of that for you.

Now, one thing we do like to say when you do this much work to your suspension, it would be a great idea just to get it aligned, so you make the most out of your parts without chewing up your tires.

So that does it for this handling bolt-on build-up with our '07 GT. Be sure to check out some of our other bolt-on build-ups for the '05 to '09 GTs or make our '07 a lot faster, help get it off the line and work on our appearance.

Hey, what's up, guys? I'm Justin from americanmuscle.com and this is our Appearance Bolt-On Build-Up for all '05 to '09 Mustang GTs. Now, the idea with this Build-Up was to take our stock '07 GT, pick out some of our favorite appearance parts as well as some of our top-rated customer picks, and combine them to form the ultimate appearance package to totally transform our GT.

Some of these mods include a new set of AM wheels, some styling parts from MMD, some of our AmericanMuscle graphics and some new lighting from Raxiom, to name a few. It's safe to say any one of these mods would be a welcome addition to any '05 to '09 GT. And for a complete list of appearance parts used, check out the Bolt-On Build-Up page for '05 to '09 GTs. But, there are a few parts that we feel really set this ride off and completely changed the attitude, so let's check them out.

So, up front, we went ahead and installed these really cool Raxiom Pre-Painted Bucket Lights. Now, these lights really complement that cool retro '60s vibe of these '05 to '09 Mustangs. And they even took it a step further with these pre-painted buckets. As you can see behind me on our '07 GT, they really flow well with the lines of this car. Now, the install itself isn't too bad. It should only take you about an hour, but that's just because you gotta pop the front bumper off. After that, they're completely plug and play. Now, these are one of our favorite appearance parts and are also a top-rated customer part as well.

Next thing I wanna hit is really one of the easiest ways to completely change the look of your car without paint. We put on a set of these Matte Black AmericanMuscle Graphics LeMans Stripes to really give us that racecar look. Now, you've probably seen these race stripes on just about every car you think of, but I think you can agree with me when I say they look right at home here on our Mustang.

One of the coolest dress-up parts on our '07 GT has to be these MMD Retro-Style Mirrors. These mirrors are a total throwback to the '60s and '70s Mach 1 and feature that really cool bullet shape that flows extremely well with some of our other retro parts of this car. The mirrors are available in an unpainted black finish, which looks great on its own, or a pre-painted option like our torch red here. Now, as for the install itself, you need to transfer over the mirror motors and the harness over to the new housing, but after that, it's a piece of cake. It should only take you about an hour.

All right. We saved the best part for last. We got a whole new set of Black Staggered Deep Dish Bullitt Wheels with an 18 by 9 up front and an 18 by 10 out the back. Now, this is probably one of the coolest Mustang wheels of all time, and is by far and away our most popular wheel and set up here on the site. That staggered look paired with that deep dish option is the real final complement to the aggressive lines of this car. Doesn't get anymore retro than that.

With this Bolt-On Build-Up, the goal was to take a pack of appearance parts that would take any '05 to '09 GT to the next level. By putting all these parts on our stock-looking '07 GT, we were able to really nail that retro vibe. The best part is these parts can be installed by anyone in the comforts of your own garage. Be sure to check out some of our other '05 to '09 Bolt-On Build-Ups, where we tackle the handling, give our car some more power, and help get our '07 GT off the line.