whats vital to upgrade on a 11-14 GT?

willief23

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Hello forum members,

I am about to upgrade to a 2012 mustang gt from my 12 v6. Besides the mmr head cooling mod what else is vital to upgrade that normally breaks on the coyote? I was thinking MMR Oil pump gears and the jlt catch can. I already know to use AED when it comes time to tune the car. Already got kooks 1 3/4 headers and catted h pipe and pmas cold air intake. Will have 255s in the front and 285s in the rear with RTR rims. If my v6 kicks out the back end modded I can only assume the GT will be worse so tires and suspension are a first mod for me. Either option auto 500 or 510 series suspension or cortex suspension. Cortex watts link is a must, 1 piece aluminum drive shaft. Anything else I missed? I saw timing chain upgrades any need for these?
 

PaxtonShelby

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I don’t know about the head cooling mod or timing chain upgrades. If you are staying N/A I don’t think those would be needed.

In stock trim OPG’s are not needed.

For suspension I recommend Koni coilovers and some good camber caster plates. For springs I have 450s in front and 240s in back. Love my BMR watts link, LCAs and LCA relo brackets.

Other must have mods...redline tuning hood struts, weathertech mats, MGW shifter and Borla S-type mufflers.

Love my AED tune - Shaun is the man.
 

willief23

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well i have heard of cylinder 8 failure is common with aggressive tunes so the mmr cooling mod is suppose to fix that. anyone have aftermarket cams and get the loopey noise that cams are known for? i know you get a lund ghost cam tune but id rather have that noise from aftermarket cams. i think i remember reading the cam sound isnt loopey on 11 and up mustangs compared to older muscle cars.
 

scotmach

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The head cooling mod as well as oil pump gears are not necessary by any stretch. In fact they would be a waste of money.
 

FJohnny

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Most responsible GT owners will supercharge. Twin turbo if cash not an object.

3m protective film applied to the front bumper and hood makes for much easier spectator removal on Cars and Coffee days.

Good luck and good times with the new car.

All the best.
 

clinton2003

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well i have heard of cylinder 8 failure is common with aggressive tunes so the mmr cooling mod is suppose to fix that. anyone have aftermarket cams and get the loopey noise that cams are known for? i know you get a lund ghost cam tune but id rather have that noise from aftermarket cams. i think i remember reading the cam sound isnt loopey on 11 and up mustangs compared to older muscle cars.
cyle 8 failure is VERY uncommon, and was mostly due to poor tuning.
head cooling mod is snake oil, unless you got it so you can run coolant though dry decked heads.....
unless you lockout the cam's, you will have no lope even with aftermarket cams. thats what VCT does....


If its NA, nothing is essential.

Other must have mods...redline tuning hood struts, weathertech mats, MGW shifter and Borla S-type mufflers.
This is a great basic list. for a good driver.

get the car, drive it and love it... if you want to mod it, do a tvs and stop. Dont go full retard like i did... its a money pit and borderlines driveability. That being said i drive it as often as i can and love every second of it.
 
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Coz

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If you're going to coilovers why are you staying with 255 front tires? Go to at least 265 or better yet square 285s. The GT's front end is heavier than the V6 and pushes more in the turns. It is also faster and the wider tires will help with braking.

If you're going to track your car then go with the coilovers and 285s if not 305s in the back. If this is street only, and unless you live by Mulholland Drive, the coilovers & Watts link are probably overkill.

Koni Yellows & Steeda Sports Springs would be good for the street.

I assume you have a Track Pack. If not then upgrade to at least the Brembo 4-pots. If you're going to track it then add brake ducts. If you will be tracking it frequently and very aggressively then consider the S550 PP 6-pot Brembos with the 13-15 GT500 rotors.

Also, recommend upgrading to the 13-14 GT500 rear 13.8" rotors using either adapter brackets (I have a used set I can sell if you're interested). Or order the GT500 axle brackets. Those require the axles to be pulled. If you do that, replace the axles with Moser or Strange axles.
 

willief23

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good info Coz. Im going with the fortune auto 510 coilovers because I like to adjust the height and the shocks are a few steps up then just lowering springs and koni shocks. Quite a few people like the option coilovers and say they are close in ride quality to oem springs and make the mustang handle well. I wont be doing autocross but just mainly drag strips and street driving. There is some bumpy mountain roads that I take daily going to work so thats why I was thinking about the watts link setup. I just got steeda lca, lca relocation brackets, adjustable uca, uca bracket, rear brace, adjustable panhard bar, panhard brace. I will try that out before I decide on watts link either from cortex or fays. The plan is to get steeda lightweight radiator support and bmr k member to reduce some front end weight.
 
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Stang Lover

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I don’t know about the head cooling mod or timing chain upgrades. If you are staying N/A I don’t think those would be needed.

In stock trim OPG’s are not needed.

For suspension I recommend Koni coilovers and some good camber caster plates. For springs I have 450s in front and 240s in back. Love my BMR watts link, LCAs and LCA relo brackets.

Other must have mods...redline tuning hood struts, weathertech mats, MGW shifter and Borla S-type mufflers.

Love my AED tune - Shaun is the man.

OPG can fail in stock trim and it has been proven. It's still a weak point in the engine and it's cheap insurance.
 

PaxtonShelby

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I think OPG failures are very uncommon on stock coyotes. All failures I have seen have been on supercharged motors. And the parts themselves are relatively cheap at around $300, but the labor to install is not cheap.
 

FJohnny

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Here is a good video by Alex Flores (then at VMP, now at Lund) about OPG

I guess after watching that video I can say that rarely, if ever, have I felt less inclined to believe someone. Him feeling the harmonics in his butt dyno and eliminating the rev limiter completely so he can rev it to 9000 if he chooses to is less than convincing. But at least he clarified it at the end and said it was just his opinion. That makes it better, anyway.

Just my opinion, but if you don't want to have an issue with OPG's don't raise your redline and don't bounce off of your rev limiter.
 

BigmotoXer

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My turn. Op gear and cool head mod.
All the other mods whether suspension, shifter, exhaust, forced induction, etc will come in time. The oil pump gears shatter at high RPM. Period.
As far as a cool head mod I lost cylinder number 8 on my 2011. At the time it was a common occurrence, since then later models (later than 2011-2012) have better provisions/Pistons/etc. There were various things that changed since those 1st years, including piston oil squirters, etc.
I do believe that if I had the cool head mod I might not have lost cylinder number 8. I'm not going to get into a debate about it with anyone, that's what I believe, since then I've built my 5.0 and twin turbo.
The only good thing about losing cylinder 8 is that you'll get really good at Building engines, ...bad=or get really broke at paying someone to do it for you.
 

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