Best Mods For The Money

I have a 2012 Mustang GT with 402 miles on it. I bought it new, but it has been in my garage since day one. I had a 1996 Mustang GT that I had modded when we bought it new and was using it as my daily driver. I sold it last week purposely to force me to drive the 2012. Well, it's gone so I need some help determining what mods to install on the 2012. I would like to get some feedback on the best combination of exhaust, CAI and tune for these Coyote motor cars. I have the 6 speed with 3:73 gears. I'm not planning to install headers, but good to go on cat back. I also want it to have a good sound, but not to the point where all I hear is the exhaust while driving down the road. My 96 Mustang GT had Flowmaster exhaust (American Thunder) and it was perfect. When I hit the throttle, it lets you know, but when cruising you couldn't really hear much in the cabin. I had a full Bassani on an 03 Cobra I had a few years ago and it sounded good too. Especially when that supercharger was wound up. But that was a different motor like the coyote is. So, I need something that sounds good on the 5.0. Anyway, with all the experience here, I'm hoping to get some good ideas and maybe horsepower/torque numbers from the various mods you recommend. Thanks guys !!
 
  • Sponsors (?)


Ok, no one has bit yet so I'll take a stab...

After doing a lot of research on what I like and didn't like, I went with the Borla ATAK cat-backs. I was pretty much sold after watching the product video. At idle she has a nice "wub-wub-wub-wub" , no hollow drone and is not offensive. The ATAK was designed for the 5.0 but they fine tuned it for the 4.6's as well. When you put the foot down, it's pretty darn sweet. The exhaust note even seems to get better over time as it's breaking in.

For CAI, I went with the Air Raid... Again, I reviewed all the products on AM and went with the one that got the best reviews.
I went with the one that didn't require a tune... which comes with a venturi that can be removed if you decide to throw down a tune. I didn't tune the car, yet... but if I did, I'd probably go with Bama, again from AM.

Check out the video..
 
Thanks for the recommendation Paul G. I have to admit that car did sound bad to the bone going through the tunnel. As I'm here in Florida, there are no tunnels I'm aware of, but a trip northbound during the summer wouldn't be out of the question. And thank you UPR for the suspension aspect. As a long time drag racer, I couldn't agree more with the suspension being a key element to the cars capabilities. You can have all the power you want, but if you can't hook up or hang in the turn, it's a lost cause. I have purchased from UPR in the past, and you guys always took good care of me so expect more to come. Anyone else have other exhaust, CAI recommendations ? Also, what about the Boss manifold as opposed to the Cobra Jet ? I do plan to get a tune with these mods, so if a different manifold will help, let me know. Thanks again guys !
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Airaid is the most popular CAI. If you're keeping the stock headers and h-pipe, I'd go with roush mufflers. (they have good sound) But if you're adding an offroad x-pipe, you might consider mufflers which are more tame, like GT500 or Magnaflow Street.
 
Best initial modifications for a coyote car are mufflers and tires - I ran a 275/40/19 Hankook Ventus V12 tires on track pack wheels on my 11 GT. The difference between those and stock tires was night and day. I could actually hook in 2nd. After that, start on the suspension - I recommend stiffening up the rear first to eliminate/reduce wheel hop.

Just my 2 cents.