Stock Suspention or Coilover Kit

Hello -

Yours is a good question and I hope this helps.

Good job on getting some pro-level diagnostics. Thumbs up. Even if you never track your 'Stang, you should eventually address your issues as they will only get worse and can lead to more expensive corrective maintenance (e.g, premature tire wear).

When it comes to addressing your known issues as well as lowering your 'Stang and improving overall handling, I wish to suggest two very simple choices to get you started - with the following caveat --> whichever one you choose MAKE SURE YOU STICK TO AN INTEGRATED OVERALL SETUP (KIT) IN MIND. Avoid mixing different brands.

1) First option is straightforward "coilover kit". I highly recommend such kits that include the front coilovers (strut and spring are mounted together) plus rear shocks & springs. Depending on the kit and your budget, some will include extras like sway bar links. This adage remains true - you get what you pay for. Buy from a reputable vendor. More expensive kits are adjustable so you can even adjust the ride height and more. Note that some coilover kits are monikers and may only include lowering springs. Avoid those IMHO. I highly recommend the type of kit that I described above.

Here is a budget coilover kit example that I would recommend

2) Your second choice is a more complete "suspension kit". These kits, in simple terms, are the coilover kit (as described above) PLUS additional components such as front and rear sway bars.

Here is a great (but expensive) complete suspension kit

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Other helpful advice

* STICK TO INTEGRATED KITS (see above) - I cannot emphasize enough this point

* It is very common for the solid rear axle to shift a little bit to the pax side when S197 Mustangs are lowered. This typically does not affect drivability - but can result in a little bit of crabbing. An adjustable panhard bar is the proper and simple solution to recenter the rear axle. The suspension kit above includes one - some do not. Adjustable panhardbars are dumb passive iron. So this is an exception to my overall integration rule of thumb. If the kit you choose does not come with one, any brand will do. You can also do without one for starters and if you don't experience much shift, you can leave it that way. This is an easy add-on later.

* Plan on an alignment after you upgrade to your integrated kit.
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Once you get past this point, you can start thing about things like control arms, tubular K-members, subframe connectors and more. I would suggest however that on a 2011 V6, you will not derive much incremental performance, you can (and will) diminish street ride quality, and things get real expensive real fast.

HTH! Best wishes!

Practically all of the S197 Mustangs that I have seen at track days or low-end racing events, are using Struts/springs, NOT coil-overs.

My understanding of the benefits of coilovers:
1) higher spring rates available than with regular struts/springs -- if you want crazy-stiff springs for the track (which would be very uncomfortable on the street)
2) adjustable ride height
So, if you don't want extremely stiff springs and you don't need to adjust the ride height, there is no major reason for coilovers, that I know of.

Conventional struts/shocks/springs with about 1" drop are very common. "Steeda Sport" springs are probably a good choice, and there are others. But the amount of drop is fixed, not adjustable like with coilovers.

Also I have been warned to avoid cheap coilovers -- the good ones are expensive, quite a bit more than regular struts/springs ... or so I "have heard"

I have Vogtland GT springs that on a V6 are .8/1.2 and Koni Sport Adjustable Struts and Shocks. My car also started its life with the Performance Package so it had some turn corner goodies on it to start.
My Car as it sits now

It actually handles pretty good also

The Built in G-Meter

JBert said:

Practically all of the S197 Mustangs that I have seen at track days or low-end racing events, are using Struts/springs, NOT coil-overs.

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A strut and spring paired together is what is called a "coilover". So I am confused.

One can pair a unique shock with a unique spring and, yes, yoiu have a "strut-spring" combination in the front. In other words, you can use the stock strut in front with an ordinary lowering spring. Likewise, you can replace the front strut with another and use the stock spring and you have a "strut-spring" combo.

Neither one is a good choice IMHO. Integrated "coilover kits" can be had starting around $750.

FYI

Struts = front
Shocks = rear

Springs are springs.

A mated spring + strut on the front is known as a coilover assembly. There is NO SUCH THING as a coilover in the rear for the Mustang we are discussing here. The rear ONLY has a shock and spring (unless one is shelling our thousands and thousands of dollars).

To the OP: my advice still stands GET AN INTEGRATED KIT. Whatever you choose.

Yeah "coilover" is kinda confusing to me too, because a strut with a spring on it is indeed a "coil over damper" ... but when people say "coilovers" they are usually talking about these:
2010-2014 Mustang Coil Over Kits | AmericanMuscle
SR Performance Mustang V2 Coil-Over Kit 389002 (05-14 Mustang) - Free Shipping (americanmuscle.com)

I guess they are more "integrated" than the normal strut/spring and they are sold together; you can't by the spring and the damper of a "coilover" separately. And the springs are usually smaller in diameter, like the ones in the AM pictures; and the spring perch on the bottom is usually adjustable (screw up/down) for ride height.

When I asked a suspension engineer guy about this a while back "what's the big deal about coilovers" his answer was that they can handle higher spring rates with adequate damping to keep the spring under control, than conventional spring/strut.

Thank you everyone for your responses, I looked over prices for both options on American Muscle, and they would put me in about the same price range of about $1000 to $1500. For coil over kits, I was looking at the SR performance V2 kit, Peddlers Extreme XA kit, or the ISC N1 V2 kit. If I was to stay with a more stock set up, I was going to go with either Koni or Bilstein shocks and struts with either matching brand lowering springs, or the Hurst lowering springs. I know the front shocks need immediate replacement, but the rear bushings have a little life still left in them, they are cracked, but not torn. I plan on doing the shocks struts and springs, then going and doing Swaybars, bushings and the rest of those items to finish up the suspension a bit later on to spread out the pricing. Thankfully, this is not my daily driver, but I do want to try to have it all done before the spring so that I can enjoy the car during the warmer months. Please let me know your opinions on the options I have, or if there is maybe a better option I should look into so my mustang can perform the best it can.

salant217 said:

Thank you everyone for your responses, I looked over prices for both options on American Muscle, and they would put me in about the same price range of about $1000 to $1500. For coil over kits, I was looking at the SR performance V2 kit, Peddlers Extreme XA kit, or the ISC N1 V2 kit. If I was to stay with a more stock set up, I was going to go with either Koni or Bilstein shocks and struts with either matching brand lowering springs, or the Hurst lowering springs. I know the front shocks need immediate replacement, but the rear bushings have a little life still left in them, they are cracked, but not torn. I plan on doing the shocks struts and springs, then going and doing Swaybars, bushings and the rest of those items to finish up the suspension a bit later on to spread out the pricing. Thankfully, this is not my daily driver, but I do want to try to have it all done before the spring so that I can enjoy the car during the warmer months. Please let me know your opinions on the options I have, or if there is maybe a better option I should look into so my mustang can perform the best it can.

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I have the Koni orange struts and shocks on my 2014 Mustang GT but the Koni yellow are adjustable. I have whiteline lowering springs but I would look into the steeda lowering springs. Since you are lowering your Mustang than you should also get a panhard bar for the rear-end and depending on how big of a drop then you may want to get camber bolts or caster camber plates for the front end.

salant217 said:

Thank you everyone for your responses, I looked over prices for both options on American Muscle, and they would put me in about the same price range of about $1000 to $1500. For coil over kits, I was looking at the SR performance V2 kit, Peddlers Extreme XA kit, or the ISC N1 V2 kit. If I was to stay with a more stock set up, I was going to go with either Koni or Bilstein shocks and struts with either matching brand lowering springs, or the Hurst lowering springs. I know the front shocks need immediate replacement, but the rear bushings have a little life still left in them, they are cracked, but not torn. I plan on doing the shocks struts and springs, then going and doing Swaybars, bushings and the rest of those items to finish up the suspension a bit later on to spread out the pricing. Thankfully, this is not my daily driver, but I do want to try to have it all done before the spring so that I can enjoy the car during the warmer months. Please let me know your opinions on the options I have, or if there is maybe a better option I should look into so my mustang can perform the best it can.

Click to expand...

How many miles are on this car?
Any clunking if heard up front is probably worn out strut mounts. GT500 mounts are a popular upgrade. I would also check the tie rods for any play.
Anything SR makes tends to be garbage. SR is a budget brand that skimps on quality.
There's really no practical reason to go with coilovers for a street car with occasional track use. Struts are more than adequate and most springs that will go along with struts will be far less harsh than the ones that come with coilovers. Think about this: the Boss 302, GT350, GT500 and Mach 1 have struts and they rule at the track.

Cobrajet67 said:

How many miles are on this car?
Any clunking if heard up front is probably worn out strut mounts. GT500 mounts are a popular upgrade. I would also check the tie rods for any play.
Anything SR makes tends to be garbage. SR is a budget brand that skimps on quality.
There's really no practical reason to go with coilovers for a street car with occasional track use. Struts are more than adequate and most springs that will go along with struts will be far less harsh than the ones that come with coilovers. Think about this: the Boss 302, GT350, GT500 and Mach 1 have struts and they rule at the track.

Click to expand...

That is a very great point made, right now the car has a little more then 84k on the odometer, I know the struts are bad since they are leaking, one of the shops pointed it out to me during the second opinion. I'm going to go and look at the differences between the koni yellow and the koni orange as they seem to be more performance oriented then the bilstein set, and I will probably go with caster/camber plates for the top so that all of the adjustable items can help me get the best alignment I can get.

I’m currently running Koni yellows,frpp “k” springs and steeda top hats. I like the yellows because you can adjust the dampers, soft to firm, street to track. I adjusted mine to full firm and backed them off a half turn then drove it the six miles to work (I’m retired now) and it was a bumpy but road hugging ride. I currently have them set to soft, backed off 1/2 turn in front and rear at soft 1 turn. This setup, yellows, allows the best of both worlds. Everything else is BMR. This is just what I do,may not work for you. Thanks.