Finall found my new DD... SN197 content

'05 Mustang GT, Satin silver w/ black leather, 5-speed w/ Hurst shifter, axle back Flowmasters, Shaker 1000, new brakes/ rotors, battery, Yokohama Avids about 75%. Super clean. 46K miles.

Nothing planned at the moment other than driving it. Will have engine oil analysis done as standard procedure. Maybe K&N FIPK, quarter window louvers, Clarion w/ Bluetooth down the road. Not crazy about the wing, maybe delete or duck tail spoiler later. Really just dig it as it is.

My Droid doesn't want to upload pics at the moment.

Trans is still a little notchy even w/ the Hurst shifter but less than the stock shifter GTs I've driven. Will be looking to remedy this w/ possible fluid change. There are several opinions of trans fluid alternatives on the Mustang sites. Any recommendations here?

Feel free to recommend any mods that will improve this car. Also, any things to be on the lookout for. This car is all new to me.

Sounds nice? Mind if I ask how much you picked it up for? They are still running between 15-20k here in the metro dc area.

Some Koni yellows and decent springs with a big front sway bar will make a huge difference in handling. Also, I see that it has Flowmasters but the Corsa Axleback system makes some very pretty noises. If I ever pick up another S197 that will be my first mod again.

In reply to DirtyBird222:

Ford dealer had it at $18K for a couple months, two weeks ago dropped to $17K. Went to their site Friday 7/5 to look at a black '09 GT they had and stumbled across the '05 again that had just been reduced to sub $15.5K. Called dealer to confirm price and the salesman wasn't even aware of the price drop yet. He confirmed the sales manager said this is rock bottom or the car is going to auction. I was there to check it out asap.

Trade my 95K mile '02 GP, tax etc., out the door sub $14.5K. Only received auction price for the GP... but take it.... please, please take it. The GP was nothing but a PITA anymore.

The Flowmasters have a nice rumble but nothing obnoxious. I would have planned a FIPK, shifter and exhaust on anything I bought. This just shortened the build.

I'm not complaining.

I love that color combo, it was the same as the Y2K GT I had.

Hope you enjoy, or list it here whenever you decide to sell.

That's awesome man. I wish I would have held on to mine for a bit longer. I bought an 06 in 09 with a Roushcharger on it for $18. Sold it a year later for $19000 to a dealer! I could have made a bit of money on it, but I was tired of paying for gas on two V8s that got crap for mpgs lol.

Can't wait to see pics!

Congrats - I'm a big S197 fan and they are definitely on my "possible future vehicle" list.

I've had my '08 about 2 months now and so far so good. I got a screaming deal on it, but it had a couple issues. I just did rear brakes and rotors, and the drivers seat leans inwards, a common problem I understand. I also want to go back to the 3.55 Rear gear and dump the 4.11 That was installed at some point. It also has Ford Racing shocks that I do not like, it needs Konis badly. It is fun to drive and I've been getting about 22mpg even with the 4.11.

congrats on yours!

Good for you, OP. I've been tossing around this being my next toy pretty heavily and have seen a few getting priced even around $10k (over 100k miles, but that's okay with me). Research indicates there really isn't too much that goes wrong on these unless they've been rice'd and beaten on constantly.

Pedestal wings suck. There are two ducktail spoilers I've found that aren't huge and will cover the wing holes. One bolts on, the other uses 3M tape. You can find them on CJ Pony Parts web site. See, told you I was looking.

I think these are rapidly becoming a bargain performance car.

Another thought; mine has the K&N FIPK, not a fan. Id need to see dyno figures to see if it is worth it, but so far it's been trouble. I went through a bunch of road construction where there were significant differences between the asphalt, but nothing most cars cant handle, and the FIPK fell off and caused lean codes on both banks. The design for FIRK for this car is poor in my opinion, but I've also discovered in the paperwork where it looks like it has caused issues in the past as well even though it had not fallen off. There is nothing to support it except where it attaches, but there is a plate it can rest on at the end I suppose, except that it doesn't. In any event, these cars have a history of issues with these I have found out and am now looking for a stock air box.

Basically mine was turned into some kind of Shelby replica, and although well done, I really like the more stock versions better. If you want to DD, you may want to think hard about what you do to yours. As I stated above, the shocks and springs are Shelby specific for the year, and although they corner nice and flat, there is a pretty stiff ride penalty to pay. Konis would definitely help as the compression of these shocks is STIFF and the rebound poor.

If you do the trans fluid change, I would definitely be interested in the results. I've been considering a Redline change to see if it would help.

Any luck getting pics?

Welcome to the club My '05:

Bought new in '05.

You absolutely, no holds barred, must get a tune for it if it doesn't already have it. First, it has to have it for a cold air intake or it will throw lean codes, second it makes the throttle map INFINITELY better.

I'm also running the Hurst shifter, and it's always been pretty stiff, especially getting through the synchros on second. I've often ground the gears becaus eI let the clutch out on a fast shift before it made it all the way through the sync. Let me know what you find out on fluid, I need to change mine but I have no recommendations for you.

I'm running factory springs with Tokico D-Spec struts/shocks and it's a good compromise for a non-lowered DD. I can run it firm enough to be fun on the street while retaining some comfort, but crank them down for autox.

I also have BMR sways front and rear. The combination with the Tokicos is pretty good, similar to a Shelby GT in capability ( the darling of F-stock, not the Cobra.)

If the vinyl inserts haven't fallen off the doors yet, they will soon. And the alternators have a tendency to die about 60k, but they are easy to replace if not cheap. Also, change the plugs NOW if they haven't been done. Buy the tool to remove the broken ones before you start if they're the factory plugs.

EDIT: I'll disagree about pedestal wings, although I dislike the factory wing. The wing on mine is a Steeda Street wing, and I could actually feel a stability difference above 70mph when I installed it. I also love the way it looks, although you can't really see it in these photos. I'll see if I can dig up an ass shot of it.

Nice! Can you give more details on the tune? Definitely interested.

I'd so love to pick up one of these cars as an alternative summer DD. Nothing but mild mods, maybe a CAI, catback, and a tune, and some aftermarket shocks. I've been down the "overmodding" road before, and I don't want to live with it again in a car I'm driving to work. Besides, that's what the E30 is for.

But alas, I have to wait until the kitchen is paid for. But the good news is that they are only getting cheaper!

Love the S197s. Still miss my '06 GT Premium convertible...

And yeah, I used the Clarion for bluetooth connectivity. Worked great to plug and play replace the Shaker 500 head unit:

And I color matched it to the MyColor dash in the Mustang.

Had the CAI/Shaker hood scoop, Pypes Pype Bomb axlebacks, and some simple rear suspension mods (tubular upper and lower control arms and adjustible aluminum panhard rod).

I've heard video clips of the Pypes system and it sounds great, but I've read several quality complaints on the SN197 forum. What was your opinion?

Sorry for the pedantry:

It's S197, not SN197.

94-04 cars are SN95s. It's easy to confuse the two.

Nice car, and carry on.

Chris_V wrote:

I've never really given modern convertible Mustangs a second thought, but damn! That looks pretty great! Love the color.

What wheels are those?

Chris- nice ride. I always liked the Classic Design stuff, especially on a vert.

The tune - factory ecu tunes in the S197s are fairly conservative. If you increase the intake flow ( like with a CAI) they will immediately throw lean codes. The throttle response mapping also has a lot of delay built in to soften driveline shock on powerful cars driven by inexperienced drivers. I also think they did it for longevity on what was an untested platform at the time. When I bought mine I found it near impossible to match rpms on downshifts and such. The aftermarket tune I bought (via an SCT Xcal2 programmer) remapped the timing and I was able to select my specific CAI from a list. It also sharpened the throttle response IMMENSELY. It suddenly became a quick-witted thoroughbred instead of a strong plow horse. I run a tune for 93 octane because it's smoother and drives better, and it improved the mileage enough to cover about half the difference in cost between regular and premium fuel. I loaded the tune at about 20k miles and today I'm just over 100k with no problems so far. It's honestly the one mod I couldn't live without.

If I were buying a tune today, I'd go here: http://www.brenspeed.com/3000a.html

These guys have a stellar reputation on tuning and FI for Mustangs, and they basically do a semi-custom tune for your individual car. Well worth the price.

There's so much available for these cars that avoiding the over-mod for DD is hard. I'm very happy with mine day-to-day as it is, but I keep eyeballing the superchargers. And the drop springs. Might as well do the UCA/LCAs and a Watts link while I'm in there. And some race seats. Maybe a cage so I can run harnesses. BMR makes a front k member unit that drops the engine 1/2" - that would lower my CG. And you might as well do the tubular a-arms while you've got the K out....

you get the idea.

ddavidv wrote: I've heard video clips of the Pypes system and it sounds great, but I've read several quality complaints on the SN197 forum. What was your opinion?

Loved them. Took a half hour to install and that was only because the stock pipes didn't want to come off easily. One side decided to be stubborn. The sound was just enough to be non-stock without being obnoxious. They held up well to daily driving, too.

alex wrote:

Chris_V wrote:

I've never really given modern convertible Mustangs a second thought, but damn! That looks pretty great! Love the color. What wheels are those?

The wheels are 20" staggered BOSS 338s w/255 and 275/40 20 BFGs. Great ride and grip and not too low profile. I didn't notice any performance degredation from the stock 17 and Pirellis. In fact, it was a net improvement. I wanted something classic in a modern size that fit the car, both stylistically and proportionally. Amazing that these cars can swallow staggered 20" wheels and look proportional...

ultraclyde wrote: The tune - factory ecu tunes in the 4.6L S197s are fairly conservative.

FTFY. The 4.6L tunes are conservative. The later 5.0s are not.

Took the car in for state inspection this morning and checked out the undercarriage while on the lift. Really clean underneath too, no leaks, no rust, no rash. Rotors and pads are new Ford parts. Flowmasters appear to be new too. Oil analysis will have to wait for next change, it's fresh. Mechanics in the shop couldn't believe it was an '05 living in Pa.... this had to be somebody's garage kept baby. I kept waiting for something to be wrong w/ the car because of the big price drop but can't find anything, maybe it was just dumb luck finding it when I did.

Almost too nice to DD.

btw, what engine oil are you guys running?

Welcome to the club. Had my '05 for almost 3 years now and it's been essentially flawless. They're fun cars!

Finally started DDing this week, first few impressions. Love the torque, not that I'm too lazy to downshift in every day traffic but it just pulls so well, the 3:55s hafta help w/ that. Nice roll on, fun rowing through the gears again, trans isn't as notchy as I first thought, chalk that up to noob error, haven't driven a stick in years, calling it good now. Interior is laid out well, fits me good, nice job Ford.

Reminiscent of my old Z-28, some people just can't resist getting past this car, anything from a stoplight to the highway, geezus I'm not provoking anybody, kinda funny tho. A V8 Titan musta redlined to get past me when we hit the four lane from the intersection light, then he slows in front of me... oh, and he had them pipes. Dickwad. No race challenges yet but I kinda figure that's gonna happen, goes w/ the territory I 'spose.

Mine -

Sky_Render wrote:

ultraclyde wrote: The tune - factory ecu tunes in the 4.6L S197s are fairly conservative.

FTFY. The 4.6L tunes are conservative. The later 5.0s are *not*.

Well, yeah, guess I should have specified. I hear those are well set up from the factory but I have no personal experience.

Fasted58 - I've been using Mobil1 5w20 ( I think that's it, whatever factory visc spec is) since the 2nd oil change. I've got no complaints, but I don't run oil analysis either, so I don't really know. One quirk on the early GTs running full synthetic - if you start the car from cold and run it for just a minute - like backing out of the garage - and shut it off, when you recrank it you'll get a puff of oil smoke from one tailpipe. I think it's the psg side one. Freaked me out first time I saw it, but apparently it's common.

Be careful straying too far from factory viscosity spec as the variable valve system is oil pressure driven, I think.

Will wrote: Sorry for the pedantry: It's S197, not SN197. 94-04 cars are SN95s. It's easy to confuse the two. Nice car, and carry on.

How many pedants does it take to change a lightbulb?

Change, or replace?