Mustangs Handling

You always here people knock the Mustang about being fast in a straight line but not much else and bad handling and not good in cornering. How good does a 99 -04 mustang handle? Whats your opinion on how they take the corners? And I always here how they dont handle good in wet weather. Can someone sort this out?

i took my buddies 02 v6 for a quick spin around the block but im sure that isnt the same as the v8 due to power to weight ratio differing. it isnt that the mustang is jstu a total haus on handeling it is jsut that it is not a s2000 and was never ment to be. with a nice coilover kit, some chasy stifening and good tires you can make it handel a lot better but an autocross suspension is not gunna lunch as well as a drag type. it is still guna get u were u want to be tho, itll just have different ups and downs. craig

My 95 GT (v8 5.0 HO) handles pretty damn good. I've taken corners in my neighborhood at about 40mph (Speed limit 25) and the car didn't even lean. I'm not all sure what my car has on it, as I just bought it a few weeks ago..
The only good thing I'm absolutely certain of... is i have some sort of 17" high profile tires on 'em.. brand new too.

The old BS about American cars can not handle is just wrong. No a Mustang or Camaro is not going to handle like a S2000 or a Porsche. But contrary to what they would like you to believe the Mustangs is not an unsteerable tank of a car. I chased an Itegra Type R around Limerock race course having now issue following his live through turns when according to the peanut gallery it's impossible. This was in an 87 GT all stock suspension.

I dont have much of an issue keeping up with imports through the turns, and I tend to eat them up down the straights.


A lot of it has to do with driver skill too, some import drivers think they can take any corner at 90 mph.


Its funny to see the look on the face of an import driver when you come off a corner just underneath them and rattle their windows as you blow past em in your big american V-8.


It really gets under their skin when you tell em its all stock.

interesting to read GTStang, because i used to have a 2001 integra LS. when i compare my 99 cobra (i have 18x9.5in cobra R rims with yokohama avs es100 tires) to the integra with 17x7in rims with the same tires, they are not really that close. this cobra feels like a boat to me, when in fact it really isnt that bad at handling at all!

-you must have been a much better driver than the guy in the teg.

then again, i did drop the teg 2.5in :icon16: , BUT i do recall how well it handled around corners before i dropped it and put the rims on it.

:2cents: :2cents: i guess there is my 4 cents (if that makes CENTS :rolleyes: ). i am really bored at work right now, so i decided to put numerous icons in this post to spice it up daWg...

interesting to read GTStang, because i used to have a 2001 integra LS. when i compare my 99 cobra (i have 18x9.5in cobra R rims with yokohama avs es100 tires) to the integra with 17x7in rims with the same tires, they are not really that close. this cobra feels like a boat to me, when in fact it really isnt that bad at handling at all!

-you must have been a much better driver than the guy in the teg.

then again, i did drop the teg 2.5in :icon16: , BUT i do recall how well it handled around corners before i dropped it and put the rims on it.

:2cents: :2cents: i guess there is my 4 cents (if that makes CENTS :rolleyes: ). i am really bored at work right now, so i decided to put numerous icons in this post to spice it up daWg...


Awesome point Kitted and I should of talked about it but it I was tired last night. Much of where people draw there opinion is the two cars and the feel each gives. Cars like Integras and Civics do I totally admit give a much more road contact feel and mostly cause of their lighter weight have more of overall of a Go-Kart like feel which instills more confidence in it's handling abilities.

Mustangs exactly I would agree feel like a boat compared to such cars and have a much less direct feel of the road. So a Mustang is a much trickier car to drive cause you have to go less on feel and more on knowing what you can get away with. But that does not necessarily equal superior handling of one or the other. It just makes it easier to push one car without practice and confidence.

I don't think I was a much better driver than the guy in the ITR. I would never have been able to pass him in many of the turns. But I could easily follow his line and stay close enough to use my torque on the turn exits into the striaghts to power power past him, though I couldn't fully test this(HPDE, no passing). I honestly think his car could handle better than mine. I was just saying that it's not like an Mustangs handling is so horrible that it's just total ownage, like many people like to say.

How would you compare the handling to a front wheel drive civic, integra/RSX, accord, eclipse, or celica? A lot of people with their front wheel drive civics and eclipses like to think they handle better but they forget one thing, that they are front wheel drive. Rear wheel drive is an advantage provided you dont let too much power at the rear wheels and oversteer get the best of you. I think the mustang handles ok for a car in its class. Its not the worst handling car and besides mustangs have came along ways in handling since the sixties. With alot of talk about the new 2005 Mustang you hear how alot about how older mustangs up to the current gen were put down for only being able to go fast in a straight line but difficult and handling and how Ford fixed this problem by changing the rear axle for the 2005 to improve cornering.

can I get my 94gt to handle well or is there to much chaisis restiction to allow for very good handling?

i have a 2000 v6. it sucked with stock rims and tires. i put on 18 inch cobro rims and good tires and i never drove anything better. well besides a 2003 vette, but thats just anyother whole subject.

You hear alot of bad talk about the mustangs bc of the 4 link has bad lateral control when under close to the limit conering the axle travels up to 2 inchs causeing the rear to almost steer it self and the mustang back end kicks out pretty easy. But dont get me wrong they handle well. It is just the bad lateral control if u buy a panhandle bar and correct this problem there is a huge difference its a completly different car.

What about suspension upgrades. Stiffer suspension improves cornering although it compromises ride comfort.

if u want to coner well i would buy steeda 5 link 2 suspension. some koni, tokico 5 way,or bilstein shocks and struts. a good pair a springs. sway bars will help also

Did you mean panhard bar?

Heres a link.
http://www.maximummotorsports.com/panhard.asp

How does the Mustangs handling compare to the cars I mentioned above? Does anyone know?

the main complaint about mustangs handiling is that it is unperdictable and that is caused by the 4 link suspension having too much play because of the control arms binding up in turns you will greatly greatly improve the handiling of a mustang by getting a panhard bar and having you alinement set to different angles witch will correct the understeer,

Would it be a better Idea to just swich to the 5 link setup than just using the panhard bar?

3 link would be better, as used in the new stang =). but to the point mustangs handle amazingly well. maybe those import guys have no clue what a rear drive MUSCLE car feels like, and end up pussying out on corners, getting bad lap times, thus blaming the handling. or maybe good ol stang doesnt come with a box spoiler to help the handling.

its a myth that muscle cars cant handle. its proven that a mustang handles as well on the skid pad, and better thru the slalom than an integra, eclipse, and lancer. Fact is fact.

And is it illegal to modify a mustang? A lot of dumbass import kids compare a modded out ricebox to a stock mustang. OF COURSE THAT SHTBOX WILL HANDLE BETTER! why not compare it to a modded stang? is it illegal?

I have to say, although it's not where it could be, my 90 handles great for as much as it weighs. No weight reduction, in fact, somehow it keeps getting heavier... But I can carve cones with most cars on the road.

You can always get a weight reduction. It all depends on what you are willing to sacrifice. If you lighten the car you can improve acceleration, braking, corning, and mpg.

Well, it's my daily driver, so it's got all the creature comforts... Ice cold A/C, 3 12" subs in a custom enclosure, amps, all the sound deadening material, all the orignal uphoulstrey (sp?), stuff like that, and I like it that way, so no weight reduction there, maybe start replacing iron with aluminum when money permits and sheet metal with fiberglass.

I've driven a mustang before, came real close to buying one. It was a 93, but still similar to new ones with the same solid rear axle suspensions. It handled like a boat, steering response really isn't that good. I'm comparing this to my 240sx though, which is one of the best handlers in its class with 4-wheel independent suspension with one of the few RWD imports. There is so much lean in the stang too, what turned me off from buying it. You can control it well in corners but it's not as responsive or quick as I'd like it to be

but 96stanggt is right, it just takes more practice. I've been in my friend's 03 stang and he corners and turns much more aggressively then I did when I drove a stang. He goes on ramps pretty fast and he'll make quick turns. It just takes getting used to the car and pushing the limits. As far as FWD sports compact cars like integras and civics (I started out with a Civic), I think if you get good chassis bracing (sub-frame spacers), adj pan handle bar, strut tower bars, and coilovers it will be more predictable and able to outhandle these FWD imports. The only thing though is the FWD imports has so many suspension mod support, a suspension modded FWD will probably be better than a modded stang. Though FWD sux anyways, I'd pick a RWD anyday :evillol: :sunglasse

Mustang's aren't totally terrible for handling, just that if you are more of a control freak than a straight line freak, it would be a better idea to go import. I'm a control freak, I love making fast corners predictable with no body lean, that's why I chose the 240. Stock suspension is set up perfectly, I also put in some nice coilovers and strut tower bars, thing has zero body roll on sharp turns.

I've driven a mustang before, came real close to buying one. It was a 93, but still similar to new ones with the same solid rear axle suspensions. It handled like a boat, steering response really isn't that good. I'm comparing this to my 240sx though, which is one of the best handlers in its class with 4-wheel independent suspension with one of the few RWD imports. There is so much lean in the stang too, what turned me off from buying it. You can control it well in corners but it's not as responsive or quick as I'd like it to be

but 96stanggt is right, it just takes more practice. I've been in my friend's 03 stang and he corners and turns much more aggressively then I did when I drove a stang. He goes on ramps pretty fast and he'll make quick turns. It just takes getting used to the car and pushing the limits. As far as FWD sports compact cars like integras and civics (I started out with a Civic), I think if you get good chassis bracing (sub-frame spacers), adj pan handle bar, strut tower bars, and coilovers it will be more predictable and able to outhandle these FWD imports. The only thing though is the FWD imports has so many suspension mod support, a suspension modded FWD will probably be better than a modded stang. Though FWD sux anyways, I'd pick a RWD anyday :evillol: :sunglasse

Mustang's aren't totally terrible for handling, just that if you are more of a control freak than a straight line freak, it would be a better idea to go import. I'm a control freak, I love making fast corners predictable with no body lean, that's why I chose the 240. Stock suspension is set up perfectly, I also put in some nice coilovers and strut tower bars, thing has zero body roll on sharp turns.


You been around long enough to know about old threads man.... I'm gonan respond and close this but feel free to start a new thread in here if you want to reply.

First you tested a 93..... remember that unless you tested it in 97 or before this is starting to be an old car with worn out bushing, shocks etc.., You'd be amazed the handling improvement on Fox-bodies when you take the time to replace all the shocks, springs, bushings with OEM style parts. Not saying it will out handle a 240SX but it's just an old car showing it's age.

As fas as aftermarket the handling section does not get as much glamorious attention but it is just as strong as the power department. Companies like Griggs Racing and Maxium Motorsports make bolt-on handling part packages for Mustangs that turn them in to 1.0G+ skidpad, track tearing, ferrari killing machines for great prices.