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Hey guys.

Welcome to this episode of Hot Lap.

In this episode, we're gonna be looking at what we call the top five starter mods.

I get a lot of questions from you guys about having a new car and what I would recommend

the person purchase as their first few mods.

So, here it is.

We're gonna look and discuss what I would personally suggest as the most popular and

beneficial first few mods that people tend to go with once they have their new S550 GT

Mustang.

Of course, these are just suggestions and you always have a ton of different options

when it comes to brands and even specific mods.

It all depends on what you like best and what exactly you want from your car.

But, if you're having a hard time figuring out where to start or you're just curious,

then stick around and see.

So I've picked out five mods, one of which I'll show you is on my own personal car.

We'll show you an example of each mod, just so you can get a good look of a before and

after and see how it can change your car.

With that said, this video is more for those of you with a stock 2015-2017 GT.

Whether you've had it for a while and you're ready to start modding now or you're just

getting into the car.

I know it's only getting easier to pick up a 2015-2017 with the arrival of the 2018s.

You can get a great deal if you plan your timing right and you take advantage of the

release of the 2018, and that's not a bad thing if you ask me.

If anything, it leaves you with a little bit of wiggle room and some extra cash to start

modding with, right?

So here are some of my suggestions in no particular order on what you should consider doing to

your car first.

The first mod that we'll start off talking about is one that a lot of Mustang owners

choose to do early on and that is lowering springs.

When it comes to lowering springs, they can be hard to shop for.

You have a ton of different choices on the site and a handful of different brands.

And so you have to shop with your end goal in mind.

Some people shopping for lowering springs just want to get the car as low as possible.

Some people want only a little bit of lowering, but they're looking more for handling performance

instead.

Some people want both the looks improvements and the handling benefits and some people

just want a drag spring.

These springs are the Eibach Sportline Springs and they lower the car about 1-1/2 inches

in the front and 1.3 inches in the rear.

That makes them one of the most aggressive springs you can pick up when it comes to drop.

It doesn't really get much lower than this from a lowering spring.

Eibach Sportlines tend to be the go-to spring when it comes to getting your Mustang as low

as possible and customers love them.

These have a progressive spring rate which helps keeps a nice ride quality, so even though

you're lowering the car with a heavy drop, you don't have to worry about too rough of

a ride quality.

These springs are firmer than the factory springs of course, and you can expect a change

in handling right away just from the springs alone.

You can thank the lower center of gravity and those firmer spring rates for that.

So you're getting both benefits here with the lowering springs, looks, and performance.

You're looking at spending a little over $250 bucks for these.

And the install for lowering springs on an S550 isn't too difficult.

You will need a spring compressor for the front springs so you can disassemble the spring

and strut assembly and you'll need to lower the subframe in the rear so you can get to

those rear springs.

It might sound a little crazy for a first time wrencher, but it's not bad.

The IRS subframe lowers, along with the rear shock mount and you can slide the springs

out.

And of course, you should always get a fresh alignment after you install springs.

Take a look and see what a difference the drop makes in the car.

The next big mod that's usually at the top of the modification list is exhaust.

And on this car, we have the Kooks Axle-Back.

Take a listen to it quick so you can hear what it sounds like.

Once again, you have a product category that has so many different options.

You have sound to consider, materials, and of course, price point too.

Sound is usually the most important to people and of course, that is subjective.

The Kooks Axle-Back is my choice here because I think that it's an axle-back that has a

good balance.

It's got a balance of volume and tone and by that I mean it's louder, but not too loud

and it has volume and tone without being too raspy.

Plus, I really like the mufflers in this axle-back.

I have a Kooks Cat-Back on my own personal car.

The Kooks Axle-Back is made from stainless steel with 3-inch round race mufflers, 4-inch

exhaust tips, and I would say that it's in the middle when it comes to price.

You have less expensive options and more expensive options but you're looking at spending about

$620 bucks for the Kooks Axle-Back.

Installing an axle-back, any axle-back on an S550, does require some cutting.

You'll need to mark and cut your stock axle-back with a Sawzall, pull the stock mufflers down,

swap over your hangers, and just clamp the new axle-back up and into place.

You'll just want to measure for your cuts and make sure you don't cut away too much

or else your mufflers won't sit right.

Next, I'm going to move over to my car and show you guys another modification that I

always recommend.

All right.

So now we're in my own personal car and I remember when the 2011 started to rain down

on the MT-82 parade.

Needless to say, the MT-82 and the shifter in the S550 Mustang was kind of a big talking

point.

And at first, there wasn't much out there on the market in terms of shifters that help

with the remote shifter location and lockout.

And let's just call it MT-82 blues.

Luckily, that didn't last too long and Barton came out with the Hybrid 3 Shifter for the

MT-82 that confronts head on the remote shifter design and all of the downfalls in the stock

shifter set up.

This shifter is expensive, but it's worth every penny in my opinion.

You're looking at spending about $475 bucks for this shifter, but I'll say once again,

that it's worth it.

This is the only shifter upgrade on the site that gives you a completely upgraded unit,

rather than just the handle that will require you to transfer over of some of the stock

components that give you trouble with a stock transmission.

Barton went into the shifter and literally upgraded everything.

We're talking CNC-machined billet aluminum, stainless steel, weather-tight seals, and

a solid stainless front bushing and rear bracket that are made to stop vibrations and deflection

that lead to shifting issues.

This is an entire replacement that has sealed contained shifter components, not just an

arm with a linkage.

The other big thing with this shifter and what really makes this shifter different than

the others, even the original Barton Short Throw Shifter is the mounting options and

the three bushing system in the linkage.

You can mount this shifter directly to the trans or directly to the body of the car.

You have an option here depending on what you like better.

If you mount it to the trans directly, that means you can run the solid linkage.

Then there is a mounting block that bolts directly to the trans, which eliminates the

tie to the body of the car.

This means that the shifter will move with the trans under load and everything will be

directly in line.

If you mount it to the body, you'll use a different bracket and the upgraded linkage

allows the shifter to be remote but still keep accurate shifts.

I will say that I personally have my shifter trans mounted so I don't have to worry about

the body of the car and the trans moving separately.

The install is involved.

You'll need to drop the trans down some in order to make the swap complete.

In my case, we completely dropped the transmission since I was doing a clutch upgrade anyway

but you don't necessarily have to do that yourself.

There is so much to talk about with this shifter but this video isn't really about going into

every detail about each product.

So if you want to know more about the Barton shifter, and I'll tell you there is a lot

to know, make sure you check out the product page where I go into more detail about this

thing.

So we have three down and two more modifications to discuss.

The next mods I'm going to talk about are kind of a combo mod and that's a cold air

intake and a tune.

Back over on our black car, we installed a C&L Street Cold Air Intake with an SCT X4

Tuner and VMP Tune, and of course, threw the car on the Dyno to get numbers results.

Our baseline run with our 2017 automatic GT gave us numbers of 358 horsepower and 348-foot-pounds

of torque.

Then we installed the intake and gave the car a 93 octane tune and the numbers changed

to 386 horsepower and 373-foot-pounds of torque.

That makes for a peak gain of 28 horsepower and 25-foot-pounds of torque and more importantly,

curve gains of 35 horsepower at 6500 RPM and 25-foot-pounds of torque at 4200 RPM.

I always like seeing low-end or mid-range torque gains like this because that's what

you're going to notice as you're driving.

I always recommend paring a cold air intake with a tune, and I always tell people to put

a tune towards the top of their mod list.

The S550s respond really well to a little bit of tuning.

And once you tune your GT, you'll have a totally different car that will be a lot more fun

to drive, even if you aren't personally chasing down big horsepower numbers.

But looking at the details with the C&L Intake and the VMP tunes, of course, this is very

easy to install.

You're looking at the install taking an hour or less.

You'll only need a few hand tools and all that's really gonna happen is the C&L here

will take place of the factory air box.

You'll pull your stock intake tube and airbox and wiggle the new airbox into place.

From there, you can clamp on your intake tube and tighten things down.

Next, you'll load your tune, which is only gonna take about 10 minutes total and it doesn't

require any tools.

This intake and tuner combo cost a touch over $830, but remember, you're getting two modifications

here.

You get your tunes from VMP and you get the C&L Cold Air Intake.

And just like most other things when it comes to shopping for the S550, you have a few different

choices when it comes to both cold air intakes and tunes.

You don't have to purchase a tuner and cold air intake combo if you don't want to.

You can always pick up a cold air intake by itself and then a tune later or go the other

way around.

I just picked the combo mod to talk about here since it is an option and these two items

go hand in hand.

As far as tunes go, you can choose from a number of different tunes and devices.

This item comes with an SCT device that's loaded with VMP custom tunes.

You just send it some information about your car and any current mods and VMP will have

a calibrator write a custom tune file for your car.

And of course, the same thing goes for cold air intakes.

You have a few different styles to choose from.

The C&L here has what I consider to be one of the designs with the most going for it.

You have a closed air box that keeps the direct cold air feed from the grill of the car and

that's more of a true cold air intake set up.

Some after-market cold air intakes have an open element airbox or eliminate the cold

air feed from the grill.

Other cold air intakes just have a shield.

You also have tune-required intakes and no-tune required intakes.

This one here does not require a tune so you can install this without a tune and the car

will run just fine.

Once again, all of this is gonna come down to personal preference.

So if you want a cold air intake that keeps the outside air feed, that has a closed airbox,

and that does not require a tune, the C&L could be a good option for you.

Like most intakes, it comes with a larger reusable air filter that you can clean and

reinstall when you need to.

All right, guys.

So those are my top five starter mods for the 2015-2017 GT Mustang.

You've got a little bit of looks and a lot of functionality and just overall improvement

with these mods between the lowering springs, exhaust, shifter upgrade, cold air intake,

and the tune.

It's a well-rounded starting point or platform for any build.

As always, these are just suggestions though, but I hope that they've helped in some way.

Let me know what you guys think in the comments below on what exactly you would modify first

on your own Mustang.

Make sure you subscribe.

And for all things Mustang, keep it right here at americanmuscle.com

For more infomation >> The First 5 Mustang Parts You Need To Buy For Your 2015-2017 Ford Mustang - Duration: 11:41.

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2018 Ford Ecosport Review — Cars.com - Duration: 3:27.

Ford is a little late to the subcompact SUV party with the new EcoSport car

that's actually been available overseas for some time now

despite the not so fresh routes the EcoSport does have some charm but it

comes with drawbacks small and large the EcoSport does have an upright profile

that's really a distinguishing factor in this class of cars it actually looks

like an SUV it's not some butch DUP hatchback which a lot of competitors

essentially are that profile it sure is a nice high seating position certainly

doesn't feel like you're in a hatchback here though visibility a little bit of a

mixed bag it's really nice to your sides where there's a lot of glass and a clear

view straight back thinks your rear head restraints that look straight down into

the seats and completely out of the way but massive eight pillars in the

EcoSport really do create a prominent obstruction that sort of you're ten and

two o'clock now second row also a bit of a mixed bag in the EcoSport it's really

nice that the seat sits this high off the ground adults won't feel like their

knees are uncomfortably elevated which is a sensation you get in a lot of cars

smaller cars subcompact cars especially but overall nice pace here not that much

I'm 6 feet tall that's where I would sit to drive as you can see I really just

don't have that much extra clearance left over now the cargo space leaves a

few things to be desired first of all instead of using a conventional lift

gate Ford it uses this swing gate right here for the EcoSport and if you've ever

parallel parked in the city you often don't have this much space behind the

car to actually fully open it and access stuff for it also puts this right here

this is the release it kind of incorporates it into the tail light sort

of an interesting area to put it but from afar it just looks like you've got

a broken taillight now inside the EcoSport does have this

nifty cargo divider here it lets you choose between maximum height behind the

second row or a continuous load floor with the seats folded but to fold those

seats down to get the maximum volume you actually have to flip forward be

cushions first and then fold the seat backs down again kind of an old-school

setup now front wheel drive models have a 1 liter turbocharged EcoBoost three

cylinder engine I know EcoBoost in an eco sport but the latter has a different

pronunciation as well its name came first either way

whatever you want to call it there's decent power past about 2500 rpm or so

but some editors complained about excessive lag starting out now

suspension tuning is generally soft overall but other editors found

excessive shimmying and shaking at highway speeds and the echo sports wind

catching profile means you have to make a lot of minor steering Corrections kind

of stay in a straight line that can be wearing after a while city speeds are

what suit the EcoSport best but city conditions maybe not so much drop a

wheel onto a really uneven section of pavement and the whole car can rock for

a second or two afterwards that's sort of inevitable with such a short

wheelbase but it's a major drawback all the same so a checker driving experience

and that swing gate really limit the EcoSport but as sub compact SUVs go

there really aren't that many standout choices in the bunch consider the

EcoSport if you like the driving position or the styling or even its

intuitive sync 3 multimedia system but remember all that charm starts to wear

thin as soon as you start driving

you

For more infomation >> 2018 Ford Ecosport Review — Cars.com - Duration: 3:27.

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The 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport and 2018 Ford Escape floundered in the latest batch

of passenger-side crash testing evaluations carried out by the Insurance Institute for

Highway Safety.

IIHS evaluated seven 2018 model year vehicles in its passenger-side small overlap crash

test, five of which garnered good ratings, including the BMW X1, Mitsubishi Outlander,

Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain and Jeep Compass.

To qualify for IIHS' 2018 Top Safety Pick+ designation, a vehicle must earn a "good"

or "acceptable" passenger-side rating, and a "good" headlight rating.

Thus far, no vehicle in IIHS' small-SUV category has garnered a Top Safety Pick+ award, "because

they fall short of a good rating for headlights," the organization said in a release.

"Many of them either are getting downgrades for excessive glare or don't have enough visibility

down the road, and so, missed our good rating," IIHS senior research engineer Becky Mueller

told Automotive News.

The good news is, said Mueller, in a previous series of passenger-side crash testing evaluations,

nine small SUVs earned the 2018 Top Safety Pick designation.

Structure

Out of all seven newly rated 2018 models, none received a better than "acceptable" rating

for structure, IIHS said.

Across the board, the Outlander Sport received a marginal rating and the Ford Escape earned

a poor rating in part for allowing "too much intrusion into the occupant compartment" on

the passenger-side, IIHS said.

"The Escape struggled in the test as intruding structure seriously compromised space for

the right-front passenger," IIHS said.

"Intrusion measured ten inches at the upper door-hinge pillar, compared with 5 inches

in the driver-side test."

Crash test dummy measurements for the Escape indicate that right hip injuries are likely

if a real-world crash of this level were to occur, the IIHS said.

"In 2017, Ford redesigned the driver side of the Escape to perform better and protect

better and so they have an acceptable rating on the driver side, but they didn't make the

same kind of structural changes to the passenger side," said Mueller.

"There were a number of things that were problematic to the Ford Escape that contributed to that

poor passenger side rating," said Mueller.

Side-airbag snafus

The side curtain airbags on the passenger-side of both the Escape and Outlander Sport failed

to deploy, however the airbags did deploy on the driver's side in both vehicles.

In the Escape, the dummy's head came in contact with the front airbag before sliding around

the side, while in the Outlander Sport, the dummy's head "barely" came in contact with

the front airbag and slipped off the right side -- prompting the head to come in contact

with the upper interior trim panel on the door, IIHS said.

"That's not something we expect to see after so many years of crash testing," Mueller said

the release.

"Side curtain airbags should deploy in crashes like this."

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HOT 2018 Cadillac ATS 2.0T Vs 2018 Ford Mustang - Duration: 9:26.

We ask our vehicles to be good for multiple uses, but few are asked to do such disparate

duties as luxury sports cars.

They need to ride nicely but handle well.

They need to have quiet interiors but aggressive exhaust notes.

They need to be light and nimble but come with fancy materials and loads of features

that add weight.

Everything ends up being some kind of trade-off.

The more money you can throw at the problem, the fewer compromises you need to make.

But this test is specifically about not throwing money at the problem.

With a $40,000 price cap, we find ourselves with the keys to a 2018 Cadillac ATS 2.0T

coupe and a 2018 Ford Mustang EcoBoost, both just squeaking in as tested.

Although both cars can be had with a manual transmission, we opted for automatics because

this is a consumer test, and the vast majority choose automatics.

Before we get into this, though, let's usher a couple elephants out of the room.

Yes, for this money, you could get a Mustang with a V-8.

Besides being wildly unfair pitting a V-8 against a turbo-four, speccing the bigger

engine would mean we couldn't afford many luxury features with the Mustang, and that's

the whole point of this comparison.

Meanwhile, most folks don't associate Cadillac with "sporty" until you get to the V-spec

models.

But the ATS is positioned as a sporty coupe.

And that means going up against cars such as the Mustang.

We eagerly anticipate your outraged emails.

As configured, these two cars are pretty similar.

The Cadillac is slightly smaller and notably lighter (nearly 300 pounds) with a tighter

front seat and smaller trunk.

It even rings up cheaper at $39,490 to the Ford's $39,880.

The Ford fights back with a more powerful engine and subsequently a better power-to-weight

ratio, yet it still manages to match the Cadillac's fuel economy

In standardized testing, though, it's anything but a draw.

The stronger, heavier Mustang is quicker to 60 mph and through the quarter mile, though

the ATS nearly caught up by the end of the drag.

The Mustang stops 8 feet shorter from 60 mph, pulls higher average g on the skidpad, and

laps our figure eight test quicker and at higher average g.

Also, the Mustang sounds better.

Although the raw horsepower and torque of the EcoBoost engine can be credited for the

speed advantage, it's the tires that make the difference in most of the testing.

The Cadillac—with zero window sticker options to keep it price competitive—rides on Continental

ProContact all-seasons.

The Mustang, meanwhile, is equipped with the EcoBoost Performance package, which among

other things buys you a limited-slip differential and Pirelli P Zero summer performance tires.

The tire discrepancy made itself known during our evaluation.

The Cadillac has a wonderful chassis, but it doesn't work with these tires.

Attempting to drive aggressively gets you a handful of understeer as the tires quickly

cry uncle.

OK, slow in, fast out, right?

Nope.

The tires can't put the power down, either, so you get draconian traction control intervention.

I generally don't turn off any of the nannies while on the street, but with the Cadillac's

traction control, I made an exception.

It makes the car drivable on a good road, and you still are protected by the stability

control safety net.

Budget an extra grand for better tires to make this car handle as it should.

Although the Mustang has vastly superior front-end grip, it's not perfect.

Power tends to come on like a hammer, especially in the various Sport modes, and it'll easily

overwhelm the rear tires and rouse the stability control.

Mustangs like to snap oversteer and need to be driven with finesse, and the little-engine

model is no exception.

Drive it like you stole it, and it's like trying to wheel a classic Mustang in Bullitt.

Learn its bad habits, and on a mountain road it'll leave the ATS for dead.

In everyday driving, there's no denying the Ford feels quicker and sportier than the

Cadillac.

The Mustang's all-new 10-speed automatic transmission also contributes to its performance.

It was brilliant on the road.

The shifts were smoother and quicker than the Cadillac's, both up and down, and it

always knew what gear to be in.

In Sport mode, it behaved so well that it made the paddle shifters superfluous.

The eight-speed automatic in the ATS was the opposite.

It shifts smoothly but wants to be in eighth gear regardless of drive mode.

You need to use the paddles to drive the Cadillac quickly, but even they respond slowly.

Despite the Mustang outperforming the ATS, we could never find an ideal setup.

The damper settings are permanently tied to the multiple-choice driving modes, and the

steering weight is adjustable only in some modes.

As a result, we ended up in Sport mode—where the dampers are too soft but the steering

isn't ridiculously heavy and the throttle isn't hair-trigger.

Even the customizable My mode wouldn't let us mix and match settings the way we wanted.

Still, the Mustang, as equipped, is clearly the better sports car.

But which is the better luxury car?

Here, the race tightens.

The Mustang registers the loudest interior of all eight cars in this comparison, but

the Cadillac's is the second loudest.

Likewise, the Mustang, despite its optional MagneRide active dampers, rides more like

a sports car than the luxury-oriented Cadillac.

Despite that, we still prefer the Mustang's cabin.

We admire Cadillac's commitment to "cut and sewn" materials, but we take issue with

the materials chosen to cut and sew.

The sheets of vinyl stitched to the dash call quite a bit of attention to themselves, and

not the good kind.

If you're not going to wrap the dash in leather or suede, don't bother.

The Mustang's soft-touch dash is plastic, but it doesn't look like it's trying too

hard.

We're calling a draw on the Cadillac's plastic wood trim versus the Ford's dull

gray plastic.

Elsewhere on the dash, we come to a tale of two infotainment systems.

Both have long suffered software development issues, and both seem to have finally gotten

it right.

We find Ford's Sync 3 more intuitive than Cadillac's CUE, but the latter looks more

hip and modern.

The Cadillac's lack of navigation is to be expected at this price and is mitigated

by Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration.

(Ford provides both, as well.)

Unfortunately, there's no getting around the fact that CUE's entirely touch-sensitive

interface is housed in a waterfall of black plastic cascading down the dashboard while

the Mustang gets cool metal toggle switches and knurled knobs.

Likewise, the '90s-inspired gauges in the ATS look dated next to the Mustang's futuristic-looking

digital gauges.

Although Ford's interface might look better, with layer upon layer of menus and multiple

buttons scattered around the steering wheel, it's a lot less intuitive than the Cadillac's.

It's a similar story when you consider the seats you'll be sitting in.

The Cadillac's imitation leather is plenty convincing, but even then you don't get

enough of it, thanks to some cloth patches substituted in places Cadillac thinks you

won't notice.

The Ford's seats are sportier with leather and contrast stitching, though we're split

on which is more comfortable.

Not up for debate: At this price point, the Mustang's seats are both heated and cooled;

the Cadillac's are neither.

The extra room in the front of the Ford is appreciated, but it makes the rear seats less

useful.

To be fair, the Cadillac's rear seats are only slightly more utile.

Kids only in the back for both.

Don't bring too much stuff with you, either, because neither car has a big trunk.

The ATS has a larger opening to get your bags through, but the Mustang has a larger and

more usable trunk because it doesn't have the ATS' intruding wheelwells.

Then there are the money matters.

Nearly identical as-tested prices mean nearly identical financing costs, and the same goes

for fuel economy.

Of all eight cars in this test, the Mustang is the most expensive vehicle to insure, but

the ATS is second-worst by a slim margin.

Maintaining the Cadillac is more expensive, but the Ford's repair costs are steep.

The real difference, and it's a doozy, is in depreciation.

The Cadillac has the worst depreciation in this test; the Ford comes in at the average.

So it went and so it goes with these two.

Neither is our ideal four-seat sports car, nor is either a standout luxury car.

With two equally priced cars, the decision then comes down to which we'd rather drive.

With better performance, a better driving experience, far more features, a nicer cabin,

and a cheaper cost of ownership, the answer is inescapably Mustang.

Although Ford won this shootout fairly comprehensively, you might have your own priorities as far

as practical wants and needs.

So for those still on the fence …

Get the Ford if you:

1.

Like a turbo-four with guts.

2.

Expect your sporty car to handle.

3.

Like lots of features with your purchase.

4.

Like direct steering feel.

Get the Cadillac if you:

1.

Can't picture spending $40K on a Mustang.

2.

Like a better ride.

3.

Like smoother shifts.

4.

Are willing to swap out for better tires.