🔧 BUILD Mark's 2015 KB Mustang

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Tonight I picked up the 2001 Mustang's replacement.

It is a manual Deep Impact Blue 2015 Mustang GT premium with the only options being the 3.55 rear-end, navigation, and the 19" dark aluminum wheels. I had initially thought I'd wait until much later this year, but I got impatient.

I worked with [MENTION=4923]The Beast[/MENTION] at getting it sent to his dealership from the Sandwich dealership. Sandwich is the only one that had the exact set-up I wanted. It was either that or a factory order. Beast did a fantastic job getting the Mustang for me, and he gave me a really good price on it. That's another part of the reason I bought sooner than later.

He told me this morning that he was able to get the car to his dealership by the late afternoon. So on my lunch I went to Chase to get a loan and that was it. I had a very positive experience with John, and I would recommend him to anyone.

Also, huge props to Mook for helping me pick up the car and then spending a couple hours driving around and helping me learn how to better drive it. I also have to give a shout-out to [MENTION=60]greasy[/MENTION] for also letting me learn the basics on his car.

My first night's, opinion? I'm in love with this car. It is awesome in every way. I can't wait to really get good enough to rip through the gears. I'm super-glad I went the way of a manual for this car. For a car that won't see too many quarter mile passes, the manual was the way to go for sure!

Here are the pics of my new ride:

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ZXMustang

Suh dude
Feb 19, 2019
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I'm still plagued by the Drive Mode Selection issue. I can get into every mode with the exception of Track Mode. I'd been doing some internet digging, but the closest I could find were guys that couldn't change modes at all. I can change it from Normal to Sport or Snow/Ice. And the cases where they couldn't change it, it was thought it had to do with some faulty active exhaust flap or something. I don't believe my year has active exhaust. But the car really comes alive in Track Mode and you can get a much better feel for the power/throttle response, so it's been a little bit of a bummer.

Greasy and I are going to get underneath the car in the next week and check for exhaust issues. I think I do have a minor exhaust leak, not sure if that comes into play.

My car did not come back from the supercharger installation (2017) in the greatest shape. I think the guy had his 'C' team doing the work. An aftermarket axle had to be replaced, some transmission cross brace bolts were missing or not fastened, and a newly installed idler pulley was misaligned about a quarter inch. That lead to the squeaking and pre-mature belt wear. I wouldn't be surprised if they half-assedly put the exhaust back on the car.

I was really disappointed as I had nothing but great experiences with that shop with the old 2V. I feel like he wasn't able to get the same quality of guys he had from where the shop was previously located. I saw him publicly complain about it (via FB) in the last year or two, so I think he acknowledged it had been a problem.

I don't really have any new pics. I need to take it to a place with a nice backdrop that get some cool looking pics. I don't really have anything done to the exterior to really make it stand out from any number of Deep Impact Blue Mustangs on the road.
Ouch man that sucks. Who tuned it?
 

blakbearddelite

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Ouch man that sucks. Who tuned it?

Honestly I’d call palm beach and talk to them about your issue, when I first switched to them I told them issues I was having with vmp after 10 revisions, rob nailed it on the base file and dialed in the hp with a couple revisions

The tune is a canned tune from KB. The tuner said he wouldn't get much gains from a custom tune, and that it wouldn't be worth paying him $400-500 for very minimal gains.

I don't think this is a tune issue, but it wouldn't hurt to reach out to Palm Beach. Though I don't know they'd be able to diagnose something like this without having the car. Plus, I don't know they'd offer me any free advice over the phone on what I should be looking at.
 

1quick

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The tune is a canned tune from KB. The tuner said he wouldn't get much gains from a custom tune, and that it wouldn't be worth paying him $400-500 for very minimal gains.

I don't think this is a tune issue, but it wouldn't hurt to reach out to Palm Beach. Though I don't know they'd be able to diagnose something like this without having the car. Plus, I don't know they'd offer me any free advice over the phone on what I should be looking at.

I don’t know about peak numbers but a custom tune felt like 100whp from roush to even the crappy vmp tune
 
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blakbearddelite

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Ah, I may have solved a little piece of the puzzle. For shits and gigs, I ran my programmer to check for DTC's. Sure enough, the ol' P0300 showed up. What's weird is that had caused a CEL in the past, but not this time. Or it was a DTC from a while back that I had not cleared. Anyway, I cleared it, and the car had no problem going into Track Mode.

I guess I'll just get some miles on the car and see if it pops back up. The P0300 could be something as simple as a plug gap issue or a bad plug.
 
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ZXMustang

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Feb 19, 2019
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The tune is a canned tune from KB. The tuner said he wouldn't get much gains from a custom tune, and that it wouldn't be worth paying him $400-500 for very minimal gains.

I don't think this is a tune issue, but it wouldn't hurt to reach out to Palm Beach. Though I don't know they'd be able to diagnose something like this without having the car. Plus, I don't know they'd offer me any free advice over the phone on what I should be looking at.

Wait... You are running a canned tune on a blower car?? Man you are playing with fire. Get that poor car tuned correctly on a dyno. $500 for a real custom tune for that car is nothing since you already probably spent $7k to get the blower setup. This is something you dont cheap out on. I'd use a canned tune for a minute on a stock car just to say I was tuned, until I could get to a real tuner.

Palm Beach is nice. You might want to hit up BJ Venomous tuning. He used to live in IL and now he's in FL. He's a ford tuner as well. Or VMP or just about any reputable tuner that will let you email them logs so they can get you tuned right. Just get it to a dyno for a real tune. Im actually shocked with this Mark. You are such a level headed, conservative guy I'd assume you would have done this day one to make sure its completely safe and running correctly.
 
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blakbearddelite

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Wait... You are running a canned tune on a blower car?? Man you are playing with fire. Get that poor car tuned correctly on a dyno. $500 for a real custom tune for that car is nothing since you already probably spent $7k to get the blower setup. This is something you dont cheap out on. I'd use a canned tune for a minute on a stock car just to say I was tuned, until I could get to a real tuner.

Palm Beach is nice. You might want to hit up BJ Venomous tuning. He used to live in IL and now he's in FL. He's a ford tuner as well. Or VMP or just about any reputable tuner that will let you email them logs so they can get you tuned right. Just get it to a dyno for a real tune. Im actually shocked with this Mark. You are such a level headed, conservative guy I'd assume you would have done this day one to make sure its completely safe and running correctly.
My guy said his tune wouldn't be much better than what the manufacturer has. He threw the car on the dyno to make sure the canned tune was good. It's not like he slapped the blower on there, uploaded the tune, and sent me on my way. I trusted him at the time as he is/was a very well known tuner in the community and he had never steered me wrong before.
 

ZXMustang

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My guy said his tune wouldn't be much better than what the manufacturer has. He threw the car on the dyno to make sure the canned tune was good. It's not like he slapped the blower on there, uploaded the tune, and sent me on my way. I trusted him at the time as he is/was a very well known tuner in the community and he had never steered me wrong before.

Yeah no man. Lund as said above. Go get you one.
 

Rent Free

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My guy said his tune wouldn't be much better than what the manufacturer has. He threw the car on the dyno to make sure the canned tune was good. It's not like he slapped the blower on there, uploaded the tune, and sent me on my way. I trusted him at the time as he is/was a very well known tuner in the community and he had never steered me wrong before.

Ask anyone that has a Roush tune then went PBD or Lund if they regret it...........

Ask anyone that has a Whipple tune then went PBD or Lund if they regret it.........

Ask others on the mustamg sites that have a KB tune then went PBD or Lund if they regret it......

See the trend. Blower companies make good blowers not so much tunes.

There is wayyyyy more to it that peak HP numbers.
 

1quick

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It’s not that it’s unsafe the blower manufacturers have super safe tunes Normally real low timing and real rich, and it seems like they set them up to make good peak numbers but they have a ton of tq management in the lower gears that just kills the fun of having a blower
 
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blakbearddelite

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It's not throwing any mores codes, but it will only let me in track mode for a minute or two. I run the 'clear codes', even though none are there, and then it will let me back into track mode for another few minutes. It might take a few instances of misfiring before it actually throws the code, but it's enough to lock out track mode.
 

1quick

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It's not throwing any mores codes, but it will only let me in track mode for a minute or two. I run the 'clear codes', even though none are there, and then it will let me back into track mode for another few minutes. It might take a few instances of misfiring before it actually throws the code, but it's enough to lock out track mode.
Tuners normally delete that random misfire code so it’s not an issue, for whatever reason maybe it’s the plug gap but many modded coyote cars throw that code
 

blakbearddelite

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Yeah, not a bad place to start. It's been three years, could be due for some new plugs. Any misfirings must be very minor as I don't feel a loss in power or any stumbling.
Also I noticed after my plugs were about a year old the car would run rougher I always changed the plugs for a fresh set of ngk6510’s every year
 

Dave M

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Didn't you put a new clutch in it too? The P0300 is also a sign that you need to do a crank re-learn if you've upgraded the clutch, I had/have the same issue, it's just easier for me to reset the CEL than to do a clutch re-learn, but I don't have fancy drive modes :cry: If it were a misfire it would be P0301, P0302, etc. to identify which cylinder it is.
 

Jeffs FRC

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Like everyone has already said, get with a tooner and ditch that KB tune. PBD or Lund would be my suggestion. Ive got nothing but great dealings with Rob @ PBD

Also change the plugs! Tuner should let you know what he likes the gap at. NGK Iridiums are what I use.

P0300 is usually cured by a crank relearn. This is the pesky code that plaques a lot of Coyotes.
 

Jeffs FRC

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I did the crank relearn after the clutch install. Is it possible I need to do it again? I figured that was a one time deal with each time the flywheel/clutch comes out.
Should have just been a one time thing if done correctly.

Seeiously I think your issues are the tune though. The car will be so much more enjoyable after a proper tuner gets their hands on it.
 

blakbearddelite

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I ordered a custom tune from PBD. I had shit luck getting someone on the phone, so I just ordered through the website. Maybe someone will reach out to me now.

My understanding is that they will send a base file on my listed mods. I'll log some test runs on my X4 and sent it off to him. Then he'll send me revisions etc. I don't mind making some test runs on the street, I just hope I don't need to do many 100mph pulls.
 

1quick

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I ordered a custom tune from PBD. I had shit luck getting someone on the phone, so I just ordered through the website. Maybe someone will reach out to me now.

My understanding is that they will send a base file on my listed mods. I'll log some test runs on my X4 and sent it off to him. Then he'll send me revisions etc. I don't mind making some test runs on the street, I just hope I don't need to do many 100mph pulls.
You just need to pick a gear that it hooks up at 3000 rpm and rip that whole gear for data, I called twice last week and someone picked up both times they have an office guy now to answer the phones and help with orders, I ordered a tune Friday and got it Tuesday first thing after the holiday weekend
 

greasy

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I ordered a custom tune from PBD. I had shit luck getting someone on the phone, so I just ordered through the website. Maybe someone will reach out to me now.

My understanding is that they will send a base file on my listed mods. I'll log some test runs on my X4 and sent it off to him. Then he'll send me revisions etc. I don't mind making some test runs on the street, I just hope I don't need to do many 100mph pulls.

It is not as bad as you think. When I was street tuning my car I was making 4th gear pulls on the highway from 1,500-Redline. The top speed was kind of sketchy, but it is what it is. If you don't like that you can rent a dyno session from a place like Komet.
 

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