Modifying muscle cars is just what you do. Sure, stock muscle cars, whether they’re classic or modern are great, but in order to get the most performance out of your car, you have to do some upgrading. This is even the case with the modern Mustang GT. It’s fast, relatively nimble on the street and a true ode to the classic pony car, but once you get it on the track, you’ll soon realize that it has several areas that could stand for some improvement. This week on Big Muscle, Mike Musto explores the true track potential of a 2013 Mustang GT both with and without a modified suspension. Check it out above.

This week’s episode of Big Muscle is a bit different than most others. Instead of taking on a local enthusiast’s car and showing their audience its unique perks, the crew of Big Muscle took one of their own project cars out for a bit of track thrashing. What they discovered was the downfalls of a factory street car when it comes to true track performance.

Like Musto says, Ford did a great job with the modern Mustang, giving it better handling qualities and performance than previous models. But what the Mustang lacks is handling qualities built for the track. Not only is the modern pony incredibly nose heavy, it also comes equipped with soft, non-adjustable springs, a rear panhard bar rather than a traction bar and a solid live axle. The result is a sloppy cantering around a road course.

After experiencing these issues for themselves, the Big Muscle crew took their Mustang to Filip Torjanek, owner of CorteX Racing. There, the Mustang was equipped with a CorteX Watts-Link rear suspension system, JRI shocks, a rear traction bar and an increased tire camber. The front suspension geometry was also changed, to lower the nose of the car slightly.

The results of the modifications on the track are incredible. Not only does the Mustang stay steady without the nose dive thanks to the suspension upgrades, the car is also less squirrely in the rearend, making it seem like a different beast all together.

There are plenty of modifications you can do to your modern pony car, but when it comes to really increasing the fifth-gen Mustang’s performance, it’s about handling before more horsepower!