Project "Pony Up", Muscle Car Blog's premier project, was built to showcase how easily Ford's 2005+ Mustang GT (S197) can be transformed from a mild mannered stock GT into a pavement pounding, tire shredding muscle car that not only turns heads with its look and sound but is able to back up its rumbling claims in performance!

Stage 1
With a budget of less than $10K for aftermarket bolt-ons, we were able to make some pretty impressive changes that added both incredible styling and decent performance to our late model muscle car. Our best bang for our buck came from suspension upgrades that lowered the car on Eibach performance springs, replaced the stamped steel lower control arms and upper controls arms with BMR Fabrication pieces and added Tokico D-Spec adjustable shocks and struts on all four corners. In addition to the suspension upgrades, we were able to purchase wheels and tires and a full 3DCarbon 10-piece body kit, which makes Project Pony Up really stand out from the sea of other Mustangs out on the roads today. The finishing piece is a Keystone Restyling Boy Racer Good Hood which is not only stylish, but actually helps to reduce the heat under the hood resulting in a cooler air charge and more performance.

Stage 2
While Stage 1 took care of the looks and handling, very little power modifications were added and only in the form of a few aftermarket performance pieces. While the C&L Intake, Pypes H-pipe, Steeda underdrive pulleys and custom Fastlane tunes make an incredible difference, it was immediately clear that we would need more power and a way to get it to the ground. Stage 2 will have this late model Mustang making close to 500 rear-wheel horsepower and torque from the aftermarket vendors such as Autometer, Fastlane, Spec Clutches, SpyderShaft driveshaft from Leonard Racing, Ford Performance and more.

Of course, with all the added ponies under the hood, Ford's famously bad brakes have got to go. Stainless Steel Brakes Corporation came to the rescue with their Force 10 aluminum caliper brake kit for the late model mustangs. Now braking won't be a problem.

At the track