RE: Steeda Q500 Enforcer: Driven

RE: Steeda Q500 Enforcer: Driven

Tuesday 24th April 2018

2019 Steeda Q500 Enforcer | UK Review

A modified Mustang that's made better without monster power. No, really...



Can you make a comparison between the Mazda MX-5 and Ford Mustang? Yes, actually you can. Not only are they very successful sports car icons in their own right, they also have a tremendously popular tuning scene behind them. Even when the cars are good to start with (and perhaps even more so when they're not), buyers haven't been able to resist a bit of aftermarket enhancement - and when cars like the MX-5 and Mustang respond as well as they do to some fettling, it makes a lot of sense.

Moreover, while modded Mustangs had been a predominantly American thing in the past for obvious reasons, the introduction of right-hand drive cars means a whole new wave of potential customers. So while Steeda may not be a familiar name yet in the UK, there's every reason you might be hearing a lot more about them in the future.


Based in Florida and founded in 1987, Steeda is the world's largest privately owned aftermarket manufacturer of Ford tuning parts. It has bits for the Mondeo, Fiesta, Focus, F-150 truck and, of course, the Mustang. Should you want one in the UK, the cars are available via Ford dealer Haynes in Maidstone. And on this experience of the Q500 Enforcer, that's a mighty fine thing.

Either way you'll want to ignore the name, because it makes the Mustang sound like another daft tuner special that's all about noise, aggression, machismo and little else. Fact is this car proves that, by drawing the Mustang modifying away from huge power gains, Steeda has probably created a more satisfying product.

The standard Q500 package comprises a power boost (via remap, exhaust and air filter) to 480hp and 475lb ft, a suspension upgrade including new springs, bushes, braces and bars, a few new body parts and the obligatory badges to mark the car out as something special. However this Q500 is more serious still, boasting Velgen 20-inch wheels, a fully adjustable coilover kit plus an even louder exhaust.


Steeda describes its apperance as 'factory-plus', which we would politely rephrase as 'factory-PLUS', because this is one mean looking Mustang. Lowered on wheels one-inch larger than standard (plus that very fetching ducktail), it makes a regular Mustang look a little timid.

The Enforcer makes a regular Mustang sound a little timid too. The uprated cat-back system sounds fabulously naughty even at idle, and shows where Ford could move the standard car, but it's probably not going to make you many friends. Unless they're car spotters.

It takes all of about two hundred metres to detect some pretty major improvements from stock to Steeda Mustang. Even with the coilovers in a more aggressive, circuit focused setting, eliminating the pitch, heave and wallow from before, the ride is still more competent at dealing with imperfections. Sometimes having more communication doesn't necessarily make things more uncomfortable for a tuned car (even if that sounds more like relationship advice than dynamic assessment).


With more rubber on the road and the car sat lower, there's an incisiveness and precision to the Enforcer's turn in - and consequent faith in that gigantic front end - that eludes the plain Jane V8. And while it must be entirely a placebo, having the GT350's Alcantara wheel makes steering the car even more pleasant. You still won't really want to move from the 'normal' steering mode, but the gloopiness and vagueness of the stock option is largely gone.

That we've got this far into the story without discussing a modified Mustang's powertrain much should tell you how impressive the rest of the package is. That said, Steeda's work has reaped worthwhile gains and, just as crucially, revealed where the OEM product falls short. Because, in all honesty, the Mustang that this is based on - that being the pre-facelift car, not the recently launched 450hp version - can just sometimes feel a little weak. It's like that guy who's monstrously built up top but hasn't squatted since his P.E. lessons: this was a big car with a big engine and big numbers, yet when it came down to some hard graft - say, pulling through the middle of third or fourth - it could be found wanting a little. Not Honda VTEC style, just lacking the muscle you would hope from a V8 Mustang.


That's gone with the Enforcer, the 80lb ft gain meaning it pulls every single gear with much more conviction. Combine it with the thunder erupting from behind you and what feels like a tad less inertia (perhaps a result of the intake tweaks), and the Coyote V8 finally feels like you would want it to in a Mustang costume. And there's a manual. Quite a decent manual, in fact.

Therefore, when you're out of the urban crawl and driving somewhere more interesting, the Steeda can bring together its detail improvements across the board - engine, ride, body control, steering - and deliver a Mustang driving experience few in Britain will have ever known. The press material talks about the desire to "sharpen responsiveness", and there can be little doubt the Q500 is a world away from a normal 5.0-litre model in terms of eagerness, agility and immediacy. It's not flighty or edgy, rather a vast improvement that makes the Enforcer immensely more satisfying to drive: you can trust your inputs and the car's response (rather than second guessing both), embrace huge grip and traction and start to appreciate the balance because you're better informed as the driver about what's going on.

It doesn't lose sight of being a Mustang, though. Largely that's because of the Bullitt soundtrack, but also because it hasn't been made into some super stiff track renegade, despite the development work at Homestead Miami. It's a car with a suitable level of ability and focus for the road, rather than an aftermarket product that feels like it has a very narrow operating window. Certainly there would be scope to make it more aggressive still, but in creating a track car from a Mustang would likely require bending the laws of physics to their breaking point.


Ultimately, sheer size is what limits the Enforcer's charm in the UK; nothing Steeda could really do about that, but worth noting nonetheless. Despite being right-hand drive and markedly more adept than standard, it's still a large car to thread down a B-road, and that's something you can never fully escape. Same goes for the weight: Steeda's efforts have worked wonders for the GT's nimbleness, however there are points the c.1,800kg kerbweight catches up with you - even if they're admirably few and far between.

And it would be a shame to belittle Steeda's achievements here, if you'll pardon the pun. What could occasionally have felt like a one-trick pony car (sorry) previously is now a rounded, enjoyable, capable sports car. A ruddy massive one, yes, but hugely likeable. If you have a Mustang - or are sorely tempted by the early V8s at less than £30k - then Steeda's upgrades come very highly recommended. They realise potential in the base product without feeling like a clone of rivals, and create something deeply appealing as a result. Get the engine upgrade, get the coilovers, think long and hard about which exhaust you really want and enjoy. We did.


SPECIFICATION - STEEDA Q500 ENFORCER

Engine: 4,951cc, V8
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 480@N/Arpm
Torque (lb ft): 475@N/Arpm 
0-62mph: 4.8sec (standard car)
Top speed: 155mph (standard car)
Weight: 1,720kg
MPG: 20.9 (NEDC combined)
CO2: 299g/km
Price: £8,998 (excluding base car, additional options for this car including but not limited to Velgen wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres at £3,500, the exhaust at £1,000 and the coilovers at £1,600. See Steeda's website for more options).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author
Discussion

JohnnyFive

Original Poster:

86 posts

138 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
Spent the weekend in North Wales with a mate and our S550 Mustangs. Can't say we had any more issues negotiating B roads at pace than we did last time we were there in a VX220 and a Cayman.

dazwalsh

6,095 posts

140 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
i like that a lot, apart from the steeda plastered over the back of it in massive letters.

mac96

3,715 posts

142 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
JohnnyFive said:
Spent the weekend in North Wales with a mate and our S550 Mustangs. Can't say we had any more issues negotiating B roads at pace than we did last time we were there in a VX220 and a Cayman.
Coincidentally I also was in North Wales with my standard S550 at the weekend and I absolutely agree with you. It is not too big except perhaps on the sort of really narrow wall surrounded lane where ideally you would be in a Suzuki SJ410 or similar. Or on foot.

Must admit though that my old RX8 has the edge in some places.

Gameface

16,565 posts

76 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
Didn't PH drive this a little while ago?

SturdyHSV

10,083 posts

166 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
Forgive my ignorance to journalistic hyperbole, but is the article quoted 1,720kg weight really circa 1,800kg as per the same article?

That feels more like circa 1,700kg to me?

Or is this because it's not German?

Master Bean

3,517 posts

119 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
80lb ft from a remap on an N/A car. Hmm. whistle

Gibbo205

3,528 posts

206 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
Master Bean said:
80lb ft from a remap on an N/A car. Hmm. whistle
Yeah I call BS, more likely to be 440-450lb/ft my experiencing with tuning on the S550's.

Still annoys me how these journalist claim big car and how its an issue, then you read a review of an M4 or Mercedes C63 AMG which is equally as big but it never gets mentioned as been big.

I think they just see the bonnet bulge and it gives the impression of been bigger, but that is the idea as its a sports / muscle car hybrid, so its mean to feel big but having done NC500 in an E46 M3 and then an S550 Mustang, did I all of a sudden have issues threading the Mustang down some of the narrow lanes on our NC500 route? NO!



MB140

4,028 posts

102 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
Master Bean said:
80lb ft from a remap on an N/A car. Hmm. whistle
Well I’m going to hand my PH card back because I always thought they were supercharged.

Learn something new everyday!

SturdyHSV

10,083 posts

166 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
Gibbo205 said:
Master Bean said:
80lb ft from a remap on an N/A car. Hmm. whistle
Yeah I call BS, more likely to be 440-450lb/ft my experiencing with tuning on the S550's.
Does this have the independently variable cam timing like on the 302 Laguna Seca for example? As this would allow an NA tune to create some vastly different valve timings and could in theory (with appropriate disregard to emissions) open up a lot more torque / power.

I mention the Laguna Seca specifically because the 'track only' mode used this to create a really lopey idle by massively increasing the overlap to give the appropriate racecar sound (track only because it wouldn't be emissions compliant), but then with the low range torque and driveability of a more sensible cam by adjusting things back to sensible levels above idle.

It does still sound suspicious though...

Gecko1978

9,603 posts

156 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
I love the mustang and wonder if this is last of its kind a NA 5.0 V8 when the world is electric.

Really want one and I would have it upgraded would be rude not too

unsprung

5,467 posts

123 months

Tuesday 24th April 2018
quotequote all
Gecko1978 said:
I love the mustang and wonder if this is last of its kind a NA 5.0 V8 when the world is electric.
Ford have announced the hybrid Mustang for model year 2020. This means that sales and deliveries (in the Mustang's domestic market) will start the preceding autumn. Say, September 2019.

http://www.motortrend.com/news/2020-ford-mustang-h...


Rob J

46 posts

123 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Nice, but GBP15k for the package!!!!!

For that alone you could be the owner of a BMW E9X M3 - a front engined 4.0 V8 with 420 bhp (similar recipe to the Mustang, even if with some significant differences)

Whilst I welcome the idea of the upgrade package, is it really worth 15k?

sr.guiri

477 posts

88 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
unsprung said:
Ford have announced the hybrid Mustang for model year 2020. This means that sales and deliveries (in the Mustang's domestic market) will start the preceding autumn. Say, September 2019. http://www.motortrend.com/news/2020-ford-mustang-h...
Thankfully the throw-away culture didn't exist 50 years ago when the Mustang was launched, so you can still buy them now. Therefore, you won't have to buy this one, the latest model nor the upcoming hybrid one.

Robbie K

52 posts

227 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Some people are discussing the output numbers but seem to be ignoring the message of the article which says that while the normal Mustang felt a little weak;

"That's gone with the Enforcer, the 80lb ft gain meaning it pulls every single gear with much more conviction. Combine it with the thunder erupting from behind you and what feels like a tad less inertia (perhaps a results of the intake tweaks), and the Coyote V8 finally feels like you would want it to in a Mustang costume"

So in other words the car drives a lot better powertrain wise, not to mention the massive improvement overall:

"there can be little doubt the Q500 is a world away from a normal 5.0-litre model in terms of eagerness, agility and immediacy. It's not flighty or edgy, rather a vast improvement that makes the Enforcer immensely more satisfying to drive:"

It's one reason I hate numbers when it comes to cars, as they are so often meaningless. There was a good article in EVO recently that touched on the weight issue, which they compared the vast differences in published weights to the weights they had measured on cars. Unsurprisingly it was the German manufacturers that had massive gaps between the presented numbers and the real weights.

underphil

1,245 posts

209 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all

The article is pretty poor in some respects, how could the author not read 480lb/ft of torque from a 5.0 n/a engine and think "that's clearly impossible!!"

Ferrari's best offering has 83 lb-ft / litre, this would be 96 !!

V8 FOU

2,970 posts

146 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Best news is the handling package for around £1700.
The seriously crap steering was the main reason for me selling mine. may think about another one and add some of this stuff.

Plug Life

978 posts

90 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Enforcer enforcing what?

Mackofthejungle

1,069 posts

194 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Another "mean" or "aggressive" or "angry" looking car. What's wrong with people? Why not just an attractive car? We describe cars in human terms, yet most want their car to be a wker? "If I had to equate my perfect car to a person, I'd choose an aggressive tt who picks fights with strangers in some attempt to look hard". Load of rubbish.

I like the Mustang though - too big and not very attractive, but I like that it exists.

MissChief

7,095 posts

167 months

Thursday 26th April 2018
quotequote all
Steeda describes its appearance as 'factory-plus'

Spell check not working today?

Matt Bird

1,450 posts

204 months

PH Reportery Lad

Thursday 26th April 2018
quotequote all
Master Bean said:
80lb ft from a remap on an N/A car. Hmm. whistle
I see your point (and would probably agree), although it certainly does feel stronger in the mid range than a standard car.