How to Upgrade Your Muscle Car the American Way, with Steeda

Adding more power is the first thing that comes to mind for most people. But let me tell you that going for some chassis upgrades can sometimes feel even better. If you're rolling with American Muscle, you'll have a lot of different tuning companies to choose from. But today, I'd like to give you some insights about Steeda, a company that was founded in the late '80s by Dario Orlando.

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing

A while back, I got in touch with Steeda after seeing their new Ford Mustang Mach 1 project. Chris Cervenka, their E-Commerce Marketing Director, was kind enough to answer all of my questions. Not only that, but Scott Boda, Steeda's Director of Manufacturing, Plant Manager, and resident drag racer, also chimed in on the discussion. I did remember Steeda building a few cool cars over the years but never had I immersed myself so far into the brand before.

You've probably seen Chris in a few Steeda videos. He's owned seven Mustangs so far, and he currently drives a 2018 Shelby GT350 with full Steeda suspension underneath, as well as a few other upgrades from Hawk Performance and Morimoto. I imagine working a Steeda must be quite the dream job for a Mustang enthusiast, and he confirmed "I love working at a company that eats, sleeps, and breathes Mustangs as much as I do!"

Scott feels the same way about the American icon, and his first car was a 1986 Mustang. Even his mother's first car was a Mustang. Scott has been with Steeda for 22 years now, and he's addicted to drag racing. It all started with his first visit to the drag strip when he hung around a family friend with a nitrous assisted, '93 Firebird.

Racing either proves the theory or destroys it

I imagine that there still are people who haven't heard about Steeda. So I asked Chris how he would describe it to them. "If you're a Mustang or Ford enthusiast and want to purchase performance parts for your fast Ford from enthusiasts like yourself, then Steeda is your go-to source." I particularly like the fact that all of their products are tested and proven before hitting the market, and they even have a saying: "racing either proves the theory or destroys it!"

Talking about some of their most impressive achievements, we couldn't forget the "Silver Bullet." That's a 2018 Mustang with a 10-speed automatic, which has been, reportedly, the first naturally aspirated one of its kind in the 10s and 9s down the quarter-mile (402 meters). The fastest it has ever gone is 9.76 seconds with a trap speed of 143 mph (230 kph). This car has been used as an R&D vehicle for both Steeda and several partners of the company.

Talking to Chris and Scott, I've learned that Steeda offers performance parts for other vehicles as well, not just for the Mustang. The line-up includes cars like the Fiesta, Fusion, F-150, Explorer, and parts for the new Bronco, Bronco Sport, and Mach-E are coming up next. I was also curious to get some more drag racing-related advice. For anyone looking to drag race a Mustang, a 2018+, Gen 3 Coyote with a 10-speed automatic is a great place to start.

But not everyone is going to afford to pay that kind of money, so naturally, I asked if it wouldn't make more sense to start building an older model instead. Scott pointed out that "Fox bodies are the cheapest, but they take a crazy amount of mods to walk even a bone stock 2021 GT". I guess that settles it. You'll see several pictures of Steeda projects in the gallery, but I feel that their Mach 1 is one of their most interesting ones at this point.

I noticed that both Chris and Scott have a thing for SVT Cobras, as they both mentioned these to be some of their favorite Mustangs ever. And I was also curious to see where Steeda would be going in an all-electric future. Their answer was simply "The EV takeover is happening whether we like it or not. Here at Steeda, we're excited about it and embrace the new challenge! If it has four wheels and can be thrown around a track, we'll find a way to turn the volume knob up to 11: we're looking at you, Mach-E!"