Very similar to my 12.8 qtr mile setup (I don't have headers). I would say this is a must buy if you just picked up a S197! From personal experience, just add some BMR lower control arms and you are set to tear up the track.

From one of our customers....

Been a while since we interacted on this, but just wanted to let you know that I finally got the last pieces of the drag pack installed in my 2008 GT. I have to say the kit has made a positive difference in this car on almost every level. The 4.10 gears let me drive without the constant downshifting I had to do with the stock 3.31's and the new found acceleration is amazing. The car pulls nicely in all the gears and I don't have to worry about hills when I'm cruising in 5th, just press the throttle a bit and the car happily goes like it should. Driving around town in the lower gears is really nice and gives you the "get-up-and-go" to move through traffic with confidence. The car now feels worthy of the GT badges. (RPM at 60 in 5th is 2000, not bad at all - if you can't handle that, then you're probably not all that interested in changing the car anyway)

The headers fit so well in the engine bay they look like they should be factory pieces. They aren't loud like the old style hot-rod headers, but when you open the throttle they really give that snarl that a real muscle car should have. The stainless looks great in the engine bay as well, which is a bonus.

The C&L cold air kit makes a huge visual impression when you open the hood. I've gotten a lot of comments on  how nicely engineered it is and how well it fits. The size of the filter cone alone gets a lot of remarks, that thing is huge. The pipe attached to it is massive and lends itself to a real performance look without being gaudy or over the top. Much, much improved over the stock wrinkle-tube and black box system. Extremely easy to assemble and install on the car, can't ask for much more in a performance part.

The flash tuner was easy to use, very easy to update with current firmware and tunes from the website. Had Windows drivers already in the XP system I have on my laptop, so the device worked without a hitch. Programming took just a few minutes and couldn't really be easier unless you could set up your options on the computer before walking out to the car, but that's something for SCT to work on.  

The Hurst shifter is really the star of the show, truth be told. The performance of this shifter just has to be felt to be believed. It's hard to describe in typewritten words how precise it feels. That's the only word I can come up with to express the feeling the shifter gives you when you are driving - precision. The installation was as easy as it could have been, especially dealing with the tight space the shifter mounts into. Once you get the old shifter out, the new Hurst bolts directly into place, no muss, no fuss. It's a bit tricky to maneuver it into the driveshaft tunnel from the inside of the car, but that's due to the limited space allowed by the drive shaft. Taking the drive shaft out of the way would make this job easier, but it can be done without removing it - it just takes some careful positioning. (I was worried about post install vibration from getting the driveshaft out of alignment) The factory shifter boot slips into place and looks great with the chrome stick. I would have preferred a black shifter ball, but that's just personal preference. The shifting is crisp, direct and no-nonsense, just as it should be. There is some gear whine transmitted in the new shifter due to the harder mounts, but a bump of the radio volume knob cures that easily. (as nicely machined as this piece is, it's a real shame to have to hide it under the car)

I haven't been to the track (work takes up way too much of my free time) but there's no way the car could not be quicker and more responsive. It also breaks the rear tires loose a lot more easily now, but is still drivable in the rain without any problems. In short the car now drives like a 60's muscle Mustang. A muscle Mustang with good stereo, tilt, cruise, AC, great suspension and all the other goodies that weren't available back then, which is just that much better. It also still gets about 22 MPG in daily driving (try that in a 60's 'Stang). I'm sure if I did some interstate mileage that would jump up a bit, hopefully we'll find out on vacation later this year. (this is on the 87 octane tune from SCT, they have a "gas mileage economy" tune, but I haven't tried that one)

I've got to wash and clean the car up then get some good pictures of it, but it's been too much fun to drive to stop and do that so far.

Thanks for setting up this kit and all your assistance, and it's a definite "must install" for anybody with a 2008 GT that wants it to drive like it should have driven from the factory. I would whole-heartedly recommend this kit and LRS to anybody looking for beefing up their GT.

Mike S.