Digital Tuning 2000 V-6 Convertible automatic

Is your local shop offering you a digital tune on a dyno? If not, I do not see any way your $500 would be well spent as the shop has no real method without a dyno to tell what timing changes/fuel metering changes are best, where the power levels exist for best shift point manipulation...etc. In that regard, a tuner and tune may be a bit cheaper route to a bit of a seat of the pants performance boost, but I'm not a big fan of those either, because it still amounts to a tune without a dyno. I'll note at this point that imo there is not $500 worth of additional power to be found based upon the modifications you've performed so far. The 3.73 was your biggest bang for your buck. ((I have the same mods on my GT and haven't felt the need to dyno it or change the tune)). But, your car, your money...my opinion. Cheers!

V-6Pony said:

Thanks for your response. That is my gut feeling also. Just looking for some other opinions. Did you change your throttle body? Small $$ for a little extra boost as far as I can tell.

Click to expand...

Mine is a 2K GT, but no, I have not changed the throttle body...my reading suggests there would be no real power gain with a stock motor. When I purchased the car, it needed an intake manifold due to a crack in the thermostat crossover, so I did put on a Ford Performance piece (I guess technically that was a performance mod). The previous owner handed over an in box cold air intake, which I installed...but, it became a hassle and I ended up going back to the OEM unit. I modified the snorkel to still draw cold air from the fender, but it now has an opening 4-6 times the factory opening. The only other thing I've changed on the motor was to add a home brew oil catch can in the pcv line bc the old intake had a lot of oil in it. I installed a cat back system because one of the OEM tailpipes was crushed.

That said, where to gain performance? I do not know what else you have done to your car, but having been down this hot rod road more than once, and having had cars that just smoked the tires away, I decided to concentrate on getting every bit of available power to the ground with minimal loss. I live in a mountainous area, so cornering prowess was also something I wanted. An SN95 is a 20ish year old car, making most of the suspension pieces near or past usable life. Mine is a convertible as well, so the twist, flex, etc of the chassis is something I dealt with right away installing front and rear shock tower braces and subframe connector--now it is quite stiff. In addition, I installed Koni shocks and struts, larger front and rear sway bars, and replaced the upper and lower rear control arms with performance units. I kept the stock springs bc of rough mountain roads, railroad tracks, etc. it handles like a go cart and is plenty fast (as well as reliable).

All said, decide what you expect/want out of the car, then plan the steps/pieces you need to make it that way. Have fun.