I Have $500 To Get The Most Horsepower Out Of My 98 Gt

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simple question, simple answer: spray it.

I bet what you really wanted to ask, is how to get the most power without spraying it:
So swap in a PI intake (200$ new, low as 20$ from the j-yard) and PI cams (cheap on ebay). How far your money can go will depend on how much of the work you can do yourself. You should have plenty left over for an offroad H-pipe and the next big benefit would be a tune and/or gears.

However, I would recommend saving your money or maintaining the car with it. If you can't do a lot of work yourself, an unexpected simple repair could easily set you back that much. I maintain my GT very well, but I have spent nearly $500 just this week to get the parts to repair it myself. That's for a new radiator w/hoses and parts to rebuild the leaking rear end.
 
How much work are you able to do yourself?

If you're fairly mechanically inclined, there's a good list of options. PI cams/intake as Brian mentioned. Or heck, I've even seen full PI headswaps going for sub $300. Throw in the miscellaneous parts for that swap, and that's probably the most 'power' you could get for $500. Somewhere between 50-60 rwhp. Should be up around 260 rwhp with other basic mods, and run low-mid 13s with a good driver in the 1/4.

OR, if you could do it yourself, gears won't add any horsepower, but they will make the car feel much faster and more fun to drive.

If you have an auto, a programmer will help a LOT, primarily with the shift points and such, and especially after you do a few mods (PI cams, intake, exhaust, etc.). But I wouldn't get one until after you've done the other things mentioned.

Offroad mid-pipe is nice, too.
 
For the most part, my suspension is alright and i am not to concerned about it for now, plus i can't really modify it because it snows in my area. im thinking of installing a bigger throttle body, maybe 75mm and doing a PI cam swap. then save up for bullit rims
 
For the most part, my suspension is alright and i am not to concerned about it for now, plus i can't really modify it because it snows in my area. im thinking of installing a bigger throttle body, maybe 75mm and doing a PI cam swap. then save up for bullit rims
What's done suspension wise, if you don't mind me asking? What does snow have to do with the suspension? How much power are you trying to get for the $500? Not trying to be rude just asking politely.
 
What's done suspension wise, if you don't mind me asking? What does snow have to do with the suspension? How much power are you trying to get for the $500? Not trying to be rude just asking politely.
The suspension is all stock, there arn't many tracks around where i live and since it snows a lot here, i can't really lower the car if i wanted to. this is my daily driving car though. so basically i don't see advantages to upgrade the suspension yet
 
The suspension is all stock, there arn't many tracks around where i live and since it snows a lot here, i can't really lower the car if i wanted to. this is my daily driving car though. so basically i don't see advantages to upgrade the suspension yet
Oh ok, track or not suspension definitely helps for all around driving. If you can't see the advantages of suspension something is wrong. I'd also say its better to upgrade that first. Just makes sense to upgrade that before HP. Of course, how much HP are you looking for $500?
 
Oh ok, track or not suspension definitely helps for all around driving. If you can't see the advantages of suspension something is wrong. I'd also say its better to upgrade that first. Just makes sense to upgrade that before HP. Of course, how much HP are you looking for $500?
Well for $500 i was hoping around 20 hp, overall i want to bring my car to at least 350hp but i guess it does make sense to upgrade the suspension before i add the extra horsepower. what would you recommend what suspension i should buy?
 
Well for $500 i was hoping around 20 hp, overall i want to bring my car to at least 350hp but i guess it does make sense to upgrade the suspension before i add the extra horsepower. what would you recommend what suspension i should buy?
20 HP you might get half of that with a whole new exhaust. Someone else might chime in with some actual numbers for aftermarket exhaust. Your cheapest best bet is that PI Intake but If it was me I would just keep saving for a power adder. Yea, trust me just having all that handling will bring a big grin to your face. You could also swap out the rear gears, not sure what you have right now. Anything MM is supposedly GREAT stuff. I'd start with panhard bar, then torque arms, then coil-overs (if you prefer), and then lower control arms. Ha the list really can go on depending on what all you want. One thing that probably should come first is sub frame connectors. If you go on the MM website they go into detail about what there product does, why there better, and even instructions so you can see how it's installed before you buy.
 
If you're looking for the best bang for your buck and you don't want a power adder/nitrous. I would recommend a PI cam/intake manifold swap. The cams and manifold will compliment your CAI very nicely. Also, a nice catback will be very nice as well. I just picked up my PI heads with manifold for $200 and am just using the cams and manifold for boost purposes later on. So, eBay all the things and you will get the best bang for your buck man. I hope this helps. Also, I definitely agree with upgrading suspension first. That's what I've done and haven't looked back. Gears is definitely the best thing I've ever done.
 
20 HP you might get half of that with a whole new exhaust. Someone else might chime in with some actual numbers for aftermarket exhaust. Your cheapest best bet is that PI Intake but If it was me I would just keep saving for a power adder. Yea, trust me just having all that handling will bring a big grin to your face. You could also swap out the rear gears, not sure what you have right now. Anything MM is supposedly GREAT stuff. I'd start with panhard bar, then torque arms, then coil-overs (if you prefer), and then lower control arms. Ha the list really can go on depending on what all you want. One thing that probably should come first is sub frame connectors. If you go on the MM website they go into detail about what there product does, why there better, and even instructions so you can see how it's installed before you buy.
What suspension parts should i start with? such as Springs, Shocks, etc.
 
If you're looking for the best bang for your buck and you don't want a power adder/nitrous. I would recommend a PI cam/intake manifold swap. The cams and manifold will compliment your CAI very nicely. Also, a nice catback will be very nice as well. I just picked up my PI heads with manifold for $200 and am just using the cams and manifold for boost purposes later on. So, eBay all the things and you will get the best bang for your buck man. I hope this helps. Also, I definitely agree with upgrading suspension first. That's what I've done and haven't looked back. Gears is definitely the best thing I've ever done.
How much HP gain did you get out of the PI Cam/ intake manifold? and i don't think i would buy a power adder for this car but perhaps a future mustang.
 
How much HP gain did you get out of the PI Cam/ intake manifold? and i don't think i would buy a power adder for this car but perhaps a future mustang.

I haven't done them yet, but @Dusstbuster has an amazing write up and people have seen 20-30rwhp with the cam and intake combo. I'm hoping to see about that across the whole rpm range.

Also, I don't think I'll be worried coming across an LS1 Camaro at a stoplight anymore.
 
What suspension parts should i start with? such as Springs, Shocks, etc.
Coil-overs first but those are expensive. I would go in the order I stated above except before the panhard I would do sub frame connectors.
How much HP gain did you get out of the PI Cam/ intake manifold? and i don't think i would buy a power adder for this car but perhaps a future mustang.
You should really think about power adders that's the cheapest way to really open these motors up.
 
That's pretty good for just cams and an intake manifold, and only $200, that's a steal. Haha, the LS1's have no chance

Haha. With my existing mods, I hold my own against LS1 GTO's, but that isn't saying much. I can't wait to do these cams and manifold.

Yes, power adders are the easiest way, but not everybody wants to go that route with their daily. I know I don't and won't until I have some junker as a daily.
 
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