I have done endless hours of research on different mods and have come up with this upgrade path. These are listed in the order I will probably do them in with a quitting point somewhere along the line.
JLT II CAI and Tune ($550) - The C&L CAI is also popular, but the JLT got 2nd place in a magazine revew. The issues that kept it from 1st have been worked out in the II version. It comes with XCalibrator which is generally held as the better tuner and it is 200 bucks cheaper. (28hp)
4.10 Gears ($550 est.) - These need to be from FRPP and is another mod that nets you a lot of gain for little money. This will take about 2/3 10's off your quarter mile. My question is how much is this going to help at highway speeds. I get in a lot of quick races that are 60-100ish sprints. It will probably help that 60/70 is a ****ty shift spot for a manual. (.2-.3 tenths quarter mile)
UD Pulleys ($250+1.5 hours install) - This nets about 8 to 10 rwhp and scares me more than any other mod (of the ones I plan to do). It slows down your water pump and the oil pump problems some people have reported sound scary. Sure this is safe??? I like the cheap horsepower though. Does this require a tune?
Exhaust - I will probably do this upgrade just for the sound. Borla Axle-Back or SLP are the two I will probably choose from. Real HP gains here are really only noticed with long tube headers. That gets expensive fast. Costs over a grand for the LT and then install is a pain and expensive if you have to pay. All in all a full exhaust upgrade will cost about 2g+ with about a (15-20 hp gain). One magazine did a full upgrade and they were getting 15 rwhp. Not a lot considering the cost. An exhaust upgrade would also require a custom tune.
Tires/Rear Suspension - Is this really needed beyond drag racing the quarter. You can get some real gains out of drag radials and upgrading the lower and upper control arms. Wheel hop is bad in stock form. The first time I dragged mine I experienced this first hand. But I don't really ever notice it much on the street to be honest. Is this gain totally lost at highway speeds? How often do you really get to clutch dump on the street in a race. Might be good for the fun factor. This one also can be expensive. It appears that you really need to upgrade your wheels to something wider if you are going with DR's. I have the FRPP chrome wheels, very nice wheels, but they have the stock measurements. But I really like them and don't feel like spending a grand on wheels. So tires can end up being like 2 grand by the time you buy wheels. If anyone has suggestion on DR for stock rims list away. I need something that can also be run on the street. MT I hear isn't really for that.
Shift Light - I will probably do this first but it is such a minor mod didn't list it higher. The tach is freaking hard to watch in a street race. One rev-limiter hit and your screwed.
Short-Throw Shifter - Are there really any gains here? Like a tenth?
Supercharger - Too many bad stories about supercharging the Mustang. Magazines have done reviews stating why the motor won't handle much over 425 hp without blowing up in the near future. So I am going to supercharge and run 400 rwhp and hope this car lasts any significant time. Paying 5 grand for something that will shorten car life so much is too pricey for me. I would be better to save money and buy an 03/04 cobra or save up for the new one.
Nitrous - You have to retard your timing and lose your tune gains to run nitrous. Losing 30 all the time hp isn't worth getting 75-100 only when you juice. Plus you have to use a safe tune and run cold plugs. So without the juice you probably dip below 300 hp. This is real risky.
Please feel free to correct me and provide input.
Thanks
JLT II CAI and Tune ($550) - The C&L CAI is also popular, but the JLT got 2nd place in a magazine revew. The issues that kept it from 1st have been worked out in the II version. It comes with XCalibrator which is generally held as the better tuner and it is 200 bucks cheaper. (28hp)
4.10 Gears ($550 est.) - These need to be from FRPP and is another mod that nets you a lot of gain for little money. This will take about 2/3 10's off your quarter mile. My question is how much is this going to help at highway speeds. I get in a lot of quick races that are 60-100ish sprints. It will probably help that 60/70 is a ****ty shift spot for a manual. (.2-.3 tenths quarter mile)
UD Pulleys ($250+1.5 hours install) - This nets about 8 to 10 rwhp and scares me more than any other mod (of the ones I plan to do). It slows down your water pump and the oil pump problems some people have reported sound scary. Sure this is safe??? I like the cheap horsepower though. Does this require a tune?
Exhaust - I will probably do this upgrade just for the sound. Borla Axle-Back or SLP are the two I will probably choose from. Real HP gains here are really only noticed with long tube headers. That gets expensive fast. Costs over a grand for the LT and then install is a pain and expensive if you have to pay. All in all a full exhaust upgrade will cost about 2g+ with about a (15-20 hp gain). One magazine did a full upgrade and they were getting 15 rwhp. Not a lot considering the cost. An exhaust upgrade would also require a custom tune.
Tires/Rear Suspension - Is this really needed beyond drag racing the quarter. You can get some real gains out of drag radials and upgrading the lower and upper control arms. Wheel hop is bad in stock form. The first time I dragged mine I experienced this first hand. But I don't really ever notice it much on the street to be honest. Is this gain totally lost at highway speeds? How often do you really get to clutch dump on the street in a race. Might be good for the fun factor. This one also can be expensive. It appears that you really need to upgrade your wheels to something wider if you are going with DR's. I have the FRPP chrome wheels, very nice wheels, but they have the stock measurements. But I really like them and don't feel like spending a grand on wheels. So tires can end up being like 2 grand by the time you buy wheels. If anyone has suggestion on DR for stock rims list away. I need something that can also be run on the street. MT I hear isn't really for that.
Shift Light - I will probably do this first but it is such a minor mod didn't list it higher. The tach is freaking hard to watch in a street race. One rev-limiter hit and your screwed.
Short-Throw Shifter - Are there really any gains here? Like a tenth?
Supercharger - Too many bad stories about supercharging the Mustang. Magazines have done reviews stating why the motor won't handle much over 425 hp without blowing up in the near future. So I am going to supercharge and run 400 rwhp and hope this car lasts any significant time. Paying 5 grand for something that will shorten car life so much is too pricey for me. I would be better to save money and buy an 03/04 cobra or save up for the new one.
Nitrous - You have to retard your timing and lose your tune gains to run nitrous. Losing 30 all the time hp isn't worth getting 75-100 only when you juice. Plus you have to use a safe tune and run cold plugs. So without the juice you probably dip below 300 hp. This is real risky.
Please feel free to correct me and provide input.
Thanks