My First Mustang, Any Help is Appreciated

brian2416 · Aug 21, 2008

Hey guys, I just purchased my first Mustang.
07 Torch Red GT 5 spd . Actually its my first Ford . I previously had an 84 Monte Carlo SS. Anyway, just brought her home and she's got 6k miles on her, 18" AR Wheels, SLP cat back stainless exhaust, and a Roush short throw shifter.
I would like to do some mods to have a noticeable gains, and I'd appreciate any advice.

CAI: I've read other posts, but can I just install the CAI and other mods then take it to get tuned, or do I still have to buy the tuner with the CAI?

Headers: I'm looking at the American Racing Headers stainless long tube setup with X-pipe and cats. Any advice, or suggestions for other types ?

Gears: I have 3.55's and I keep reading about 3.73 + 4.10's on here. This car is not my daily driver, but I don't want to go too extreme, as I won't be drag racing her. I do want a noticeable difference without sacrificing too much fuel economy, or redlining on highway driving. And is the stock limited slip differential quite strong enough for my application, or should I look into upgrading that while I'm getting the new gears?

Also, what about an underdrive pulley, cams or an aluminum driveshaft ?
Even necessary or worth looking into at this point ?

Sorry for packing this post full of questions.
Thanks for any help.

PSYKOSTEVO · Aug 21, 2008

First of all congratulations! Awesome car through and through. Glad you have some mods on it to start you off, and good mods at that.

Intake and tune is your first stop for your next mod.

Driveshaft (save your money if you dont race)
Gears (Go with 4.10 or leave it along 3.73 will be a waste of money)
Headers: Are you sure you want to get that heavy into the modding? You're talking $$$

An Underdrive pulley may be worth your while, but cams are big leagues.

ct07gt · Aug 21, 2008

Headers are not really that beneficial for the cost, they don't pick up real big gains until you go with forced induction. Short tube headers are much cheaper but do almost nothing for power, just sound. Axle back exhausts will do a lot for sound but again, no real power gain. These cars respond very well to an intake and custom tune, after that I would say go with gears and suspension.

walter · Aug 21, 2008

Make sure you buy a tuner with your CAI. Most intake kits will lean out the car excessively causing it to go into failsafe or worse detonate really bad. If you buy intakes that don't require a tune you're really shortchanging yourself. The gains will be minimal and the car still won't work as good. Really the best way to go is a JLT II intake with a tuner I'd go with a reputable source like Bamachips, Brenspeed, VMP tuning or maybe a local tuner if one is available.

Hope it helps.

TPony · Aug 21, 2008

Congrats on your purchase!

dro · Aug 21, 2008

The stock manifolds on these cars are not very restrictive if you're NA, if you take them off and look at them they have little grooves in them that help direct the flow so headers are not that big of a deal. /waits for the flamers who have done it to tell me how stupid i am

but yea, great lookin car welcome to the club.

CPman · Aug 22, 2008

First off, great looking machine. you will not regret buying it, but here's some advice to think about.

Depending how far you plan on going mod wise, I would keep the option of forced induction open. The inital cost is fairly high, but if you go through the route of intake, tuner, and other add ons, you might be farther ahead going to forced induction straight off. I have a 05, actually bought it in Dec of 04. At that time forced induction for these cars was not very reliable so I went the other route with an intake, tuner, dyno tune, 4:10 gears and other minor mods. In hind sight, if I took the money I spent on these mods and put it toward some sort of forced induction system which would result in far higher power gains, all of a sudden the forced induction does not look that expensive.

It all depends how far you think you might go. If you think a supercharger is something you might be looking at, I would just go far it straight off. I wish I did.

Hoboattacker · Aug 22, 2008

ct07gt said:
Headers are not really that beneficial for the cost, they don't pick up real big gains until you go with forced induction. Short tube headers are much cheaper but do almost nothing for power, just sound. Axle back exhausts will do a lot for sound but again, no real power gain. These cars respond very well to an intake and custom tune, after that I would say go with gears and suspension.

Headers will get you an easy 25rwhp with a custom tune and only 12-20 without a custom tune.

CAI: Get a JLT II from Bamachips or VMP tuning. Both are GREAT tuners. Get an SCT XCal 3. You need the tuner because of the extra air coming into the engine throws the car lean. Buy this, best money you will ever spend.

Headers: American Racing Headers are great, but a little pricey. I have Hooker headers and their off road x pipe. They have been working out fantastic.

Gears: If you plan to go forced induction later on, get 3.73's (supercharger). If you plan on going turbo, keep the 3.55's. If you plan on staying N/A, get 4.10's

Aluminum DS: frees up HP because of less rotating weight. Claim .2 tenth reduction in ET's.

PSYKOSTEVO · Aug 25, 2008

BTW,

The OP has a lot more mods than he listed from what I see. You've got a couple grand in body modifications on it too.

My First Mustang, Any Help is Appreciated

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