Talked to AMP PERF... what do you think of their recomendation?

I've wanted to get it on a dyno but have not.....I figured I'd take care of that at AMP when I do the other mods. It's a more of a logistical problem to get it on one because of where I live.

However, the tranny has behaved the same since i bought the car...I put on about 300 miles before the mods below and got a good feel for it's characteristics. The mods have done nothing to amplify or lessen the ill effects.

04 YELLOW. Sorry if I'm being redundant and slightly ingorant on this matter........but maybe you can help me clarify.. .. Why are you going with a lower stall than most people on here are running/recommend....Maybe it's just the particular posts I've run across doing research. But it appears most people on here are running tc's between 3200-3800, and most with moderate mods... You having said that you're looking at that lower range.. are the first person that intends to go with something that's even relatively inline with what these shops are recommending for me. any insight you can give me to why would be awesome:D

unless im mistaken, from his other posts it seems he's going lower stall for traction reasons. A stall helps your 60' but you need traction to benefit from it, if you go too tall your going to get even worse of a time. Also with boost your torque is already a lot higher than normal, so amplifying the torque w/ a TC is even more of a hurdle to get over when attempting traction. Most NA go 3200-3800 cuz we can get away with that easy on slicks, but when your TC starts multiplying torque in the 400's there's not much you can do to stick the launch (if you want to launch at your power range rpm's) w/out lessening the stall rating.
 
04 YELLOW. Sorry if I'm being redundant and slightly ingorant on this matter........but maybe you can help me clarify.. .. Why are you going with a lower stall than most people on here are running/recommend....Maybe it's just the particular posts I've run across doing research. But it appears most people on here are running tc's between 3200-3800, and most with moderate mods... You having said that you're looking at that lower range.. are the first person that intends to go with something that's even relatively inline with what these shops are recommending for me. any insight you can give me to why would be awesome:D

*I am basing this off a centrifugal blower car since that’s what I have*

Blower Cars don’t necessarily need a huge stall like a NA car does. Most guys that run 3500-3800+ stalls are NA cars or more on the line of a “drag car”, look at the people on this site with a stall, most run 3200+ stall and 99.9% of them are NA cars. DD NA usually aren’t making as much power as a DD blower car is so they need to get out of the hole harder and quicker due to less power. Since a blower car really starts making power at 3k+rpms you want to be close to that so you are close to making boost right off the line giving you a good launch and making power right away. With a stock stall your leaving slightly above idle (no power) so your almost launching NA and then once you hit 3k+rpms your blower kicks in. The reason you don’t want a huge stall in a blower car is because you will be leaving the line making a lot of boost so your just going to spin the tires unless you have a set of slicks or some bad ass DRs, even though I have MT DRs I still have some traction issues leaving at idle once boost kicks in.

I know tons of guys that have auto cars with blowers on them. Some guys have stock stalls, some have a small stall (2700-3000) and other have a more aggressive stall (3500+), the thing is all cars are used differently.

The stock stall guys don’t race much, run street tires, are on low boost, and the cars are DD.
The small stall guys are like me, race quite a bit, run DRs, run quite a bit of boost and still DD the car.
The aggressive stall guys race the car a lot, run slicks, run a lot of boost, and trailer the car.


This is just my .02 from racing, talking to other racers, and talking to some pretty big performance shops (Pauls HP, MPH, and Straightline Performance).
 
w/ a 3200 stall you wont be leaving the line at 3200 unless you powerbrake it to 3200. 3200 is the rating, doesn't translate into 1st gear rpm's, so you wont be leaving the line w/ boost using a centri unless you spike it up into boost by will. But a higher stall still does multiply that extra torque the centri gives after you leave causing perhaps too much traction issues. 3000-3200 really isn't drastic for a modular engine even with boost
 
thank you guys for taking time spell that out for me....I think I'm starting to get it.

I can see why based on my future plans for FI all the shops are recommending a smaller stall......But Im also starting to see as how I am not going to be seeking true optimum performance off the line...... based on me not really going to the track and drag racing

so although there may be a different optimum TC range for the Different FI's ex. TT vs Pro Charger....I don't really have to make those plans now before purchasing because this will be a street car and I don't need to get every last ounce of performance off the line....

so I guess a stall like you're using yellow, of say 2700....would probably be good for me huh? What you would you guys get if you were me driving in my circumstances?

I may sound really stupid in saying this......but, a stall convertor basically controls when the transmission fully engages right? so 2700 stall will fully engage at that point? and that's why a larger stall isn't good for a dd? because when not fully engaged it slips and causes slower accel on partial throttle......
 
thank you guys for taking time spell that out for me....I think I'm starting to get it.

I can see why based on my future plans for FI all the shops are recommending a smaller stall......But Im also starting to see as how I am not going to be seeking true optimum performance off the line...... based on me not really going to the track and drag racing

so although there may be a different optimum TC range for the Different FI's ex. TT vs Pro Charger....I don't really have to make those plans now before purchasing because this will be a street car and I don't need to get every last ounce of performance off the line....

so I guess a stall like you're using yellow, of say 2700....would probably be good for me huh? What you would you guys get if you were me driving in my circumstances?

I may sound really stupid in saying this......but, a stall convertor basically controls when the transmission fully engages right? so 2700 stall will fully engage at that point? and that's why a larger stall isn't good for a dd? because when not fully engaged it slips and causes slower accel on partial throttle......

this might help you get a broad grip on a regular TC (read all the sub pages): http://auto.howstuffworks.com/torque-converter.htm

as for stall, the higher the stall rating it is the longer the turbine will spin (using hydraulic action to multiply toque) before the TC begins catching up the the engine's speed (rpm's). Due to our TC having a lockup clutch we don't lose a lot of effciency a high stall would loose w/out a lockup therefore your car wont really move "slower" under part throttle cuz your not giving it enough power (in rpm's) to cause it to slip like it would under WOT. Therefore under regular driving the lockup helps maintain a regular sense of an automatic. The main difference i noticed is at idle my car moves slower (creeping) so at a light if theres any sort of incline i dont have to use the brake at all:p

If any of my info is off/backwards let me know, it's been awhile since i did the necessary research.
 
thank you guys for taking time spell that out for me....I think I'm starting to get it.

I can see why based on my future plans for FI all the shops are recommending a smaller stall......But Im also starting to see as how I am not going to be seeking true optimum performance off the line...... based on me not really going to the track and drag racing

so although there may be a different optimum TC range for the Different FI's ex. TT vs Pro Charger....I don't really have to make those plans now before purchasing because this will be a street car and I don't need to get every last ounce of performance off the line....

so I guess a stall like you're using yellow, of say 2700....would probably be good for me huh? What you would you guys get if you were me driving in my circumstances?

I may sound really stupid in saying this......but, a stall convertor basically controls when the transmission fully engages right? so 2700 stall will fully engage at that point? and that's why a larger stall isn't good for a dd? because when not fully engaged it slips and causes slower accel on partial throttle......

If your not going to be going to the track much or at all, you really dont need a stall. A stall is more for guys that are going to the track and want to get every last .1 out of their car. I want to get into the 10s and dont want to run tons of boost to get there. I know I can pick up a few tenths by adding a stall as long as I can get traction because my 60' are ok but not great. A stall will also help from a low speed roll (0-20ish mph) and it feels like a slingshot!

Ive been in a few cars with stalls any where from 3000 all the way up to 3500 and the cars do drive different. When you go to take off the rpms will go up and you will just bearly move. Its nothing crazy but it does take some time to get used to. My friend had an 01 Lightning with a 3200 stall in his and he ended up taking it out because he didn't like the way it drove. I didn't think it was that bad but he was very picky and didn't like it.
 
If your not going to be going to the track much or at all, you really dont need a stall. A stall is more for guys that are going to the track and want to get every last .1 out of their car. I want to get into the 10s and dont want to run tons of boost to get there. I know I can pick up a few tenths by adding a stall as long as I can get traction because my 60' are ok but not great. A stall will also help from a low speed roll (0-20ish mph) and it feels like a slingshot!

Ive been in a few cars with stalls any where from 3000 all the way up to 3500 and the cars do drive different. When you go to take off the rpms will go up and you will just bearly move. Its nothing crazy but it does take some time to get used to. My friend had an 01 Lightning with a 3200 stall in his and he ended up taking it out because he didn't like the way it drove. I didn't think it was that bad but he was very picky and didn't like it.

a 3200 stall in a lighting is a whole different story. It's roots blown with peak tq numbers at 3250. The lower your peak tq's and the closer the stall is to that peak torque the bigger the difference is. If you put a 3200 stall into a car like hotstang's which w/ heads/cams has peak tq at proly 4200 or so the 3200 is mild as hell. This is why pushrod guys think we run high as heck stall, but they're just used to lower stall for lower powerbands. But if you need to know what kind of forced induction your going to do before you decide if a stall is too much or too little.
 
a 3200 stall in a lighting is a whole different story. It's roots blown with peak tq numbers at 3250. The lower your peak tq's and the closer the stall is to that peak torque the bigger the difference is. If you put a 3200 stall into a car like hotstang's which w/ heads/cams has peak tq at proly 4200 or so the 3200 is mild as hell. This is why pushrod guys think we run high as heck stall, but they're just used to lower stall for lower powerbands. But if you need to know what kind of forced induction your going to do before you decide if a stall is too much or too little.

No I know that... he loved the way he launched at the track. He didnt like how the car drove on the street under normal driving. He didn't like the slight delay from the time he was giving it gas to when it started moving.
 
:bs:
you obviously are new to mustangs. Nice HP qoutes buddy. I think you have been reading too many muscle mustangs and fast fords magazine.

If your car is a PI car, your putting down in the 225-235/240 area stock. A cold air/tb might gain you 3-4hp, max. Pullies might get you another 3-5hp, and will increase throttle repsonse so it might seem like more it...

I just find it funny how you come on to this tread and bash people, with little or no knowledge of what your talking about. Its easy to see through it....

I see, and you have dyno sheets to substantiate all these HP corrections? Yes, I'm new to mustangs but not new to how a car works and how to make power or is ford so far ahead of everyone else that engine and trannies in other cars don;t apply! I was trying to be conservative in what the stock engine does since I haven't been able to dyno it but I guess since I'm not crowing about how bada$$ my stocker is that makes me ignorant to it all? I can tell you their are many claims to what a CAI/TB will get you and your's is just one in the many. Same goes for pullies! You didn't mention my exhaust claims so I guess I just pulled that out of my a$$! Right?
As far as my "bashing" I was simply trying to point out to hotstang that I thought he was doing it backwards. That's all! I probably didn't state it in the nicest of terms and, yes, I was rude but I also apologized!

Remember opinions are like a$$holes, everyones got one!

John
 
I see, and you have dyno sheets to substantiate all these HP corrections? Yes, I'm new to mustangs but not new to how a car works and how to make power or is ford so far ahead of everyone else that engine and trannies in other cars don;t apply! I was trying to be conservative in what the stock engine does since I haven't been able to dyno it but I guess since I'm not crowing about how bada$$ my stocker is that makes me ignorant to it all? I can tell you their are many claims to what a CAI/TB will get you and your's is just one in the many. Same goes for pullies! You didn't mention my exhaust claims so I guess I just pulled that out of my a$$! Right?
As far as my "bashing" I was simply trying to point out to hotstang that I thought he was doing it backwards. That's all! I probably didn't state it in the nicest of terms and, yes, I was rude but I also apologized!

Remember opinions are like a$$holes, everyones got one!

John

He got those numbers because people have dynoed the cars with those mods on them. Its a fact and NA 4.6 Mustang DOES NOT pick up much power from TB/Plenum, pullies, CAI, and exhaust unless you do a full exhaust including LT headers. Since your new to Mustangs its best that you take advice from people that have been here long enough. You say your not new to how a car works so you should know that each car/engine reacts differently mods. A 4.6L Mustang doesn't respond to somethings as well as other cars do. An LS1 LOVES a head/cam pakage but a 4.6 doesn't respond near as well to it. The only thing a Mustang really responds well to is to Nitrous, Superchargers, and Turbochargers.

It might be best that you do some research on 4.6 L MUSTANGS because your attitude that you know what your talking about wont last long here. People make a post about these mods 2-3 times a week and everyone says the same thing "they dont make power".
 
I see, and you have dyno sheets to substantiate all these HP corrections? Yes, I'm new to mustangs but not new to how a car works and how to make power or is ford so far ahead of everyone else that engine and trannies in other cars don;t apply! I was trying to be conservative in what the stock engine does since I haven't been able to dyno it but I guess since I'm not crowing about how bada$$ my stocker is that makes me ignorant to it all? I can tell you their are many claims to what a CAI/TB will get you and your's is just one in the many. Same goes for pullies! You didn't mention my exhaust claims so I guess I just pulled that out of my a$$! Right?
As far as my "bashing" I was simply trying to point out to hotstang that I thought he was doing it backwards. That's all! I probably didn't state it in the nicest of terms and, yes, I was rude but I also apologized!

Remember opinions are like a$$holes, everyones got one!

John

you, my freind, are an idiot :flag:
 
I actually somewhat agree with what Novanutcase was trying to say.

Get your ducks in a row and plans all sorted out first. That way you dont under do it....I wouldnt worry about over doing it. I didnt read all of his posts but for the most part I think he is right. He doesnt know how much power the stock GT puts out....big deal. Atleast he is being concervitive and not thinking it makes 260RWHP stock. learning Plenum and TB and other boltons gains, just take ALOT of time. He was a bit rude....but I understand his fustration.

Now for my opinion. You want to beat that Bently?

I would suggest buying a little 100 shot of Nitrous :) Go hunt his butt back down and teach him a lesson....then do your tranny. And please overbuild it...your going to need it down the line when you go with a blower. Then you have the N20 already setup to spray a 50 shot on top of that.
 
I'll update on this board as I make progress....I'm actually going out of town to visit the Parents soon and probably won't be back until after the xmas holidays.. I'm planning on doing the tranny around that time..

Thank you guys for giving me good things to think about.

As it stands right now I'm definately going to purchase a new assembled tranny as opposed to having mine built.... I've talked to both lenntech and Goodfellas...AMP will be doing the install regardless.....They seem to be on the ball.http://www.ampperformance.com/... I want a super beefy tranny especially being I don't know what FI I want...

I don't feel I need the game plan set in stone for future power adders being I want a escessively overbuilt tranny for my needs. Regardless of which company I went with, after talking with them, the tranny's I'm interested in will easily accomodate 650hp/600tq

Thanks again for starting me out on my research guys!:SNSign:
 
I'll update on this board as I make progress....I'm actually going out of town to visit the Parents soon and probably won't be back until after the xmas holidays.. I'm planning on doing the tranny around that time..

Thank you guys for giving me good things to think about.

As it stands right now I'm definately going to purchase a new assembled tranny as opposed to having mine built.... I've talked to both lenntech and Goodfellas...AMP will be doing the install regardless.....They seem to be on the ball.http://www.ampperformance.com/... I want a super beefy tranny especially being I don't know what FI I want...

I don't feel I need the game plan set in stone for future power adders being I want a escessively overbuilt tranny for my needs. Regardless of which company I went with, after talking with them, the tranny's I'm interested in will easily accomodate 650hp/600tq

Thanks again for starting me out on my research guys!:SNSign:

np, man. There's no shame in building up a tranny even if it's not needed. Mine can handle a good 550 at the crank but the most it will proly ever see is 320/330. Good luck. And i'd proly advise starting a new thread when the time comes, this one has become quite a cluster F in parts.
 
I actually somewhat agree with what Novanutcase was trying to say.

Get your ducks in a row and plans all sorted out first. That way you dont under do it....I wouldnt worry about over doing it. I didnt read all of his posts but for the most part I think he is right. He doesnt know how much power the stock GT puts out....big deal. Atleast he is being concervitive and not thinking it makes 260RWHP stock. learning Plenum and TB and other boltons gains, just take ALOT of time. He was a bit rude....but I understand his fustration.

Now for my opinion. You want to beat that Bently?

I would suggest buying a little 100 shot of Nitrous :) Go hunt his butt back down and teach him a lesson....then do your tranny. And please overbuild it...your going to need it down the line when you go with a blower. Then you have the N20 already setup to spray a 50 shot on top of that.


YESSSSSSS!!!!! I'm glad someone finally got what I've been trying to say! Again, Hotstang, I apologize for being so rude! Maybe I was just having a bad day and you walked into my sights! I'll try not to let it happen again!

Winters? Don't give up! You have every right to your opinion just like I do! Even though I think your HP claims are off I will actually do the footwork and do a before and after on the dyno. I will post them so that everyone can see the numbers. Who knows? You may be right!:shrug:

John
 
He got those numbers because people have dynoed the cars with those mods on them. Its a fact and NA 4.6 Mustang DOES NOT pick up much power from TB/Plenum, pullies, CAI, and exhaust unless you do a full exhaust including LT headers. Since your new to Mustangs its best that you take advice from people that have been here long enough. You say your not new to how a car works so you should know that each car/engine reacts differently mods. A 4.6L Mustang doesn't respond to somethings as well as other cars do. An LS1 LOVES a head/cam pakage but a 4.6 doesn't respond near as well to it. The only thing a Mustang really responds well to is to Nitrous, Superchargers, and Turbochargers.

It might be best that you do some research on 4.6 L MUSTANGS because your attitude that you know what your talking about wont last long here. People make a post about these mods 2-3 times a week and everyone says the same thing "they dont make power".

So, In your opinion and from what you've seen posted, these mods don't work! You may be right! What I find funny is that you are going by hearsay! You stated that people have dynoed their cars with these mods on them and have said they don't work? Have you actually seen these dyno sheets? What do you have to substantiate these claims your making other than what someone has posted?
Throughout this thread I have been screaming at the top of my lungs the very thing that you just stated which is put a blower on your car if you want that much HP gain so, maybe, just maybe I know just thaaaaaaat much about 4.6L engines and how to make power. I've never claimed to be the all knowing person and if you took it that way then hear it from me now. I don't. Nor do you.
I also stated that I was only trying for 50 - 100 hp gain and that, maybe, this was the way to get me closer to those numbers. Never did I say "If you want to make this kind of hp this is the way to do it!" It's hotrodding gentlemen! That means we try things out to see what happens. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't! Car guy A says he got 15 hp from a CAI and Car guy B calls BS. Best way to find out is to try and get A to substantiate it. If he can, great! Same goes for B. Show me how you know, for a fact, it doesn't!

John
 
So, In your opinion and from what you've seen posted, these mods don't work! You may be right! What I find funny is that you are going by hearsay! You stated that people have dynoed their cars with these mods on them and have said they don't work? Have you actually seen these dyno sheets? What do you have to substantiate these claims your making other than what someone has posted?
Throughout this thread I have been screaming at the top of my lungs the very thing that you just stated which is put a blower on your car if you want that much HP gain so, maybe, just maybe I know just thaaaaaaat much about 4.6L engines and how to make power. I've never claimed to be the all knowing person and if you took it that way then hear it from me now. I don't. Nor do you.
I also stated that I was only trying for 50 - 100 hp gain and that, maybe, this was the way to get me closer to those numbers. Never did I say "If you want to make this kind of hp this is the way to do it!" It's hotrodding gentlemen! That means we try things out to see what happens. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't! Car guy A says he got 15 hp from a CAI and Car guy B calls BS. Best way to find out is to try and get A to substantiate it. If he can, great! Same goes for B. Show me how you know, for a fact, it doesn't!

John

You act like just because you said to add a blower that you have an idea on how to make power with a 4.6L. I hate to break it to you but a blower works good for any car not just a 4.6. When I said that a 4.6 requires FI to get good gains I was trying to explain that they don’t respond well to Cams, Heads, and other bolt-ons. You can’t throw a H/C package on a 4.6 and see the gains you would see with say an LS1 or LS2 motor.

Why are you so sure that CAI,TB/Plenum, and UDP make power? Don’t you think the people on here have an idea of what makes power on these cars and what doesn’t? I hate to tell you but just because you come on here thinking you have a clue on how these motors react to certain mods, doesn’t mean your right. The mods we’re talking about here have been talked to death about on this forum. These aren’t new mods that just came out and we’re trying to figure out if the work or not like the new Trickflow Intake, even though that’s really been proven to not make much power. If a TB/Plenum made so much power don’t you think that would be like the first mod everyone does, I still have the stock TB/Plenum on my car and the way my car sits now I would be lucky to see 10-15hp out of it.

As for CAI I myself have dynod my car with a K&N FPIK and a JLT when I was near stock and if I can remember right and I think the most I picked up was like 3rwhp with the JLT. This was like 3 years ago so I can’t remember exactly what the numbers were but I know they weren’t much because I said it wasn’t worth the money.

I’m not trying to be a d**k here but you really need to trust the people on here. Everyone is here to help others out with a car that we all love. We all want to make more power and go faster, some mods we recommend and some we don’t but we do have proof to back up what we say, whether it is what others on here have reported or what magazines have reported. If a magazine only gains 5hp with a Blown 500+hp car you better bet that a normal NA car isn’t going to see much, if anything. You can believe us or go your own route, it’s your choice but most of us really do have an idea on what makes power on these cars.
 
You act like just because you said to add a blower that you have an idea on how to make power with a 4.6L. I hate to break it to you but a blower works good for any car not just a 4.6. When I said that a 4.6 requires FI to get good gains I was trying to explain that they don’t respond well to Cams, Heads, and other bolt-ons. You can’t throw a H/C package on a 4.6 and see the gains you would see with say an LS1 or LS2 motor.

Why are you so sure that CAI,TB/Plenum, and UDP make power? Don’t you think the people on here have an idea of what makes power on these cars and what doesn’t? I hate to tell you but just because you come on here thinking you have a clue on how these motors react to certain mods, doesn’t mean your right. The mods we’re talking about here have been talked to death about on this forum. These aren’t new mods that just came out and we’re trying to figure out if the work or not like the new Trickflow Intake, even though that’s really been proven to not make much power. If a TB/Plenum made so much power don’t you think that would be like the first mod everyone does, I still have the stock TB/Plenum on my car and the way my car sits now I would be lucky to see 10-15hp out of it.

As for CAI I myself have dynod my car with a K&N FPIK and a JLT when I was near stock and if I can remember right and I think the most I picked up was like 3rwhp with the JLT. This was like 3 years ago so I can’t remember exactly what the numbers were but I know they weren’t much because I said it wasn’t worth the money.

I’m not trying to be a d**k here but you really need to trust the people on here. Everyone is here to help others out with a car that we all love. We all want to make more power and go faster, some mods we recommend and some we don’t but we do have proof to back up what we say, whether it is what others on here have reported or what magazines have reported. If a magazine only gains 5hp with a Blown 500+hp car you better bet that a normal NA car isn’t going to see much, if anything. You can believe us or go your own route, it’s your choice but most of us really do have an idea on what makes power on these cars.

Fair enough! Just as you explained, I also have been trying to say that, for what he wants to do, a blower is a better choice to concentrate on. This will yield him the kill he is looking for. Nitrous is also a good candidate for this. The tranny he has will hold up to another 100 hp with no problem unless he's doing mulitiple launches with drag slicks on. I think, and again this is JUST MY OPINION and is what I've learned in my years of drag and road racing which could be complete BS or divine truth, it is better to figure out what you want to do with the car first, plan out the mods that will get you there, then execute it. That's why I suggested the blower. I KNOW H/C swaps don't do a lot for these motors.
As far as the CAI/Plenum/TB I never suggested it for his application rather I was suggesting it for my application. I've never claimed that the numbers I quoted are the end all HP numbers anyone else would get rather I was hoping this is where it would end up. Besides, I never claimed that the numbers I quoted were RWHP. They could be flywheel #'s so before you go shooting down my theories maybe it would have been best to ask that question first or was it that you found them so ludicrous that even flywheel #'s like that were unattainable?
Here's a good question. Why are so many CAI/Plenum/TB and UD's sold after all the claims of "Minimal gain in power, not worth the install" that you say have been posted? Don't you think that most people would take heed to these words of wisdom or are we all just sheep?
If you have, in fact, done a before and after dyno of the CAI's you mentioned then I will defer to you and say, OK, HE says he dynoed them and this is all HE got out of it. I have read others that claim they have done the same and say they've gotten more! So who do I believe? Best way is for me to do it and find out for myself. If I see the gains are not worth the money and time spent installing it then I will POST DYNO SHEETS so that the masses can see for themselves that this is not a worthwhile install and the gains are minimal and not just me CLAIMING that it is or isn't worth it!
I, also, am not trying to be a d!ck but just trying to figure out what the truth is. I also want to share my findings with the rest of you but not by my just CLAIMING that my findings are this or that but by backing it up with numbers!

John
 
To answer your question.....and this is only my opinion....

I think the number one reason why CAI's/TB/Plenum mods are bought is by ignorance....I would say by in large, a majority of people do not research before they buy and go off of manufacture and or magazine claims/ads..

As for the educated stangnet population I would suggest the following....

-as an appearance mod
-as support for other modifications (like what I did)
-making a mistake by being impulsive (despite knowing better) and not wanting
to wait to save $$$ for more worthy mods.

I myself can only say that from my own personal experience I've found opinions can vary greatly from the facts, but stay consistent when looking at the source.... Places like THR and major parts pushers all make claims that they cannot substantiate to push the parts out, and it does work. I've heard what I know now to be outrageous suggestions of power when talking to these people and know their comments to be far from fact. They make their money by selling products for a cheap price to the relatively uneducated masses....they are NOT held accountable and people will not come knocking on their door if the pulley CAI mod doesn't make 20hp. I would assume 99% of people they do sell to anyway will never see a dyno and won't catch on anyway....in that case those people are happy regardless....ignorance is bliss i suppose...

On the flipside of that...I've also talked to shops that have all given me consistent information similair to what you will find on stangnet, and what you've seen people in this thread have given. When doing my first round of mods I spoke with the boys over at VT engines, Steen Racing, Sniper, Patriot, just to name a few. The information they gave was not an opinion, but factual information substantiated by years of first hand product testing. It is these sources that have to answer to a customer when they lay out money, no matter it be a hundred dollars or ten thousands based on their advise. It is only their reputation that they rely on. Which is why you will not walk into one of them and have them recomend a CAI TB and Plenum mod with your first spent monies on a stock car.

As for the population here on stanget...99% of people have nothing to gain by giving bad advise, and have probably sometime in the past learned the hard way on parts purchases as well.....You can see real quick from someone's post if they are genuine or just here to run off at the mouth and be a pretender. Most people here, although not having hard numbers like me, have been able to substantiate many things they convey based on conversations and facts given to them by those in the know....

It seems maybe you've had bad experiences on other boards? But I can honeslty say this is one of the best BS free forums that you'll find, and actually a rather tight knit little community...If I were you, I WOULD NOT take everyone's word here as gospel, but having that lead you to doing research, you will find that in alsmost all circumstances, the info given to you here was dead on....giving what people are telling you here the credence and respect they've earned in my book!

just my .02