What Performance Parts Should I Get First?

[Kdoggy]

I just bought yesterday a stock 2004 mustang gt 40th anniversary for $7000 with 71,000 miles on it the car is beautiful. I have been doing some research lately on performance parts and all that and I have no idea even were to start but I know forsure I wanna make my car more powerful, sound mean as hell, and have the cars suspension feel more solid or tighter for lack of a better word. Can you guys please help me and let me know what I should start upgrading first and give me some good manufacturers , and also what is a good full suspension package that wont break the bank but is still very solid and reliable. Just so you guys know Im not working with tons of money, I dont need the best gear I just want good reliable parts for not too expensive if that's possible. Your help would be very much appreciated thank you very much.

 

[Deleted member 38176]

Gears and subframe connectors to start. Weld some aftermarket mufflers into the stock catback for sound

 

[Winters98GT]

Blower, gears, subframes, drag radials.

 

[coletrickle46]

Nightlife already hit the nail on the head! lol.I was literally going to write the same exact 3 thing's he did. The order in which he said them may have been different though ha ha. The car will feel and be much tighter with the subframe's sn-95 cars are notorious for body gap like doors, fenders, hood not lining up right and rattles/squeaks. SFC's will fix some of those issues. Gears will get you through the power band quicker/can improve gas mileage too depending on gear ratio/type of driving-driver you are. Everyone knows what a nice performance exhaust system will do lol . Just a heads up about the sub-frames get the weld on type, , make sure they are TRUE full length one's, and get one's from a good company that has a good reputation/makes good products like Maximum Motorsports, UPR, Steeda, etc. There's a few more company"s out there but those are known and stand behind there stuff.

 

[restomod66]

Gears, Gears, & Gears. You can't find a better seat of the pants feel for less money.These cars like 3.73/4.10 gears to get you into the power band quicker b/c they are a little soft at the bottom of the tach. A nice set of lowering springs & new quality shocks will change the character of the car for the good over the stock equipment & eliminate that goofy 4x 4 look they have from the factory.

 

[Kdoggy]

So should I get 3.73 gears or the 4.10 gear I'm not even sure what the difference is?

 

[coletrickle46]

If your are Automatic transmission 4'.10's , Manual trans 3.73's! and get the Ford Racing Products gear kit as it's the best quality and no whine/howl noise!! . Motive and Richmond known for whining and LOUD whine!

 

[Kdoggy]

If your are Automatic transmission 4'.10's , Manual trans 3.73's! and get the Ford Racing Products gear kit as it's the best quality and no whine/howl noise!! . Motive and Richmond known for whining and LOUD whine!

Is this what your talking about?
Ford Racing 4.10 Mustang Gears and Install Kit 100577 (86-09 V8) - Free Shipping

 

[Kdoggy]

I have been reading about those sub frame connectors and the more I read the more I realize how much they can benefit your car, this is what I'm getting first forsure.

 

[Kdoggy]

O yeah can you guys recommend I good spring and shock package that you cant go wrong with that's not gonna cost too much but still legit.

 

[Kdoggy]

Nightlife already hit the nail on the head! lol.I was literally going to write the same exact 3 thing's he did. The order in which he said them may have been different though ha ha. The car will feel and be much tighter with the subframe's sn-95 cars are notorious for body gap like doors, fenders, hood not lining up right and rattles/squeaks. SFC's will fix some of those issues. Gears will get you through the power band quicker/can improve gas mileage too depending on gear ratio/type of driving-driver you are. Everyone knows what a nice performance exhaust system will do lol . Just a heads up about the sub-frames get the weld on type, , make sure they are TRUE full length one's, and get one's from a good company that has a good reputation/makes good products like Maximum Motorsports, UPR, Steeda, etc. There's a few more company"s out there but those are known and stand behind there stuff.

Your post helped a lot thank you.

 

[Kdoggy]

Gears and subframe connectors to start. Weld some aftermarket mufflers into the stock catback for sound

That's what i'm gonna do for sure thank you for your help.

 

[sneaky98gt]

I'm going to go against the grain and suggest to steer clear of the gears for now, especially if you have a manual. They unquestionably make the car feel faster in higher numerical gears because 2nd now feels like 1st, 3rd feels like 2nd, etc., but they actually don't make the car a whole lot quicker. You're talking a tenth or two actual improvement at the track, and that's depending on one big thing: traction in 1st gear. Because steeper gears REALLY start making it difficult to get traction in 1st gear, they often actually cause you to be slower if you don't have a good set of rubber to hook it up. While I love the 3.73s on my car, hooking it up on the street in 1st with street tires is quite difficult, whereas it used to be no problem with the stock 3.27s.

I'd also suggest holding off until you know the direction you're gonna go with the car. A mild bolt-on car would command a different set of gears than a supercharged car.

Other than that, I agree with the others' suggestions to do FLSFCs / suspension first. That will always be beneficial regardless of what direction you take with the car. I'm partial to the Eibach Pro-Kit springs, as they are a nice drop that still have a nice ride, and don't absolutely require castor/camber plates (it's better to have them, but not necessary). And either Tokico HPs or the Eibach Pro shocks/struts are good bargain buys.

Exhaust is something else I'd do early on, as you can always enjoy that, and it is again beneficial regardless of what you do with the car.

Other than that, I wouldn't spend money on anything else unless you absolutely knew that you won't be supercharging it. Most of the other bolt-ons are not necessarily interchangeable from NA to supercharged, so you'd likely be wasting that money on bolt-ons. Not to mention, all the bolt-ons total (CAI, T/B, upper plenum, UDPs, etc.) are only worth a couple tenths in the 1/4 at best.

 

[03_TrueBlue_GT]

Yeah I have 3.73 gears and at the track on street tires I actually ran worse than what my friends stock 1999 GT ran. I would honestly do a good tune up for the car all around to get it in healthy shape before modding. Things like replacing worn out shocks/struts and other suspension components can make the car feel amazing again.