nicksfoursix

There is a very interesting thread somewhere in the forum posted from a member who took the path that your starting on. He narrates which mods worked and which seemed to be worthless. It was a kind on "best bang for the buck" mods thread. Maybe someone here can lead you to this thread.
The concensus was: (not necessarily in this order)
Mod #1: Most people like to change the exhaust sounds. Not necessarily a performance mod, but something of personal taste. In stock form though, our exhaust system do quite well in the scavenging department.
Mod #2: CAI W/Tune: Most members perform the change doing a CAI AND Tune. Most contend to say that you net 10% of a performance gain with the CAI and the balance with the tune. Most members seem to like Brenspeed for their tunes
Mod #3: Gear change. Most members change to a higher numerical gear. Brings the engine RPM range down lower where engine power is more useable (does not create more horsepower). The general concensus here is 3.73s for automatics and 4.10s for manuals. Some automatic owner do use the 4.10s and love 'em. Here it's where you want to be and a matter again of personal taste.
Beyond this, choices open up and go in many directions.
You can find hundreds/thousands of posts on these three mods alone. I would suggest reviewing as many posts as you can...get an idea of what works and an idea of what direction and how far you personally want to go.
Good Luck
P.S. I have an '05 GT Auto and these three mods are exactly the path I am taking. Beyond that, I think I'm saving my money for new technology, i.e. 2010 and onward GT

squawskier1080

hey, thanks so much! I will definately consider this path

Rubrignitz

To answer that question, an absolutely NO. Don't worry about headers at all. If you go turbo later then you won't need them anyway.

If you just want to have fun with your car I would suggest start modifying the suspension. There is nothing more fun than a great handling car.

My most satisfying mods have been suspension mods.

squawskier1080

ya, that's a good idea. I suppose I'm not really going to be racing either, but I will be doing lots of driving through windy mountain roads, good handling would be kinda nice. speaking of suspension, when I was painting my calipers the other day I noticed oil residue on the back left shock, I wiped it away and figure I'll monitor it. Any thoughts?

Cal26Stang

I'm 18 too and I'm still owe around 4k, but you can do subtle mods here and there and find good deals on the classified section from time to time. You will never get bored of your car if you try to buy atleast one small upgrade once a month or so. I set aside a little of my paycheck every week for my car, it all works out

squawskier1080

ya, I will try to do that. as far as swapping out gears, how does that work exactly? So it brings engine rpms down lower, does that mean quicker acceleration from like 0-60? I have read some reviews that say top speed drops to like 110. I want my car to still be able to do around 135 like it can now. Also, is the install something I could do my self? Any clarification greatly appreciated!

americaniron

Congrats, and welcome to the forums. CAI and tune first. Rumage through the threads, and use the search engine, and you will begin to find the direction you wish to take your mods in.

squawskier1080

thanks, now I just need to scratch up some money for that cai...haha