Small Horsepower Gains

Rivendell90 · 10-12-2009, 11:18 AM

Hi, I'm constantly flip flopping about what I want to do with my 2010 sixxer. But I think ive settled, I want to get small horsepower gains and esthetic improvements over the course of a year or two. So mainly why im asking is...

1) What are the best HP gains for your buck? Plz list something and explain why as well as a possible location to get the item.

2) Dual Exhaust - What gains would I get from this, the Ford Racing one is the one I would get, mostly for the esthetics of it *2 exhausts look nicer than the 1*

3) What are some simple body modifications which are not too expensive that I can do to my car. I was thinking Stripes but Vinyls seem like it would make it hard to wax my car without messing up the stripes and painted is a little expensive.
A) Would a Hood Scoop or Side Scoops pick up air underneath them and risk the chance of being taken off of my body at high speeds? Also could people clearly tell that they are non functional?

4) Headlights - What are good HID headlights for the 2010 if there are any. I like the smoked look and like LED's or nice looking ambient lights.

Thanks for your help!

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Ken04 · 10-12-2009, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rivendell90

Hi, I'm constantly flip flopping about what I want to do with my 2010 sixxer. But I think ive settled, I want to get small horsepower gains and esthetic improvements over the course of a year or two. So mainly why im asking is...

1) What are the best HP gains for your buck? Plz list something and explain why as well as a possible location to get the item.!

BEST hp gain is a tuner. Figure $370 for an SCT or Diablo with a canned tune. Probably gain 10-15 hp with a 93 octane tune. You MAY gain a little additional with a cold air kit, maybe not. There's alot of discussion on whether a CAI actually does anything. Do some research on this board. If nothing else it's interesting reading.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rivendell90

2) Dual Exhaust - What gains would I get from this, the Ford Racing one is the one I would get, mostly for the esthetics of it *2 exhausts look nicer than the 1*!

again, you MAY gain 1-2 hp with dual exhaust. You will gain more if you also do the tuner. Depending on which exhaust system you choose, you may even lose a little torque at lower rpm with duals. My guess is you will stay about the same but it definitely looks and sounds better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rivendell90

3) What are some simple body modifications which are not too expensive that I can do to my car. I was thinking Stripes but Vinyls seem like it would make it hard to wax my car without messing up the stripes and painted is a little expensive. !

stripes aren't affected by wax unless you get flat colors. All the gloss stripes are as easy to care for as your paint. And you can change colors whenever you want. Figure $300-$500 for a good set of stripes installed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rivendell90

A) Would a Hood Scoop or Side Scoops pick up air underneath them and risk the chance of being taken off of my body at high speeds? Also could people clearly tell that they are non functional?!

Most the better quality hood scoops also bolt on. They are all non-functional, so yea, everyone knows they don't work. But so what ? They're aesthetically pleasing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rivendell90

4) Headlights - What are good HID headlights for the 2010 if there are any. I like the smoked look and like LED's or nice looking ambient lights.

Thanks for your help!

the only advice I've ever seen on HID's is to buy a good quality kit. The cheaper ones are more trouble than they're worth.

ODDYSEY · 10-12-2009, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken04

BEST hp gain is a tuner. Figure $370 for an SCT or Diablo with a canned tune. Probably gain 10-15 hp with a 93 octane tune. You MAY gain a little additional with a cold air kit, maybe not. There's alot of discussion on whether a CAI actually does anything. Do some research on this board. If nothing else it's interesting reading.

Incorrect. There is discussion on if a CAI WITHOUT a tune does anything. A CAI with the proper tune goes hand in hand and is the largest gain of HP you can get for the price.

Example.. you can't get a good tune with alot of hp gains without a CAI and the CAI alone won't give good gains without a tune.

You want modest HP gains and that seat of your pants thrill.. get a good CAI/Tune combo.

Rivendell90 · 10-12-2009, 12:48 PM

Im willing to purchase a CAI/Tune and 1 or 2 more small horsepower upgrades, what two things could I get that would give me even more gains?

atldave · 10-12-2009, 12:54 PM

If you are trying to save money on the duals, why not order the GT take-offs? They are only something like $50-70 online, and you may even get lucky and find some locally on Craigslist. Just be sure that you get the ones pulled off a manual transmission for the best sound. I have a single GT installed, which was just a simple DIY install. The sound is great. The techs in the Ford shop really loved it when I was in last week. I have the second muffler but haven't installed it because I have a 'vert and don't want any more volume or drone. You might try installing one, try it, and then do the other for just the cost of an H-pipe if you want more.

I'm debating which CAI to get now myself. You can find the FRPP CAI/tune online now for just a little over $400. The downside is that it comes with just one tune, and that's for premium fuel. It's also less agreesive than some other tunes, but Ford claims that they want to maintain longterm durability of the engine.

Ken04 · 10-12-2009, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ODDYSEY

Incorrect. There is discussion on if a CAI WITHOUT a tune does anything. A CAI with the proper tune goes hand in hand and is the largest gain of HP you can get for the price.

Example.. you can't get a good tune with alot of hp gains without a CAI and the CAI alone won't give good gains without a tune.

You want modest HP gains and that seat of your pants thrill.. get a good CAI/Tune combo.

there are some people who swear a CAI adds nothing even w/a good tune. Not saying I buy into that or not, just sayin,,,,, I let people make up their own minds after reading all the data.

ODDYSEY · 10-12-2009, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken04

there are some people who swear a CAI adds nothing even w/a good tune. Not saying I buy into that or not, just sayin,,,,, I let people make up their own minds after reading all the data.

We will have to smack them into some good common sense then

Riven.. I think if you follow what I did when I first started modding, you will get the most bang for the buck.

I got a CAI/Tune (from bamachips), 3.73 gears/t-lok because I was going FI down the road, and the FRPP dual exhaust. That gave me almost just enough power to make me satisified. ( I wanted more so I went with the X ).

$600 CAI/Tune
$700 Gears/T-Lok
$600 FRPP dual exhaust

That will give you the biggest bolt-on jump in performance without doing some major mods.

Nuke · 10-12-2009, 02:26 PM

1) What are the best HP gains for your buck? Plz list something and explain why as well as a possible location to get the item.
CAI & tune combo by far. Brenspeed, Bama, VMP, Evolution, Tillman are all good vendors that write excellent tunes. A stand-alone CAI won't do much more than 3-6 RWHP and a stand-alone tune may net you 10-15. The combo is the way to go. Nitrous is a big gainer but not something you'll use every time you go to hammer it. Most everything else is single digit RWHP ADDITIONS or FREE-UPS (a.k.a. 1 piece aluminum DS, UDP's). Gears will also pull you out of the hole quicker and typically has a positive affect on your shift points. HOWEVER, if you want real power, go FI.

2) Dual Exhaust - What gains would I get from this, the Ford Racing one is the one I would get, mostly for the esthetics of it *2 exhausts look nicer than the 1*
Dual exhaust on the 6 looks and sounds good but won't buy you much. Plus, you'll need to figure out how you want to handle the drivers side exhaust tip since the stock bumper has the cutout for the passenger side only. Most get a GT bumper.

3) What are some simple body modifications which are not too expensive that I can do to my car. I was thinking Stripes but Vinyls seem like it would make it hard to wax my car without messing up the stripes and painted is a little expensive.
IMO, some of the better looking exterior mods are quarter window louvers and some type of rear blackout panel. Others are the billet gas doors, clear or smoked front turn signals and side markers. A lot of it depends on what you want to do with your car. Bling or subdued.

A) Would a Hood Scoop or Side Scoops pick up air underneath them and risk the chance of being taken off of my body at high speeds? Also could people clearly tell that they are non functional?
Most body mods involve the use of 3M tape. Properly prepared and applied they are rock solid. I have the quarter window louvers, side scoops and rear window louvers; all held on with 3M tape. After over 25,000 miles they are ALL as solid as the day installed. And I do frequent runs at 90-110 MPH for 30-60 minutes at a time (or used to, before moving to god-forsaken NE Illinois

). Most side and hood scoops are obviously non-functional.

4) Headlights - What are good HID headlights for the 2010 if there are any. I like the smoked look and like LED's or nice looking ambient lights.
I'm not sure about good HID's since all my vehicles are still good old halogen. But I'll just say to beware what temperature set you buy. Stock halogens are typically 3500K -3800K. The higher you go (more blue), the less useful light and, in dark rain or fog conditions, you MAY be hard pressed to see very well. I had to replace a set of 5000K bulbs on my SUV down to 4100K because I couldn't see very well under poor conditions. ALL my fogs (4 cars) are 2500k-3000K lamps.

Hope that helps.

Rivendell90 · 10-12-2009, 03:25 PM

My initial idea was to keep the car for 5 years then sell it for a new mustang GT or GT500. But I might keep it so I'm looking for upgrades that will last. Will dual exhaust last? They seem somewhat insecure because of the way it is held on after modification. Also the FRPP dual exhaust for the 2010 mustang v6 is $995

Ill still buy it but $995+manual labor at 60-70 dollars an hour from a Ford Dealer is a lil pricy and I want to make sure it is worth it.

Ken04 · 10-12-2009, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rivendell90

My initial idea was to keep the car for 5 years then sell it for a new mustang GT or GT500. But I might keep it so I'm looking for upgrades that will last. Will dual exhaust last? They seem somewhat insecure because of the way it is held on after modification. Also the FRPP dual exhaust for the 2010 mustang v6 is $995

Ill still buy it but $995+manual labor at 60-70 dollars an hour from a Ford Dealer is a lil pricy and I want to make sure it is worth it.

$1.000 for an exhaust system ? That's insane. Go to your local muffler shop. Buy a couple GT take offs from someone, have the shop make an over the axle pipe and an X or an H pipe. See how you like the stock GT manual mufflers. If you want something else after a while shop around for some axle backs.