Texotic

Sorry, but I don't give a crap how much you overpay for a piece of painted aluminum. They aim to make your otherwise stock brakes look like they're some kind of uber high performance 6 piston calipers. Making your car appear that it has more expensive/better parts than it really does = rice IMO. By painting your calipers, you're accentuating what your car has on it, not what you wish you had. Caliper Covers are on the same level as those stupid turbo whistles, IMO.

StickShifty

1 - intake tuner combo from a good tuner company

2 - some sort of midpipe or axle back, or combo of both

3 - and as for suspension, dont do just springs. you need to do the whole thing as a whole. springs/shocks/struts/lca/uca/relocation brackets... it will pay off. you can do all that for about 1000 bucks, maybe a little more.

Andy2108

+1

I don't think red brake calipers look ricer-ish.... Usually colored brake calipers means there high quality, and even though thed be on standard brakes, I think theyde make the car look like its made for even more performance. I certainly dont think my Porsche looks like a ricer because of its red calipers



@ Texotic: I want to lower my *imaginary* car to make it look better and handle better. I thought there would be problems with lowering it so much, and its no wonder that kit is as cheap as it is.... because you have to upgrade a whole bunch of things along with it. How low can I go without having to modify much else in my car?

Does CAI/Tune effect my exhaust note?

06elnr

i dont know much cause I left my car stock...

Texotic

Honestly, I'm not sure how long each individual part would last. I know that you would need the adjustable LCAs or UCA and the adjustable panhard bar from the get-go to make sure you can get it back in alignment. You would also most likely need to adjust camber, which can be done relatively cheaply with a set of $40 camber bolts; they may not offer quite enough adjustment, though, so the shop might have to slot the holes to give it more room for adjustment. Those would be the absolute necessities and then it's just a matter of how long the shocks/struts and ball joints last. because the shocks and struts are not spec'd for such stiff, low springs, the car will ride like s***... but it'll look good until you can upgrade the rest of it. You should be able to get those springs, adjustable UCA, and adjustable PHB for around $500. The Super Sport Springs aren't a "kit", they're just springs like every other spring set out there. There's a LOT more to a suspension than just springs.

I wouldn't say that the CAI/Tune changes your exhaust note, but since they use an open-air filter instead of an airbox, the engine is noticeably more audible.

Andy2108

So it sounds like lowering the car is a bit more involved than I thought.

I call it a spring "kit" because it come with four springs I guess the proper term is set

I dunno about the mustang guys... this jag is just ever so tempting

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...8&aff=national

Texotic

Lowering this car really isn't that bad if you go with a mild drop. You're going to run into all kinds of problems with stock parts if you try to lower any car almost 2". If, instead of doing a 1.7/1.9 drop, you did like a 1.0/1.2 drop, you wouldn't 'need' anything. Your axle would still be off, but not by a lot. It would be an easy fix at about $140 for the adjustable PHB. The SuperSports are just such a large drop that it messes up your pinion angle and causes large changes in the front end's roll center that, if not corrected, will wear out those ball joints pretty quickly.

Konis $700
H&R Race Springs $240 (You could also go with a number of other springs around the same price)
Adjustable Panhard Bar $140
Adjustable UCA $120
Camber Bolts $40

With those parts, the car would handle fantastically and be in perfect alignment. There are a lot more items you can buy that will improve handling past that, but they aren't 'necessary' and will only offer marginal improvement past this initial upgrade unless you start spending big bucks. Honestly, the ball joints don't become an issue for a while unless you go with an extreme drop, like the H&R SuperSports or Eibach Sportlines.

For $1240, you get a fantastic setup with plenty of adjustment. You can later add larger swaybars, an assortment of braces, some lower control arms, camber plates (if you need qucik adjustment of your camber settings) and then the little things like a bumpsteer kit, adjustable endlinks, etc.

If you went with the a smaller drop than 1.5" like the Steeda Ultralites that are only about a 1" drop, then you won't even need the adjustable UCA or camber bolts and will be able to drive for quite a while on the stock shocks/struts.

You think that modifications are involved and expensive on this car? Have fun with a Jag, lol.

Texotic

PS: If you want more input on this kind of stuff, post your suspension questions in the handling section.

pascal

Mine was a Special Edition as well...

MRGTX

I appreciated this thread because I'm in the same boat as the OP was...

I constantly hear strong reccomendations for the SLP Loudmouth exhaust...but without anyone local who owns them, I just don't know what I'd be getting myself into!

...how close is it to open exhaust? Will my neighbors hate me? How loud are they when just driving around or at idle?