mustangrider48

I am trying to decide on my first major mod to my new GT. I only have $300 to spend and I am trying to decide between lowering springs or CAI/tune. Should I wait a couple months to save a couple hundred dollars for the intake and programmer combo or buy lowering springs now and do the intake/tune later? I could also go the path of axle-back off of EBAY... no gains there except for a little throatier sound. I'm afraid of throwing the springs on there and having a bouncy, uncomfortable ride like I see many kids having. Any opinions would be nice. Thanks.

Jmoss

CAI/tune for sure.

Tylus

CAI/Tune

or have you considered a short throw shifter? My car has <500 miles and I'm already annoyed as hell by the long shift pattern

06elnr

tune for sure!!

CutterWolf

Tune it!!

JDWalton

with 300, I would go with mufflers first. A set of boomtubes are right in that range and you would be very pleased with the agressiveness of the sound.

You might try the for sale section here or ebay and see about a tuner. Usualy you can get a used unlocked one for around 200-250 then have somone like Bama email you good tune for 50.

Lowering springs at this point are just going to hurt your straight line traction, unless you got Adjustable LCA's or a the relocation brackets to correct the angle, but either way, the combination puts you over your price.

Looks like your new to the mustang and the forums with 11 posts and a 09 stang, so just FYI, try:
http://www.brenspeed.com/
good site good prices, very helpful staff. Yeah there are a lot of other good ones as well, but took me a while before somone keyed me into them ;-) Also, many parts havent updated there titles, so just so you know, almost anything for a 2005-2008 fits a 2009 as well. Exept the tuner, make sure that says it will work on your car ;-)

chub46

If money is tight save a little more and get the cai and tune combo. I went with the springs first. I did not like how mussy the car felt when changing lanes or cornering. But JD is right after lowing the car to get the LCA angle right and to get the most out of the springs you will need the LCAs and the relocate bracket.

Nuke

+1 on saving for CAI & tune. If you keep spending what you have, you'll NEVER get enough on-hand for it. It's worth it to wait until you have the $$ for this as your 1st mod.

NOLA26

Which is better a CAI that doesnt need a tune or one that does? How much does a tune cost? And last will a tune void your warranty?

DarkJFMan

Which one to get first? The cai/tuner will help you out more, because first of all when I researched lowering spring I found out that depending on how much you lower it 1" or more you'll need new CC plate (not required) but recommended because of the negative angle you'll get on the tires, and that's gonna make the price jump way high.

NOLA - JLT/Steeda/C&L are all good well known brands... as far as which one whatever fits your budger, I chose JLT because of price and look. Tuner isn't needed but you won't get the benefit from the CAI if you don't get it. Tuner itself will cost you 380$ depending where you get it, so you're better off with a combo.

The tune itself is usually free when you buy the CAI/Tuner combo which is what most people suggest doing.