Lem-06

Also no matter how hard you ride her. She never says stop or slow down just begs for more.
.....The car of course...

UPRSharad

On my 2006 GT, I installed:

CAI/Tuner
off-road x-pipe
short throw shifter
billet catch can
and full Pro Street suspension

All from UPR Products, and it was a major improvement! It even increased my fuel economy!

I strongly recommend that you consider traction enhancing mods like suspension and wheels & tires. Extra power doesn't get you anywhere if you're just spinning.

www.uprproducts.com

MadStang40

You've got a good plan laid out so far OP. Manual or auto? 4.10s could be a bear in the city for a manual, especially once forced induction is in the mix.

CAI and tune would be your first nice power adders, then steeper gears, longtubes, and maybe even cams. A one piece aluminum driveshaft would free up some ponies and a few here can attest to that. Then comes the mac-daddy of 'em all- forced induction. Some love Vortech, some swear by the M90, while others like Paxton or even going the turbocharged route.

MadStang40

Then of course at those stages, you're going to need some suspension goodies and new sticky tires to put all those ponies to the pavement...

Jas5

I only read the OP's post so far, but honestly if you want real power get a blower. Research the different types of blowers. My car came with the blower already installed..5 psi on stock motor for around 350-360whp

I have a centrifugal setup (paxton NOVI 2200SL) and the pro's are, up to 10 lbs boost which is around 450whp, easy install, more power as you go up RPMS, runs coolest since it isnt right on top of motor. Only negative that I know of is that the full boost doesnt kick in until 3500 rpm, where its around 2200 rpm on a roots type blower.

And I say to "get a blower" because building your motor up with cams, headers, etc, can be a crapload of work with only around 350whp.. tops. Blower = tons of potential

edit: right when it hits 3500 rpm, I know that the adjustable valve cam timing changes, but thats also when my blower is set to kick in. That's when the wheels break loose. Fun as ****

rlwyatt88

blower is out of the question now.. same with turbo and Nitrous.

Reason being, if you put all that glitz on a stock motor, you'll just tear parts up down the road. I'm going to spend some time upgrading the parts around the motor, and inside it, before i try to cram a beachball through a coffee straw.

rlwyatt88

with gears, I want to put in 4.10's. How involved is that swap? bolt on plug and play or lotsa measuring and elbow grease?

wcgman

OP - if you're in the Denver area, PM me. While you have a lot of friends who claim they can do gears perhaps (and Ford techs dont get trained to do gears, they send that work out to another shop) there's a shop in Parker who has done 4.10 swaps in 2 of my mustangs. I have had him do other work too on my explorer and sisters F150 and he is very fair with pricing and does top notch work. To me, gears take more of a specialist. Otherwise, you might be better off buyin a new complete rear end with 4.10's already installed and just swapping out the whole rear end. From what I've been told, that can be done in about 2 to 3 hours and is easier than dealing with a gear swap for lesser humans like me.

As for deciding to not SC, trust me. I did and it was the best investment by far. You can quickly take the car to the limit with a weekend of work and it's a completely different experience. The car in its stock form can handle a very surprising amount of power. If you're in the Denver area, I'd be happy to meet you and take you for a spin so you can see what a SC'd 4.6 at altitude is capable of. You'd be pleasantly surprised.

wcgman

4.10's and FI are not a bear in the city. I'm a god**** lion and will pounce in the blink of an eye. lol. Seriously, its not bad. In heavy traffic where it creeps I just pop her in first and let her pull herself along. If I do decide to give her the juice, oh yeah, everybody will know it.

mayo

Here's the way I have approached the mod process.

Year one...
CAI/Tune. Best bang for the buck there is!
Wheels and tires. Mo power means mo grip.
Axelback exhaust. Sound improvement only, no midpipe or header mod...yet

Year two...
Gear swap to 3.73. Which gear is all about driving habits, there is no wrong choice in gear. Pay the man and get a well qualified person to do the job. Gear swaps in the s197 are tricky and if not done properly...whine and noise will ensue.
Oh and after reading your comments on superchargers running your engine harder I would like to remind you what changing your final gear ratio does...
RUNS YOUR ENGINE HARDER! Higher rpms = More engine wear.
Suspension. Changed out the stock springs, shocks, and struts for appearance and handling reasons.

That's where I am as of now. Other than small appearance mod's that should do it until its GO time, which will hopefully be next year...SUPERCHARGER!
Why spend a bunch of money on small power add-ons when you can have 150hp in one mod?...and if you keep the boost down on the unit, you are no more likely to harm your engine than with any other mod.
Good-luck with the build bro!