cdelgallo32

So i recently graduated from school and got a pretty decent job. Long story short, I went from a '98 v6 pony to the 2012 GT/CS with the coyote of course. ( I know one HELL of an upgrade). I am love struck if you will with the power and torque but like anyone that calls themselves a car fan, I'm hungry for more power. She's bone stock right now and I'm looking for some good suggestions/setups for things such as Exhaust setups, intake setups (throttle body size, CAI, manifold etc.) Looking to put some solid power to the pavement with around $2k installed for the first round of mods. Fire away.

(also new to the site so forgive my lack of forum etiquette)

Buchez09GT

I think most would agree with me, the best bang for your buck is for go forced induction. That will give you the most HP return per dollar spent.

However, based on your budget, a tune is probably your next best option. You can keep your stock intake or go with an aftermarket but I believe most of the HP increase comes from the tune. If you plan to race you could go with the BOSS intake manifold. This will give you some nice gains but in the higher RPM range, 6k+. You could also open up the exhaust more with some new exhaust headers and an X pipe but I'm not sure how much of an HP gain you would get.

AMWill

Congrats on the purchase CD!

That's definitely an upgrade and a half right there!

Let's see some pictures!

Personally, I recommend starting with an intake, tune, and full exhaust. From then, I work on suspension and looks!

What are your plans for the car? Daily driver, track car, weekend car? With that, I can give you some more in depth recommendations

Looking forward to hearing back.

-Will

ExtremePowerHouse

Congrats on your new ride !!
I agree with bill, start with an intake, tune and exhaust.

cruisin5268d

Don't let the hype trick you - your car already has a CAI. Your stock CAI and throttle body is more than sufficient on the 5.0s.

A tune will give you improvements but don't waste your money on an intake or throttle body unless you go forced induction. FI is where the real gains are.

cdelgallo32

Thanks for all the replies Gents.

As far as plans AMW, it's something between a daily driver and a weekend car I suppose. I have a work truck that i drive everyday back and forth to work but when i go to the gym through the week (all of 5 miles away) I use the stang and of course cruising on weekends including occasional roadtrips and running a few errands. With that being said, i would ultimately like the car to be a weekend warrior.

I would really enjoy getting the car well over 400 rwhp then when its paid off in a few years CONSIDER going forced induction. I am a little skeptical because I feel as if they are hard on the motor when you start putting pressurizing everything.

Right now I am trying to find which CAI will give the most horsepower. Recommendations on that?

What about exhaust setups? I like the sound of both flowmaster outlaw and Pypes. Obviously im wanting to go pretty loud and looking to go catback.

I think I will be coupling these with a Tune from Craven Performance just outside of St. Louis as I am in Southern Illinois.

cdelgallo32

Cruisin5268 what would you suggest short of forced induction to gain horsepower? Is CAI still a waste if you dont want to go with FI

scottmach

This. These cars seen gains on the exhaust side, not the intake side.

cruisin5268d

CAI is a waste if you don't go FI. Your car already has a CAI that can supply more air than your car can use. Do you really want to spend $400 for a HOLLOW PLASTIC TUBE??? These vendors are laughing all the way to the bank.

Get a tuner, and put any other funds towards handling upgrades.

jthorn9

All CAIs are about the same, no huge difference from one to another. Get the one that looks/worst best for what you want. As stated, the CAI alone doesn't help much.

The best bang for the buck with the new 5.0s is the tune, getting a tuner frees up a nice chunk of ponies.

Exhaust is another good starting point, however to get the best results you need to go off road, or high flow, area pending. This is good for a few more ponies.

Anything above these few things, goes into FI as most other mods are a complete waste in comparison to their cost.