New here
10-26-2006, 08:33 AM
#5
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location:
Posts: 1,165
RE: New here
Ok what you want to get first is an SCT II Tuner and Cold Air Intake Combo. That will benefit the most for a low budget upgrade. They run from $525-$650 depending on the company you buy from. I personally bought from Evolution Performance and got my set for $525 ($550 for the color match intake tube) and its a great product. I have the SCT II Tuner and the JLT Intake. There are other companies such as Bamachips, Alternative Auto, VMP Tuning, Brenspeed and a couple more i think in the sponser part of the home page.
I know you said a couple hundred a month but trust me you will be so happy with this tis definately worth it. Hope you get what ya want, congratulations and good luck upgrading the stang!
I know you said a couple hundred a month but trust me you will be so happy with this tis definately worth it. Hope you get what ya want, congratulations and good luck upgrading the stang!
10-26-2006, 11:16 AM
#6
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location:
Posts: 529
RE: New here
Hello Twest and welcome to the forum. On limited budget, there are three areas to consider initially, intake, exhaust and tuning.
1. Tuner
As suggested above a tuner will make a big difference in how your car responds, especially in the area of throttle delay which is a byproduct of Fords computer programing on the stock vehicle. When you hear the term tuner it can refer to the electronic device that lets you change the tune on your Mustangs computer or to the person or shop who creates the tune program that is loaded on the electronic device. There are two major tuners (electronic devices) available The SCT xCalibrator 2 and the Diablo Predator. (SCT makes some other tuners besides the XCal2, so talk to the shop you are buying from when making the actual purchase). The SCT seems to be the preferred tuner for automatics and the Predator seems to "maybe" have some advantage for a stick shift car, but overall most people seem to be going with the SCT unit. Since I have the XCal2, I'll only address it and leave the Predator to someone who is familiar with it. The XCal2 should come with three tunes one each for 87, 91 and 93 octane. These tunes not only adjust the engine performance, greatly improving the aforementioned throttle lag, but also modify the transmissions shift points for much better performance. as well as removing the 112 MPH speed limiter setting among other things. You can use the tuner later on if you get to the point of highly modifying your car by having custom tunes built specifically to take advantage of your individual configuration. When you are purchasing a tuner (SCT) shop around, some shops do not offer all three tunes and want extra for additional tunes. Also the price will vary. I think around $379 is in the not too bad range right now from a dealer. I got mine from Velocity Mustang Performance. VMP Tuning specializes in the V6 Mustang and the main man there is Justin, who is very helpful.
2. Intake
Intake tests on dynos have shown the biggest bolt-on intake gains are from replacing the stock intake filter with an aftermarket unit like the K&N filter, somewhere around 5 HP. An additional 1 HP (so say the dynos) can be gained from replacing the intake tube, so from a budget standpoint, the filter is the best HP/$ investment.
3. Exhaust
Dyno results have shown an 11 HP gain from removing the stock muffler, which is apparently very restrictive. There is some evidence to indicate the MRT Aero-Turbine muffler achieves even a bit more, but this evidence is sketchy at this point. I'm planning on trying to get a stock vs MRT A-T dyno run in the future, but it will not be for a month or two. It is save to say, any less restrictive muffler will give you better performance, and you must consider how much noise you are willing to live with. The MRT A-T is quite loud. The cheapest way to go would be with GT take-off mufflers either form sources like Saleen or V6 Mustang Stuff, or on eBay. You will have to buy both the left and right, but you will only use the right muffler, but still it's the least expensive way to go.
4. Other areas of consideration
A. Handling
i. Brakes
Your Mustang will also benefit from better brakes up front. The Mustang GT has bigger brakes disks up front than you V6 does (the GT has the same rear brakes as the V6). You can get the entire brake replacement package from Saleen for a mere $99. Since the V6 and GT have the same front calipers you will only need to use the disks and caliper mounting brackets. This eliminates the need to bleed you brakes when you do the installation since you do not need to remove the calipers or brake lines. A very cost effective mod.
ii. Sway Bars (also know as anitroll bars)
Sway bars help eliminate body roll during cornering. The V6 is equipped with a small front sway bar, but has no rear sway bar. You can get both the front and rear bars from V6 Mustang Stuff for $99 sans the necessary bolts which you can get from Frod for around $50. Replacing the front and adding the rear GT sway bar will give you much better cornering performance for much less than the cost of an after market sway bar kit.
iii. Tires/wheels
You can get GT take off Bullitt wheels with Pirelli P Zero tires very reasonably from either Saleen or V6 Mustang Stuff as well as from eBay.
iv. Body kits
You can get the GT take offs from the same sources mentioned under tires. The advantage here is you will get the grill, front and rear fascias rocker panels, tires, wheels and mufflers, but the cost will be in the $1100 to $1200 range. If you want to go with the GT body kit, this is probably more cost effective then buying separately.
v. Establishing a dyno baseline.
You may also want to consider establishing a baseline performance image of you Mustang. You can generally get a dyno run which will give you this data for around $55. You can then do subsequent dyno runs when you add mods and have a good picture of what performance gains you are getting. I did this with my car and it was definitely worth the price of admission. Take a movie camera with you and a still camera so you can document the experience. Makes for great posts here on Mustang Forums too.
Speaking of video, you can also do a video with sound of say your stock muffler or intake and then another video once you replace them for reference. The possibilities here are only limited by your imagination.
Hope that helps. Enjoy modding your Mustang, they are great vehicles and respond extremely well to relatively inexpensive modifications.
1. Tuner
As suggested above a tuner will make a big difference in how your car responds, especially in the area of throttle delay which is a byproduct of Fords computer programing on the stock vehicle. When you hear the term tuner it can refer to the electronic device that lets you change the tune on your Mustangs computer or to the person or shop who creates the tune program that is loaded on the electronic device. There are two major tuners (electronic devices) available The SCT xCalibrator 2 and the Diablo Predator. (SCT makes some other tuners besides the XCal2, so talk to the shop you are buying from when making the actual purchase). The SCT seems to be the preferred tuner for automatics and the Predator seems to "maybe" have some advantage for a stick shift car, but overall most people seem to be going with the SCT unit. Since I have the XCal2, I'll only address it and leave the Predator to someone who is familiar with it. The XCal2 should come with three tunes one each for 87, 91 and 93 octane. These tunes not only adjust the engine performance, greatly improving the aforementioned throttle lag, but also modify the transmissions shift points for much better performance. as well as removing the 112 MPH speed limiter setting among other things. You can use the tuner later on if you get to the point of highly modifying your car by having custom tunes built specifically to take advantage of your individual configuration. When you are purchasing a tuner (SCT) shop around, some shops do not offer all three tunes and want extra for additional tunes. Also the price will vary. I think around $379 is in the not too bad range right now from a dealer. I got mine from Velocity Mustang Performance. VMP Tuning specializes in the V6 Mustang and the main man there is Justin, who is very helpful.
2. Intake
Intake tests on dynos have shown the biggest bolt-on intake gains are from replacing the stock intake filter with an aftermarket unit like the K&N filter, somewhere around 5 HP. An additional 1 HP (so say the dynos) can be gained from replacing the intake tube, so from a budget standpoint, the filter is the best HP/$ investment.
3. Exhaust
Dyno results have shown an 11 HP gain from removing the stock muffler, which is apparently very restrictive. There is some evidence to indicate the MRT Aero-Turbine muffler achieves even a bit more, but this evidence is sketchy at this point. I'm planning on trying to get a stock vs MRT A-T dyno run in the future, but it will not be for a month or two. It is save to say, any less restrictive muffler will give you better performance, and you must consider how much noise you are willing to live with. The MRT A-T is quite loud. The cheapest way to go would be with GT take-off mufflers either form sources like Saleen or V6 Mustang Stuff, or on eBay. You will have to buy both the left and right, but you will only use the right muffler, but still it's the least expensive way to go.
4. Other areas of consideration
A. Handling
i. Brakes
Your Mustang will also benefit from better brakes up front. The Mustang GT has bigger brakes disks up front than you V6 does (the GT has the same rear brakes as the V6). You can get the entire brake replacement package from Saleen for a mere $99. Since the V6 and GT have the same front calipers you will only need to use the disks and caliper mounting brackets. This eliminates the need to bleed you brakes when you do the installation since you do not need to remove the calipers or brake lines. A very cost effective mod.
ii. Sway Bars (also know as anitroll bars)
Sway bars help eliminate body roll during cornering. The V6 is equipped with a small front sway bar, but has no rear sway bar. You can get both the front and rear bars from V6 Mustang Stuff for $99 sans the necessary bolts which you can get from Frod for around $50. Replacing the front and adding the rear GT sway bar will give you much better cornering performance for much less than the cost of an after market sway bar kit.
iii. Tires/wheels
You can get GT take off Bullitt wheels with Pirelli P Zero tires very reasonably from either Saleen or V6 Mustang Stuff as well as from eBay.
iv. Body kits
You can get the GT take offs from the same sources mentioned under tires. The advantage here is you will get the grill, front and rear fascias rocker panels, tires, wheels and mufflers, but the cost will be in the $1100 to $1200 range. If you want to go with the GT body kit, this is probably more cost effective then buying separately.
v. Establishing a dyno baseline.
You may also want to consider establishing a baseline performance image of you Mustang. You can generally get a dyno run which will give you this data for around $55. You can then do subsequent dyno runs when you add mods and have a good picture of what performance gains you are getting. I did this with my car and it was definitely worth the price of admission. Take a movie camera with you and a still camera so you can document the experience. Makes for great posts here on Mustang Forums too.
Speaking of video, you can also do a video with sound of say your stock muffler or intake and then another video once you replace them for reference. The possibilities here are only limited by your imagination.
Hope that helps. Enjoy modding your Mustang, they are great vehicles and respond extremely well to relatively inexpensive modifications.