OUZBnd

I love the forum, there are a lot of great tips.

I own a 02 GT and I want to get some more performance out of it with $1000-1500 to spend. I was thinking about going with a magnaflow exhaust, the x-pipe kit cat back i believe is around $670. I also considered adding a Accufab Plenum, Accufab 75mm throttle body, and MAC straight shot with 85 mm mass air. I've been reading bad things about a steel intake because of temperatures of the intake pipe, but does this really hurt performance that much? The air is not in the intake pipe for long periods of time, and it obviously is not getting as hot or as close to the same temperature as the pipe. So as long as your getting you air supply from a "cold" source is it really going to effect performance? Is this intake going to be a bad setup? I've look at the densecharger, which is "not hot to the touch", however, this doesn't mean that heat does not travel through the plastic, it just means heat is not retained in the plastic. Granted, this is better than metal in that obvious way, but is it worth the extra cost for the densecharger?

Finally, what are your opinions on my proposed setup? How would you do it with my buget? Any and all suggestions are very welcomed!

One more thing, will a underdrive pully kit cut to much power to the alternator to run a mach 1000 system?

Thanks

Acer2428

A) Keep reading and you'd know the answers to all of your questions.

But I'll attempt to answer your questions. First, the most basic upgrade is exhaust. It is generally accepted that an X pipe produces a few more HP's, while H pipes are better for a deep sound. A good catback combine with a good X or H pipe w/ high flow cats or no cats (illegal) is good for 10-15 hp's and will increse the benefit of every following modification. I assume you can get the off-road X pipe and catback for the price you listed. I forget the price of the O/R X pipe, but I think it was like $300 + $370 or so for the catback... = $670 yep. (Si, I reclaim my math skills...lol)

As far as intake, I went w/ a cheapie off of e-bay w/ a re-usable filter and I love it. Many people claim that the densecharger really works better than the rest. Honestly, if I were to do it over again I would seriously consider densecharger w/ the calibrated 85mm MAF. I think that's your best option.

I would leave the t/b and upper plenum swap for later as those mods cost a lot and give single digit gains. Underdrive pullies would be a better bet, as they add about 10hp. And yes, they produce enough power to run the Mach system at about half the price of a t/b and plenum.

After exhaust and intake, I reccomend gears. That's the path that I'm following. 3.73's for manual 4.6 or 4.10's for an auto should be your best bet for a not too radical swap. Gears multiply the torque your engine produces, giving you faster acceleration. It seems to be the general concensus that gears are the single best mod for performance while maintaining a low budget (head/intake/cam swap would be close, but way more $)

I really hope this helps! I was not too long ago an uber noob myself, read around, I've shown you what that can do for one's knowledge of these cars!

BLUE04GT

GEARS, CAT BACK, X PIPE, UNDERDRIVES. DO THOSE FIRST.

Js281GT

well said acer, But I would have him get the t. body/plenium before the pullies. You don't get that much hp with pullies compared to a five oh. He can get the plenium/t. body for like $270 (trick flow, mac) pullies are like $170 2 rwhp or 10 rwhp.

OUZBnd

Thanks for the tips so far.

Do you guys have any suggestions for what brand of exhaust/intake/tb/plenium to get? I read mixed reviews on about every brand out there. Is there anyone that has actual performance numbers rather than just preferance on parts? If not, then preference are always a good back up to, you guys have probably owned mustangs longer than i have, so once again, you opinions are always appreciated!

Also, whats a good distrubuter to order parts from? Summit racing is about 1 hour from where i live, but im not sure how they compare as well as other mostly mustang distributers.

Thanks again for your input

Js281GT

Get the trick flow intake plenium from summit. Mac 70 mm t.body from mac. I would get the gears/mac pro-chamber first though. That would take off like half a second right there

2k1gt

Exhaust: i think you should go with magnaflow cat-back.
Intake: My Densecharger works very well and if you get the Pro-M MAF then you will feel a huge difference.
Plenum/TB: Get accufab, they are the best from what i hear.

Now as for the dealer, www.mustangtuning.com has lots of good prices, but im not sure if they sell what you are looking for. You can find the Densecharger system at www.densecharger.com

By the Way, Acer, I live in Great Falls, VA. Are you a member of NVMC?

Js281GT

Ya that is a good place to buy parts. But this guy shouldn't spend $440 dollars on t.body/plenium. I got my t.body/plenium for $260, that pretty much is the same accept looks. I am not baggin people. I love accufab, but it is expensive along with bassani. I just think he should take the $440 and get gears with installation for $440 and be alot faster for that kinda money.

2k1gt

Im with you 100%. Gears will give you no HP, but you will really feel the difference.