mcartman89

just bought an amazing mustang.
2004 mustang GT everything stock, clean title, only has 17000 miles on it.
I'm 19 years old and dont know too much about helping the performance of a car, so please help me with this question...
what are the most affordable yet most effective way to improve the performance of my mustang?
i am a very big fan of turbochargers, there is a twin turbo mustang i see drive around and it hauls, but i dont know if i would have to upgrade anything else before putting a turbo in.
cost really isnt an issue, i make way more money then any other 19 year old i know, so please, what can i do to make it a lot faster?

SixEight

Turbo kits are expensive. Unless you've got some lofty power goals a turbo is not the most cost effective way to do things.

The best bang for your buck is nitrous. Do it right and it's completely safe. Generally people will tell you not to push the factory rods much past 450 rwhp. If for some reason nitrous is not an option, a supercharger is the next best value and will easily take you to the limits of your stock block.

If your goal is bigger than 450ish rwhp and money really isn't a concern, you'll need to upgrade your internals first.

Muscle GT

besides the turbo, supercharger, or nitrous options, I would start by putting a nice catback, midpipe and headers on. I have the SLP Loudmouth 1's, and they really make the car feel more powerful as well as make it sound bad ***. Also, you might want an off road or catted x or h pipe. I have the mrt catted h pipe and it really opened up the sound a bit more.

The big power adders are like sixeight said, superchargers or turbochargers tho. If money is not an issue, all the power to you man. I dont have a supercharger but I am looking into buying one myself. Kenne Bell, Vortech, Paxton, Procharger, etc are big names for the superchargers. You might want to check some of those out. I dont know much about Turbos or nitrous, sorry.

silverstang1996

If money isn't a problem for you really then your turbocharger route would be a great way to go. Most along with myself would suggest you do the normal bolt ons to your car(they are the easy ways to get a little more power) such as exhaust/intake bolt ons (headers-midpipe-catback, CAI-throttle body-plenum). They don't net a great deal of power on the GT engines but when you would put a turbo on it they help tremendously with getting air in and out of the motor. If you go these steps you would have a pretty sick ride when it's all done with.

boduke0220

if money wasnt an issue...get a cobra lol

gjscott

Upgrade the brakes and suspensionand learn how to drive it before adding huge amounts of power.

MoKo_04GT

welcome to MF! congrats on the GT!! take care of her!!

there are tons of options....first things first....you will get tons of useful info reading thru the site stickys. start there....most of your questions will be answered while reading thru there.

StangFanGT

I would say depending on how much powwer u want u can go with smaller power and then bigger power. U can get some bolt ons. Such as cal, x pipe, throttle body, pulleys, etc. And then u could put a supercharger. That's what I'm doing to my 02 gt. Have fun with ur ride.

steve0914

what are your goals? if it is just a street car and you have 7 grand do drop i would get a kenne bell, and a full exhaust... god i love that whine... if it is a daily driver and you want to consider mpg, full bolt ons and a 100 shot of nitrous would yield you roughly 370 at the wheels yet you still would get roughly 27 mpg when you are not spraying...

Eagle2000GT

You have a nice car. The motor will not last long at 450 rwhp unless you tear it down and change the rods and pistons (assuming of course that it even survives the dyno run). The best bang for the buck is forced induction. You can spend more building a 300 rwhp natually aspirated motor than you will building a 400 rwhp forced induction motor. Nitrous is less expensive to install but can be more expensive in the long run (depending upon how often you fill your tank). You also have to be careful on howyou use nitrous. You do not want to invest in long-tube headers and a cold air induction if you are going to get a turbo. Most turbos come with their own exhaust and CAI. You do not want to get underdrive pulleys and a CAI if you are going to buy a supercharger. UDPs cause the supercharger to underperform and most superchargers come with their own CAI. Don't get a new throttle-body and plenum if you intend to get a twin-screw supercharger (Kenne Bell) because it replaces the intake. A twin-turbo is overkill for stock rods and pistons. Almost all of the basic level superchargers and turbochargers can make more horsepower then the rods and pistons can stand. Take your time, develop a plan and build to the plan.

Good places to start are brakes and cat-back exhaust. They are compatible will almost all of the choices you may make later.

You are located fairly close to Exotic Performance Plus in Columbia City. They are one of the biggest installers of ProChargers in the Mid-West. They hada twin turbo Camaro on the dyno that they had builtwhen I was there picking up my car.