Making My Car Feel Completely New
 

Ive had my '99 for quite awhile now. Aside from the first summer of owning the car back in 2005, I have done ZERO new mods other than repairs galore. (car has 4.10's, o/r H, catback, and has had MT's before)

I want to make the car look and feel refreshed in my own mind.

I am already doing smoked lights, HIDs, and a grille delete at some point, and probably tail light tint, as well as wheels/tires later.

However, I want the car to feel different too. It's still fun to drive after all this time, but I'm actually finally becoming slightly complacent.

I have never considered lowering the car until now. (yes, I've done searches) What are your opinions on the following mods.

H&R SS Springs, some sort of new Shock/Strut combination, a bumpsteer/cc plate combination, and a MGW short throw.

Will these two mods deliver a new feel to the car that I'm looking for?

I'm looking to stay under 2,000 dollars because I'll be saving for the downpayment on a delivered 2012 GT in January or February.

And while I'm here,,,,,other than upgrading the clutch to an aftermarket, is there any way to modify the stock clutch to be stiffer? As in, require more force to engage?

I appreciate any opinions, or links that are put forth.

For you i'd suggest buying a short shifter & seg. tail lights & then maybe mach 1 grill and chin spoiler

I want the car to FEEL different while I'm driving it, even in normal traffic situations.

The short throw shifter is a definite, I've waiting forever for one of those, I have always just been too tight and too lazy to pull the trigger.

I actually have a spoiler already that I forgot to mention, as well as SS inserts (all purchased within the first year of ownership) and I'm not a big fan of the sequentials, neat, but not worth it to me.

I think you will be happy with most short throw shifters...so if you want to keep a budget, see if you can find a lightly used STS.

I like my Strange adjustable shocks and struts. After a year or two, the adjustable knobs wouldn't click all the way anymore but I have not really adjusted them much anyway after the first week or so (the car did see a winter season IIRC so maybe that might have something to do with it). You will want Fox body shocks and struts if you do lower your car with lowering springs.

If it fits the budget, consider a new throttle body...or something that will give more instant throttle response than stock..or maybe a tune will help that instead IDK.

In that case your going to want to focus on suspension. Such as FLSFC's, LCA's, shocks, springs sort of thing

A drop and STS would definitely make it feel like a different car. Have you considered a new wheel/tire combo?

Thanks Pay-ter

Either 18x9/18x10 Saleens with a 275 and a 305 tires.

Or I'll save a few hundred and do 17's.

Does anyone know if they make a 10.5" Saleen wheel?

But, since I'm looking at over a thousand dollars for wheels/tires, I'll focus more on the look of the mods mention in the OP and the look/feel of the new drive after a suspension/shifter overhaul.

By the way, the car has 102K on it, and has not had any suspension components touched.

You might want to consider then some non-adjustable shocks and struts (less $$$)...like 70/30's front and 50/50's rear or something. You don't have to hit the strip to feel and see a difference with something like that. Each time I punch it from a low roll, I can definitely tell the front of the car lifts more with the adjustable struts set at their 'weakest' setting. This also means more vertical movement when I drive over moderate bumps in the road but I wouldn't change anything if I had to do it again.

Like these?

http://www.americanmuscle.com/kyb-gr2-strut-8793.html

Foxbody fronts right?

I actually don't understand. And am unable to: :icon_rtfm:...

Care to elaborate?