Alright guys, well this is my first post on StangNet so I apologize in advance if this has been talked about before this post, which I am almost 100% positive it has.
That being said, I have bought an 03 GT and it is completely stock. I am a college student so I am def. on a budget to say the least. I do work and I have saved up some money to put into the stang. I have already done a maintenance tune up and brand new tires. Now I want to do a couple things for the "fun" part with the rest of the money. The things I know for sure: FlowMasters and Cold air intake for sure. But on a budget what else can I do in order to increase acceleration/horsepower?
Look at my signature. I made the mistake that probably most of us do, that being installing just about ALL the mods you see there, Tuner, X-Pipe and Catback, 75mm Throttle body, Upper Intake Plenum, Lowered W/ Ford Racing Springs, Caster/
Camber Plates, Subframe Connectors, plus a few more not mentioned in my sig. I know you are just starting out, but I need to tell you to be careful with the manufacturers claims for hp gains. Most of it is BS. Since you are a College Student, money is probably tight. Net gain was probably in the 35-45 hp area for me with ALL those Boltons. That being said, your 1st mod should be gears; 410's if you plan on staying Naturally Asspirated, 373's if going SuperCharged down the road later. My advice.... ditch the Cold Air Intake; you'll be lucky to gain 3-5 hp. They DO look nice though. 1st get gears, and a tuner to adjust your Speedo; the tuner will give you 10-15 hp. 2nd Shifter.... it makes a WORLD of difference. 3rd X or H pipe, and a Catback; maybe 15-20 hp. These 3 mods alone will cost you around $2000. No labor included. Maybe you can see were I'm going with the "Mistake". If I had to do it all over again, I would have SuperCharged her 1st, $5000 installed... net gain about about 160hp!!! I went from running 14.0 - 14.3's to 11.94(one time only) - to 12.3(average). I know that's not in your budget, so I say gears and Exhaust. Gears give you no real hp gains, but believe me it feels like you just bolted on 40-50hp! Exhaust will give you another 20, maybe, so with those 2 mods it'll feel like 60 hp gained. It'll be a different car, my friend . Maybe down the road you can get her S/C'd. Sorry for the long winded response, but I wanted to get my point across. Good luck with your new Mustang, welcome to our forum, and Stay in College, lol!!!!!
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