Advice On Mods..

Hello fellow car enthusiasts.

I am hoping to get some advice on modding my 2011 GT (6spd manual, 3.73 axle, brembo brake pkg). I purchased my Mustang new in October 2010; she mostly sits in the garage and right now only has about 9k miles on it (this is NOT my daily driver). I don't seem to have any problems with the transmission or the engine tick that many people complain about. Right now, the car is completely stock - no mods what-so-ever, but I hope to change that soon with the following upgrades:

Overall, I'm looking at spending about $2k on the above. I can probably install everything myself other than the exhaust components as I do not have a car lift.
My questions:
  • Will these mods make much difference in power, acceleration? Will my fuel economy take a hit with normal driving?
  • Are any of the above mods a "waste" of money - meaning that for the cost, I won't get much benefit?
  • Will these mods damage my car? (I don't really abuse my car - it cost me a lot of money and a treat it as such. That being said, I do like to have fun when I'm driving it and I don't hesitate to hit the rev limiter and once in a blue moon I will engage in a friendly street race.)
Thank you
Mike
 
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Mike:

First, what are your goals? Why are you modding the car, what do you hope to achieve?

Too many folks get into modding the car without having an objective. When you take that approach, how do you know if you're successful?
 
Hello Husky44:

You have posed a very interesting question: my goal is to make my Mustang stand out a bit from the crowd by increasing performance but not at the expense of reliability or driveability, and all at a "reasonable" price. If I can spend a few grand and substantially improve performance, I am willing to do so. However, I draw the line at forced induction. If I'm going to go that far I would be better off getting a different car. I chose the above mods expecting that I would get about a 50 HP increase at the wheels - about a 12% gain. Realistically though, I would rarely use the extra power but there have been a few instances that it would have been nice; most recently when I got my butt kicked by a Challenger R/T with dealer tags (although it was actually a pretty close race).

I'm not trying to build a sleeper, but I would like acceleration to be a bit faster than stock.
 
With 3.73s, as far as I understood you would be able to beat, albeit closely, the 2013 Challenger SRT8 much less an R/T (cf. Motor Trend article, Motor Trend video; contra. 2013 SRT8 392 review article).

Personally, while I can't do it here in California, I drool over the Steeda CAI and tune; add in the free-flow exhaust and larger throttle body to match the CAI, and I'm sure you would have the performance gains you are looking for.

The mods you speak of should improve mileage minimally as long as you refrain from spirited use of the throttle. They would not damage the car, but you will need a proper tune, which Steeda certainly can provide.
 
Forget the throttle body, not going to do anything for a stock engine, except empty your wallet.

We have a guy in our club who has a full exhaust, cai and a tune getting around 430 to the rear tires.

Not sure that your going to see 50 more hp to the rear wheels with an after cat x, cai and a tune. If you do, post your before and after dyno and let us know.
I am waiting for Kooks 1 7/8' primary short tubes and catless x. Then I am going to finish my exhaust :)

A stock 2011+ will stomp all over a stock SRT8, let alone an R/T. I did in my 2012 GT all the time at the track with nothing more than a MGW short throw shifter.
 
Hi Clair,

I read a few reviews on one the 90mm BBK throttle bodies and it sounded like the 90mm did not make much impact as you stated above, so I will probably leave that item off. Ironically enough though, the 85mm throttle body seems to have good reviews and some people have reported 15 HP increase, but that was on a car with other unspecified mods.

Regarding a full exhaust system: I've read many reviews detailing the difficulties of installing headers on the 2011+ V8. In fact, one person said they took their car to a shop to have them installed and the shop owner said it was difficult enough that he won't install them any more. If this is the case, I doubt I can install them myself and I would probably end up going to a performance center somewhere in Dallas.

Would a good cat-back system such as the Borla S-Type be sufficient? Or do the headers make enough difference to make it worth the difficult install?

Thanks
 
Find out which brands he was installing. Kooks and ARH have had no fitment issues.
If you just want some extra poke around town, I would say do a good cat back (If you don't have to worry about emissions, then a cat-less mid pipe) system, the CAI of preference and a good tune.

Long tube headers are great if you are going for all out power and don't have to worry about emissions. The short tube that come with our cars are really good.

Just keep in mind, mods are addicting :)

Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk 2
 
As I'm sure Husky will agree with, as I've seen him type this out quite a few times, if you're more interested in the butt dyno than the paper dyno, bigger gears + tune will be your most cost-effective mods.
 
OP has the 3.73's.

If you are just wanting some more sound, then you can go with an axle-back or even cat-back. However, you are looking for some real power gains and sound, then dong some long tubes will get you there. And, as stated above, you get what you pay for. American Racing Headers and Kooks will probably install easier then BBK's will...
 
OP has the 3.73's.

If you are just wanting some more sound, then you can go with an axle-back or even cat-back. However, you are looking for some real power gains and sound, then dong some long tubes will get you there. And, as stated above, you get what you pay for. American Racing Headers and Kooks will probably install easier then BBK's will...


Thanks for the info guys.

Another questions: Does installing long tube headers necessitate running a "cat-less" set up? I've only recently lived in an area that does not require emissions testing, but I must operate under the assumption that at some point I will again be living in an area subject to yearly emission testing.

If the long tube header setup requires removing the cats, I will probably go with the Borla S-type cat-back system so I can be legal. Jegs has them for about $1200. Next will be the Cold Air Intake and Performance Tune.
 
Hello Husky44:

You have posed a very interesting question: my goal is to make my Mustang stand out a bit from the crowd by increasing performance but not at the expense of reliability or driveability, and all at a "reasonable" price. If I can spend a few grand and substantially improve performance, I am willing to do so. However, I draw the line at forced induction. If I'm going to go that far I would be better off getting a different car. I chose the above mods expecting that I would get about a 50 HP increase at the wheels - about a 12% gain. Realistically though, I would rarely use the extra power but there have been a few instances that it would have been nice; most recently when I got my butt kicked by a Challenger R/T with dealer tags (although it was actually a pretty close race).

I'm not trying to build a sleeper, but I would like acceleration to be a bit faster than stock.

sup dude....