What Would Be A Better Gain For The Money?

[mpeach1976]

I have a '14 mustang gt and want to know what would be a better gain for the money. I'm caught between power gains while staying naturally aspirated like a tune and doing a manifold swap with either a ford racing intake or a boss intake. Or just going with forced induction. I know superchargers can be pricey depending on root style or centrifugal (one more costly than the other) I nust wanna hear feed back from people who have done either one and what kind of power gains were acquired. Thanks for the feedback ahead of time.

 

[Sharad]

It depends on your budget... Typical street cars (full weight) can run 11s NA, but you can run 10s at full weight with a stock 5.0 and boost.

I'm very happy with my combo- Completely stock 5.0 from throttle body to headers, running 10lbs of boost from a ProCharger. The car runs 10.89 @ 128 at full weight on 19" tires.

 

[flubyu]

In the horsepower to dollar wars, boost will win over an N/A build. I would ask yourself the following: what are my eventual goals with the car? (Something I wish I had done prior to getting into the mods) and what's the buget look like.

If you are eventually going to want boost, then a tune, CAI are going to be wasted money now that you could save for the future install. If you eventually go with a Roots or Twin-screw set-up, the intake won't make sense to do now either. As for gains on each set-up, I think StangTV compiled a list of all of the power-adders out there and gains. Will post a link if I find it later.

All that said, if you have a budget of, let's say, $1,500, then you'll be sticking to NA. Then I wouldn't hesitate to do an Intake, CAI, tune combo. Mine is a daily driver and I run the Steeda CAI/tune combo and love it. Pulls strong, better throttle response with little adverse change to gas mileage. If you are going to do the Boss swap, I would go for 3.73 gears too. There's a loss of low-end torque, especially if you are already used to a tuned car. Mine has the 3.31 rear gear and the 3.73 would definitely be helpful to get you to the Boss' operating range faster and get you to your new higher shift point around 7,400rpm or so.

My $0.02.

 

[mpeach1976]

In the horsepower to dollar wars, boost will win over an N/A build. I would ask yourself the following: what are my eventual goals with the car? (Something I wish I had done prior to getting into the mods) and what's the buget look like.

If you are eventually going to want boost, then a tune, CAI are going to be wasted money now that you could save for the future install. If you eventually go with a Roots or Twin-screw set-up, the intake won't make sense to do now either. As for gains on each set-up, I think StangTV compiled a list of all of the power-adders out there and gains. Will post a link if I find it later.

All that said, if you have a budget of, let's say, $1,500, then you'll be sticking to NA. Then I wouldn't hesitate to do an Intake, CAI, tune combo. Mine is a daily driver and I run the Steeda CAI/tune combo and love it. Pulls strong, better throttle response with little adverse change to gas mileage. If you are going to do the Boss swap, I would go for 3.73 gears too. There's a loss of low-end torque, especially if you are already used to a tuned car. Mine has the 3.31 rear gear and the 3.73 would definitely be helpful to get you to the Boss' operating range faster and get you to your new higher shift point around 7,400rpm or so.

My $0.02.

But would changing the intake really be a waste even if I decided to go with a centrifugal kit?

 

[flubyu]

But would changing the intake really be a waste even if I decided to go with a centrifugal kit?

That's why I said Roots or Twin-screw style, since they would be replacing your intake. If you went centri or turbo, then you could go with whatever intake you choose. Here is a nice comparison of a bunch of power-adder options for the 5.0

http://www.stangtv.com/tech-stories...l-power-upgrades-part-1-boosted-applications/

 

[Sharad]

But would changing the intake really be a waste even if I decided to go with a centrifugal kit?

I'm running a ProCharger D-1SC on my stock intake manifold, and I'm not looking to upgrade the intake anytime soon. If I was sitting on a pile of money I would, but in my opinion it's a small gain for the money. (when you could just go one size down on the pulley and make MOAR POWAR!!)

 

[earleys94gt]

Taking some time to come up with a plan now will save you headaches down the road.

That being said, superchargers sound damn sexy

 

[Gearbanger 101]

Another vote here for a blower. No need to swap intakes to guarantee good performance going the blower route.

I say hold off on the bolt ons, and save up for the blower.

They questions you should be asking yourself now, is do you want to make more of your power in the lower, middle regions, or the middle upper regions of the power band.

Were it me, I'd go with a roots/twin screw set up and never look back.

 

[Svtpilot]

No question. If you got the money, a blower is the way to go,