Ok i am new to mustangs. I have been a chevy guy all my life, but i JUST got an 05 GT. I have been searching around the forums a bit and i was just wondering what the first few mods you guys put on your cars? other than CAI, headers, exhaust, tuner... whats a biggy for the stangs? Where are you seeing the most HP gains? Just trying to see what these engines react to the best. Thanks alot!
Those are the first mods to do is CAI+ tune, CMCV delete plates, Underdrive pulleys. the next mods depend on what you plans are and your budget, heads + cams, S/Charger stuff liek that will determine what kind of exhaust you should get because thats not cheap either and don't give too much power.
For best gains and improvements at a reasonable price, you should do 1)Intake 2)Tune 3)Longtube Headers 4)Lower Control Arms 3)Sticky Tires
thanks! thats kind of what i was thinking. Im not familiar with the CMCV delete plates. What is it exactly?
the easy way to explain it is to say that there is a throttle plate in the intake system. it is supposed to help with gas milage and emissons. the plates replace those and basically clean up the intake track. they dont do much on a daily driver, but if you drag race the car it is a good investment. but a 3v lives in at the top end of the tack. good luck with the new pony.
Well gears are no good at the track without LCA's and sticky tires. I guess you could go: 1)Intake 2)Tune 3)LCAs 4)Sticky Tires 5)Gears
Since you didn't mention price, I assume that's not a worry for you: 1. Blower + Tune or if you're really rich: 1a. Twin Turbo + Tune 2. Gears 3. LT/Headers/Exhaust combo 4. Stickys 5. Control Arms Bam. Done. Good night.
Here's my list: 1. Shifter (MGW, Hurst, etc) 2.CAI - tuner (basically one mod) 3.Lower Control Arms 4.Gears (4:10 or 3:73) 5.Lowering Springs Hope this gives you some ideas!
I don't even have 5 performance mods, but here they are in order... 1) Flows(if you can call that a perf mod) 2) CAI/Tune 3) 4.10s 4) O/R H pipe
Mine in order: pullies cai +tune drag radials driveshaft Dont know what #5 should be, delete plates or controll arms ?
Thanks guys.. giving me lots of ideas! Money is a factor btw, im just a poor college student! I put flowmaster cat back on it and love the way it sounds! I think next im going to get an o/r x pipe or cai with tune? Ill work on traction issues after that. thanks again
First 5 mods: 1. Burn old bowtie T-shirts. 2. Install "Mustang Parking Only" sign in garage. 3. Practice your "Yea! Well the NEW Camaro...." bemused shake of the head. 4. Clear large shelf in living room for incoming trophies. 5. Get religion and thank God you finally got a real car. Sorry, just COULD NOT resist. Welcome to Stangnet.
Careful on the $ Since you are watching your money, be sure you think about what you want and the $ - to reward ratio. In my case I am looking for a great handling car, and I just got the full Roush suspension, not cheap, but that's the way it goes. For a top 5 here is what I think: 1. K&N CAI - I have one and it does not require a tune. You are supposed to run regular 87 octane in your car, unless you get a tune, then you need premuim, in fact it is bad for your car to run more octane than required. So bottom line, if you want a different CAI you will probably need a tune. So in lieu of the $250 K&N, you will need to step up to about $600 - $800 for the tuner and CAI and you will also have to run Premuim fuel all the time. The upside is while the K&N gives you about 10 HP the tuner etc., will yield you 20HP. But you will keep paying for it every time you gas up. 2. Lower Control Arms. Ford Racing GT 500 OEM arms are 20% stiffer than stock bushings in the arms. And they come with new nuts and bolts, and they are less than $100. Do this test, turn off traction control, then floor it. Watch your rear end fishtail like crazy. Put on stiffer LCA's and then repeat. 3. Suspension - check the posts. I had Eibach springs in until last week, now I have the full Roush suspension. The Eibachs were too low, plus if you just have springs, then you are f'n with the geometry of the car and will wear out your tires faster. Make sure you get an alignment if you mess with your suspension. 4. Shifter - this is next on my list, I don't have one but I really want one. They say MGW is the best but it is almost $400. You can get a hurst for just under $200. 5. Not sure but underdrive pulleys are on my radar. No-one has every had luch with the '05 stangs with trottle bodies unless you are pushing 500+ HP. Throttle bodys worked great on the older stangs but these new ones you are wasting your money I am told from lots of people.
Which mods to do first depend on your intended use of the car, and are still very subjective. My 07 GT is a daily driver that is also my weekend warrior for 1/4 mile drag racing. I'm really more concerned with its 1/8 mile performance, as the "stoplight grand prix" is usually short blasts to 60 mph against some unsuspecting ricer, F-body, etc. With that in mind, here's what I've done to my GT (with automatic trans), including what it cost (parts + labor)... 1. Diablosport Predator Tuner (93 octane tune for the street, Firm Shifting tune for the track). $370. 2. 4.10 FRPP gears. $468. 3. Fuddle Racing 3,800 rpm stall converter. $820. 4. BFG 275/40/17 drag radials. $330. I have not done anything else to the car, and still don't know what the 5th mod should be. I, too, am on a budget, and look for cost vs benefit very closely. As much as I want to supercharge the car, that's out of my budget until my kids are done with high school & college. I'm leaning toward LCA's or 1-piece driveshaft, though. The 4 mods I've done work well at the track. 60' times are in the 1.80's. 330' times are in the 5.40's. 1/8 mile times are in the 8.40's. 1000' times are in the 11.00's. And 1/4 mile times are in the 13.30's. Really looking for the next mod to get me into the 12's, though, so it'll likely need something big (cams or blower).
Last three mustangs I’ve owned CAI/Tune has come farther down the line for me. I like getting a better stance, better shifting and better sound first and then move forward. First Non-performance Mods… Ford K-Springs Short Shifter Flowmasters Performance Mods… Pypes O/R H UDP SCT Next Mods on the list… Relocation brackets/Control arms Gears Drag Radials
Have you reduced the car weight at all for your track days? If not, taking out the pass and rear seat along with the spare and jack can do good things towards getting into the 12s. From another post of mine: Here is the list of what all I removed that I had along in the spring and their weights. Trunk liner(single piece with the "board" attatched covering the spare)=6.6 lbs Car cover=6.6 lbs Spare tire/jack(will remove after reaching the track )=33.6 lbs Sub box(Shaker 1000)=35.6 lbs Amp rack(Shaker 1000)=16.8 lbs Car seat(son's)=10.8 lbs Back seat(both folding and bottom parts)=24.8 lbs Passenger seat(leather)=48.6 lbs Grand Total of 183.4 lbs! That is only a handful away from totaly eliminating me!!!!! After the above removed items, I took out my heavy duty rubber floormats(except driver mat)that dropped another 12 lbs! By taking out that stuff from mine I dropped .236 in the 1/4 mile(13.109)and that was still on the factory 18s with horrible traction issues up into 3rd gear(auto).
