I have $1500 to spend!! What should I buy!?!?

Ok people lets use some common sense here. Before you go fast make sure you can stop. What good does all that horsepower do if you can't stop and wreck your nice ride. Secondly make sure your car handles well for all the horsepower you want to add to it. It wouldn't be much fun either to not be able to control your car and then crash it. Start with your essentials first brakes, suspension and wheels and tires then move on to the power adders. It makes no since to have a car go fast if you can't control it comfortably. But that is just my 2 cents worth.
 
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Ok people lets use some common sense here. Before you go fast make sure you can stop. What good does all that horsepower do if you can't stop and wreck your nice ride. Secondly make sure your car handles well for all the horsepower you want to add to it. It wouldn't be much fun either to not be able to control your car and then crash it. Start with your essentials first brakes, suspension and wheels and tires then move on to the power adders. It makes no since to have a car go fast if you can't control it comfortably. But that is just my 2 cents worth.
Well, I kind of agree with what you are saying.

I would agree suspension in the sense that new dampers would be a good idea, they always are thanks to the "high quality" stockers :bang:

As for brakes, I am going to have to completely disagree. All that is really needed is preventitive maintenance. If you are suggesting he replace his brakes that is not necessary. New fluid, pads, and turning rotors is far cheaper. It would cost almost his entire budget to properly upgrade the braking system.

As for wheels/tires it is good to have plenty of tread and a tire design that is appropriate for the driving conditions the car is subjected to. If he already has that he is good to go. New wheels/tires would be the whole $1500 budget and would not affect performance.

What I and others suggested: "gears, shifter, midpipe, tune" is the usual conventional wisdom for first mods that will be noticeably felt/heard on a moderate budget of between $500-2000.

I would also disagree with everyone in the thread that suggested longtubes. That would be more than his entire budget and would not make a SOTP difference expect perhaps his car would feel a little slower from a dig :notnice:
 
wow thanks alot so far with the advice from everyone its really helped me out alot! so far i am sure on the intake ( obviously cold air ) tune ( most likely diablo sport or possibly sct live wire but id like to read more feedback on that, 3.73's are most likely what im gonna go for also. just another question, how is that turbnator? people are always trying to compare it to the "tornado" whichis MAINLY just to get gas mileage from what I hear..and turbonator says it will add 10HP for every 100 you have..is that BS or wat?!!?
 
just another question, how is that turbnator? people are always trying to compare it to the "tornado" whichis MAINLY just to get gas mileage from what I hear..and turbonator says it will add 10HP for every 100 you have..is that BS or wat?!!?

Yes, It is BS! They both actually hurt your mileage and power. If it seems to be too good to be true, guess what?

I would go with 4.10s if you are going to stay N/A. I just installed the MGW Shifter and WOW, definitely a must. If you must get a CAI get JLT, it makes the most power (8-12 RWHP on a stock PI GT)
 
oh and as for the mid pipe..i have an H but do you really think i should invest for the X?? will it make that big of a difference?
Do you mean H like the stock midpipe or you bought an aftermarket H? If it's aftermarket, it's not worth swapping to an X, you'll only gain maybe 3hp at real high rpms, and probably loose a little bit of low end. If you have the factory H, then switching to an X will help you out.
 
I always do my suspension first, but i like my car to handle, & get rid of the horrid 4X4 look. I suggest H&R supersports, bilstein HD's & Maximum Motorsports caster/camber plates. You could get these parts & still afford an off road midpipe within your $1500 budget. It might not make your car faster, but it will feel alot better.
 
I would also disagree with everyone in the thread that suggested longtubes. That would be more than his entire budget and would not make a SOTP difference expect perhaps his car would feel a little slower from a dig :notnice:


I would agree that it's are not a good first mod but 1500 is way more than enough for longtubes.

I payed 75 for my my lt's used bought 120 dollars for the mid pipe and reused my old gaskets and studs. I did spend 50 dollars going to my friends and back. So 240 lol.:rlaugh:

But seriously I could have done it for less than 600 new.
 
just another question, how is that turbnator? people are always trying to compare it to the "tornado" which is MAINLY just to get gas mileage from what I hear..and turbonator says it will add 10HP for every 100 you have..is that BS or wat?!!?

I'm not gonna be a smartass because it seems that you are respectful and trying to learn. Things like the turbonator and tornado are gimicks. Think of them the same as you would if you saw a "Call now, $19.95! .. But if you call NOW, we'll give you blah blah blah" ... Anything that sounds like that is completely worthless!

Those 'devices' block airflow and can make your HP and gas mileage worse (as someone already said). The makers of that stuff can show you how the theory should work with neat little animated videos but your car is not animated. :)


About the gears .. If you have stock 3.27's (I still do) and you move up to 3.73's, you won't notice the difference nearly as much as if you went with 4.10's. Trust me!! But I am rolling with my stock gears because when I had 4.10's I was going through tires a lot faster. Mainly because its so easy to spin them ... But they were a good bit more 'stout' when I'd punch it in 2nd or 3rd.

How you spend your money depends on what you want your car to ultimately be like. In other words, if you want a car that looks good, sounds good but isn't a neck breaker then just focus on appearance (lowering, rims, exhaust, that type stuff). If you want to make it fast, do the suspension first. By that, I mean shocks, springs, brakes, and optional other stuff (panhard bar, LCA's, etc.) Then, when you add power, you can control it.

It is a process that takes a while to do it right. Take my advise and do it right because I didn't. I did random **** and then got older and had to re-do a lot .. PITA!
 
well i just want the car to be faster off the line snap my neck torque..top mph doesnt matter..and yes im new to the Car world..i work on top speed and "street fast" streetbikes..so ive done the turbo's and air shifters etc., but the cars are alittle different so yes im trying to learn and WAT THE HELL DOES N/A mean!?!? haha
 
well i just want the car to be faster off the line snap my neck torque..top mph doesnt matter..and yes im new to the Car world..i work on top speed and "street fast" streetbikes..so ive done the turbo's and air shifters etc., but the cars are alittle different so yes im trying to learn and WAT THE HELL DOES N/A mean!?!? haha

New to the car world???? :scratch:

Anyway, NA = Naturally Aspirated
 
well i just want the car to be faster off the line snap my neck torque..top mph doesnt matter..and yes im new to the Car world..i work on top speed and "street fast" streetbikes..so ive done the turbo's and air shifters etc., but the cars are alittle different so yes im trying to learn and WAT THE HELL DOES N/A mean!?!? haha

Turbos and air shifters on bikes? How fast were these "bikes"?