what next?

after ordering the jlt intake w/ sct x3, what should come next. i have about 1k left to spend.

i would go gears and shifter. good luck

i'm thinking about buyingsome 373's. but i have no idea what the factory gear ratio is.

will it somewhat improve the 1/4 time?

I already ordered the sct tuner. after the gear install is it difficult to adjust the sct tuner or do i have to send it somewhere for a retune?

If you've got 3.55s, I'd save your money unless you go up to 4.10s. The rule of thumb when replacing gears is that if you don't go up at least two gear sizes, it's almost a waste. I agree with it completely.

Now I'd suggest doing Steeda UDPs and CMCVs. Now you'll need a tune for the CMCVs and I highly suggest Justin at VMP Tuning. It'll be $50 for a single tune file. I usually recommend Justin but I'm highly recommending him for the tuning of CMCVs. I've never seen someone tune for them better than him. No loss of part throttle power, no loss of mileage. I gained power all over the curve. Both of those will net you about ~12 rwhp.

I'd highly recommending getting a short throw shifter if you don't have one. I'd go with the MGW. I had a lot of buddies who tried to talk me into the Hurst because it was so good or so they thought. I spent the extra money on the MGW. Once you receive it and open the box you'll be completely impressed. Once you go for a drive, you'll be even happier. Once my friends drove my car with the MGW, they said it was hands down better than the Hurst. A few of them even switched to the MGW. Point is, do it right from the beginning. The only downside to the MGW is the price.

I'd also highly recommend getting the CHE K-Member Brace with Torque Limiters. I got the ones with rod ends and I kind of regret not getting the poly ends. I thought I'd need the rod ends with the way I drive but they do make a lot of noise on bumpy roads. I think I would of been able to get by with the poly ends now. After getting the MGW, I started missing third and couldn't understand why. The shifter was supposed to fix all of that. Well the transmission was under a great amount of deflection so after getting the CHE K Member Brace with TLs the problem was fixed. It's only ~$130 so it's money well spent.

thanks for all the great advice. i'm looking into the CMCV's. It doesn't appear to be a difficult mod. I just have one question: where do they go?

I also forgot to mention that my GT is an automatic.


the sct x3 is already in transit. I checked the current status through DHL. If i order the CMCV's i'll have the SCT just sitting here while I wait. I guess its smart for me to send it to get retuned while I wait for the rest of my parts to arrive.
Is it hard to hooked it up to the vehicle? Are there instructions anywhere?

The Charge motion plates from steeda are $299. How come at ninosport they are $139?

No problem. The CMCVs mount underneath the intake manifold. All you do is remove the intake, pull the injectors, all the wires mounted to the manifold, etc and pull that off. Once that's off you take off the stock charge motion plates with the butterflies and motor. Remove the motor. Take the o rings off of the stock plates and put them in the new ones. After that just do everything in reverse. It comes with instructions so you're going to be alright. The reason why you're seeing two different prices is that you're looking at the billet plates from Steeda, you don't need those. They make a set called the econ plates, those are what you want. They are the same price. Ninosport is probably selling the Steeda ones anyways.

The tuner just plugs into your ODB-II port underneath the dash by the steering wheel. If you look you'll see a little black plug, it just plugs into that. Tunes can be sent via email. Once you receive them and save them, you use a program called Live Load which can be downloaded on the SCT website and you just load them on the device. It's easy.

recieving the tunes through email sounds a lot easier than shipping it back and forth. what places do it this way?

any idea how much labor is for the CMCV's?
Ninosport are selling the Steeda brand but around 139.99.

I also decided not to change the ring and pinion. stock is fine for now.

Most tuners do it that way unless you don't know your PCM Code. If you don't know it, they send it to you so you can read it and send it back and than send you the tuner loaded with tunes. Once you know your code than you can have tunes emailed, easily. Tunes are only $50 from VMPTuning.com.

Also don't waste your money paying someone to install the CMCVs. It's only about a hours worth of work. Super easy, only need hand tools. I did mine on the dyno.

how do i find out my pcm code?


here's the link to the steeda pieces at ninosport.

http://www.ninosport.com/Steeda-Charge-Mortion-Plates-2005-Mustang-GT-555-3134?sc=2&category=69

is it true that I have to be running 373's or higher to put these on?

Yikes. I used hand tools and just followed the diagram. I didn't use a torque wrench on them, worked out fine though.

I would go with Lowering Springs (About $225), Shocks/Struts (D-Specs are about $500), an adjustable Panhard Arm Bar (About $130), and last but not least some good Lower Control Arms ($130-$200)

After getting the tune loaded in the car you will notice a huge difference in the way the transmission acts! I was pleasantly shocked! Then you go into the tune and you can increase the shift pressure up to 25% over stock in any gear you want(in 5% increments)and enjoy the neck snapping/tire chirping shifts into 2nd and 3rd depending on tires/gears. Also, turn off the traction control and you can haze the tires at will!

For our automatic GT's, I highly recommend 4.10 gears and an aftermarket stall converter for the trans. Once your budget allows, forced induction is so very cool.

I did the CAI/SCT X-cal thing as well. Next on the list is FRPP 3.73's (I got a 5-speed w/ 3.31's) and MGW shifter. I pondered 4.10's but think I may then get into traction problems and I really don't wanna start getting into the suspension that much to control the traction better. Car is a 2008, a month old w/ 1600 miles and I'm just getting stuff outta the way quick so I can catch up to the vette (12.8@110). I figure (hope) w/ the CAI, tune, 3.73's and shifter I'll be down around 13.3's consistently which will be enough to catch my wife napping at the line in her car on the occasions we race.