What to do first?!

[Mustang05]

I have really been contemplating on what to do first.. right now i only have 400 dollars to spend only because the other half is going for payments for my car!.. I want power.. but also looks.. someone please help me out by suggesting the most bang for you buck!
Thanks!

 

[Jimp]

The first thing I would do is get the SCT-2 tuner. It gets rid of the dreaded WOT hesitation and gives you a decent power boost. Plus, you'll need the tuner for just about any other upgrade you do.

 

[echo7]

Dual exhuast gives you power and looks

 

[brodude2002]

Dual exhuast gives you power and looks

this was the first thing i did to my v6 (besides tint the windows). found a place that put dual flowmasters in for 295. im going back there to put in headers and an x-pipe for the same price, and then next is the tune for sure.

 

[Steve '05]

Not a major mod by any means but...the 1st (& so far only) thing I've done is drop in a K&N panel air filter. For sure it doesn't give much of a power increase but it does seem to make the engine smoother.

 

[MSP]

Not a major mod by any means but...the 1st (& so far only) thing I've done is drop in a K&N panel air filter. For sure it doesn't give much of a power increase but it does seem to make the engine smoother.

You know, honestly, lets get something back from our initial investment into the car.. This means go for looks.. The car stock does just fine as far as power goes.. I say invest your money into some wheels and tires first..

I have seen alot of V6 Stangs on the streets that have really nice wheels, and it truley makes the car stand out..

Mods to the engine and the like come in time.. But dont you want heads to snap when you roll by? My advice is to get the wheels and tires first... With $400 bucks, you can go to ebay, and get a pretty good set of wheels and tires with about maybe 150 to 200 bucks more money.. This will surely satisfy you for awhile.. The performance dept is something that is real timid.. For the amount of money you have, you wont be able to do anything really that would make a huge impact.. Plus, no one cares how fast the car is, when they see those ugly V6 wheels on it.. I mean really, you will get no respect without a good set of wheels man.. I say get the rims and tires, and post some screenshots, and watch how many guys will show you love for good taste..

 

[MSP]

Not a major mod by any means but...the 1st (& so far only) thing I've done is drop in a K&N panel air filter. For sure it doesn't give much of a power increase but it does seem to make the engine smoother.

LOL!! See what I mean! Make the engine smoother? WTF? LOL!! Get the wheels man.!! The performance dept must be done last.. After your initial feel for the look of the car has been quenched..

The engine dept is so complex, that you yourself were at a loss for words, and was relegated to saying it made the engine smoother!! LOL!! You kidding me man? LOL!! Buy the wheels first..

 

[MSP]

Actually, lets take Jimps car for example.. Most likely the fastest car out of all of ours thus far.. Look at the beautiful black color of the car.. Looks good, and we know its faster than ours with all of his mods.. But he still has the stock wheels.. So if you were to see him anywhere, you would not look twice because it looks like all the other 05 V6 Stangs.. You wouldnt bother to stop him and ask if he has done any mods..

But Slap some wheels on Jimps car, combined with his other mods, and now we got something to talk about.. Bottom line is, most people dont view your car as a V6 or a GT first.. They first view it as a Mustang.. With the nice wheels, you will never have to mention the fact that its a V6, because people will love the car period..

Actually, Jimp does have Bullit wheels, so he is infact the the best so far.. So that was a bad example, but you get the point..

Hey Jimp, post some pics of your car man.. I'd like to see a Black 05 with Bullitt's on it! Thanks..

Lets take my car for example when we talk about overall looks.. Right now, I think it looks sweet, but its in-complete because I dont have my ducktail on yet..



Once I put this ducktail on it found in this link, then I will be more appreciated..

http://www.autoaccessory4u.com/0520fomu3pcd.html

Right now, I still dont get much respect.. LOL!! Once the tail is in place it will just look that much better..

 

[pony_up]

With $400 I'd do the SCT-2 tune and the K&N drop-in air filter. Then the exhaust. After that, you can save and start the body mods. Just my $0.02...

 

[Kosif]

I'd go with the SCT tune and a CAI. On the other hand, i like how my car looks stock, so I'm not too worried about exterior stuff. But if you do almost anything to these cars you WILL need a retune, so might as well get that out of the way.

 

[Zodiac]

Yeah personally with this car Im thinking go before show. But thats just me personally. I love how the car looks, inside and out, and really the only thing Id consider doing looks wise again really soon is adding some stripes. I have an entire layout for a custom interior in my head, and lots of little touches that could be done, but its go before show for me.

 

[j0nkatz]

I'm doing the XCal2 first but wheels and tires would be a good choice as well. The V6 cars definitly need better tires. Traction sucks with those hard ass rocks they put on from the factory.

 

[Steve '05]

LOL!! See what I mean! Make the engine smoother? WTF? LOL!! Get the wheels man.!! The performance dept must be done last.. After your initial feel for the look of the car has been quenched..

The engine dept is so complex, that you yourself were at a loss for words, and was relegated to saying it made the engine smoother!! LOL!! You kidding me man? LOL!! Buy the wheels first..

When money allows I will change the wheels but my 1st concern was how hard the engine had to rev before it changed up a gear on the autobox . Getting onto the highway from a standing start (something I do every day as I have to cross a divided highway to go north to the nearest town) the engine screamed like mad, nearly redlining before it changed up. For whatever reason the K&N has stopped it from doing this.

Personally I think there's a lot to be said against a 4 litre V6 that only knocks out 210 bhp. My '03 MG TF had a 4 cylinder 1.8 litre engine & knocked out 160 bhp (stock). I know we're going to end up getting into more tuning issues here but IMHO there is room for improvement. Before anyone questions why I didn't go for the V8, as I've brought up power output, I couldn't afford it without having to borrow money for it .

I like the car but I have 2 main issues with it one is power output, the other is handling - maybe I'm too used to my TF which was mid engined, rear wheel drive & handled like it was on rails .
The styling of the car is not a concern for me, I have the upgraded wheels which don't look too bad (yes there are nicer wheels out there).

 

[fazm83]

how much torque does ur 1.8 have though? probably half the 240 that the 4.0 puts out. Not to mention it probably runs on 91 octane gas recommended from the factory and runs some kind of 10.5:1 compression or higher.

The big problams with the v6, is gettin the fly by wire system lag taken out (and few more hp with the tuner), a tlok diff, and some wider tires. There are civics out there with wider tires.

Those things alone would probably make the v6 a high 14 second car consistantly

 

[kevins05v-6]

i did "show" before "go"...
if i were you and you want more power, get one of the tuners and a CAI, the CAI looks great under the hood. but its your money.

 

[Steve '05]

how much torque does ur 1.8 have though? probably half the 240 that the 4.0 puts out. Not to mention it probably runs on 91 octane gas recommended from the factory and runs some kind of 10.5:1 compression or higher.

The big problams with the v6, is gettin the fly by wire system lag taken out (and few more hp with the tuner), a tlok diff, and some wider tires. There are civics out there with wider tires.

Those things alone would probably make the v6 a high 14 second car consistantly

I'm going from memory here fazm83 but IIRC it produced 138ft/lb, admittedly lower than the stang but that's what I'd expect from a 4 cylinder engine.
Yes the compression ratio was 10.5:1 & yes the UK does use higher octane fuel 95 standard & 98 octane is commonly available (not that it makes much of a difference running the higher rated fuel - a reflash would be needed to get the full benefit). Direct comparisons are not really possible here as there are too many variables involved. I wasn't being overly critical of the stang, it's a nice car it's just that I honestly believe it could have been more powerful (eg. Nissan have a smaller V6 in an SUV & that knocks out 265bhp stock - thats over this side of the pond).

You're right that the big killer is the throttle lag, something Ford will hopefully take note of & sort out in the future. I'm looking at the SCT Xcalibrater2 as it will handle all fords with OBD2 systems.
Wider tyres will help with handling due to their wider footprint but this will be offset by a drop in acceleration due to the greater amount of friction generated. Larger rims will look better but cause a reduction in the ride quality, ok for anyone with smooth roads to drive on but the potholes up here are a mennace .

I'm not saying that I'm right or that anyone else is wrong - this post started as a question of what to do 1st. It's almost beyond belief that my comment that I've found a drop in filter improves the car has caused so much controversy .

 

[fazm83]

With my drop in filter i have noticed better gas mileage, but had no direct comparison for acceleration.