Best bang for your buck besides gears? Exhaust questions too..

[the98stang]

I know you guys have heard this before, but I searched and couldn't really find a "best bang for your buck" thread. So what mods would you guys suggest (I already have 3.73 gears and a K&N FIPK). I want to stick with all motor, and no power adders. I was thinking about exhaust but I'm kind of new to that subject.

If I go with full exhaust, should I go with a X or H pipe (not off road because I need cats to pass CA emissions)? What are some good brands and combo's? And what is the difference between short and long tube headers as far as performance goes?

I'm just trying to find the best mods that are fairly cheap, to gain more HP (without shooting nitrous or going the S/C route). Please share some info!

Tanner

 

[DocG]

There's lots of threads on exhaust...several recent ones if you browse the last few pages of threads. Most exhaust combo's are similar HP gains. If you're in CA....you might have emissions problems with long tubes (LT's)....but they do offer more performance than shorty's.

Seems that there is no best bang for your buck on these cars. You want real power, it'll cost you several grand....you want a 10hp gain....it'll cost you several hundred. If you're just interested in 1/4 mile times get nitrous. Exhaust is always a good upgrade for power and sound!

 

[dustang50]

Check out this thread...

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=583369

This was really helpful for a bunch of things.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Best bang for your buck is not mods it is preventitive maintenance...

 

[propellerhead]

Here's an article from a magazine that lists the most popular Mustang mods.

http://mustang50magazine.com/techarticles/m5lp_0510_combo/

 

[BooWFO]

Nothing is really gonna make a huge difference and keep you CA smog legal other than a poweradder.
But since you asked, H and xpipe are within a hp or 2 of each other get whichever you can afford and like the sound of. I believe some shorty headers are CARB approved. Underdrive pulleys some see decent gains there.
What I look at is avg. HP increase ( I look for several people or sources and the power they get) and then I look at the cost of the part and see if it is justified to me.
Of course Cams and a tuner seem to becoming increasingly popular.

 

[03ghoststang]

if you want best bang for the buck just go with NAWZ it'll come out cheaper than a complete exhaust system

 

[the98stang]

I see that many of you are suggesting nitrous, but as I said before, I'm not shooting for power adders. I have owned two turbocharged cars and both were a pain in the azz to keep up. I plan on sticking to bolt ons...

What HP gains should I expect to the wheels with short tube headers, X/H pipe, and catback exhaust? I'm guessing 20 max?

 

[DocG]

Yeah, 20hp would be a high estimate probably, but fairly close. The shorty's might only give you 2 or 3 though....alot of money and work for little power that you'll actually see. Beefin' up the intake with a CAI, TB and plenum is probably worth 10-15hp too?!? Correct me if I'm wrong guys. I've seen some dyno's showing really big gains off decals and fuzzy dice

Hotmustang has a bunch of boltons and more and gets about 300rwhp N/A.

 

[Crzyhrse]

If you don't want to go the poweradder route, then the GT's are really stuck between a rock and a hard place. You'll have to spend quite alot of money to get the most power out of the SOHC engine. Hotmustang331 has a ton of mods just to get to 292 RWHP. The '99-'01 Cobra and '03-'04 Machs are knid of in the same boat, but we have a 50 HP head start to begin with, so 300 RWHP is'nt all that big of a plateau to get over. The '05-'06 GT's are making some nice gains with real basic add-ons. The only real way to go and stay N/A is to get every bolt on their is. Just peck away with 5-8 HP gains at a time, and more with the bigger mods.

 

[Jackie Chan]

there are basically a few mods that work besides a power adder

1)midpipe
2)gears
3)pullies
4)plenum and TB
5)tune

headers, heads, cams are definately big gainers but are a level above the list of made.

that makes a quick car with a little bit of weight reduction and good driving, but dont expect to feel a difference like you did with the gears, but you will see gains if you are a dragstrip regular

 

[the98stang]

yea..I don't think modding will ever be cheap lol.

I have a question though...if I go X/H pipe with cat back exhaust will i be able to add headers in the future? I should I do everything all at once?

 

[Jackie Chan]

you will be able to bolt up to shorty headers, but will need a new midpipe or fab the current one up for long tubes.

 

[Crzyhrse]

Or if you get the pricey Bassani Catted X like I got ($490), the Bassani Mid-Length Headers will bolt up no problem.

 

[03ghoststang]

you will be able to bolt up to shorty headers, but will need a new midpipe or fab the current one up for long tubes.

pretty much what Jackie chan said if its shorties then youre ok but LT's you will need a short mid-pipe

 

[ANGRMNGT]

correct me if im wrong but i thought the smog nazti's in CA forbid any aftermarket replacements to the factory catalytic converters. Basically any mid pipe change would fail a inspection.

 

[Crzyhrse]

I'm sure just like Ford dealerships, their are mod friendly smog natzi's too.

 

[productj1]

The best bang for the buck is the driver mod!!!!!! I've also heard good things about the meziere electric water pump. I/E 10 12 rwhp. But its just what ive heard. http://www.meziere.com/index.php?pgName=wp346

 

[the98stang]

pretty much what Jackie chan said if its shorties then youre ok but LT's you will need a short mid-pipe

Do you know the current Smog laws in CA? I know cats are required so off road X/H pipes will fail you. But can you pass with catted X/H pipes and shorty headers? What about cat back exhausts? God I hate CA...why can't emissions die?!?!?!

 

[BooWFO]

Not up on current CA smog laws but I think federally you can only replace after 50K miles or damage. Hint hint big hammer hint hint.
upkeep on nitrous there really isn't any other than filling the bottle and check the PSI before spraying but it's your car and your money.
As for the exhaust from my research seems shorties avg about 5rwhp across the board, LT avg about 10-15rwhp across the board. I haven't checked catted midpipes, but cat back's usually see about 5-10rwhp at best. OR mid's are usually in the 10-20rwhp range also. I'd figure catted aftermarket mid's in the 5-10 range too. So my guessestimate would be 15-25rwhp with a SMOG freindly exhaust.
Is there any CA legal cams? What about a tuner xcal2 daiblo etc? If that isn't CARB approved either the steeda TA really woke my car up with a few deg of adv timing NA.