New female owner
 

Hi.....what a great site...I have been wandering around since buying my second mustang. It is my pride and joy, a 2002 Mustang GT. I know the basics about cars and can change my own oil, but I would like to take the next step and modify my car. I have been given a lot of advice but not a lot of explanation. I have been told everything from filters to gears to superchargers. This is my regular car and I do not intend to ever take it to a track. However, I am challenged quite a bit and would like to hold my own. I am an excellent driver and have track experience but have no knowledge. I want to understand why Im doing what I am doing and intend on developing this passion. I am sure no one likes to be taken advantage of, but I am particularly vulnerable.

Any help on helping me become informed would be greatly appreciated. I have read the books on my engine but without any real exposure they can be difficult to understand.

The first thing you should do is ride down to Kragen and get a K&N air filter. No need for a fancy intake, the stock one works fine. The filter will flow more air, making it easier to breathe. More air in=bigger combustion(more power).

Second, getting gears will help your acceleration off the line. You didn't mention if the car is a 5-speed or auto, so I can't say which ratio would be best off hand. The bigger the number (3.73 for instane) the better the car will be off the line.

It's like riding a mountain bike. The bigger the gear on the back, the easier it is to start, but you lose being able to go really fast. here we are talking about the difference between say, 140 and 150 mph, so that doesn't really matter.

I hope this helps a little. There is a FAQ thread that breaks stuff down pretty good.

On a side note, there are a number of us going to Carlsbad raceway on Saturday. We are meeting up with some Chevy guys to race, let me know if you're interested and we'll get you info.

Welcome to the boards.:D

Thank-you...that is the kind of help I was hoping to receive. My car is an automatic. How long should I wait before adding on? How much should I expect to pay for gears and installation? Are there certain questions a reputable place should ask?

Gears range anywhere from $250 for a kit to about $500 for kit and installation. If you add stuff you have a great chance of voiding your warrenty. Other than that I would start modifing as soon as possible.

If you have the cash, get a blower. **** the minor bolt ons. They wont do ANYTHING for your auto GT. You can do EVERY bolt on ($2500) And you're 1/4 time will improve like 5-6 tenths. Please dont do bolt ons. Just get a supercharger, a good tune, and some flowmasters. That's all you need in order to achieve the best results.

Poo on Flowmasters. I say get a blower, 3.73's, and some Dynomax Ultraflows.

The main problem with the 4.6 motor is that it is starved for air. That's why the 03 cobra makes so much power. The eaton supercharger (a blower) forces the air into the motor, and solves what is essentially a design flaw.

I just like the way the dynomax's sound better than the flowmasters, and the 3.73's will give you enough highway gear and get up around town to be more fun than stock.

It all depends on the risk you want to take. You can get away with new mufflers, a K&N and maybe even gears without voiding the warranty. Much more than that and you are SOL.

To Start
 

From Sadie's original post it sounded like she wanted to start mod'ing her car with kind of baby steps (I think a blower is a pretty big step, however this was the very first mod I did. I followed up with the full exhaust system and then gear). I definitely agree with The Deuce's recommendations. Fully installed his recommendations (blower, 3.73's and mufflers) are going to cost $4000-$5000. Not sure someone brand new to hot rodding is going to want to drop that kind of cash to start. I love the idea of doing 3.73's and mufflers. The gears will give the very noticable performance gain, and the mufflers will give the great sound of power. I should have done these first and then the blower. These two mods fully installed would cost between $500-$1000.

Now Sadie should also have a feel for the different sounds the different brands of mufflers are going to give her. FlowMasters are by far the most popular, and people seem to either love them or hate them. They will give that nice deep, '60's muscle car sound, and weather you're mashing the gas or just cruising your going to know you've got them. It seems that after a while the constant rumble or drone (especially on the highway) can drive some people crazy, which is why some folks grow to hate them. I have MagnaFlow mufflers and I chose them because I wanted the car to be quite, unless I stand on it. And they have lived up to that expectation. My car has a very quite (almost stock) rumble to it, except when I get on it, and then it roars like the beast she is! Make no mistake my car is not quiet, but I have zero drone on the highway. Also, make no mistake, just adding mufflers is not going to make your car faster, however it sure will feel and sound faster.

I hope other folks toss in their opinions on the whole muffler decision thing. It is great mod, with all kinds of opinions depending upon the person.

Good luck!

I have flowmasters, and I'm one of those people who love mine. I was sorta forced into the situation. I had to pass emissions and when I bought the car, someone had bottomed it out and tore holes in both mufflers. Flowmasters were the cheapest/most convienent at the time. I don't regret getting them, but I wish I would have looked into it a little more. I would give my exhaust a 8 out of 10. I love the sound it makes, but on those long trips back home to the family, going 85 mph runs me at 2500 rpm's. That's a loud drone...but, that's when you put the windows down, crank the system, and enjoy blowing by all the other cars.

apenn, I agree that a blower is a huge mod. In her original post, Sadie asked for explanations behind mods, and that was where I was going with the blower. A growing number of people here are saying "Just get a blower" so I thought I would explain why.

Onto mufflers. I've looked around on the internet to try and find sounds so I will be happy with my install. www.dynomax.com has .wav files of many of its mufflers on cars. So does flowmastermuffler.com. I recommend listening on those sites to get an idea of the change it will make.

That's why I'm sold on the Ultraflow Stainless mufflers. Not only do the flow at around 1,000 cfm, v. flowmasters 400, but I love the way they sound on the Cobra. Figuring my car will sound similar, and that flow rate will hold to any mod I do later, I'm going to get those.

I don't want to diss the flowmasters, I just want to be different, so I'm going to be. And our enitre exhaust is stainless, while the flows are not.

reference to titan's reply
 

i'd like to know how titan runs 85 mph at 2500 rpms with 3.73 gears, cuz i have the same combo and i run like 3k rpm at 85 mph??? :confused:

That may be what mine runs. I only get to drive my car occasionally (no parking in Atl.) when I decide to go home. Sorry if I was off a little, but I do know it is higher than the stock rear-end's low 2k's.

Re: reference to titan's reply
 

His stuff could be jacked up...like mine...all my guages are off :(

i get horrible gas mileage on the highways with my auto....takes me 3/4 tank to go 200miles....bleh! lol...switch to 3:73s and im probably talking close to a full tank....if you do lots of highway driving (like me) then you dont want gears....honestly you picked a bad car if you only want to add little things for substancial power :\ ..but it looks nice :D

i never picked a bad car, my speedo is accurate to the max and my rpms will never be incorrect, the tach is driven by the cmp/ckp sensor. i installed the calibrator myself, not to mention that i work for an SVT dealership, i also have first hand access to motorsport and get good discounts, just no warranty.....:p

Congratulations on your new mustang. I have a 02 stang gt premium mineral grey. I added the k&n filter, because I do it to all of my cars. It will give you better gas mileage, but I've never felt a difference in horsepower. There is a mod you can do for free. There is a air silencer that goes from you air filter housing to the inner passenger fender if that is remved you can gain 4 horsepower. It does create some sort of noise though but I plan on doing it soon.