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[LHOswald]

to get a k20 engine into a lighter\older civic costs maybe 5 grand and can do 13s with stock everything...well except the motor of course. its not stock in relation to the car, but the motor itself is stock. and a civic si 2 door can easily pull off a 15 second quarter mile, and costs about maybe 3k more. im just saying there are better engines in lighter cars out there in comparison with a mustang. unless you supercharge it, then those things haul asssssssssssssssss

[eggwich delfiero]

I hear you. Yeah, Hondas can get real quick real fast once people start playing with them. And I love how the engines/parts are so prevalent that an engine swap becomes the answer to fixing problems. (I know the more desireable engines aren't tossed out so lightly, but there are plenty of Honda engines out there for a few hundred bucks, at least according to the intertnetz. )

[theholycow]

And don't let any haters hate on the V6 4.0; it's still faster than the most cars out there, and one of the fastest cars at its price point. And it takes mods easily and there are plenty for it. Those cobra emblems alone added 5 hp.

...ehh, Cobra badges on the V6 car, that's pretty much the definition of rice. That's the domestic version of slapping a big red 'R' on a base model Civic.

those mustangs make like 200 horsepower and weigh like 3500 pounds. sorry, not fast. some stock honda 4-cylinders (k-series) make more power than that v6, and weigh literally half as much

I suspect that the Ford V6's torque arrives at the party a lot sooner than the k-series shows up with half the horsepower.

to get a k20 engine into a lighter\older civic costs maybe 5 grand

That's a lot of money for an "older" car. OP has a new car that should still be under warranty.

Plus, then you're still driving a Civic (cheap economy car), still lacking torque, and still wrong wheel drive.

Might be ok for some kind of racing, but guess which one is going to be more pleasant as a DD and spend less time in the shop? The "Honda" badge doesn't make a car impervious to problems, especially if you've just done an engine swap (even if engine swaps are extremely well documented).

Mustang: Get in and drive. Enjoy torque. Look respectable (unless you slap Cobra badges on a V6).
Civic: Invest a bunch of money hoping it will come out right. Do a lot of work. Once you think you've gotten it right, drive it and find out there's more work to do. Drive around in an old ricey-sounding/looking car while people see it and think "damn, another ricer kid who watches F&F too much". Work on it some more.

[FDSpirit]

Tis true Cowman

[AHTOXA]

I wasn't gonna say anything about the cobra badges at first but you should really take those off. They won't fool many people and look plain silly.

[94Corolla5Speed]

I wasn't gonna say anything about the cobra badges at first but you should really take those off. They won't fool many people and look plain silly.

+1

[LHOswald]

And don't let any haters hate on the V6 4.0; it's still faster than the most cars out there, and one of the fastest cars at its price point. And it takes mods easily and there are plenty for it. Those cobra emblems alone added 5 hp.

...ehh, Cobra badges on the V6 car, that's pretty much the definition of rice. That's the domestic version of slapping a big red 'R' on a base model Civic.
+1

those mustangs make like 200 horsepower and weigh like 3500 pounds. sorry, not fast. some stock honda 4-cylinders (k-series) make more power than that v6, and weigh literally half as much

I suspect that the Ford V6's torque arrives at the party a lot sooner than the k-series shows up with half the horsepower.
this is true, but if your trying to race, the engines gonna be at 5k at the launch anyway, and since vtec kicks in at 5k and honda motors make all their power at around 5.5k, its good to say that it would be an even match.

to get a k20 engine into a lighter\older civic costs maybe 5 grand

That's a lot of money for an "older" car. OP has a new car that should still be under warranty.

Plus, then you're still driving a Civic (cheap economy car), still lacking torque, and still wrong wheel drive.
ill agree its FWD is a downfall, but you wont be saying it lacks torque when you drive one past 5k and its only a cheap economy car until you drop a different motor in it.
Might be ok for some kind of racing, but guess which one is going to be more pleasant as a DD and spend less time in the shop? The "Honda" badge doesn't make a car impervious to problems, especially if you've just done an engine swap (even if engine swaps are extremely well documented).
i never said that hondas are impervious to problems, but i will say that a honda is going to have less problems than a ford. thats just a fact.
Mustang: Get in and drive. Enjoy torque. Look respectable (unless you slap Cobra badges on a V6).
Civic: Invest a bunch of money hoping it will come out right. Do a lot of work. Once you think you've gotten it right, drive it and find out there's more work to do. Drive around in an old ricey-sounding/looking car while people see it and think "damn, another ricer kid who watches F&F too much". Work on it some more.
you won't invest a bunch of money hoping it will come out right. if your going to do an engine swap yourself, you should know what the hell your doing, or have a mechanic who specializes in doing this do it for you. and it only sounds ricey if you slap a gigantic muffler on it.

[07_Mustang V6]

Haha thanks for all the comments. Delfiero would it be alright to ask you about stuff you've done to yours that I may want to do to mine? Cause like I said I just turned 16 and have just been introduced to the world of standard shifting and modding my own car

[FDSpirit]

I've heard modding cars is like a drug....thus the reason I'm trying to stay away from it....well until the summer

[AHTOXA]

Modding cars can be fun but unless you're financially set it makes little sense. Way to many people blow all their money on mods.

Shit, I've been down that road with the truck, too. For a few years at that.

Cough....goat gets a spintech in the spring...cough...

[eggwich delfiero]

Yeah dude, ask me whatever you want, but know that I am no genius, and my car has no performance mods yet (I don't even have 5,000 miles on it yet, a little early to be twerking.) All I've done is replace the cloth interior with the factory leather (which is actually a lot of vinyl) and install a bracket for a front license plate to avoid drilling holes in the front fascia. But I DO search craiglook.com a few hours each week for some Enkei RPF-01 18x9.5 wheels, that counts for something!

But, I do read a lot of forums and I act smart, so I'd be happy to help you out. It all depends on what you want your car to do. I plan on moving mine more toward better handling/autocrossing, so I'm looking at different suspension/wheel/tire setups, rather than the typical monster horsepower most stangbangers aim for. (I know, stangbangers is a terrible word, I just had to say it.) I'd be happy to let you know my modding plans in specifics if you are actually interested. It is important to have a plan and work toward it rather than doing random mods which may not complement each other.

There are a ton of forums, but http://www.S197forum.com is my favorite. There will be people on there who know a ton about V6 mods, too, a whole section for it. And ask anything nice and don't act like a know-it-all and people will trip over each other to help you out; it's the Carnie Code, errr, I mean the Mustang Way.

I like http://www.corral.net a lot too, but that's more geared toward 5.0/foxbody Mustangs.

[07_Mustang V6]

Well I'm just using christmas money. Saving some and using some since I honestly have nothing else to do with it and want to mod my car because so many people at school drive Mustangs its ridiculous. About the Cobra emblems I get what you're saying it's like sticking a new 5.0 emblem on my V6 but I didn't do it because I want my car to pretend like it's a cobra I just thought they looked good on the car. I wouldn't call it a "ricer" Even though my carbon fiber spoiler and exhaust and multi-color paint job is on the way.

Thanks delfiero. i would actually like to know your plan in more detail. plus i was thinking about it last night and I decided that I'm not going to do any performance upgrades other than maybe air filter, headers, and then a different exhaust. Thanks for the links I'm looking at them right now.

[AHTOXA]

Even though my carbon fiber spoiler and exhaust and multi-color paint job is on the way.

I don't agree that this suits a Mustang or most other cars, but as long as you enjoy it, it don't matter worth a salt lick what I or others think. I just hope you reconsider some options maybe.

[ColJessip]

Cough....goat gets a spintech in the spring...cough...

Haha nice. SPS or PS?

Get some corsa db's if you can find them. No drone.

[eggwich delfiero]

Talk about my planned but still imaginary mods? Don't mind if I do!
(A wiser man than me once said that talking about mods you haven't done yet is akin to talking about women you haven't focked yet. I agree with this, but am doing it anyways.)

My overall plan is to add lightness, slightly increase horsepower/torque/throttle response, and improve handling. I'll go through the way I plan to accomplish this in steps.

First off, the biggest improvement I or anyone can make is tightening the nut behind the wheel, meaning taking a performance driving class. These are expensive for even just a one-day course, but I hope to do it sometime in the next year or three. In the meantime, I want more seat time running autocross.

Second, as far as the suspension mods I will make, a wiser man than me also mentioned that you shouldn't just fix everything up, but rather drive your car to its limits, and wherever you find it lacking, address that need. Your driving style will determine the limitations you have with your car. Don't just fix up everything, cuz this crap is expensive.

Okay, on to Teh Business

1. The biggest, easiest mod, and the one I recommend you do if you are only looking to do a little bit and just want a more engaging driving experience, is to buy a tuner and a cold air intake. SCT makes the most popular tuner, popular in the sense that more professional tuners use it to tune cars than other brands. Diablosport is popular too. You can buy a tuner and cold air intake combo from a number of Mustang tuner sites, and if you tell them your cars specs (any mods you have on it) and how aggressive of a tune you want, they will preprogram the tuner with a customized tune for you. Most include three tunes, one custom, one aggro/racer, one more mellow, and one stock. Just know that an aggressive racetune will result in your car running a lot rougher. I guess a "Street" tune is what I'm really after; something I can drive daily but also one for track days, too. Brenspeed, Bamatunes , and Jegs, are the only companies that offer these I can think of right now, but there are a few others, too. There are some serious tuners in Florida, I know that for sure. Ask on s197forums who you should buy your CAI+tuner with included tune from, I'm sure people will have some good ideas. Oh Paul's High Performance is good, too; they are in Michigan, not as bigtime as Brenspeed or Bamatunes. JLT or C&L Air Intakes seem to be the most popular on the forums. Ford will sell you a Bullitt cold air intake and Ford Racing tuner that while not as aggressive as others, are totally fine and warrantee-friendly as well. http://www.americanmuscle.com/tuner-combo-kits.html

2. Add some power, reduce rotational weight with a few mods: one-piece aluminum driveshaft instead of the steel stock two-piece (buy a good one tho or you are just buying a chopped DS from a Ford Ranger, you'll have vibration problems.); lightweight aluminum flywheel. Also, lightweight racing wheels, but I'll get to those later.

3. MGW Short shifter: the most expensive of the short shifters, but widely said to be the best. I've never tried it, but man I like the looks of it.http://www.mgwltd.com/mustang2005_shifter.shtml


4. Underdrive pulleys: reduces parasitic power loss sucked up by engine accessories. Somewhat affordable. More high end HP without sacrificing low-end torque.

5. Battery relocation kit: I know I may take some grief for this, but I do believe in it. Basically, it's just an aluminum box and wires so you can move your battery to your trunk. By adding the box, you are actually adding a little weight to your car, but by placing that weight over your right rear tire (which because it's diagonal from the driver has the least pressure on it of the back wheels) you give your car better takeoff from a standstill, better weight transfer, better dig. Takes a GT from 54/46 front-rear weight balance to 53-47. http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/pro ... caton-Kits

6. Wheels and tires: I used to think racing wheels were just for nerds being nerds, but reducing rotational mass is a big deal. For every one pound you remove from your wheels/tires, it's the performance equivalent of reducing seven pounds of weight from your car. So if you cut six pounds from each corner, that's like cutting 168 pounds=
Of course, the lightness of my wheels will be cancelled out by the increased weight of my future tires, as increased contact patch=cooler contact patch=better grip. I don't know what tires to get yet, but I'd like something about 275 or 285/40/18 all the way around. If you want handling, run the same size tires all around, results in more balanced handling and you can rotate them. If you just want to speed around and do burnouts, just put some fatties in the back. Right now I like the Enkei RPF01 wheels in 18x9.5, good weight and good size together. http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelClo ... 795704935B

Anything bigger than 18 and you are looking at super expensive tire bills, just not worth it. Lightweight, wide wheels, that's what I'm about, at least in Pretend Futureville.
You want to see ridiculous tires, check out this thread: http://forums.corral.net/forums/showthr ... ?t=1132066


7. Suspension: Again, as I said above, I won't be making all of these changes at once, or even making all of them at all, it depends on how my car feels after I push it harder and how it responds.
Shocks/struts: Koni D-spec adjustables seem to be the popular choice.
Lowering springs: I don't know which brand yet, a lot of opinions out there. Our cars sit up high, as they were designed to fit 20s with snow chains. 1.5" is as far as I think I will go, anything lower opens up other problems. Also have to replace panhard bar if lowering or your alignment gets messed up. Something else needs adjustment too but I forget, I'm kinda dumb.
Stiffer front and rear sway bars
Aftermarket Upper and lower control arms: needed if you want to put some real big paws on your puppy all the way around, as 285s may not clear stock suspension.
I'm probably forgetting something else. If you are really interested, go to the Corner Carver forum on S197forums and listen to Sam Strano (6x SCCA autocross National Champ): http://s197forum.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=86
Also check out http://www.stranoparts.com, that's Sam's site. Guy knows what he is talking about.

8. Shorty antennae, just to floss:
http://www.brenspeed.com/8inantenna.html

That's all I can think of right now. Honestly, at least on the GT, the exhaust is pretty damn free flowing, so replacing headers and exhaust doesn't gain you much HP on their own. Exhaust maybe 5 HP, headers a bit more, but for the price, exhaust isn't the way to go for performance gains early on (at least on GTs, I think V6es have thinner pipes, not sure though). Headers and exhaust were like the Golden Ticket for the 5.0, the stock parts were a lot more restrictive on those cars. (The stock headers on a 5.0 are embarassing in how crinkly they are.) Still, if you want to replace exhaust for the sound alone, you wouldn't be the first. I've been considering these: http://www.americanmuscle.com/flowmaste ... ffler.html