'02 Mustang GT.....help.
 

My neighbor has an '02 Mustang GT. We have recently replaced the exhaust from the exhaust manifolds back with an SLP x-pipe (no cats) and Loud Mouth. The stock intake was replaced with BBK cold air intake, throttle body, and plenum. The stock pulley's have been replaced. He owns a Diablo Sport tuner and has a short throw shift kit on the way.

The reason I'm asking for help is, what are some other things he can do to go along with what is on the car now? Headers, cam, heads, please reply with ideas, also, if you have a set up that is similar, please let me know what you have done and if you have the numbers you are putting out that would be appreciated too.

Thank you. :drive:

Replace that BBK cai for a JLT unit.

Well I dont know what mods to advise as I do not know what his goals and plans are for the car. However I would always advise on SFC's and LCA's to make the suspension better.

I know that his goals are to reach or exceed at least 300 rwhp.

Naturally Aspirated, or with a power adder?

NA- Full bolt ons including longtube headers, o/r midpipe, exhaust, VT or comp cams(springs if going stage 2) and a good tune and he can see 300 rwhp.

Power adder- NX 100 shot with Gen x 2 upgrade, NGK TR6 plugs gapped at .053".

I would recommend gears, but again havent given me any info on the goals. Just a hp goal and not what the car will be used for. Hope this helps

It's a daily driver.

NA 4.30's

FI- 4.10's(if he has balls)..lol.

Gears will give him the biggest boost of all the things you have listed.

SOTP, not hp ^ will take up to .5 off the 1/4

We've talked about doing the gears, I don't think that's at the top of the list, but I'll pass the info along.

Why not, it's one of the best Bang for the buck modifications, I don't see why it would be overlooked. Don't Fear the Gear

L/T's definitely will help, a nice set of Crower stage 2 s/c cam's with the matching Crower springs will really wake up the n/a engine. Junk the BBK Cai, it's worthless.

The cheapest bang for the buck is gears period! For under 500 bucks you will feel like you have added 50 hp. Gears alone can drop .3-.5 off your ET and more with Drag Radials.

Well folks, I was able to do some "running around" in my neighbors GT. It's the first time I've driven it since instalation of the plenum, underdrive pulleys, and short throw shifter, and if anything, the seat of the pants factor has gone up considerably, just from bolt-ons. I was more than pleased by the performance. If he changes the rear gears or not, he has a pretty healthy ride.

But now I think I understand. :burn:

Hp is only good when you can put it to the ground. I have the same set up and the upper and lower control arms helped tremendously, as Blackfang has recomended also. I think maximum motorsports makes the best suspension set ups.

I also agree on the gears to be the next step if your friend is just wanting to be faster. But if Hp is all he wants then heads and cams would be the next step to make more hp N/A.

Blackfang/ why do you recomend switching from the bbk to jlt cia? I ask because I have the bbk one.

The BBK intake has a 90 degree bend in front of the mass air meter. This causes there to be turbulence in the intake and can throw off your mass air readings. I traded the one that was on the car when I bought it for a nice Street Smart design unit LINK.


IMHO There is no real performance difference between any cold air intake kit that can't be had by simply replacing the stock filter with a nice K&N unit. I have mine just because it looks a lot nicer than the stock piece.

Nice, Thank you for the info.

When he gets the money he's looking at doing the heads and cams, and gears will probably be in that same time frame.

I've mentioned to him before the option of increasing the handling. Don't know what his thoughts are exactly on that but I'm sure he's thought about it at some point.

Thanks for the input, I'll pass the info along.

Gears will be his biggest gain. Also look into some pulleys. Steeda has good ones, I have them on my car. Before he goes into the motor he needs to have a goal so he doesn't have to keep changing his combo.

Stage II cams, LT headers, and ported heads will put him over 300rwhp