Instead of an E46 I got a...

[SPDSKTR]

Originally Posted by DirtRider

Thanks. I have heard a lot of good things about American Muscle. I will be ordering from them in the future. Also I don't have the money for the Kenne Bell. I will probably need a year to save up for one anyways so it would be a long thought out descision. As of now I am not sure what I want to do besides windshield tint.

Sent from my R800x using Bimmer App

Cold air intake and underdrive pulleys. The AC blows ice as it is (if properly functioning), so a 25% reduction won't hurt much at all. You'll also see a pretty decent gain in fuel economy, too (around 2 to 3 MPG average). I used to baby mine and pulled about 26 MPG average, and that was no intake, no pulleys... nothing. Except I still swear it was chipped... I just never bothered to look.

A good tune will go a long way, too. And if you run 91+ octane, you'll probably see better fuel economy. Even though it says it accepts regular just fine, I ALWAYS used to put premium in mine.

Here is what I recommend (and this was after doing much research when I owned mine):

Pulleys - http://www.americanmuscle.com/st4unpum20gt.html
Intake - http://www.americanmuscle.com/jlt-96-04-gt-cai.html
Tuner - http://www.americanmuscle.com/livewi...er-9904gt.html (or to save some money - http://www.americanmuscle.com/x3-cus...er-9904gt.html OR http://www.americanmuscle.com/sct-4b...om-9904gt.html)
Exhaust - http://www.americanmuscle.com/borla-...-99-04-gt.html

With the tuner, pulleys, and intake alone, you may not want to do the supercharger. You'll be breaking 300 HP with those three things alone.

[NOVAbimmer]

happy birthday Mustang, by the way

[briangl92]

I installed the Americanmuscle CAI on a V6. Cheap and man did that thing snarl. Only problems were theres no instructions and my friend totaled the car the car the next day

[DirtRider]

Originally Posted by SPDSKTR

Cold air intake and underdrive pulleys. The AC blows ice as it is (if properly functioning), so a 25% reduction won't hurt much at all. You'll also see a pretty decent gain in fuel economy, too (around 2 to 3 MPG average). I used to baby mine and pulled about 26 MPG average, and that was no intake, no pulleys... nothing. Except I still swear it was chipped... I just never bothered to look.

A good tune will go a long way, too. And if you run 91+ octane, you'll probably see better fuel economy. Even though it says it accepts regular just fine, I ALWAYS used to put premium in mine.

Here is what I recommend (and this was after doing much research when I owned mine):

Pulleys - http://www.americanmuscle.com/st4unpum20gt.html
Intake - http://www.americanmuscle.com/jlt-96-04-gt-cai.html
Tuner - http://www.americanmuscle.com/livewi...er-9904gt.html (or to save some money - http://www.americanmuscle.com/x3-cus...er-9904gt.html OR http://www.americanmuscle.com/sct-4b...om-9904gt.html)
Exhaust - http://www.americanmuscle.com/borla-...-99-04-gt.html

With the tuner, pulleys, and intake alone, you may not want to do the supercharger. You'll be breaking 300 HP with those three things alone.

Thanks for the links and all the info. I am new to modding cars and I guess want I am really looking for is a noticeable gain. My question to you is that with just pulleys will I feel a difference? Because I know you said tune pulleys and intake will get me to 300 which is very noticeable. That would be in steps because I would have to save up. But would I really notice the freed up power with just pullies. I don't want to spend money on power mods that are not going to be felt even if it does raise hp by a few. It would be a waste of money to me.

Sent from my R800x using Bimmer App

[bostonsc4]

Congratulations OP, I am really happy to hear how happy you are. I remember when I was 17 I wanted a BMW more than anything in the world. I settled for a 99' Altima... and even though that car was pathetic, I still loved it and treated it like a BMW much in the same way I bet you'll treat your mustang. I love mustangs, and appreciate them for what they are. I think all car enthusiasts should be able to see beauty in heritage, and beauty in any performance car if they truly appreciate sports cars.

[MATT0404]

Congrats on the Mustang! Get an exhaust on that thing and enjoy the sound! I, too, have a Mustang that I use for a drag strip/summer car.

[SPDSKTR]

Originally Posted by DirtRider

Thanks for the links and all the info. I am new to modding cars and I guess want I am really looking for is a noticeable gain. My question to you is that with just pulleys will I feel a difference? Because I know you said tune pulleys and intake will get me to 300 which is very noticeable. That would be in steps because I would have to save up. But would I really notice the freed up power with just pullies. I don't want to spend money on power mods that are not going to be felt even if it does raise hp by a few. It would be a waste of money to me.

Sent from my R800x using Bimmer App

You "free up" horsepower with pulleys... you don't really ADD horsepower. They reduce parasitic drag on power steering, air conditioning, and the alternator. All in all, expect to free up about 10 WHP with them. You won't feel it all that much by doing just pulleys alone. If you do the pulleys, a set of headers, a cold air intake, and the tune, you will DEFINITELY notice a difference. With those four items, you probably will gain somewhere in the 50 to 60 HP range (depending on which tune you have running). The chip is really cool since you can change mappings on the fly without having to re-flash your ECU.

If I were you, I'd start with the tune and a set of headers. This will help improve fuel economy (if you stay out of the pedal, that is) and give a significant boost of power (somewhere around 30 WHP if I were to guess).

http://www.americanmuscle.com/bbk-fu...ers-99-04.html

To make those work, you'll need to get a shorty H- or X-pipe. I personally would opt for an X-pipe since it would deliver a better balance of exhaust gasses. On top of all that, with the headers and X-pipe, your car will sound significantly meaner.

All this talk about Mustangs is making me want another one.

[NOVAbimmer]

You'll feel the difference on that car with no more than a tune and an intake, but yes, I'd also go with the long tube headers and a matched midpipe (you generally need to have the same brand header and midpipe if you're going long tube). I'm not as big a fan of the X pipes, just because the ones I've heard tend to be raspier than an equivalent H pipe. Either way, though, you can't really go wrong.

The nice thing about V8 mustangs, though, regardless of the engine, is that you can make big power quickly.

if you haven't already, check out mustangforums.com. It's not as lively as E46f is, and everybody over there is really really friendly and will tell you your car looks "siiiiiick" and "drooooollll" regardless of what it looks like, but there's good information. Also, stance is still new to them. It's weird.

[MrWesson]

I agree with your decision to pass on the bmw.

I would rather have a z28 with a ls1 though.

[SPDSKTR]

Originally Posted by NOVAbimmer

You'll feel the difference on that car with no more than a tune and an intake, but yes, I'd also go with the long tube headers and a matched midpipe (you generally need to have the same brand header and midpipe if you're going long tube). I'm not as big a fan of the X pipes, just because the ones I've heard tend to be raspier than an equivalent H pipe. Either way, though, you can't really go wrong.

The nice thing about V8 mustangs, though, regardless of the engine, is that you can make big power quickly.

if you haven't already, check out mustangforums.com. It's not as lively as E46f is, and everybody over there is really really friendly and will tell you your car looks "siiiiiick" and "drooooollll" regardless of what it looks like, but there's good information. Also, stance is still new to them. It's weird.

I used to be a member of AllFordMustangs.com's forum. Good crowd there, too.

Stance. On a Mustang. I wanted to die when I saw the 32" wheels on the new Camaros.

Originally Posted by MrWesson

I agree with your decision to pass on the bmw.

I would rather have a z28 with a ls1 though.

But... Mustang...

[NOVAbimmer]

Originally Posted by SPDSKTR

I used to be a member of AllFordMustangs.com's forum. Good crowd there, too.

Stance. On a Mustang. I wanted to die when I saw the 32" wheels on the new Camaros.

I'd love to see 32"s on a camaro

But yeah, that was the thing that kept me from even test-driving one. The SS packages came with nothing smaller than chrome 20s.

[SPDSKTR]

Originally Posted by NOVAbimmer

I'd love to see 32"s on a camaro

But yeah, that was the thing that kept me from even test-driving one. The SS packages came with nothing smaller than chrome 20s.

Have you not seen that video? Oh Jesus Christ...



I didn't want a Camaro from the moment they were released. I sat in it, was offered a test drive, and got right back out of the car. It was pathetic from a driver's standpoint. You couldn't see jack shit, the gauges were in weird places, and I felt cramped (I'm 6'4"). I felt perfectly fine in the latest Mustang, though.

[DangerousMind]

Visit hardcore50.com for information on anything performance related. That forum is an absolute treasure trove of information. People on allfordmustangs are a bunch of speculators like many members of this site. I wouldn't trust a word over there. They don't understand the mechanics of how the car's components actually work and just go off what they have heard on the internet. I am not referring to anyone in this thread. The guys on Hardcore 5.0 are extremely knowledgeable. Spend a bit of time over there and you will find out that it is not even close to as hard as people think to make a new edge Mustang be a competitive road course machine.

[NOVAbimmer]

Originally Posted by SPDSKTR

Have you not seen that video? Oh Jesus Christ...



I didn't want a Camaro from the moment they were released. I sat in it, was offered a test drive, and got right back out of the car. It was pathetic from a driver's standpoint. You couldn't see jack ****, the gauges were in weird places, and I felt cramped (I'm 6'4"). I felt perfectly fine in the latest Mustang, though.

jeebus.

The convertible version cured the fact that you can't see anything out of a camaro. Now you could see everything!

[lmyamen]

Give the kid a break, congrats on the car. I would of rather had the Mustang then the 87 Maxima I had when I was 17. I say good work to you for buying something you could afford and not getting in over you head.

[codex57]

Psshh, if OP can be driving around a Mustang or a BMW at 17 with his own money, good for him.

And I think it's the right color, right stripes. Be ok with the color scheme flipped too.

Just curious though, what's the insurance on that for a 17 yr old male? And what's the difference in insurance btw the Mustang and a BMW? I remember my buddy got put on his parents e30 at 16, and it was over $3,000/yr and the car was about 7 yrs old already at the time. More than double what I paid for a new e46 at age 24 or so, and with me as the primary.

[DirtRider]

Originally Posted by SPDSKTR

You "free up" horsepower with pulleys... you don't really ADD horsepower. They reduce parasitic drag on power steering, air conditioning, and the alternator. All in all, expect to free up about 10 WHP with them. You won't feel it all that much by doing just pulleys alone. If you do the pulleys, a set of headers, a cold air intake, and the tune, you will DEFINITELY notice a difference. With those four items, you probably will gain somewhere in the 50 to 60 HP range (depending on which tune you have running). The chip is really cool since you can change mappings on the fly without having to re-flash your ECU.

If I were you, I'd start with the tune and a set of headers. This will help improve fuel economy (if you stay out of the pedal, that is) and give a significant boost of power (somewhere around 30 WHP if I were to guess).

http://www.americanmuscle.com/bbk-fu...ers-99-04.html

To make those work, you'll need to get a shorty H- or X-pipe. I personally would opt for an X-pipe since it would deliver a better balance of exhaust gasses. On top of all that, with the headers and X-pipe, your car will sound significantly meaner.

All this talk about Mustangs is making me want another one.

That's not too bad. I will look into getting the headers. I would pair it up with a Mac Prochamber for LT's.

[DirtRider]

Originally Posted by codex57

Psshh, if OP can be driving around a Mustang or a BMW at 17 with his own money, good for him.

And I think it's the right color, right stripes. Be ok with the color scheme flipped too.

Just curious though, what's the insurance on that for a 17 yr old male? And what's the difference in insurance btw the Mustang and a BMW? I remember my buddy got put on his parents e30 at 16, and it was over $3,000/yr and the car was about 7 yrs old already at the time. More than double what I paid for a new e46 at age 24 or so, and with me as the primary.

Thanks!

It's like 217 a month for full coverage. So it is not too bad. As for the BMW i am not to sure because I never called to ask.

[DirtRider]

Originally Posted by SPDSKTR

Have you not seen that video? Oh Jesus Christ...

Wow... don't even know what to say about those things...

[rocketpants]

Have you looked into getting gears as well? Great bang for your buck mod...depending on if u do a lot of highway driving or not