Which upgrade next?
 

I have a 2006 mustang gt which currently has a c&l cai, charge motion deletes, underdrive pullies, bama tune and just flowmaster 40 series mufflers. I have a little extra money and want to do another upgrade. I was thinking of either a 62mm throttle body or long tubes with a catted or catless xpipe. I plan on doing both but not at the same time, Because I got bills lol. Any suggestions on which would be better to do now. Or ideas of other upgrades? Thanks guys and gals.

I would run the work from the front and work back principal, start with the throttle body then the headers and work your way back, or the other option since you have the CAI start with headers and work your way back, either way you have already addressed one area of restriction (the CAI) now its a matter of hitting the next area which is generally the headders/exhaust, the throttle body im not too sure if thats restrictive or not but if you want to tackle that also it wont hurt!

Cool thanks man. I'm guessing that the stock manifolds and catted hpipe are restricting more than the 55mm throttle body. So I may want to do the exhaust first.

It's my understanding that the stock throttle body is not an area of restriction, unless you go forced induction or end up with a big NA car. I would go with the header and exhaust way before I hit up the brittle body.

agreed, and that's the main reason behind my post as well, the headers (while ok) IMO are rather restrictive, the cat would defiantly be a restriction point, high flow would be good!!

Thanks guys. LTs and cattless xpipe here we come. Will post pics soon as I'm done

What no pics of the car now?? *GASP* I.......must......*dies*.......

Lol it doesn't sound like anything special at the moment. But it will when these cats are gone!!!!!

Wait...... Am I getting advice from a 6 cylinder guy? *GASP*

Jim ! I really hate to disagree with you on this, but the stock manifolds on the 3 valve S197's are actually very low restrictive when compared with the previous design from the SN-95 generation..

Unless you plan on either upgrading heads, intake manifold, camshaft, forged internals or going forced induction ? I wouldn't even bother wasting my time and money replacing my stock manifolds as upgrading to aftermarket shorty headers will provide very little improvement over the stock manifolds or not even at all.. Therefore I would highly recommend upgrading to long tube headers instead as your best option..

As for upgrading the throttle body ? Once again unless you plan on upgrading to any of the following mods that I listed above, the stock throttle body is good for up to 550 HP.. Otherwise adding a larger throttle body is just overkill and a waste..

Anyway just my $.02

I strongly recommend that you follow my advice !

Read over post #10 in this thread !

Thanks for your advice. I am planning on cams in the near future. And am going to do some type of forced induction later down the road. If I do long tubes and a cattless xpipe would I gain some get up with the upgrades I have now. Thx

Oh and the car is not a daily driver. Maybe once a week

I didn't relize they were lower restriction then the SN95, when did Ford update them? I am guessing around 05-ish?

Yes, 05. They went to the three valve head design then for the GTs. Two intakes valves and an oversized exhaust valve, from what I remember reading back then. The second intake valve opens up after a specific set of RPM and full throttle, along with the charge motion plates.

It's been too long since I've read over the material. I need to to go back over it all. Especially since I now own one.

Sounds like a great plan to me ! So if your going to be doing both cams and forced induction along with long tubes with catless x or h pipe ? I would then only recommend upgrading to a larger 62mm throttle body if your going to be making over 550 HP, otherwise stick with your stock throttle body..

Ford updated them in 2005 for the 3 valve S197 Mustangs !

Yes ! that's correct..

Before I supercharged i modded in this order and was very happy:

2007 GT with 3.31s and 5M

1. CAI and 93 race tune
2. 4.10 gears
3. Axle backs
4. Kooks LT headers with both a catted x and off-road x pipe and retune

The headers did make a difference. I didn't bother with throttle body and even though I'm now pushing 479rwhp I still have the stock throttle body. There were just too many posts and complaints of problems from people that switched to the BBK throttle body during the time. The FRPP is a very nice piece but without cams and headers I personally don't feel it's necessary.