In your oppinion what kind of mod should be the first performance wise? Im looking for something thats not to expensive with fair gains and that wont void the warranty. I have really been looking at cold air intakes. K&N seems to have the most gains...any thoughts?

 

My 1st mod was the C&L racer intake and SCT Xcal 2 from Brenspeed. Made a huge difference in the way the car drives. Best investment I made to the car I think.

 

Yep! if you never do another mod, the CAI and flash is a must IMO...

 

Be careful with a tune. You don't know exactly what you are uploading in your brand new 30k car. I just bought a steeda cai w/ a tune and am having nothing but problems with it. The tuner I went with post sale doesn't care either. I would say if you really like the car leave the engine alone and get some nice mufflers for it. I feel like the tune I'm dealing with now is a hack job. Be carefull!!!!

 

I went with the WebElectric signals first (easy and cheap mod), then to the JLT CAI kit. Never had a problem with it.

 

go with one of the reputable tuners that provides customer support and you won't have a problem. i chose bamachips' JLT/XCal2. it's great. tillman, brenspeed and others have good reps around here.

 

If you haven't done it yet, I vote axle-backs. Won't really give you a performance boost, but you'll think it does. (So will everyone else. )

Cheap, easy, looks and sounds better than stock.

 

Dude, just put it back stock and order a tune file from Bama or Brenspeed and update the tuner, then reload it.

 

no hp gain but it handle and look much better lowering springs

 

Be careful with the K&N man. They claim no tune is needed, but if you get dyno'd most likely you will be running lean...and K&N is far from the best intake around. Your best bet is CAI and tune. The JLT/Xcal2 has the best reputaion for power gains. Bamachips is a great way to go.... IMO the tune is more important than the intake you select.

 

Agree. Suggest you get the FRPP GTA's. I have the FRPP Stinger's but its too much for some peeps.....they whine about drone etc.

+1 Bamachips...or, go to a dyno tuner in your neighborhood, and buy the CAI (C&L Racer) and xCal2 from him, and he can do a custom tune for you....which is probably the safest and most effective tune (he gets the Air0Fuel ration just right, timing not too aggressive, etc)

If you lower it, there is a host of other mods that should be done at the same time so as to not screw up the roll center, dive under braking, squat under accel, bumpsteer, etc, etc, namely LCA relocation brackets (to prevent excessive squat under accel), Adjustable UCA (to reset the pinion angle), front control arm relocation (to reset roll center), bumpsteer kit, (to prevent the geometry from changing as the front tires go over a bump), and camber plates/bolts, (to reset camber). It can get expensive.

 

Seriously, how many N/A S197 have really had engine issues under warranty? None. The ones with problems have been putting over 10 psi with bad tune...

My advice, enjoy your S197, it's a great car, get a CAI & tune from someone good (VMP Tuning) and you can rest assured everything works. With that .01% change your engine experiences problems, you can always put the stock airbox back and flash to stock.

I have pretty much no warranty in my car, but my approach is different. I don't want any parts to be replace with OEM if the blow.

 

I think it's probably you. What tuner are you using?

 

Bah, I've thrown thousands of dollars worth of Steeda products trying to 'correctly' lower other stang's I have owned. With just the ultralites it has caused exactly 0 issues and handles and hooks up better with no adverse effects at all over the wallowy and jumpy stock setup. Ride and clearance are fine. Panhard bar is fine, and it never comes close to bottoming out even on nasty bumps. Just replace the $50(pair) strut tower caps with new units when you swap springs, and get a pair of camber bolts. I even pounded it pretty hard over the 7 speed bumps in my neighborhood every day for two weeks and didn't duck any reasonable road defect or pothole before having it aligned so everything was settled with no issues at all. I'm not spending any money on suspension or gears until I turbo the car then pick parts to work properly with the upgraded power and how it needs to be put down. If it's just a street car, no worries with just those mild springs. Lower springs like eibachs are a different story though.

 

Ok, great! That's good news, because I'd like to go that route (Ultralites) to keep stock ride with a better stance, but I've sheid away from doing this due to what I've read (on this board) about it (I'm referring to the "Guide to properly lowering your car" thread). So here's a question: Are you still using the stock shocks/struts?

 

fer sure Kevin
If you want to get crazy get one of the kits out there the roush or saleen struts shocks and springs. When I put the ebach springs on my car the rear end needed to be moved less than 1/4 inch.

 

I got the CHE Adj Panhard Rod already because stock my rear end was 1/4" further out to the driver's side...and I'm **** about symmetry

 

what springs are you running on?

 

OEM springs/shocks/struts! I guess that's about what the tolerance is...1/4" either way...the owner of S197forum.com also had the same issue..not that it actually makes a difference...I don't race etc...but just the knowledge was enough for me...

BTW I used a 90ยบ square (is that redundant?) with a level in the handle, and a ruler to measure, and I got down to +1 mm w/full tank of gas and -1mm w/empty gas tank...measuring from the wheel fenders to the tires...and I know the body may not be "square" to the frame, but it was more the aesthetic's that bugged me...

 

Questions:

1. The Steeda Sports and Ultralites are the same height drop, right?
2. Are they both progressive spring rate?