SpiderMan79x

I'm notthe kind of guy to work on a car in the driveway, and I have a '06 manual GT. I was looking at getting some FRPP mods added at a local dealer. With that being said I was hoping some of you may have experience with these parts and could give opinions. This is what I'm looking at:


M-5251-R X-Pipe
M-20201-S197 Strut Tower Brace
M-7210-U Short Throw Shifter using stock ****
M-2006-FR1 Power Upgrade Package (CAI, mufflers, oil filter & procal tool)

What kind of gains could I expect (would I notice?) and anyone have bad experiences with any of these parts. A big factor for me is not voiding the warranty, so that's coming into this whole situation. I'd love to get pulleys from FRPP, but I couldn't find any on the website. Advice appreciated.

Northwest GT

I've used a lot of FRPP parts on both my '96 and now on my '05. Most of those parts are not made by Ford, but FRPP does a pretty good job of selecting good quality parts from suppliers. The list you have is a good start with the possible exception of the strut tower brace. Our cars are pretty stiff as compared to the older models, and with the STB you may not be able to add accessories such as a plenum cover because of clearance.

The power upgrade package, short throw shifter and x-pipe will be a good combo. Only one thing to mention. The PUP comes with a tuner module set up by Ford. It's not as versatile as an SCT or Diablo unit which can be set up by one of the good tuners mentioned often on these forums. But, your setup will probably give you more than 20 HP and a much improved response to the car. You'll feel it for sure.

Underdrives are OK for just a few HP. I got mine from Steeda. There are a couple of others available. With your x-pipe you might want to consider FRPP axle back mufflers. They come in loud, louder and loudest. Take your pick. I opted for the M-5230-GTA's. They're the ones used on the Shelby GT-H. Middle of the road loud, but less restrictive than stock.

Try not to worry too much about voiding your warranty. Your dealer really cannot do that. He may only refuse to repair a certain item not covered by warranty, or if he determined you deliberately abused let's say brakes or a transmission. Having the dealer install the parts is a good idea. They'll be less likely to hassle you. I bought my CAI at my Ford dealership, and they never questioned it when I brought the car in.

sook

The warranty question has been thrown around alot. The rule is, unless an aftermarket mod can be directly attributed to the problem in question, they cannot void your warranty. But if you just don't even want to deal with the hassle, then go with the FRPP parts.

You can expect some pretty decent power gains from the CAI and X-pipe. Really, it all depends on who writes your tune. Also, IMO the Ford procal sucks compared to the SCT Xcal handheld as far as flashers go. But no matter what, you can expect some decent gains.

The X-pipe will change the tone of your exhaust. It will become a little more metallic and raspy. The FRPP Stingers (borla) sound nice, but drone is an issue for some.

As far as the shifter, as long as you are good with a manual (not just capable, but good) your car will be alot quicker.

The strut tower brace gives a good gain in handling, but you probably won't notice it unless you push your car moderately hard through the curves.

EDIT: I shouldn't post at work. It takes too long to write. Northwest GT has all the bases covered

SpiderMan79x

Thanks for the input. I was looking at Rousch pulleys, but I had also heard a lot of talk about having to replace the waterpump as the car could be prone to overheating no matter what company you go with. That's a little scary for me, because I don't want to do anything that is going to cause too much hassle. I prefer to do not do anything to cause a domino effect, where I have to replace this part since I changed out another and because I had to get the second part it causes the need and yet another, yada yada.

As for the mufflers, the FRPP power upgrade package comes with M-5230-GTA included. I have heard good things about these paired with the X-Pipes, so that's why I was going that route. I've been told that with these mentioned mods that I could expect to gain 20-25 HP, which sounds about right to me.

Here's another question. By using the FRPP cal tool, that doesn't restict me to at a later date going with bamachips or someone else?

neil07gt

You can still buy a tuner+tune from either brenspeed or bamachips, if you do that then just set your cal tool aside. The intake included in the FRPP package is actually the Steeda intake.

NDHESQ

If you plan on using FRPP mods then I would (actually did already) go all the way with the FRPP Handling Pack and the FRPP/Whipple Super Charger. As anyone on this board will tell you once you start moding it becomes a sickness you never have enough!!!!!

sook

+1 on the sickness part. Anyways, the GTA's do sound nice with the xpipe. I like a deep tone so my fav will be the Flows with O/R H pipe or the Stingers with O/R H pipe.

Don't worry too much about the pulley mod overheating your car. I have never heard of anyone overheating or their battery losing charge due to changing out the pulleys. (It may happen, but I've never heard about it) This would probably only happen if you idle for a LOOOOOOONG time. Instead, you may want to look into a electric water pump. Easy install and it still frees up HP from parasitic loss. Maybe not as much HP as pulleys, but you don't have to worry about overheating or loss of performance of your A/C ect.

SpiderMan79x

One last question for you guys, will any of this cause problems when I go through inspection? I tried the Tech support line, but I guess they are closed Saturdays. Anyway, I was going to place the order Monday so I wanted to make sure.

The reason I ask is because I noticed the Power Upgrade Package says it's 50-States "Street Legal" (E.O. #D-598), BUT also has an " * " that says it's "Not legal for sale or use on pollution-controlled motor vehicles." Huh? So is it legal or isn't it? Or is that a Cali thing?

I'm in Tennessee and we have yearly inspections here, so not passing in November would be a bummer. They stick the thing up the exhaust while it idles and it measures for 2 things.

Sorry I'm such a novice, but any help is appreciated!

tifo

As you can see in my signature...I have done everything you are planning to do, plus 4.10s and headers that come with the drag pack. The best thing to do is keep your stock parts (as I have done) and then put back the stock air box and re-flash the car back to stock using the pro-cal tool before going into inspections. There should be no problems then. I have noticed a big power gain, but you know how the mod bug is...next week I'm getting my Bamatunes to get maximum gains from my equipment. The pro-cal tune is nice, but I can tell you from experience it's very mild and hasn't done much for throttle lag at all.

I love the CAI and all the parts that came with the FRPP handling pack. My car corners like a Lotus Elan now.

I recommend the Steeda inlet elbow if you go with the FRPP CAI:
http://www.steeda.com/products/s197_inlet_tube.php

~Ray

SpiderMan79x

So are you saying it will NOT pass inspection then without removing the FRPP CAI and flashing it back to stock? Also, if the GT-H has the same equipment, then does that mean they won't pass as well?

If that is indeed the case, then what HP improving mods can I do without inspection worries?

m05fastbackGT

Let me just say that first of all, the FRPP cold air intake is designed for Ford by Steeda who's also a direct partner in Ford's technology transfer program and is also the very same cold air intake that's factory installed in both the Shelby GT-H and also in the retail version of the Shelby GT..Therefore both the FRPP and Steeda cold air intakes are one in the same, however the FRPP pro cal tool is nothing more than a conservative 91 octane program that's calibrated for only the cold air kit, the factory gears unless you order the drag pack which also offers either the 3:73 or 4:10 gear package but other than that ? it's a very limited device which does not allow any adjustments to the tune file and if you plan on adding future mods that require the use of an adjustable hand held programmer such as the SCT X- CAL II or Diablosport Predator ? the FRPP pro cal tool is completely useless..Therefore I strongly recommend you purchase both the FRPP/Steeda cold air intake along with the X-CAL II tuner combo from www.brenspeed.com he offers both for $675.00 and you won't find a better price than that from anybody..As for voiding your warranty ? there's two ways you can go about this ? first you can have your Ford dealership order both the FRPP cold air along with the pro cal tool and make certain you have them also do the install then if you should decide down the road to add more mods that require the use of an X-CAL II or Predator programmer ? you can always upgrade at a later time or your other option would be to purchase the FRPP/Steeda combo from brenspeed and do the install yourself which is very easy to do and whenever you need to take your Stang back to the dealership for servicing ? just re-flash back to your stock program and re-install your factory airbox and the dealer can't prove you re-flashed anything.. Just make sure that once you re-flash back to stock that you disconect your neagative battery cable then after 20 min. or so reconnect it and drive your Stang for about 50 miles or so before taking it in for servicing, this resets your computer so that the dealer cannot prove you reflashed your ECM..Also the other's are correct, the dealer cannot void your factory warranty unless it's proven that your aftermarket parts were directly responsible for causing the warranted parts in question to fail which won't happen anyhow being that Ford now includes the FRPP/Steeda cold air in it's factory warranty, so you really have nothing to be worried about and the X-CAL II programmer is one of the most reliable tuners in the performance industry along with Brent from brenspeed.com and Doug from bamachips.com as being recognized as SCT top 10 custom tuning dealers in the industry as well.. That being said, you'll experience the best bang for you're buck performance that both you and your Stang rightfully deserve..

m05fastbackGT

No, what he's saying is if your using either an SCT X-CAL II or Diablosport Predator tuning device ? you'll need to re-flash back to stock before taking your Stang back to the dealership for emissions inspection..If on the other hand your using the FRPP pro cal tool ? you'll pass the emissions inspection and won't need to re-flash back to stock..However flashing you're vehicle is very easy to do, if you can follow step by step instructions ? you can use a programmer with no problem..

SpiderMan79x

As of right now, I was just going to go with the mods I listed above. I understand the Pro-Cal tune is mild compared to what else is out there, but my ultimate goal was to get FRPP parts installed at a dealer so I would have no problems if a issue came up. Somewhere down the line I may end up going with bamachips, but in another thread I have also seen Doug state that his tunes aren't going to pass inspection. CAI removal and flash back to stock, yada yada. It seems like he said most tunes aren't emmision legal, but I could be wrong after reading some many threads they all run together.

I also figured if the FRPP FR1 Power Upgrade package is on the GT-H, then I wouldn't have any problem with getting through inspection without taking anything back to stock. Now I'm questioning that. I guess I'll have to wait until Monday to talk to the tech folks at FRPP to get clarification on that issue. If it won't pass emmissions then maybe the way to go is get the short throw shifter, strut tower brace, x-pipe and GTAs, and just wait on the CAI and tune until I know better what I want to do.

SpiderMan79x

Thanks!! That's what I was trying to figure out. The less I have to touch anything the better off my car is I can assure you!

m05fastbackGT

As I previously posted, If your that concerned about passing emissons ? it takes less than 5 min. of your time to re-flash back to stock and perhaps another 5 to re-install your factory airbox and I don't mean to come off as being rude but If your going to allow something little as re-flashing your car back to stock prevent you from experiencing the additional HP and performance gains that only a cold air intake and SCT X-CAL tuner can provide ? then perhaps it wouldn't be in your best interest to modify your car to begin with..However I can tell you that the FRPP pro cal tool is a 50 state legal tuner in which will pass your emissions testing..Therefore you do not need to re-flash back to stock if using that device and any Ford dealership will confirm this being that it's also included as part of the Ford factory warranty, providing of course you have your Ford dealer install it..As for underdrive pulley's ? FRPP does not offer them at this time, however most of us use and recommend the Steeda pulleys..

SpiderMan79x

Trust me, you're not coming off as rude at all, and I totally understand where your coming from on this. I don't disagree with you either, that is why I have owned my car for 16 months and it's still bone stock. However, my goal was to find something that increased performance, was backed by Ford and that once installed I wouldn't have to think about or touch again.

For me, all it takes is to read a post or 2 about someone who removed the CAI and re-flashed the car back to stock and the car ended up in failsafe mode, then they had to get it towed to the dealer and all that. I understand that may even be a rare thing, but it's also more drama than I want to deal with out of my daily driver at this point in my life I guess.

Most people seem to agree, that the Pro-Cal tool isn't as good as some others on the market. I can live with that for now, and it doesn't seem like there would be any trouble changing tunes later with the set-up I'll have if I decide to go that route.

Positive or negative, that's why I come here. I know you guys will be honest and I firmly believe that there is more knowledge on this board than at any dealership out there. I'm ordering all of the parts in the morning and hope to have it all installed later this week. I'll definately check back in here after I do and let you guys know how it went.

jims05gt

I have just joined this forum and have found great answers to a number of questions. Thanks for sharing your knowledge of CAI's. I have the FRPP CAI assembled and Procal tool on my workbench begging to be installed. Just a couple of questions doe it matter when i upgrade to 90 octane fuel, before or after installing and tuning?? How foolproof is the procal tool? I have the same concerns as Spiderman79x. and Murphy's law seems to follow me around. Thanks for your help

jims05gt

ooops

kevinb120

As for the strut tower brace, I believe ones designed for the V6 model will clear the plenum covers as the 4.0 stands taller then the 4.6 in the engine bay. A good single-bar unit is more then enough.

sook

If I understand your question correctly. I would make the switch from a lower octane (87) to the 90 octane BEFORE installing the CAI and retuning the car. There won't be any long term damage running a tank or two of higher octane. Just don't run higher octane than your tune calls for for long periods of time.

If you install the CAI and retune with 87 still in your tank, you risk detonation. You'll probably be okay, but why risk it. Run your tank out and fill up with 90 before modding. good luck.