Gibbo205

Hi there

I am very lucky here in the UK to own what is an extremely rare car over here a Mustang. In the UK Mustangs are very few and far between and when it comes to Saleen Mustang I think there is only like 3 in the UK.

I am loving the car loads but have now decided I wish to go for more performance and am mainly looking at bolt-on modifications.

My car is a Saleen S281 2005 Mustang GT, build no.666 - www.saleen.com

My current mods are:-
1. Saleen Under Drive Pullies
2. Saleen 2.5" Variable exhaust system
3. Tunable Induction CAI Kit with SCT Xcal2 Tuner with Octane 93 Tune from SCT/MD (Hope this was a good choice, it has heat shield and new style cone)

When I fitted the Tunable Induction system and flashed my ECU with the Octane 93 tune I got a great performance increase as measured by my butt in the seat, hehe. The tune is an Octane 93 provided by Demolet himself which I believe is supplied SCT/Modular Depot but not 100% sure. I am told this is a great tune and there is nothing that would really offer more power would this be true? Here in the UK we have great fuel as SHELL Optimax is rated at 98 RON which I believe is about Octane 93-94.


I am now looking for even more power, torque and snappier throttle response, plus even more noise if thats possible.

As I am in the UK poses a couple of problems as I have to fit mods myself ideally and my mechanic skills are pretty novice as in I can do basic things like fit CAI's, change spark plugs, fit exhaust etc. The second problem is the shipping cost from USA to the UK so heavy or very large items could cost a small fortune to ship over.

So please recommend me modifications I can make to my car that will give improvements and are direct bolt-ons which are compatible with my Saleen please. It would be really nice to extra maybe another 30 RWHP out of her if possible.

I have considered Supercharger route but am putting that one side for the moment, but any suggested bolt-ons should be compatibe with a Saleen Super charger.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Gibbo

199

build no.666,, nice number

Galaxie

Gibbo, welcome to the site... one of the regulars jgsmuzzy is from England as well.

Since you already have a CAI, pullies and a tune, the next thing I would tackle is the exhaust system. Headers might be a bit pricey and it may be a difficult install for a novice. An X-pipe will probably get you some power gains, but not the 30hp you want.

Hopefully some of our senior gearheads can chime in for you

emperorjordan

yeah, I would kill to get a car with build number 666.

good luck, man! are there any shops there that can do gears? I would look for a shop that does trucks, as not much else is going to have a similar axel as you. Over here, the best guys at doing gears are the people that specialize in lifted trucks, becuase they ALL change the gears to make up for the tires, and they have the same or similar read end as us.

gears wont get you any horse power, but there will be a HUGE seat of the pants feel.

jgsmuzzy

Welcome Gibbo! You taking that car to Newark in July? Oh and lets see some pics!

J

Gibbo205

Hi a couple of pics:-

Gibbo205

Hi there

I have no idea about the exhaust system on these cars but my car is a Saleen S281 which I know has 2.5" variable centre exhaust. Do you know exactly what Saleen have changed? Is it just the back box part?

Can I still fit items like long headers, H-Pipes, X-Pipes and remove CAT's etc. etc. ? Or does the Saleen system prevent this as I really want to keep it, mainly for the Saleen bodykit requires centre exit exhaust system and plus it looks great.

I've heard the Saleen system possibly robs power due to the valves and yet some people say it does not, does anybody here know better?

I've seen many other mods suchs:-
1. TB Spacer
2. 62mm Throttle Body
3. Charge Motion Plates
4. Electric water pump
5. H-pipe or X-Pipe (What are the differences?)
6. Long Tube Headers (How do these differ to shorties)
7. Short Tube Headers (Again how do these differ to Long ones)
8. De-CATs or is this an option when ordering headers?
9. Different gears (Current 3:55) maybe 3:73, 3:90 or 4:10 (Hard to fit?)
10. Carbon Fibre Drive Shaft (Hard to fit?)


Sorry for so many questions and I have many more but for now I shall leave it at that as I suspect some of you may instantly tell me to avoid some of those modifications anyway. Obviously the smaller lighter bolt on mods are favourite to me so I can fit myself and don't get stung on shipping cost, but I really want to know which mods gives the best improvements from the above and any I may have not listed.

Thanks

Gibbo

Gibbo205

Don't know anything about this m8 and where is Newark?

Can you give any advice on the above mods and do you know any mechanics, tuners who are good with Mustangs?

Also another simple question I hope. I have 3:55 gears which I believe gives me approx top speeds of 65-70mph in 2nd gear and approx 105-110mph in 3rd gear, what are 4th and 5th gear top speeds?
Secondly how would changing to say 3:73 or 4:10 gears affect this, I am not interested in the strip but I do like zooming around streets and having maximum acceleration. Is such a mod a hard one to fit?

Nick85

Forget about Shorty headers, they're basically a polished version of what you have now. Go with some nice Longtube headers and 4.10 gears (don't do it yourself). These mods will give you nice power gains and sound will increase as well.

Stay away from jet power modules, 62mm throttle body, JB spacers, Charge motion plates....waste of money.

X-pipe/H-pipe...both are good I believe the difference in performance is minimal more to do with sound...they say H-pipes give more of an old school muscle car rumble whereas the X-pipe gives a higher flowing higher pitched sound.

Gibbo205

Thanks, I've heard similar about the TB Spacers and Throttle bodies either offering no improvements or for the small improvements they give they cause problems when de-accelerating and sticking butterflies etc. What do you mean by jet power modules and JB spacers, what are these?

I have read of people getting good improvements with Charge Motion plates though, what exactly are these and why do you consider them useless?

So if I was to go for some long tube headers, do they remove the CATs or can you get ones with CATs in? Which models are the lightest, fit well and give absolute best true muscle car sound and maximum power gains?
I thought the Mustang had an H-Pipe already on it, so how does replacing it for another improve things and finally would all this be compatible with my Saleen 2.5" variable exhaust system?

Two more questions for you where is the REV limiter on the Mustang GT in standard trim? I have the SCT Octane 93 flash would this have changed? Finally as you have 4:10 gears what top speed can you achieve in 2nd, 3rd and 4th please?

Nick85

Check with some of the other guys about the Charge Motion plates...apparently there is a restriction in the factory plates and the aftermarket ones allow better breathing. This is a small fish when compared to your other options...i'd save it for later if it all.

As for Longtube headers you will need to buy a new H-Pipe or X-pipe to fit. The Factory H-Pipe will not fit with LT's unfortunately. You can get an off-road mid-pipe (no cats/louder/ and slightly better flow) or a catted mid-pipe.

The LT's are highly recommended...especially if forced induction is on the cards later. LT's and 4.10's combined with what you have....you won't be dissapointed.

Nick85

I would suggest JBA LT's and H-pipe, I have been thoroughly impressed with the results of this mod. Also when you get the LT's make sure to step up and go for some nice titanium or silver ceramic coated headers, they will last much longer.

and I meant TB spacer not JB spacer.

wild stray

Stay away from the charge motion spacers at this point (IMHO). You can always consider them later on, but the long tubes, (JBA's), and 4.10's, (FRPP's), would be a move in the right direction, for sure, right now, as long as you have someone qualified to install them.

Gibbo205

Hi there

OK the JBA Long Tube headers sound like a good move, I am hearing these along with an H-Pipe. Is the mid-pipe part of the Long Tube headers or is that another part I need to buy?

Who has the best prices/deals at the moment on Long tube headers and H-pipes?

I've also heard that the JBA's are a tight fit and as such you have to drop the engine to fit and its recommended you fit better engine mounts, is this true? If so are there any other long tube headers that don't require new engine mounts and are not such a tight fitting that still add good performance gains?

Onto the gears, can anybody with 3:73, 3:90 or/and 4:10 gears let me know what their top speeds are in 2nd, 3rd and 4th please? Again is this a hard one to fit, what does it involve?

TexaStang

I hate to make a plug for a non advertising company, but try www.lethalperformance.com and ask for Jared. They have a great deal of overseas business and are well versed in it, with many customers they ship to regularly in Dubai/UAE and the rest of the middle east, as well as Europe. Call him up and ask, I'm positive he'll try to cut you a better deal than the prices on the site since you are overseas.

Nick85

The factory motor mounts are perfectly fine for now for the JBA Longtubes. I would only worry about changing out the mounts when you're ready for forced induction...that's when you need something stronger. Installation is a ***** but the LT's fit.

bkorea

why would you not recomend changing the motor mounts if he is going to install LT's. Don't you have to take the motor mounts off to get the LT's on the car. By the way if you didn't live in England I would be telling you to stop taking picture of your car in the rain.

Gibbo205

That aint rain, it was snow, hehe!

Nick85

If you don't mind me asking how much did buying a Saleen in the UK run you...i'm guessing it costs around 50,000 pounds (100,000) dollars.....

Gibbo205

I bought the car with 600 miles on the clock from the 1st owner who imported it from the USA to the UK for just £26,000, approx $45,000 so I consider myself getting a good deal.

Anybody will comment further on how I can extract some more power out of her?