venom949

I was curious about where to even begin. A little background about me - 23 years old, living in SoCal and just bought a 07 GT with 24k miles .

I'm trying to figure out where even to start with the after-market upgrades as this is a new adventure I'm looking to become involved in.

From what I've been able to read everyones seems to start with a CAI + Tune or an exhaust upgrade. I've also heard that those at best will get about 15 pony's and it's better to just save the money on that and drop it on a NSR Camshaft?

Right now everything on my GT is stock but I was thinking that a CAI + Tune is probably the cheapest approach and seems to be one of the easiest to do. I'm nearly car illiterate, but have been dedicating prett ymuch all my free time the past three months to looking into it and trying to figure it out so any help would be appreciate.

Thanks

Rjaniz

If you're nearly car illiterate at the moment, why the need to start upgrading/modding immediately?

My advice would be to just take the time and read up on all that you can do and enjoy the car you have right now. There ain't nothin' wrong with a stock mustang.


But if you must... CAI and tune are good starts. Welcome to the world of the Mustang!

Gtpony325

Yes welome to mustang country. As far as where to start that is really your choice. CAI and tune are a good starting place. That is where i started. It may only be good for 15 ponys like you said but if you do a NSR camshaft upgrade like ford hot rod cam or brenspeeds detroit rocker cam your only looking at about 15 maybe 20 hp if you are lucky. You get the most benefit from the cam upgrade if you upgrade your exhaust as well. I just did hot rod cams and long tubes in my 07 gt and picked up 28 hp. So if you are going to start somewhere i would go with a CAI and a tune. But be careful once you start down that dark path if modding you cant stop.

ETNOATS

CAI and tuner, lowering springs are pretty standard. Check out socalstangs.com. One of the members has a CAI, tuner, 4.10s and some other stuff he pulled of his car during a supercharger install. Its not listed for sale since he is out of town, but if your interested I can get a hold of him. Exhaust is ridiculously hard to pick. Listen to cars IN REAL LIFE to find one you like, then make your purchase. Otherwise all your money and time will be spent under the back end of the car.

Antigini-GT/CS

Pretty much everything you do is going to require a tune, so invest in a tuner at least.

Bullitt995

Your first mod needs to be to move out of California. Worst place to mod a car ever.

11SHELBYGT500

..and go where?

venom949

Lol moving isn't an option, I'm stationed here.. To everyone else thankd for the advice. My buddy has an 07 GT with Bassani offroad x-pipes and its enitrely too loud for my tastes so I'm thinking maybe Magnaflows or SLPs but I need to look more into it. The CAI and a tune for sure seems like a good start. Thanks for all the advice and I'm going to keep researching, any more advice is appreciated. Ty vm

zcgstang

I would suggest Cai And tune as it will wake up Your car it exhaust as it will make you Happy to hear it lol

venom949

Yeah the only thing about the exhaust is like, for the added gains Ill need the catback exhaust and new headers right? So that's getting a bit more pricey? If I just get the axleback its going to be just audible differences?

zcgstang

Headers will definately help performance wise but the cost for full exhaust runs pretty high. You will pick up a decent amount of pony's to though. Axle backs don't do much but make ya smile lol its all in your prefernce when it comes down to it though

06SatinSilver

CAI and tune are what alot of us did first...shop around if money is a issue...many used parts out there to be found...a tuner can be found for way less than retail and people that have cai for sale probably will take 1/2 what its worth cuz they wanna recoup what they sunk into the supercharger!!! look for a set of underdrive pulleys too....and a one piece drive shaft...may not find on of them second hand but its worth looking...hahaha... *** one word of caution--- think about your goals !! if you wanna go forced induction eventually you might wanna just wait till you decide to do that cuz the CAI and underdrives will be a waste after that....you can sell them but its something to consider****

if you wanna stay not to loud go with magna flow and a if you didnt live in CA i would reccommend a O/R H pipe...but u live in CA...also...get a nice 87 octane tune when you dyno it (should be offered 2 or 3 tunes by most dyno shops or canned tune retailers) so u can put the "cheap" stuff in when you want.... a tune does more than give you some hidden HP too...it will delete the throttle lag and other factory quirks that they come with...most notable the rich tune that robbs HP and MPG for you...expect to gain 5-7 MPG with a good dyno tune. Have fun and welcome to the club!

Cusp

If you think you will need to pass smog in the hotel california, any engine mod must have an exemption number from the california air resources board. Ford Racing has a performance package which is approved. includes a tuner, cai, and mufflers. There is also a supercharger offered which takes the engine up to its design limitations. Maybe beyond.

venom949

Good to know about the ford racing pack, but I looked it up and it seems very expensive. So even just an axleback or CAI would cause me to fail the smog?

Gtpony325

Just a CAI and axleback should not cause you to fail your smog test.

05blkvert

I live in northern California and I have a 2005 mustang which has short headers, cut and clamp x pipe, boom tube axle back. K and n intake (which is carb exempt), with Bama tune, underdrive pulleys (carb exempt), bbk throttle body (carb exempt), 3.73 gears. I have passed smog with all of that. But now I have hot rod cams with a good Bama tune which I will find out in 2 years if I can pass smog with that.

venom949

Sorry I'm not familiar... Carb exempt?

Cusp

California has lower noise limits on exhaust therefore some of the popular mufflers are illegal. Although the smog shop most likely won't care about what is after the cats. CAI depends on the year. If required, the air tube may need a hydrocarbon absorbing lining. All tunes need an approval number and most are not legal to run on the street. Tunes which disable the rear o2 sensors will cause a not ready fail. The only package I know of which has all the paperwork in order is from FRPP.

ETNOATS

Going from aftermarket back to stock CAI takes 30-45 minutes. Keep your stock parts just to be safe. Alot of officers dont know what is and isnt CARB approved and will cite you if anything is changed. I had a cop pull me over because I had my driving lights on with out my head lights when it was foggy. He said I modified my wiring and that was illigal. I said I was trying to be safe and the lighting was stock. Kept my cool and agreed with him and he let me go.