zimm17

My order goes in tomorrow for a 2012 GT Premium 5.0 6spd. I'm loading it up with Brembo/electronics/HID/comfort/camera/3.73.

I've been reading forums for over a month and think I have the short list for first mods:

-SCT tuner/Bama tunes/Airaid intake
-Ford GT500 mufflers or Borla cat-back
-Cool shift **** (not getting 401a package)

I think I'll skip the off-road mid pipe since Northern Virginia (where I'm taking delivery and moving to) requires emissions during the annual safety inspection.

Next up, I'm worried about wheel hop. I do plan to drag race this car a few times. What's the hot set up for control arms? Might also get a set of drag radials and wheels for the track.

I'll drive the car awhile before deciding if I need a suspension or not (Konis, springs, sways). But I put aftermarket suspension in all my vehicles, so I think I'll have to do the same here.

I'm also ready to upgrade the speakers if I don't like the shaker 500- I have two options- just put a pair of Polks in the doors and call it day, or go all out and use JL audio stuff- C5 5x7's all around, a stealthbox sub (13.5"), and XD700/5 amp. With that set up I won't even need the 8" mid-woofers in the doors. I'll just have to find a speaker level input to run into the amp.

How's that list for starting out? I have two months before I can get the car- so the more to read about the better.

LEwis26

Barton short throw shifter. Once you drive a 5.0 with it, you'll order it immediately. I know I did, and I dont have my 5.0 yet.

pony racer

here is a thought.. take delivery of the car.. drive it for a couple thousand miles then decide on what to put on it..

and my recomendation.. get the 3.55's

S197 GT

First mod you should order is the JLT Oil Separator. Get it now, and install it when you take delivery.

Piece of mind with this one.

After that, go with a JLT cold air intake. I don't understand why people go with the Airaid to be honest. The JLT is the best looking, best performing, and best priced intake on the market.

Grabberpony.com is where you can go to get a custom shift **** made.

For an annual R&R of the mid-pipe, it's worth getting the off road. It will take 45 minutes to swap them out once a year, and you'll get a great sound and a better performance increase with an off road x that you would an intake.

Wheel hop can be solved with just lower control arms, but others have needed to replace the upper control arm as well. For us, we need to get either a 2011 specific UCA, or get a '05-'10 mount with any other UCA. On both of my S197's, I cured my wheel hop with just the LCA's. I recommend the Blow By Racing Billet LCAs.

Depending on the size of drag wheels, you may also need to relocate your rear sway bar.

If you like suspension mods, you will have plenty of room for improvement with this platform. A great starting point would be with shocks and struts (Koni STR.T's or Tokico D-Specs), lowering springs (Steeda Sports), adjustable panhard bar (UMI or BMR), LCA relocation brackets (UMI) and upper strut mounts (M-18183-C). Then you can move into sway bars and even get rid of the PH bar set up and get a Watts Link.

I have the Shaker500 and I replaced my door speakers with Boston S85's and they sound great! Inexpensive too!

zimm17

Good points so far. I'll look at the JLT intake and oil seperator.

Why drop to 3.55's? Does it actually help 1/4 mile times? Is the 200 rpm difference on the highway an issue?

If I do an offroad x or h pipe- do I keep everything else stock and use 500 mufflers? Or do I need to replace more to get that extra 20hp? Or is it off-road pipe AND a full cat back. A little confused there.

Grabberpony shift **** will be sitting on my desk before I even get the car. Looks like it takes weeks to get.

So before the car is even broken in- oil seperator, shift ****, prob door speakers.
After break in- tune, intake, exhaust of some sort and LCA's.

Then I can put some milage on the car and figure out what needs to be done.

FCMalie

I believe the reason some prefer 3.55s over 3.73s is it saves you a shift on the 1/4 as well as in most road courses.

I went with the Steeda short throw shifter instead of the Barton one, but I've heard no complaints about either.

Oil separator is definitely a must on these, recommended is passenger side only unless you are spending long days at the track with lots of high rpms.

I completely agree with not waiting to mod a car. Hell I will already have aftermarket body pieces waiting for paint when I pick up my car.

S197 GT

Keep the 3.73's.

The rest seems to be planned out pretty well.

pony racer

with just cat backs i ride the rev limiter for 300' in the 1/4 not worth shifting into 5th at that point.. 3.55's would put me just below that.. more than likely i will be switching out my 3.73's for 3.55's..
with taller gears and 28" tire you can run 125mph in the 4th.. with without raising the limiter..



oil seperator.. ive never used one so i cant comment on it..

as far as the gears.. yes you will ride the limiter in 4th.. shifting into 5th @1000- 1100' in 1/4 is a waste

m4a1mustang

Can't go wrong with any of the mods you listed.

I see you're in NOVA... you should check out the Northern Virginia Mustang Club and check out the NOVA Sports Car Club shows on Sunday mornings out in Fair Lakes (http://www.meetup.com/novascc/)

dan_h

I'f you're getting the Brembo package you'll be getting upgraded LCAs already. I just noticed this on my new 2012 GT...this combined with rear-end lowering springs/shocks might address 'most' of your wheelhop issues...i'm going to experiment with this myself (first). I originally had J&M Extreme LCAs on my prior (2006) GT which solved my wheelhop but then again it wasn't lowered.

Like you, i'd like to upgrade my front door speakers & call it a day...which specific model are you going with?

Also, have you considered lowering the rear-end (only)??

zimm17

I'll be curious to see what the brembo package upgraded LCA's look like.

For replacement door speakers- I was looking at these:
http://www.polkaudio.com/caraudio/mm/index.php?s=mm571

I normally go with C5 JL audio- but they require an amp. The Polks are more efficient, don't have an external cross over and should work better with the stock head unit. I'll see how that works out. Then someday I can rip it all out, go with components/amps/sub. I stayed with the upgraded JBL sound in my 4runner for two years, but just did the JL audio system and now it ROCKS.

eric n

Sounds like you're car is outfitted much like mine and will be modded much like mine. All I can say is I'm very happy with every dime I've spent. Thanks to the guys on this forum, I've made informed choices which are inline with what I want.

I'm sure you'll enjoy the hell out of your car.

zimm17

It's official, put deposit down today. Priority 11. Salesman says 10-12 weeks. I move to Virginia July 1st so that should work out.

Ordered my first mod- kona blue grabberpony shift ****. That'll sit on my desk.

Five Oh Brian

I have the factory Brembo Package and I have very bad wheel hop issues. Lowering our cars eliminates the hop, but only because it unloads the suspension and causes wheelspin instead. Neither is a good thing.

Aftermarket LCA's are an absolute must with a manual trans in an S197. My supercharged '07 GT was an automatic and had zero wheel hop with 100% factory stock suspension.

InsidiousGT

- Skip the Airaid. Go SCT+Steeda CAI+Steeda tune. They sell a nicely priced package of all 3 on their site.


- Borla makes a super nice sounding exhaust but they are very expensive. I went Roush's and I absolutely love them (others on here posted same results). Take a look at the Roush's and save yourself some dough.

- Skip the shift ****, go straight for a Barton Shifter+Bracket+**** combo. You wont regret it.

laserred38

JL speakers are way overpriced. They are decent at best. There are way better alternatives for the money. Other than that you're on the right track ...the Polks or Bostons would be better drop-in replacements, but I'd suggest going components. Set aside some money for deadening. Btw, of course JL subs and amps are great (again still expensive though) but their speakers are ...wait til you actually hear some exceptional speakers for the same or lower cost - then you'll really be happy...

05-1947

You should just shift a dash earlier in each gear and get into 5th earlier, as that might be better than riding the limiter through the traps. Seems like most guys are shifting into 5th, and I thought that I read that it is the 1:1 gear.

InsidiousGT

I was in the other posters shoes... I have 3.73s and I would ride the limiter rather than lose time shifting a 4th time. However, that was with the stock shifter. With my Barton Shifter+Bracket combo I can shift quick enough that its actually improving my times to go to 5th gear now.

I also have a shorter set of drag radials on order, so when those come in I'll be maxing out 4th gear at about 107 mph at 7200 rpm.... thats just too slow. So with those DR's I'll definitely be going to 5th.