Need a little help deciding....

[Mylilpony]

Here is a little background on my car before I ask for advice....

2006 Automatic GT (15,000 miles) with the following mods:

- Procharger Stage 2 Kit (installed 500 miles ago- dont get much time to drive the car). The car made 427rwhp and 350 rwtq on a dynojet w/ the p1sc, and saw about 10 or 11 lbs of boost (it should be the 10lb pulley... I dunno, I cant explain it lol). I am happy with the HP numbers but the torque seems a bit low... which is okay through the auto (with 20" wheels) I guess.

- GT500 fuel system
- Diablosport MAFia
- Alum. Driveshaft
- 3.73's
- STOCK midpipe and exhaust manifolds (just a pypes mid muffler system)

I am happy with the tune as it seems safe, but I am NOT in love with the way the car drives during regular street driving (specifically how the car shifts when under light throttle). I'm sure its in the tune, however I have not gotten in touch with the shop that tuned the car (so I am not blaming them at all). With that said, I want JDM to do my next tune bc they have had great reviews with the auto tranny.

The issue is, I feel like paying for another tune is a waste of money unless I do an additional mod to make it worthwhile. So, do I go with the FRPP Intake manifold, or do I go with a set of longtubes???

The FRPP manifold is the new thing and not many people have it yet, and I do a lot of shows so it would look good under the hood. However, I'd like to go with longtubes to make the car a bit louder, and also allow it to breathe better in hopes that it will drop the boost to 9-10 lbs bc of less restriction (i could be off the mark here though). Im not sooo concerned with making all this extra HP, I want a safe reliable car that I can beat on whenever I want. If I could get the rwhp to the 445-450 range I'd be happy, along with increasing the tq #'s.

The car is a street car with some very rare track time. I dabbled with the idea of a torque converter, but im not sure I want to go that route yet. What do you guys think??

I can take it back to the shop that i got the install done and just have them modify the tune- BUT, I will still want to eventually get the JDM tune. I also dont have a lot of time to run back and forth between different shops.

Sorry if im all over the place and this makes no sense, but im at work and I have to keep stopping- damn office. I apologize for the long story.. just want to get you guys the most info I can.

 

[irishpwr46]

i say do the intake. that car is a show whore. people will see the intake before they see the LTs. and you will be one of the only guys around here with it. longtubes can be done over the winter. and jdm is having a special on FRPP intake packages which makes the deal even sweeter.

 

[Blxcklist]

Get both

 

[Mylilpony]

Get both

Im really tryin not to spend MORE money on the car this summer.... already dropped a large dime with the blower

 

[Mylilpony]

i say do the intake. that car is a show whore. people will see the intake before they see the LTs. and you will be one of the only guys around here with it. longtubes can be done over the winter. and jdm is having a special on FRPP intake packages which makes the deal even sweeter.

I guess you're right about the show whore thing, but im more concerned about the car driving good, and not blowing anything up. I have this feeling that doing the LT's might actually help to preserve the engine (i might be wrong about that as I am no expert).

Whats frustrating about the LT's is that they are so expensive!!! I would be going with either catted kooks or catted ARH.

 

[irishpwr46]

I guess you're right about the show whore thing, but im more concerned about the car driving good, and not blowing anything up. I have this feeling that doing the LT's might actually help to preserve the engine (i might be wrong about that as I am no expert).

Whats frustrating about the LT's is that they are so expensive!!! I would be going with either catted kooks or catted ARH.

i dont mean the show whore thing in an offensive way. but we both know that your car has a better chance than mine at the shows. BTW are you comin to the glen cove show on the beach on sunday?

back on topic. what about ditching the cats and getting a set of resonators? you will eliminate a lot of backpressure on the motor by doing it, and the resonators will help keep it quiet while maintaining optimal flow.

 

[BOSS324]

Well being the FRPP intake is around $550 or so and easier to install yeah go with the intake! Then long tubes then.....well it never ENDS!

 

[irishpwr46]

jdm specials

http://s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35326

 

[lostsoul]

Its all on the tune homie.. 427 is way low for a 10psi procharger. also shift points and other adjustments can be done to help driving around.

The last tuner I went to tuned me for only 470rwhp with a 14+ psi on a built block. He just tuned it that way because if something happened he would be responsible since I had him build the engine and tune... Needless to say I was pretty pissed

 

[Mylilpony]

i dont mean the show whore thing in an offensive way. but we both know that your car has a better chance than mine at the shows. BTW are you comin to the glen cove show on the beach on sunday?

back on topic. what about ditching the cats and getting a set of resonators? you will eliminate a lot of backpressure on the motor by doing it, and the resonators will help keep it quiet while maintaining optimal flow.

I didnt take it in an offensive way lol. I dont race around the streets of NYC with the car really, and im not a track junkie either. So you are absolutely right about that. I didnt even know there was a show in glen cove. Can you PM me the info or post it on americanredline for me??? I think a few of us would be interested fo sho.

I was thinkin bout ditching the cats, but im not sure that getting the car re-tuned is necessary when doing that especially if my O2 sensors are already shut off. Im looking to mod the car so that its necessary to get a tune rather than paying for the tune now, then modding the car in the winter, and re-tuning it while costing me more money!

 

[Steedman07]

Who tuned it?

 

[Mylilpony]

Its all on the tune homie.. 427 is way low for a 10psi procharger. also shift points and other adjustments can be done to help driving around.

The last tuner I went to tuned me for only 470rwhp with a 14+ psi on a built block. He just tuned it that way because if something happened he would be responsible since I had him build the engine and tune... Needless to say I was pretty pissed

When I purchased the kit, I was expecting about 420 rwhp tuned safely, and I beleive that the car is safely tuned right now. Im thinking the car should be at about 490-500 crank bc of the auto drivetrain loss. A buddy of mine has the same setup and made 450/368 (same dyno) through his auto with a set of LT's, so I dont think that my car is that far off in terms of power. My issue with the current tune is that when accelerating from a stop, it seems like the tranny wants to shift too quickly. In other words it'll do the 1-2 shift, then immediately after, it shifts to 3rd, then 4th (this is under regular street driving- the 1-2 shift seems right, but the ones after do not). I dont know if its just me though bc i drive a focus every day to work lol

Also, I cant take a ride in my friends car to see the difference bc hes got a PI TC.

 

[Mylilpony]

Who tuned it?

Mustang Magic

Also, I want to say that I'm very happy with their work, and I have not spoken to them about the tune yet. And, I test drove the car with their tuner, and thought the car was fine (but I was too busy stomping on that shit!!!). So, no blame to them at all.

 

[stkjock]

Vinny,

my

LTs are a better power/motor mod then the intake. The intake is far from maxed out in comparison to the exhaust. I bet you'd make 25-30 more HP and have less boost with the LTs, rather then then the intake.

Since you don't seem to be concerned with max power, I'm with Steve on the FRPP intake.

However - as to the tune... my view there, get a proper dyno tune, as too where... my I think you know where I stand on that....

And, I test drove the car with their tuner, and thought the car was fine (but I was too busy stomping on that shit!!!). So, no blame to them at all.

this is where the refinement of a proper dyno tune makes all the difference IMHO.

just curious - how long was the car on the dyno?

 

[RedfireGT]

i say go with kooks lt's and kooks catted x pipe. i had pypes mm with uncatted and it was obnoxious. but go with that and then get a intake and then go to evolution performance and get a dyno tune

 

[Mylilpony]

Vinny,

my

LTs are a better power/motor mod then the intake. The intake is far from maxed out in comparison to the exhaust. I bet you'd make 25-30 more HP and have less boost with the LTs, rather then then the intake.

Since you don't seem to be concerned with max power, I'm with Steve on the FRPP intake.

You are right about the stock intake not being maxed out... I think I'd prefer to go with LT's, but its annoying to think of how expensive they are when considering the labor and tuning involved. Then there is the issue of whether to go catted or not... I'd like to go with an O/R H but its gonna be too loud for my neighbors, and I think they'd bitch me out. Im worried about the cats and boost as I've seen some horror stories from just about every brand of headers.


However - as to the tune... my view there, get a proper dyno tune, as too where... my I think you know where I stand on that....

I absolutely know where you stand... and FWIW I gave them a shot at doing the install and tune for me, but their prices were astronomical. MM was by far the best price that I got.

this is where the refinement of a proper dyno tune makes all the difference IMHO.

just curious - how long was the car on the dyno?

Now this is something which I cannot answer truthfully bc I picked up the car while they were making the final adjustments on the tune, and they ran it once more for me on the dyno. The final numbers were 427.8/350 (like i stated above), but earlier in the day the car was pulling in the 430's while they were tuning it (according to the owner of the shop). I asked them to make the tune as conservative as possible though, so even if the final numbers were 10rwhp off I dont care. With that said, I have heard of tuners taking HOURS with a car, and I do not think this was the case here (but I am not saying that it was or wasnt warranted).

Locally, people either love or hate the shop that I went to... I really dont have a single bad word to say about them, so i dont want this to become a bashfest. They were very accomodating to me.

 

[GrnBullitt08]

I would say go with the intake and redyno tune the car if your not concerned with power.

 

[stkjock]

You are right about the stock intake not being maxed out... I think I'd prefer to go with LT's, but its annoying to think of how expensive they are when considering the labor and tuning involved. Then there is the issue of whether to go catted or not... I'd like to go with an O/R H but its gonna be too loud for my neighbors, and I think they'd bitch me out. Im worried about the cats and boost as I've seen some horror stories from just about every brand of headers.

well, you can get BBK/JBA headers for much less then Kooks/ARH are they as good, probably not, but they seem to get the job done.

I absolutely know where you stand... and FWIW I gave them a shot at doing the install and tune for me, but their prices were astronomical. MM was by far the best price that I got.

I know you did and I don't fault your choice. I'm not bashing, I've never used MM and have heard good and bad.

Now this is something which I cannot answer truthfully bc I picked up the car while they were making the final adjustments on the tune, and they ran it once more for me on the dyno. The final numbers were 427.8/350 (like i stated above), but earlier in the day the car was pulling in the 430's while they were tuning it (according to the owner of the shop). I asked them to make the tune as conservative as possible though, so even if the final numbers were 10rwhp off I dont care. With that said, I have heard of tuners taking HOURS with a car, and I do not think this was the case here (but I am not saying that it was or wasnt warranted).

The power numbers seem a little low, my car on 10psi made 435/361
IIRC on Dan's MD, which traditionally reads lower then a DJ. Again not an issue if you had them make a fat A/F for safety. FWIW - I had a race tune made back in winter 2008, 12 psi made 461/401, been running it since (never bothered with the street tune LOL) and you know I drive the car, has not missed a beat.

What I have heard from a few is that the tuning has been done quickly. Adjustments and a few pulls done in a short time (an hour or so).

I know from experience that Dan will stay with a car for 3-4 hours if need be to get it all right, WOT, tip in, cruise, etc etc. That's why it can take 2+ moths to get him to tune your car. He doesn't book more then 2 in a day for the most part.

Bottom line - you need to be comfortable and happy with it. Once it's done you can test how fast it is anytime......

 

[Mylilpony]

I would say go with the intake and redyno tune the car if your not concerned with power.

its not that im not concerned with power, but I'd rather have a safe car making 30rwhp less safely so that I can beat the crap out of it rather than have a car that is on the borderline and I have to pussy foot it every time i drive it.

 

[stkjock]

drive it like you stole it!!