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Query - 2004 GT performance upgrade options (longish)

Greetings all,

I've read a few posts in here and got some good information, but mostly now have more questions. Hopefully someone here can help. I'm sure someone will ask, so I'l try to answer the question 'What do you want' or 'why do you want to upgrade'?

I'm simply looking to get more out of what I bought. We're not going to race the car; perhaps take it to the track this summer to get some timings, but not much else. My insurance (NJ) is high enough, thank you. If this car starts out at 210HP, I'd like to add 40-80HP - just enough to be a little faster than another stock 2004. (oh, and modified exhausts sound cool). We got our Mustang (manual transmission) about 6 months ago and it still runs very nicely. About

9k miles on it so far. The most common upgrades I'm aware of (read: I've read about here, mostly) are:

K&N performance kit ($170 is the best $ I've seen) High Flow Upper Plenum ($149?) Some form of exhaust kit ($349-600) Gear upgrade (?) Nitrous & Supercharger (not currently in consideration)

I'm leaning toward the exhaust or K&N kit as a first step. I also plan to remove the air-intake silencer at the same time (assuming that's not part of the K&N upgrade). I can't seem to find the gear upgrade online. Any links for that?

To show my naivet?, I have a question - What is the difference between a DOHC & SOHC engine?

I'll pause here so you can finish shaking your head in disgust...

Obviously I understand the D is for Dual (overhead cam), whereas the S is Single. Is there an upgrade from the SOHC to DOHC without replacing the entire engine? This isn't something I'm considering, I'm just the curious type. Feel free to simply point me to a website-for-dummies.

I'm also looking for an interface for a laptop to connect to the computer. I'm not too familiar with this, so I'm not sure what's available. I know of Tweecer.com; perhaps there's something better out there?

I'm also looking for the best place to buy. I buy a lot online and I've found a couple sites (summitracing, mustangwarehouse, fordracingparts.com) - any suggestions on good websites? Or is it better to buy these parts local or from some catalog? I'd prefer to find one place for all my upgrade needs, but it's not necessary. I live in Northern NJ if it matters.

What about brands? I see Flowmaster, BBK, Borla, etc exhaust systems. Is one dramatically better than another? I'm looking solely for performance, so I don't want huge 'cans' at the rear of my car. I don't want an 'amplifier' on my exhaust - it should be naturally loud :)

What about spark plug wires? Is it really worth the extra $ for the 'good' ones?

Thanks for taking the time to read all this - any information would be greatly appreciated. If you plan to tell me to 'trade it in', feel free to keep it to yourself.

Reply to
Bob
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The '04 base V6 '04 Mustang has 190HP. The '04 Mustang GT has 260HP. Do you know which you have? IMHO, if you wanted performance but bought the V6, then you made a mistake which can best be corrected by a trade-in on the '05 Mustang GT.

Reply to
Bob Willard

Like Bob said, you either have 190 or 260 stock. If you have 260, youre already at that 210+40-80 number.

You wont get much more than 1-2hp with the K&N kit without other mods. The exhaust may net you 4-5, some people claim 10 (but it sounds really nice). Read the thread on 4/28 by BigAl (2001 GT Performance Mods) to get an idea of why that is. You have to do engine mods for the K&N or exhaust to make a difference.

In a SOC engine, one cam drives the inlet and exhaust valves. In a DOC one cam runs the inlet, and one cam runs the exhaust side. Having two cams gives you more flexability and control over the opening/closing of the various valves, thus, more power and/or better gas milage.

I've never heard of an upgrade... Its probably cheaper/faster/easier to just swap the engine.

You want an OBD-II interface.

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sells a beautiful bluetooth deal that you can just leave plugged in and have your laptop connect to it wirelessly. Works great, and has real-time gauges too if you're into that sort of thing.

Youll always get better pricing online. That said, shop around. Best price usually wins for me.

Single exhaust or dual (i.e. do you have a GT?). I've heard that BBKs last longer than Borla. I usually buy flowmaster myself. It really comes down to what sounds best to you.

In my opinion, unless you're reworking alot of the engine itself, no.

I wont tell you to trade it in, but if you did buy a V6, keep in mind youre going to spend alot more cash getting it up to the performance of a GT than you would have spent just paying the extra money up front and buying a GT.

Then again, its alot more fun taking a V6 and doing it all yourself. Again, if youre into that sort of thing.

Reply to
japhar81

My bad - it's the GT (V8) - not sure why I had 210 stuck in my head. It sounds like getting another 40 HP is a lot more work than I had originally anticipated. I'd be willing to settle for a couple upgrades & a cooler sounding exhaust though.

In terms of sound though - how can you know what one sounds like compared to another? Surely I would be out of my mind to think that one of these websites would have MP3's of their exhausts (though that would be cool, in a nerdy kind of way).

Reply to
Bob

on a GT, its not that hard to hit 300. Get a chip/programmer, and the K&N, you should get pretty good results..

Actually, there are;

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google mustang exhaust mp3 for more...

Reply to
japhar81

awesome - thanks much

Reply to
Bob

The pre-99 GT's were rated at 210 hp.

Reply to
me

No they weren't. My 98 GT is rated 225 @ 4750 RPM at the flywheel. IIRC,

96-97 were 215hp.. maybe even 94-97.

-Mike

-- Melt away the Cellulite with Cellulean!

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Reply to
<memset

Sounds right for the '97 GT, but my '98 is rated at 225HP.

Reply to
Bob Willard

You're right about 98

82 157hp 83-84 175hp 85 210 hp 86 200hp 87-92 225hp 93 205hp 94-97 215hp 98 225hp 99-04 260hp
Reply to
me

Bob:

I have had two 96 GT convertibles. On the first one, I put an off road H pipe (no cats) and two chamber flowmasters. Sounded good, way too loud for an old fart like me driving around in a fliptop.

I then put the factory H pipe (six cats) with the two chamber flows. I didn't care for the sound. The car had a "tin canny" type sound.

On my third try, one guy suggested that I try the factory H pipe with straight pipes (no mufflers at all) out the back. The factory H pipe with six cats provides plenty of muffler and does not affect the oxygen sensors. Has a pretty good throaty sound. If you romp on it a bit, it barks pretty well.

As soon as I got my second 96 GT vert, the first thing I did was drop the factory GT mufflers and replaced with the straight pipes. Not a bad sound and at a minimum cost.

"GT's GT"

Bob wrote:

Reply to
gjt

I've taken off the factory mufflers & replaced with 2.25" exhaust tubing... sounds ok, has a real nice "bite" to it... but not throaty or bassy enough for me. Try 1 flowmaster & 1 straight pipe.. pretty unique sound & definitely has a bite to it.

-Mike

-- Melt away the Cellulite with Cellulean!

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Reply to
<memset

Oh.. and be warned.. drone city :P.

-Mike

-- Melt away the Cellulite with Cellulean!

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Reply to
<memset

I took the 4 cats out of the stock H-pipe, and put flowmaster mufflers

2.25" on 00 GT. it sounds really nice and loud enough.
Reply to
mustangGT_00

Emissions. It's our air too, bro.

-Mike

-- Melt away the Cellulite with Cellulean!

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Reply to
<memset

Thanks for all the follow-ups - once I actually buy something & install I'll post a new msg with my results.

Bob

Reply to
Bob

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