Car to dance?

[PhillyPhreak54]

I don't get it.

[Susquehanna Birder]

What year is yours, Sus? '04? I love that color. Gunmetal grey is it not?

It's an '02. The color is called "mineral gray." It has flecks of bronze-ish color that gives it a brown tint.

Have you done anything to it?

The previous owner put in a cold air induction setup. I did swap the stock shifter for a Steeda TriAx, but the rest I did is mostly cosmetic. I just took it to a local guy for inspection, and he asked me when I was going to let him put performance mufflers on it. That might be my next mod. After that, I'm thinking of lowering it, putting in more aggressive gears, and getting one of those handheld computer programmers.

I had a good friend in TX who autocrossed his and he had a blast with it. I couldn't tell you the first thing on how to set up the suspension and others mods for it because I was always doing the quarter mile thing.

But I do know that mostly everyone who I know who had one of the newer ones with the IRS hated it. One friend tore his out and put the solid axle back in there because of the enormous amount of wheel hop you get with the IRS.

Interesting. I'm just now learning the feel of the thing, and I think I could probably control the back end okay...but I'm curious how it wold work. Nice to know others have enjoyed it.

There is nothing better than spending a Saturday in the garage working on a Mustang, drinking some beers and just hangin out.

Absolutely.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Great choice with the TriAx. I had one and loved it. I switched from a Pro50 to the Steeda and it was awesome.

What kind of cold air unit did he put on there? Is it the fenderwell mounted one? Did he upgrade the MAF sensor along with it? I had a BBK fenderwell one and it looks sweet when its tucked into the well.

What kind of mufflers are you thinking about? I am partial to the Flowmasters (2 chamber - 40 series). They are loud. But if youre looking for a more mellow sound at low RPM but one that really opens up at high RPM the Borla kits are nice. The x-pipes are sweet as hell too.

I had 3:55 gears in the '94 for a long time because of the supercharger I had. But then I upgraded to 4:10's. They were too much for highway driving too high of a rpm @ 70mph. The 3:73's are the best because they give you that ass-in-the-seat feel and are good on gas at the same time. I would recommend only using the Ford brand gears when you do upgrade.

Damn...I gotta get another one. All of this talk has me missing my ride.

[Susquehanna Birder]

LOL...the CAI is a little bit of a mystery. I see no markings on it. A guy on one of the Mustang forums said it might be a MAC, but I don't know. Looks like the stock MAF.



One thing that bugs me is that the air filter is one of those oval-shaped things rather than the smaller round filter. It has more surface area, but the downside is that I can't get the stupid thing out through the hole in the fender wall. I think I can reach up through the wheel well...but it's going to be a pain.

I was considering the Flowmaster catbacks, but this local guy (manager of a Midas shop, which is normally suspect, but I trust this guy because he's bailed me out of a number of issues) wants to just cut the stock mufflers off and put on some Raven mufflers. It did some searches, and I see mixed reviews about Ravens. I'm almost ready to jump on it just because of the convenience factor.

I'm definitely thinking 3.73s. All the nuts on the forums like 4.10s, but so many of them run automatics. With the 5-speed, I like the slightly longer ratio. Plus I don't want to hear all the screaming should I decided to take the thing on a long ride.

It's friggin' addicting, isn't it? 

[cmleary0919]

I'm not much for stang's myself, but theres nothing that sounds like a v8 mustang w/ SLP exhaust.

[PhillyPhreak54]

One thing that bugs me is that the air filter is one of those oval-shaped things rather than the smaller round filter. It has more surface area, but the downside is that I can't get the stupid thing out through the hole in the fender wall. I think I can reach up through the wheel well...but it's going to be a pain.

Actually it sounds like a BBK. The BBK that I had was the one that looks like what you described. But I got tired of going through the wheel well and I just got a MAC filter and put it on the BBK tubing.



That is the BBK kit for '96 -'04's.

Here is the K & N Filters website. They have a bunch of universal fliters that are cone shaped and would be easier to use. You'd just have to meausre out the diameter of the tubing to make sure they have one that'll slip on the CAI kit.

I was considering the Flowmaster catbacks, but this local guy (manager of a Midas shop, which is normally suspect, but I trust this guy because he's bailed me out of a number of issues) wants to just cut the stock mufflers off and put on some Raven mufflers. It did some searches, and I see mixed reviews about Ravens. I'm almost ready to jump on it just because of the convenience factor.

I've never heard the Ravens. I knew a guy who worked at Midas in TX and he used to tell me how similar they sounded to the Flow's though. If you don't want to go with the Flowmaster catback kit you can just buy the Flowmaster mufflers and have them welded to the stock tailpipes. I went with the catback kit because I bought the chrome tailpipes. But with the way the exhaust comes out of the 99-04's having chrome might not be as big of a deal because you don't see the whole side of the pipes like you do on the 94-98's.

Here are the Flowmaster 40 series mufflers from the Flowmaster website. You'd probably find them cheaper from a place in the Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords magazine though.

I'm definitely thinking 3.73s. All the nuts on the forums like 4.10s, but so many of them run automatics. With the 5-speed, I like the slightly longer ratio. Plus I don't want to hear all the screaming should I decided to take the thing on a long ride.

It's friggin' addicting, isn't it?

Yeah, the 73's are the safest option because they work well on the highway and they can give you enough low end push when riding around town. The 4:10s were great on the track but when I would be driving around town I would be in 5th gear when crusing from stop light to stop light.

Make sure when you have them changed you replace the speedo gear or else your speedometer will be off. You'd have to convert the rpm's to figure out how fast you are going. And it adds mileage to your odometer if the correct speedo gear is not used.

And it is terribly addicting. But in a good way. I used to buy parts every week. Something little with every paycheck when I was in HS and right out of school. Hell, when I was 15 I had a room full of bolt-on's and no car yet. 

[Susquehanna Birder]

Here is the K & N Filters website. They have a bunch of universal fliters that are cone shaped and would be easier to use. You'd just have to meausre out the diameter of the tubing to make sure they have one that'll slip on the CAI kit.

Thanks. I was considering doing that, but I just haven't had the motivation yet. It's good to know it's fairly easy (once I get the old filter off, of course).

I knew a guy who worked at Midas in TX and he used to tell me how similar they sounded to the Flow's though.

The description I heard was that they sounded more like a glass pack. I'll have to think about it, for sure, because I do want better sound and performance, I don't want to piss off my neighbors. Not with the car, anyway. 

Make sure when you have them changed you replace the speedo gear or else your speedometer will be off. You'd have to convert the rpm's to figure out how fast you are going. And it adds mileage to your odometer if the correct speedo gear is not used.

I won't need to change it if I get one of these:



It will let me reprogram the car to compensate for the new differential, as well as tweak some of the tuning parameters.   

BTW...I'm about 10 miles away from a place called CJ Pony Parts, and they install the stuff they sell, so I might be tempted to pack my car's jammies and send it on an overnight trip.