As you guys may have noticed, I've had some serious issues with my car since I bought it on December 31, 2008. I finally picked it up yesterday and I wanted to share some of my thoughts after driving it for a few hours last night. Let me start by saying that my car was supposed to be bone stock when I bought it, but it ended up having some crazy tune in it that was actually hurting its performance a little. Also, one of the cats was bad. I ended up getting a new rear end and transmission under warranty. I convinced GMPP to buy me an RPM Level V transmission to replace my factory one (I just had to waive any future warranty claims for my transmission). While that was being done, I ordered an LS7 clutch and flywheel - along with a Katech slave spacer and remote bleeder. Once all that was done, the car went straight to In Tune Motorsports in Charleston, Tennessee to get the used maggie I bought installed.
After two weeks of trouble shooting the kit and ordering parts, In Tune got everything working and tuned. My initial base tune, with the messed up cat and crazy tune was around 287 whp. In Tune has a mustang dyno that they swear is one of the most conservative dynos around, and they have seen as much as a 10% variance from the numbers generated on dynojets for the same vehicles. Anyway, after the cats were taken off the car, gutted, put back on, and a factory like tune was put back in the car, it produced 317 whp.
With the current pulley setup on my maggie - which produces 5.8 lbs boost, the car put down 398whp and 389wtq. This was done in 73 degree weather at roughly 700ft above sealevel. I've already got a 2.6 front pulley coming, and I will have it put on and re-dynoed next weekend (I'm running a 2.7 now, but my rear pulley ratio is out of whack we suspect because the maggie just isn't pulling in the air that it should through the mass air.) We may just pull the blower next weekend and see what we can figure out with the rears while we're at it. However, I'm not getting any belt slip now, so I'm just going to try a smaller front.
Ultimately, considering the condition of the car when I brought it to him, tuning and gutting the cats netted me about 30whp. (remember, my drivers side cat was restricting the heck out of the motor and I had some crazy tune in it). Then, the maggie netted me another 81whp.
So, after not having the car for two months, I picked it up and drove it around. Having forgot how fast these things are stock, I'm sure my impressions are somewhat scewed regarding the increase in power, but bear with me.
Transmission: - RPM Level V T-56 (rated for 500 whp).
www.rpmtransmission.com
I was having the sixth gear vibration issues, which necessitated the warranty replacement. Needless to say, those issues are gone. The transmission feels a little tight running through the gears. I know it has less than 200 miles on it and I'm running the crappy stock shifter, so this was to be expected. However, it is noticably easier to get into first and reverse than my old one was. Hammering through the gears was no problem as long as I wasn't lazy about shifting. The best thing about the transmission is that it is quiet, smooth, and I'm not scared about blowing it up running the extra hp.
LS7 Clutch / Flywheel
I cannot stess enough how much of a difference this mod made. With the stock flywheel and clutch, when I was trying to drive conservatively, my car would often lurch and lug around, and it was just too jerky in general. I notice that if I dropped a gear to pass a car and then just tried to upshift normally to the next gear, the flywheel was generally spinning so fast that it would jerk if I wasn't careful about letting the clutch out slowly. All of this may just be attributably to my ability to drive this thing, but I was tired of my wife screwing with me when she rode shotgun and the car lurched or jerked when I was shifting or driving slowly.
Now, it drives sooooo smooth I can't believe it. Even if I lug the car around or hammer on it and then upshift and get out of it, there's no jerking, no lugging, nothing. I've had absolutely zero added chatter/noise/vibration. I have not noticed that I have to give the car any more gas in first gear from a stop to avoid stalling. It just feels the same as the stock setup, but so much smoother. While I was able to drive the car for about a week with the new rear and all new bushings before it went back to the dealer for the transmission, and I noticed a substantial decrease in clunk because of the new bushings, I swear there's even less clunk now. I don't know if it's because the decrease in rotating mass creates less drivetrain backlash or what, but I swear it helps.
At the end of the day, I can't stress enough how happy I am that I decided to upgrade the clutch and flywheel while the transmission was being replaced. This mod is well worth the coin, and really, really, really, honestly, really, makes a HUGE driveability difference.
Gutted Cats
The car sounds a little throater, but there's simply not much of a sound difference. I'm going to get the reasonaters cut off today I think and see what that sounds like... I'm sure it gave me some hp gain through, however small. Plus, it had to be done because one of my cats was toast, and it only cost $300 with the corrective tuning.
Magnacharger
WOW. All I can say is wow. The car feels like a rocket now. When I first got it, I could launch it pretty hard in first and it would, not supprisingly, spin the tires. If I power shifted into second, it would bark the tires, and every now and then I could get it to chirp in third. (BTW, I'm running a brand spanking new set of Goodyear runflats on this thing). Now, it will simply roast the tires in first if I'm not careful on a launch. From a roll, if I just punch it, it won't just break them loose completely, but they spin a little until I hit second. If I shift hard into second, it breaks the rears loose again pretty bad. Even shifting hard into third it wants to break them loose, but not like in second. The torque and power is amazing. As the attached dyno graph shows, my car pulls all the way to the rev limiter. The maggie is obviously underdriven, and I'm hoping a 2.6 will pick up the boost and maybe another 30hp.
I have a friend who has a Legacy GT with a built motor with some crazy front mount intercooler and huge turbo. It puts down 335whp (all wheel drive). We lined them up three times. I destroyed him the first run. I by the time I hit third I was a car length past him. On the second run, he had a better start, but, again, by third, he was behind my rear bumper. On the third run, I launched a little hard and the damn thing just spun through first, and through second until I got out of it. Needless to say, he pulled me a bit on that run. He was surprised at how bad I beat him. Honestly, I was too considering the weight factor.
What my experience yesterday told me was that I need beefier rubber on this thing. I'm not going to track this thing all that much, but I do plan on taking it to the strip from time to time for fun. Last night, I found a smoking deal on a set of the new NITTO NT05's from www.discounttiredirect.com. I ordered 245/40/R18's for the front and 275/40/R18's for the rear. From the research I've done, the 275's actually run a little narrow for a 275, so I think they'll work great on the rear. Also, these things have, believe it or not, received great reviews for wet traction. They are a 200 compound tire, so they should hook much better than my runflats. I'll get them put on next week and do a comprehensive write up on them, and take a ton of pictures.
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Here're the reviews that sold me: http://www.musclemustangfastfords.com/tech/mmfp_090326_nitto_nt05_tire_test/index.html
http://g35driver.com/forums/wheels-tires/276190-nitto-nt05-review.html
After two weeks of trouble shooting the kit and ordering parts, In Tune got everything working and tuned. My initial base tune, with the messed up cat and crazy tune was around 287 whp. In Tune has a mustang dyno that they swear is one of the most conservative dynos around, and they have seen as much as a 10% variance from the numbers generated on dynojets for the same vehicles. Anyway, after the cats were taken off the car, gutted, put back on, and a factory like tune was put back in the car, it produced 317 whp.
With the current pulley setup on my maggie - which produces 5.8 lbs boost, the car put down 398whp and 389wtq. This was done in 73 degree weather at roughly 700ft above sealevel. I've already got a 2.6 front pulley coming, and I will have it put on and re-dynoed next weekend (I'm running a 2.7 now, but my rear pulley ratio is out of whack we suspect because the maggie just isn't pulling in the air that it should through the mass air.) We may just pull the blower next weekend and see what we can figure out with the rears while we're at it. However, I'm not getting any belt slip now, so I'm just going to try a smaller front.
Ultimately, considering the condition of the car when I brought it to him, tuning and gutting the cats netted me about 30whp. (remember, my drivers side cat was restricting the heck out of the motor and I had some crazy tune in it). Then, the maggie netted me another 81whp.
So, after not having the car for two months, I picked it up and drove it around. Having forgot how fast these things are stock, I'm sure my impressions are somewhat scewed regarding the increase in power, but bear with me.
Transmission: - RPM Level V T-56 (rated for 500 whp).
www.rpmtransmission.com
I was having the sixth gear vibration issues, which necessitated the warranty replacement. Needless to say, those issues are gone. The transmission feels a little tight running through the gears. I know it has less than 200 miles on it and I'm running the crappy stock shifter, so this was to be expected. However, it is noticably easier to get into first and reverse than my old one was. Hammering through the gears was no problem as long as I wasn't lazy about shifting. The best thing about the transmission is that it is quiet, smooth, and I'm not scared about blowing it up running the extra hp.
LS7 Clutch / Flywheel
I cannot stess enough how much of a difference this mod made. With the stock flywheel and clutch, when I was trying to drive conservatively, my car would often lurch and lug around, and it was just too jerky in general. I notice that if I dropped a gear to pass a car and then just tried to upshift normally to the next gear, the flywheel was generally spinning so fast that it would jerk if I wasn't careful about letting the clutch out slowly. All of this may just be attributably to my ability to drive this thing, but I was tired of my wife screwing with me when she rode shotgun and the car lurched or jerked when I was shifting or driving slowly.
Now, it drives sooooo smooth I can't believe it. Even if I lug the car around or hammer on it and then upshift and get out of it, there's no jerking, no lugging, nothing. I've had absolutely zero added chatter/noise/vibration. I have not noticed that I have to give the car any more gas in first gear from a stop to avoid stalling. It just feels the same as the stock setup, but so much smoother. While I was able to drive the car for about a week with the new rear and all new bushings before it went back to the dealer for the transmission, and I noticed a substantial decrease in clunk because of the new bushings, I swear there's even less clunk now. I don't know if it's because the decrease in rotating mass creates less drivetrain backlash or what, but I swear it helps.
At the end of the day, I can't stress enough how happy I am that I decided to upgrade the clutch and flywheel while the transmission was being replaced. This mod is well worth the coin, and really, really, really, honestly, really, makes a HUGE driveability difference.
Gutted Cats
The car sounds a little throater, but there's simply not much of a sound difference. I'm going to get the reasonaters cut off today I think and see what that sounds like... I'm sure it gave me some hp gain through, however small. Plus, it had to be done because one of my cats was toast, and it only cost $300 with the corrective tuning.
Magnacharger
WOW. All I can say is wow. The car feels like a rocket now. When I first got it, I could launch it pretty hard in first and it would, not supprisingly, spin the tires. If I power shifted into second, it would bark the tires, and every now and then I could get it to chirp in third. (BTW, I'm running a brand spanking new set of Goodyear runflats on this thing). Now, it will simply roast the tires in first if I'm not careful on a launch. From a roll, if I just punch it, it won't just break them loose completely, but they spin a little until I hit second. If I shift hard into second, it breaks the rears loose again pretty bad. Even shifting hard into third it wants to break them loose, but not like in second. The torque and power is amazing. As the attached dyno graph shows, my car pulls all the way to the rev limiter. The maggie is obviously underdriven, and I'm hoping a 2.6 will pick up the boost and maybe another 30hp.
I have a friend who has a Legacy GT with a built motor with some crazy front mount intercooler and huge turbo. It puts down 335whp (all wheel drive). We lined them up three times. I destroyed him the first run. I by the time I hit third I was a car length past him. On the second run, he had a better start, but, again, by third, he was behind my rear bumper. On the third run, I launched a little hard and the damn thing just spun through first, and through second until I got out of it. Needless to say, he pulled me a bit on that run. He was surprised at how bad I beat him. Honestly, I was too considering the weight factor.
What my experience yesterday told me was that I need beefier rubber on this thing. I'm not going to track this thing all that much, but I do plan on taking it to the strip from time to time for fun. Last night, I found a smoking deal on a set of the new NITTO NT05's from www.discounttiredirect.com. I ordered 245/40/R18's for the front and 275/40/R18's for the rear. From the research I've done, the 275's actually run a little narrow for a 275, so I think they'll work great on the rear. Also, these things have, believe it or not, received great reviews for wet traction. They are a 200 compound tire, so they should hook much better than my runflats. I'll get them put on next week and do a comprehensive write up on them, and take a ton of pictures.
Here're the reviews that sold me: http://www.musclemustangfastfords.com/tech/mmfp_090326_nitto_nt05_tire_test/index.html
http://g35driver.com/forums/wheels-tires/276190-nitto-nt05-review.html
