I am getting ready to start personalizing my 05 V6. After buying the car and this being the Christmas season, I have limited funds to really overhaul my car.

Assuming I have approximately $1000 to spend on my car, what is the best place to start? The style I am going for is the simple, aggressive, and clean look. Should I start under the hood with a tune and CAI? Or switch out the fascias and rockers/stripe it?

I guess I'm just ready to get going, but want to make the money I have go the farthest without buying cheap stuff or pep-boys snap on junk.

Thanks, you guys (and girls) rock!

CAI and tunes. I went with the C&L intake with brenspeeds tunes. A lot of people rave about B*A*M*A tunes and how great they are so they must be pretty damn good too.

I would take off the mustang side stripe you have on the car now... it is kinda bland. If you want a personalized side stripe go to baltimorestreetmods.com

and after the CAI and tune you will probably have $400 left over. Get a pypes dual exhaust kit. They are decent and for the price you cant beat it.

Just my thoughts though, have fun man!

Save it and save up $500 more and get rims and tires. Then you have a big chunk out of the way and can work on smaller stuff.

Oh yeah, meant to say that. The first thing I'll be doing is taking that stripe off, but that's free. I was going to do it today, but I have to work later. It looks good on some colors, but I think the black on red looks terrible. I won't be replacing it with anything either.
Can you just hit it with heat and peel it off? If I do that will there be any surprises underneath or damage to the paint from the heat?
Is the Pypes a true dual exhaust? And you said that would be less than $400?

Also, I'm new to this, what are the benefits to a CAI and tuner? Is there a FAQ or something I can read? I'm not real concerned with which brand to get yet, there is plenty of info on that... but what about those mods makes them worth $600?
Thanks!
(just call me Questions McGee)

Odyssey, I have 17" Bullitt wheels lying around that I had on my 00 mustang. Will those fit on this car? I don't know if the backspacing is different or anything.

oh man you have no idea how much fun you're going to have in this car. The first year and a half i had mine i had NO CLUE about anything related to cars. After reading online for a little bit you'll figure stuff out.

But the CAI and Tune really "wakes up" the car. I don't know what you're into more, show or go? At first i really wanted rims too, big 18 inch or 20 inch chrome ones. 3 years later i still don't have rims because go is a lot more important to me. Keep in mind most aftermarket rims weigh a lot and can affect how the car drives. If you have too heavy of wheels on there it takes more power to turn them, and thats less power you will feel.

Anyways, the tune and cold air intake gets rid of that inherit throttle lag that is associated with the new mustangs. It also takes advantage of spark and advances timing depending on which tunes you get (87 octane, 91 oct, 93 oct... etc) The higher the octane tunes the more you can advance the timing.

more info here: http://www.mustangforums.com/m_1189936/tm.htm

also the pypes dual exhaust kit IS true duals. i got mine from here: http://rpmoutlet.com/05v6pcb.htm

there is different kits you can get depending on what you want.

in most cases you can just peel off the side stripes, mine went fine like that. If you are having trouble just bust out a blowdryer

i dont have a CAI/tune yet but most people here all agree you'll see a 25-30hp increase, which while it does have a $600 price tag,is a very nice gain for the price.

also alot of peopel like pypes..some on here have it, i have it as well but its still in the box(not time to put it on yet)its like $350ish which comes with x-pipe,midpipes and streep pro mufflers..and from everyone i've heard here as well, stay away from that link that other person posted for rpmoutlet, the only times i ever see it mentioned on this site is when a random person posts a link to it, then 23455343 people come in and tell thier story about how bad that place is. v6mustangstuff.com is where i bough my pypes system. thats a good place, i've placed a few orders from them and nothing took more than 4 days


since you have a V6 and may go dual exhaust, you'll need to do somethign with the rear bumper, theres Gt take off bumpers that are only like $160+ship which can usually come already painted(same site i mentioned before)theres rear bumper valances, street scene and 3d carbon have them, but some people dont like those. then theres the cost efficient way, cutting the stock bumper cover on the driver side to match the passenger, the pypes website has a template for it i think, i've heard people say their muffler shop did when doing the exaust for very cheap

Well normally "Go" is more important to me, but I have a 63 Ford with a 429 that I used to race, so I doubt I will ever get serious at the track with this one.
Technically this car is already plenty beautiful and fast enough for my uses, but I'm going to add my style to both ends anyway. Just cause i can. ;) Show probably is more in the lead at this point though.

Rims and tires are the first thing unless you want performance. And if you are gonna get any F/I don't get a CAI cause you will just have to replace it when you go F/I. Just depends what you want to do first I did appearance on mine!!!!

ORIGINAL: Fallout

most people here all agree you'll see a 25-30hp increase

stay away from that link that other person posted for rpmoutlet, the only times i ever see it mentioned on this site is when a random person posts a link to it, then 23455343 people come in and tell thier story about how bad that place is.



It's not really that huge of an increase, more like 20 hp realistically but its definitley worth it. As for RPM-Outlet, i have heard a few stories about them shipping the wrong stuff before, but i haven't heard anything bad from them in over a year so i think they have shaped up. The reason i say get it from there is cause an exhaust system is bulky and heavy and will cost a lot to ship, rpmoutlet has free ups ground on their exhaust systems and their prices are very competive. I dealt with them twice and both times they shipped out next day with no problems.

Just my 2 cents though

get this package from Justin, he is a site sponsor and has excellent customer service

http://www.vmptuning.com/store/index.php?p=product&id=200&parent=92

You are looking at 25 rwhp and $400 left over to do some other stuff. Also you know you are getting quality. If you have a manual transmission pick up an aftermarket shifter such as the Hurst or MGW. These two combined will leave you with about $200 left over. All of these mods can be installed by you with simple hand tools.

Best of luck!

For some performance mods, the first thing would be a CAI/Tune that's the best bang for your buck then you could either get a dual exhaust or quarter window louvers and/or a hood scoop, or if you still want to go performance, a shifter is fun:D

RPM outlet is just plain BAD! Please go else where.
RIMS and TIRES---a must
the 00 rims will fit, they have a +25 back space so they will be a lil wider but it will work, thats what mine are.
CAI and TUNE, Demoulet or Tunable Inductions has a good deal for about $520 for a CAI and tune, nice product and great customer service and listen to what Mn moose says he know his stuff.

ORIGINAL: MN Moose


also the pypes dual exhaust kit IS true duals. i got mine from here: http://rpmoutlet.com/05v6pcb.htm

there is different kits you can get depending on what you want.




Don't deal with RPM Outlet.
I tried to contact them to order my duals but they never answered the phone, then when they did they would hang up! There have been so many forum members here who have had nothing but bad experiences with them. Try V6MustangStuff.com....they are forum sponsors and may offer you a discount for being a member......they did for me. Or you can purchase your dual kit from Ford Racing Performance. The kit comes with everything you need plus with a Ford Warranty. If this kit had been available back in May, I would have purchased it.

If your car is an automatic then definitely get a cai w/tune from one of the popular tuners(vmp,bama,ect.).The autos have a dangerous downshift lag and no response. If a manual trans.then the tune is stilla good first mod,as an extra 25 hp and better response is always nice. VMP has an x/cal2 and his own intake for $449.00 thats works just great. I have one and love it.Pick up a GT take-off muffler(fairly inexpensive)and your still going to have about $500.00 left. GT take-off rims/tires are about $650.00-$680.00(newtakeoff.com)so you only have to save up another $250-$280.00. What ever you do a cai/tune is a must do mod. I will never drive my Mustang stock again. It`s that much of a difference. Have fun!

ORIGINAL: my first mustang
What ever you do a cai/tune is a must do mod. I will never drive my Mustang stock again. It`s that much of a difference. Have fun!


+ a really big 1 on that!

Ok sounds good, I think I'll go with the CAI/tune. Time to start reading...
I really appreciate all the help, I grew up fixing up old stangs and trucks, but this new stuff is foreign to me.

http://www.vmptuning.com/store/index.php?p=product&id=198&parent=92

Is this the one you were referring to? Also, what will this do to my gas mileage? I don't want to go past 90 octane either.

Another thing is that it states that the tune will disable traction control. Is that optional? Right now everything I can see is covered with ice, and I need TC to get anywhere. I can always shut it off manually when i want, but i want it on during the winter.

ORIGINAL: laserred02

get this package from Justin, he is a site sponsor and has excellent customer service

http://www.vmptuning.com/store/index.php?p=product&id=200&parent=92





+1 on this.....i was going to recommend the same package. you get everything you need for great performance and nice sound plus you end up with $400 left over to go towards some slick wheels for looks. IMO, wheels seem to have the biggest appearance impact on a car. if not the biggest, definately top 3 ;).


P.S. You dont have to use the higher octane tunes. i'm sure you will recieve a few different tunes with an 87 perf as one of them.

What would be the difference between performance and gas mileage tunes? For instance what would be the difference in HP and MPG between the two?