To Mod or Not To Mod

[BlackHorse]

I have a 2010 V6 Mustang and I have to say I absolutely love the car. It has good performance, decent gas mileage and I think it just looks great with the new body style. At any rate, like most of us, I soon found my way to a Mustang dedicated forum to converse with fellow Mustang owners. Now let me first say that I don't hold any sort of negative opinion about guys who add aftermarket performance parts to their Mustang. Car guys are going to do that and there's nothing wrong with it. Naturally when I joined a Mustang only forum there were a plethora of other owners who are doing precisely that. Those forums are full of testimony about how great the aftermarket parts are, how much better they are over the stock components and how much they improved the cars performance.

 

The only venture I took into the world of modding was to add a no tune CAI to my engine. I knew going in that it wasn't going to make any difference in performance. I just added it to give the engine a bit of dress up. Of course a CAI and a tune is one of the most commonly applied mods for newer Mustang owners because it's the easiest and most reasonably priced mod available. I never opted for a tune because I didn't think the the $300 or so dollars to attain maybe 15 horsepower was worth the money, and even then you get to run 93 octane from that point on. Other guys swear by the tuners and that's ok, to each is own.

 

I think a part of my point of view is that I'm getting older and I don't feel the need to outrun everyone on the street. I just enjoy the car and it's just a blast to drive as is. In addition I personally think that if I was going to truly make my V6 Mustang "fast" I wouldn't mess around with some tune and a CAI. I would just pull the engine and put forged internals in it, add stage 3 heads and a supercharger and then put a dual exhaust on it and a locking diff in the back to handle the torque. Then I would change out the tune and only because you obvioulsy have to when you add a supercharger. Now I'm sure we all know that in order to do that you have to lay down a pile of cash. To really do it right I would also add drilled and slotted breaks, lower the car a bit on a stiffer suspension, shortened pan hard bar and better rubber to grip the road with. By the time I got done I'm guessing I would drop an easy 12 to 15 grand. And even though a lot of V6 guys hate to hear the words I'm about to say the following statement is true. "If you want that kind of performance why didn't you just buy a GT?" That comment will usually get the arguments started on the V6 only section of a Mustang dedicated forum. lol But it's true and I used to own a GT but I have to be honest, for day to day driving, I actually much prefer the V6. It's easier to live with.

 

So anyway, just yesterday I took my shiny chrome CAI off and put the stock airbox back on because in cooler weather the heat shield of the CAI would vibrate and make an awful rattle under the hood when the engine was cold. It only doesn't for a few seconds when the car is put into gear but it's damned annoying and pretty or not that thing had to go. And when I put the stock air box back on I realised the most amazing thing, . . . the car runs better. Not faster mind you, but smoother and it has a smoother idle, and of course no rattle. Could it be that the guys at Ford motor company who designed and built this car actually knew what they were doing? Could it be that they put more testing and development time into the various components than some aftermarket company who wants your 200 bucks and seeya later sucker? lol I let the car answer for itself, it runs better on the stock box and thus ended my venture into modifying my Mustang. It shall henceforth remain a stock Mustang. I might add a Ford racing strut brace, but that would be the extent of my mods list. I don't feel any need to outrun everything in sight and if I did, I'm not going to piece meal it. If I did, I would in fact just get a GT. So to those Mustang owners out there who feel compelled to add go fast parts to their car, I say happy modding. A man should do what makes him happy I think. You get one shot at this life, have some fun. But I think there's probably a lot of us out here who just get a big old smile on our face driving the car as is.

[akirby]

I thought this topic was about RJ and Nick......

[Roadtrip]

I have a 2010 V6 Mustang and I have to say I absolutely love the car. It has good performance, decent gas mileage and I think it just looks great with the new body style. At any rate, like most of us, I soon found my way to a Mustang dedicated forum to converse with fellow Mustang owners. Now let me first say that I don't hold any sort of negative opinion about guys who add aftermarket performance parts to their Mustang. Car guys are going to do that and there's nothing wrong with it. Naturally when I joined a Mustang only forum there were a plethora of other owners who are doing precisely that. Those forums are full of testimony about how great the aftermarket parts are, how much better they are over the stock components and how much they improved the cars performance.

 

The only venture I took into the world of modding was to add a no tune CAI to my engine. I knew going in that it wasn't going to make any difference in performance. I just added it to give the engine a bit of dress up. Of course a CAI and a tune is one of the most commonly applied mods for newer Mustang owners because it's the easiest and most reasonably priced mod available. I never opted for a tune because I didn't think the the $300 or so dollars to attain maybe 15 horsepower was worth the money, and even then you get to run 93 octane from that point on. Other guys swear by the tuners and that's ok, to each is own.

 

I think a part of my point of view is that I'm getting older and I don't feel the need to outrun everyone on the street. I just enjoy the car and it's just a blast to drive as is. In addition I personally think that if I was going to truly make my V6 Mustang "fast" I wouldn't mess around with some tune and a CAI. I would just pull the engine and put forged internals in it, add stage 3 heads and a supercharger and then put a dual exhaust on it and a locking diff in the back to handle the torque. Then I would change out the tune and only because you obvioulsy have to when you add a supercharger. Now I'm sure we all know that in order to do that you have to lay down a pile of cash. To really do it right I would also add drilled and slotted breaks, lower the car a bit on a stiffer suspension, shortened pan hard bar and better rubber to grip the road with. By the time I got done I'm guessing I would drop an easy 12 to 15 grand. And even though a lot of V6 guys hate to hear the words I'm about to say the following statement is true. "If you want that kind of performance why didn't you just buy a GT?" That comment will usually get the arguments started on the V6 only section of a Mustang dedicated forum. lol But it's true and I used to own a GT but I have to be honest, for day to day driving, I actually much prefer the V6. It's easier to live with.

 

So anyway, just yesterday I took my shiny chrome CAI off and put the stock airbox back on because in cooler weather the heat shield of the CAI would vibrate and make an awful rattle under the hood when the engine was cold. It only doesn't for a few seconds when the car is put into gear but it's damned annoying and pretty or not that thing had to go. And when I put the stock air box back on I realised the most amazing thing, . . . the car runs better. Not faster mind you, but smoother and it has a smoother idle, and of course no rattle. Could it be that the guys at Ford motor company who designed and built this car actually knew what they were doing? Could it be that they put more testing and development time into the various components than some aftermarket company who wants your 200 bucks and seeya later sucker? lol I let the car answer for itself, it runs better on the stock box and thus ended my venture into modifying my Mustang. It shall henceforth remain a stock Mustang. I might add a Ford racing strut brace, but that would be the extent of my mods list. I don't feel any need to outrun everything in sight and if I did, I'm not going to piece meal it. If I did, I would in fact just get a GT. So to those Mustang owners out there who feel compelled to add go fast parts to their car, I say happy modding. A man should do what makes him happy I think. You get one shot at this life, have some fun. But I think there's probably a lot of us out here who just get a big old smile on our face driving the car as is.

 

I pretty much agree with the jist of what you are saying. I bought a 2001 Cobra in September of that year, and joined this forum hoping to learn more about the car, what mods were worthwhile, etc. (This was back when there was still an SVT Cobra forum on BON, and it was the busiest forum on BON for several years during the early-to-mid 2000s.)

 

After reading of others' successes and failures -- and more importantly, thinking of mods in terms of cost-benefit -- I decided to enjoy the car as it was meant to be enjoyed by its designers. The only mods I settled on were an aftermarket short-throw 5.0 shifter and a pair of weld-on sub-frame connectors from Griggs. The shifter definitely made the car more fun to drive than it already was (it feels more positive, while the stock shifter felt mushy). The addition of the SFCs was merely an attempt on my part to buck up the torsional rigidity of the old SN-95 platform (think '78 Fairmont) to add longevity to the car.

 

Admittedly, I felt a little green when the Shelby GT 500s first came to market. But the initial $20,000-plus dealer markup had me feeling better. I did some research, and concluded that, now that my Cobra was paid for, I could invest, say, $15,000 to $20,000 in forged internals, a roots supercharger, a full-on Griggs tubular suspension, a regression to a stick rear axle, and a few other things, and I could, perhaps, have a car that could beat the GT 500 on any terms.

 

Perhaps. But what would be the point? That old cost-benefit bug always seems to hang on my shoulder -- not sure whether it's an angel or a devil.

 

Anyway, the Cobra has been a fantastic car. Even in stock form, it's probably faster than 95 percent of all cars on the street. It handles great, has good brakes, and the factory exhaust has a seriously nasty snarl. What else do I need?

 

All those Mustang magazines that are out there are published for one reason, and one reason only: to sell advertising for aftermarket parts vendors.

 

I was caught up in this in years past with a couple of '60s-era GM muscle cars I owned and "modded." And I won a few street races, to be sure. But looking back, when I calculate the value-added formula (value added = benefits minus cost), I was the one who ended up on the losing end. More than I care to share, actually.

 

And mods (at least for some people) can be a never-ending addiction. Lust for power, need for speed, etc. Some people who weren't satisfied wth the naturally aspirated power of the Cobra's 32V DOHC engine -- with its 6800 rpm redline -- thought that adding boost via superchargers would satisfy their lust for more power. They might have won a few drag races and experienced the joy of increased acceleration -- up until the point when they spun a rod bearing or blew a piston. Again I ask: What would be the point? And more importantly, at what cost, and does the benefit outweigh that cost?

 

All that said, I do concede that I would like to add an aftermarket exhaust to my Cobra. Something that broadcasts the gorgeous 32V DOHC song a little louder. It wouldn't hurt the engine. And I'm a music buff, so the benefit of that particular mod might actually exceed the cost -- but only to my own ear, and only in my own mind.

 

Enjoy your car for what it is -- which is a great car, a classic -- and don't get caught up in the hype of spending on the aftermarket unless you see a real benefit.

[NickF1011]

I started off relatively slow with the mods on my Cobra. I was of pretty much the same mindset as you in that I thought Ford did a pretty good job of it on their own and I didn't feel like spending a ton of cash to improve an already great car. I did a few minor things like gears, short-throw shifter, a catback, and some lowering springs, but other than that, it remained mostly stock until a few years ago.

 

Come 2007, I had had a different daily driver for a couple of years and the Cobra was just starting to get absolutely out-performed by everything new on the road. I had the money sitting aside for a project so I decided to dig into the engine a bit more. Sure, it cost a lot of money, but I'm definitely pleased with the results as it gave the car a new lease on an otherwise starting-to-get-a-little-boring life. Plus the engine had recently developed a nasty knock, so it probably would have required a rebuild anyway. Perfect opportunity for an upgrade I figured. Now it's a 461 rwhp machine with full suspension and brake upgrades and can hang with damn near any performance car on the road. It's certainly more of a handful to drive than it used to be, but it's still perfectly streetable for hours at a time.

 

In the end, it all comes down to what you want. I love to see a completely clean stock '97 Cobra on the road now and then, but at the same time it doesn't make me regret any of the mods I've done to mine.

[whutever202]

The biggest suggestion I have is to make it your "own". What I mean by that is mod it the the way you will enjoy it the most. If the strut brace is your only modification, so what, you just made the car more "you" and be happy with the way it turned out!

[wabirch]

Certainly value in leaving the car stock, no warranty arguments for one. I've done a lot to make mine stop and corner better than stock. I added a cam to revisit the sound I dreamed of 40 years ago. And most importantly, I smile every time I leave the driveway. There will always be something faster and louder. Mods are fun to those that want them. I respect those that leave cars stock but that is simply not what I wanted to do.