First off, don't say buy a GT because I can't afford the insurance. Second, I don't really care about appearance, I just want the fastest 0-60 and 1/4 mile times possible.

I have a 2000 manual V6 with 75,000 miles on it and I am wondering what the best way to go about improving my times is?

Money is the major issue here, I've got friends and relatives that can do most work...

I've thought about nitrous or a supercharger, but from what I've heard they don't dramatically improve times, perhaps I'm wrong. The thing I don't like about nitrous is that the power isn't always available. I haven't precision tested my times because they are nothing to brag about anyway, but 16ish in the 1/4 mile and 0-60 in 8 or 9 (don't remember which).

I'm already planing on 3.73 gears (don't want to absolutely kill mileage on my daily driver) but is their a smarter way than supercharging to get the most horsepower? Would building up the stock engine or swapping engines be more reliable, and how much stuff needs to be replaced if you swap engines? Is swapping engines a reasonable choice?

Sorry I can't be more specific, I'm just trying to get ideas.

 

You should start by adding the gears as you've mentioned already. Followed by a good short throw shifter. Add a dual exhaust, cai. As far as power adders, v6's respond real well to boost, so a supercharger would suit you best. I wouldn't worry too much about gas mileage as you drive a 6 cylinder anyways. Plus we all know going fast and good gas mileage don't go together.

 

You have so many options from heads,a cam,gears,tune,blowers,nitrous etc... the list goe son and on.

 

yeah normal bolt ons would be everything from CAI, Throttle Body, Under Drive Pullies, Exhaust (sort of)...then you got gears. Nitrous is what all the v8 guyz say for a cheaper fast hp mod, but if your lookin for alot of all time power, it's guna cost... www.supersixmotorsports.com has set ups for V6's that port intakes and replace stuff, givin you about 90 hp...not a bad deal for 2200 bucks...

 

How fast do you want it? How much you willing to spend? Where do you live and do you care about being legal if you live in Cali? Answer me these questions and I'll help you out a lot more.

But just to give you an idea lets say your not from cali and you want to go ***** to the wall.
1. 4.3 forged strocker from SSM
2. Twin Turbo set-up from TMA
3. 8.8" rear end with 3.73's or even 3.55's
4. some suspension work.

That right their can get you into the 11's or high tens depending on some things. But then again it'll cost you. Once again answer me the first questions and I'll help you out.

 

It's not a bad deal and you are getting what you paid for. But you can get that cheaper with work just as good.

 

I'm from Minnesota and up here they don't check emissions... looking to spend around $3000ish (not including exhaust, gears, tires, wheels)

Right now I'm leaning towards putting a 5.0l in, 320hp for $2000 plus any parts needed to make it work and paying someone to tune the computer. Can get most of the labor done by a couple friends that know what they are doing. After the engine's in, I'll put 3.73 gears in the rear end and add dual exhaust. 245 tires up front and 275's in the back on 18x9" wheels.

 

Where you finding a 5.0 that makes that kind of power? Must have some mods or are you talking about a crate engine? If so watch out because you'll probably need a lot more stuff then you are bargening for. $3000 really isn't a lot if your doing a full engine swap when you include labor but you did say your buddies would help. I still say look at turbo's very seriously...

 

just buy a turbo and forget about it.

 

Seriously...you say you can't afford the insurance on a GT and want to keep some gas mileage....but then you say 3.73's and Tlok are a must, and are talking supercharger?!? If you have $3000 to throw in to the V6, you can afford the extra $20-$30 per month for a GT....

If you want to mod up a V6 great...but for the money you will spend on getting this car to a GT level you could just get a GT and be done.

Most people at this point will scream that nitrous is the way to go...its cheap and you will be faster than a GT...So go buy tons of nitrous and hope everything holds together. Just know nitrous is a CONSTANT cost (filling that bottle) and is a SOMETIMES go fast mod.

Its your money, but know the more you mod this V6, the less its worth when you resell it. There is NO secondary market for a V6...even less for a modded V6!

Use some foresight here, if you want a go fast car, buy a GT/5.0/Cobra/Mach and drive it as it is until you can afford to mod it.

 

LOL that's funny. You know damn well no one here will "just be done with it." And about the resale thing same goes for V8's. Modded cobras and GT's lose just as much if not more sometimes so that point was invalid. If you want a fast car sure go buy a V8 eventhough they're not that fast to begin with. Or you can go ahead and have fun modding your current six. Eh it's all up to you.

 

$20-30 a month more for GT insurance?

Try $2000 more a year...

And I don't plan on selling this car for many years to come, so I don't care about resale value.

 

That's what it was for me through American Family Insurance..

$2000 more between a GT and a V6? Nice number you completely made up. If you would just go out and look you would see it is not that bad..

I have a 2004 GT and pay upper 80's per month FULL COVERAGE. Everyone is different, but not that much different....

 

Thanks...I guess....


To each his own....but by doing all the mods he is talking about he will be running stock GT/Mach 1 times...so instead of modding his current car he would get the same times as just buying a better optioned car....


Look at an autotrader once...modded GT's hold the same price as non-modded GT's...don't take my word for it, LOOK FOR YOURSELF.

V6 mustangs do not hold their value as well as GT's, again just another fact, but if the owner is going to keep this car a while, then it does not matter.


How fast is a stock V6 in comparison?!?!?!?!?!? HUH?


He's finally correct here. Its your car. Just do your homework. I had 2 V6 mustangs, a 99 that ran high 14's with tons of mods, and a stock Roush Stage 1 V6...(all show)...

Insurance and gas savings are NOT a true issue. Do the research and you will see this yourself. Now I am not here to flame you for having a 6, I am just giving you a bit of truth that i wish I had when I first starting modding my V6 to make it barely run stock GT times. By the time I had all of my money in that car its drivability was not as good as stock, and I could have had a GT for the price.

Its your car, do what you want, but if you go on a message board, as you did here: http://www.mustangworld.com/forums/s...d.php?t=363925 You will get the same GT vs V6 debate. Good luck to you whatever you chose.

 

Insurance companies don't like 16 year olds

 

Age does have an affect on insurance, but your driving record is the big part.

 

I've got a clean record, but $18,000 a year for a 16 year old male with 1 accident and 2 speeding tickets for a Corvette. Ouch!

 

Damn you could have just quoted the thing once lol...

But anyways, that was the point, even if you mod an 8 you will lose money when you resale. It's the same for any car. Saying that the six re-sales for less, well duh it sells new for less.

And the whole how fast is a stock V6 thing that's not what I was talking about. Yes GT's in comparison to it's smaller brother is faster. Too bad the rest of the world isn't a stock V6 mustang. If you really want a fast great starting block, WS6, SS Camaro, 03-04 Cobra, SRT-4. Those are just some of the cars that as far as bang per mod and bang per cash go blow out a GT, of course some of those will have to be bought used to prove that point but we are talking used cars.

The fact of bring up resale value when you're going to mod a car is rediculous.

So once again my point is mod what you want it's your car your money.No one here knows your situation whether it be insurance or whatever so take all that with a grain of salt. I have seen some huge insurance rates so I believe it, it all depends on where you live your history the cars history blah blah blah... And if you do buy a modded GT make sure you bring that price down like any smart person would buying a modded car.

 

i own a v6 and with the mods that i have done to it, i can keep up with a gt for less the price on mods than buying a new gt.I especially take them on turns with the suspension i have. Oh and on the issue about value on the car after it is modded, if you own and love your stang(which many of us do) and tit is paid off, maybe its time to put some money into it.

 

Giggity!

Yea yea we all know about the price difference, but for instance, I got my V6 Brand new no owners for 15k. The price for a new GT around the same time I got mine was 18-19k If your lucky (rich area Washington DC)... So you figure for the price difference just the supersixmotorsports package alone $2000 your lookin at the same times as a stock GT, then maybe 2 grand on visual mods, wheels and so on...and boom you got yourself a nicer lookin GT basically. and the insurance is guna be cheaper cuz it's still a V6...i know it's dumb, but my best friend's inline 4 cylinder WRX is cheaper then my V6 mustang...insurance company thinks my car is faster and therefore more expensive...which is about 2.5 seconds away from truth.

So yes a V8 does have it's benifits, but most young people end up with V6's because of price, and speed. Parents don't wana throw their kids in a SVT cobra right outa HS, unless they just don't care. So it's just hard to tell, some ported heads and intake, new displacement, and a power adder and your lookin at Cobra performance numbers if not more. I'm sure most of us want to eventually get 600+ hp, but in reality that **** just ain't guna happen. Some of the true street guyz will get there, but most of them got conenctions and save money by installing alota stuff themselves...

Bottom line,
V8 = Great Sound, lil more expensive
V6 = Cheaper, good possibilities, economical.

If you got the extra income to spend on the GT why not...

 

So yeah? does anyone know where you can get a V8 Crate engine for $2000 thats rated at more hp....i remember seeing one for $4500 in my Ford Performance shop back home rated at 505 hp ne one know of something like that only cheaper??? cuz that would be GREEEEATTTTT

 

V6's can be modded to easily run faster than GT's for fairly cheap and still have great drivability. People waste money buying things like CAI and such and expect big gains out of them when they won't provide any. If you want big gains go with heads, cam, intakes. There are good deals out there to be had. I have broken into the 12's with my V6 and have spent around $2500 in performance mods for it. That was starting off with the weak single port motor.

 

I found a 5.0 liter V8 rated at 320hp for $2000 in a magazine my buddy has, that's what I was looking at swapping my v6 for.

 

supersixmotorsports.com go there buy the stage 3 kit and u will ahve 280 hp

 

Honestly be preparred to spend some cash on a quality swap. A member of my club just got done swapping a '01 Cobra motor into his 96 I think and the engine, tranny, and everything else he needed ended up breaking 10k just barely.