First round of mods....what to do?

[MKG6925]

All right guys. I need everyone's ideas. The warranty on my 2010 540 RH expires in October. I told the wifey that I wold wait until this happens to start modding. I plan on keeping this car for a long time. I am only about an hour from VMP Tuning, so Justin will most likely be the one working on my car. There are quite a few options on the VMP website and I can't make up my mind. What should I do for my first round of mods? I'd like to keep the cost as close to $1,500 as possible.

[skwerl]

What is the purpose of waiting, other than the car being older when you do the mods? Have you ever had any warranty work done on a vehicle? In most cases I would ignore the warranty and take the car someplace (any place) other than the dealer and pay for the repairs anyway. Sort of like having health insurance, it's often cheaper if you don't use the coverage and just pay your bill out of pocket.

Sorry for getting off on a tangent but the warranty bullshit just strikes a raw nerve with me. Bunch of warranty worriers over on IMBOC as well, half of them are freaking out now that their garage queens that don't get driven are about to no longer be covered by warranty. If you're going to mod it then just f'n mod it. I put a blower on my car 2 months after I bought it and another $10K in mods over the last year. I wouldn't let a dealership touch my car if they paid me.

[LIracer]

$1500 should get you a tune, pulley kit and CAI. But why stop there (or ever). You have equity in your house and a 401K, right? Why let value languish in those depreciating assets when you can dump it all in modding your car?

[bkonen]

just bought a 2013 RS3 and im already looking into a tune kit, cold air kit and a pulley. Anyone have any ideas?

[Gonein60]

just bought a 2013 RS3 and im already looking into a tune kit, cold air kit and a pulley. Anyone have any ideas?

JLT Cold air Kit, VMP 82MM pulley, VMP 91 0r 93 octane tune. Good for 580-600wheel, depending on whether it's 91 0r 93 octane. Don't go lower than 82mm pulley, cause then you got upgrade idler. Car is pretty safe with this package. My car made 580wheel and 505 torque with these mods. Car is insane fast now.

[Gonein60]

What is the purpose of waiting, other than the car being older when you do the mods? Have you ever had any warranty work done on a vehicle? In most cases I would ignore the warranty and take the car someplace (any place) other than the dealer and pay for the repairs anyway. Sort of like having health insurance, it's often cheaper if you don't use the coverage and just pay your bill out of pocket.

Sorry for getting off on a tangent but the warranty bullshit just strikes a raw nerve with me. Bunch of warranty worriers over on IMBOC as well, half of them are freaking out now that their garage queens that don't get driven are about to no longer be covered by warranty. If you're going to mod it then just f'n mod it. I put a blower on my car 2 months after I bought it and another $10K in mods over the last year. I wouldn't let a dealership touch my car if they paid me.

You are exactly right, why wait and get older with a slower car. Warranty is a joke anyways. All these old fogies with their garage queens are ridiculous. My car is a daily driver with 580wheel pump gas VMP tune. Drive your car man, or sell it.

[Pentalab]

just bought a 2013 RS3 and im already looking into a tune kit, cold air kit and a pulley. Anyone have any ideas?

Get a hold of either VMP tuning or JDM engineering. Both of em have written the book on the 2013 RS3. VMP has SC pulley's ranging from 85mm.... down to 69mm.
http://www.vmptuning.com/store/index...arent=124&pg=1

$250.00 for a custom tune...if u already have a SCT-X3.....or $550.00 if you don't already have a SCT-X3.

Here is the rest of it. http://www.vmptuning.com/store/index...arent=121&pg=1

Just phone or email em. They will both want to know what octane you use..and if it contains ethanol.
The sky is the limit for hp increases....then hold on for the ride. Even just a tune will put you way ahead of the Roush tune.

Jimbo

[Pentalab]

All right guys. I need everyone's ideas. The warranty on my 2010 540 RH expires in October. I told the wifey that I wold wait until this happens to start modding. I plan on keeping this car for a long time. I am only about an hour from VMP Tuning, so Justin will most likely be the one working on my car. There are quite a few options on the VMP website and I can't make up my mind. What should I do for my first round of mods? I'd like to keep the cost as close to $1,500 as possible.

http://www.vmptuning.com/store/index...457&parent=116 Now this mod is designed for your 540H ! Notice the last graph. By using the custom VMP designed elbow...the temps on the output side of the blower ( b4 the inter cooler), dropped by 52 deg F ! The polished twin 62mm
TB that comes with the kit is a thing of beauty.

Then toss in the smaller SC pulley, new tune etc, and you now have a flame thrower. The 2010 is nice... since it comes with the huge 18" tall x 21" wide front mounted HE.... which gets hit with air from both upper and lower grille. If you install the Roush 7 bar upper grille...you will double the airflow through the upper grille alone.

The Roush 2010 540H IS a real roush imo..... it's got the all forged motor, newer body style..and the bigger HE.

If it was me.... I would opt for the bigger TB + ported elbow kit + a new tune ( and specify what octane, and whether u have ethanol in it or not).
Ok, now you have taken out all the airflow restrictions...and can now make some more power from just that mod alone. Roush used the 2010 GT airbox. That airbox flows 800 cfm with the oem Ford paper filter....and 980 cfm with the drop in K+N air filter. You have a few options with the CAI. Install the K+N filter, and-or chop out the vanes in the airbox lid.... or replace the box with a cone style filter.

If you want say 600RWHP, then you require 600 divided by .88 = 681 hp at the crank. 681 x 1.5 = 1022 cfm ( u need 1.5 cfm per 1 crank hp)
The box is maxed out....even with the K+n filter.
I think the 540H, although rated for 540 crank hp,..... actually puts out 510 RWHP. If you are only 1 hr away from VMP, get em to dyno tune it.
Run it all past him...and he will put you on the right track. I'd get all the air restrictions outa there 1st, b4 going to a smaller SC pulley.

later....... Jimbo

[MKG6925]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Le me just say that this not my first experience modding a mustang. After reading this you guys should understand why I am waiting on the warranty to expire. I had a 2003 Sonic Blue Terminator that I bought new. I had Steeda do the typical upgrades at the time (pulley, cai, throttle body and a tune). They got me 472hp/502tq atw. I loved the car and it was a beast. Come to find out that the car was a victim of a Ford TSB that covered a defective cylinder head (coolant somehow bypassed the 7 and 8 cylinder). After taking it to the dealer I bought it from I got screwed royally. Ford cancelled my entire power train warranty and refused to cover the repair, because the car was modded. I had 18 months left on the warranty!

$1,500 is just for this round. I have another kid on the way and need to control myself. However, there will be more. That much I promise.

Pentalab - I was actually considering the elbow/throttle body package. If I go that route I will probably throw a smaller pulley as well. Is a cai kit really worth it? Since none are made specifically for the 2010 roushcharged cars I would need a
Compatible one. Which one would I use?

[gtncpa]

Brian ... dont hold back ... when should he start modding?

[Pentalab]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Le me just say that this not my first experience modding a mustang. After reading this you guys should understand why I am waiting on the warranty to expire. I had a 2003 Sonic Blue Terminator that I bought new. I had Steeda do the typical upgrades at the time (pulley, cai, throttle body and a tune). They got me 472hp/502tq atw. I loved the car and it was a beast. Come to find out that the car was a victim of a Ford TSB that covered a defective cylinder head (coolant somehow bypassed the 7 and 8 cylinder). After taking it to the dealer I bought it from I got screwed royally. Ford cancelled my entire power train warranty and refused to cover the repair, because the car was modded. I had 18 months left on the warranty!

$1,500 is just for this round. I have another kid on the way and need to control myself. However, there will be more. That much I promise.

Pentalab - I was actually considering the elbow/throttle body package. If I go that route I will probably throw a smaller pulley as well. Is a cai kit really worth it? Since none are made specifically for the 2010 roushcharged cars I would need a
Compatible one. Which one would I use?

I believe there is 1-2 cone type CAI's out there that actually are compatible. I saw a pix of one of em on a 540H about 2 months ago. It was huge! Talk to Justin at VMP. He will know asap what will work,cai wise, and-or, if a bigger maf will work as well. IMO, the stock airbox is maxed out at 575Rwhp.

You have a few options. If you have to replace the cai for the last few hp.... it will run up the expenses real quick. Dunno what the stock manual tranny + clutch are good for either. Push this stuff too far... then it snowballs into a gong show.

Another good mod is to replace the heavy oem 2 x piece steel drive shaft with a lightweight, one piece aluminum DS. The DSS brand is one of the most popular, and uses a CV joint at the axle end. ($699.00) Then the pinion angle is not critical. Less rotating mass, and another 30 ft lbs of RWTQ @ 2.5krpm. That's what I call a free lunch. Check out the dyno chart from coast. ( left click on the graph for a bigger high res format) http://www.coastdriveline.com/NEW_Mustang.htm DSS is cranking their shafts out as fast as they can make em. Huge backlog a month ago. I just got an email from my speed shop in Alberta, they finally have a big shipment of DSS shafts arriving next week. 48 lbs for oem..and 16-18 lbs for the lightweight shafts. The DSS shaft is rated for 900 hp. I'm going to install the DSS shaft + the BMR tunnel brace + mating DS safety loop at the same time.

Once you crank up the hp some more, you will probably be at the limit of the oem 2 x piece shaft anyway. Dumping 30-35 lbs is just icing on the cake.

Jimbo

[Gonein60]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Le me just say that this not my first experience modding a mustang. After reading this you guys should understand why I am waiting on the warranty to expire. I had a 2003 Sonic Blue Terminator that I bought new. I had Steeda do the typical upgrades at the time (pulley, cai, throttle body and a tune). They got me 472hp/502tq atw. I loved the car and it was a beast. Come to find out that the car was a victim of a Ford TSB that covered a defective cylinder head (coolant somehow bypassed the 7 and 8 cylinder). After taking it to the dealer I bought it from I got screwed royally. Ford cancelled my entire power train warranty and refused to cover the repair, because the car was modded. I had 18 months left on the warranty!

$1,500 is just for this round. I have another kid on the way and need to control myself. However, there will be more. That much I promise.

Pentalab - I was actually considering the elbow/throttle body package. If I go that route I will probably throw a smaller pulley as well. Is a cai kit really worth it? Since none are made specifically for the 2010 roushcharged cars I would need a
Compatible one. Which one would I use?

That's bullshit man. Ford has to prove your mods caused the failure. Moss Magnuson act. The defect was inherent in the design, not because of your mods. That's is absolute crap man. You could of sued Ford and won.

[Gonein60]

[QUOTE=MKG6925;723586]Thanks for the responses everyone. Le me just say that this not my first experience modding a mustang. After reading this you guys should understand why I am waiting on the warranty to expire. I had a 2003 Sonic Blue Terminator that I bought new. I had Steeda do the typical upgrades at the time (pulley, cai, throttle body and a tune). They got me 472hp/502tq atw. I loved the car and it was a beast. Come to find out that the car was a victim of a Ford TSB that covered a defective cylinder head (coolant somehow bypassed the 7 and 8 cylinder). After taking it to the dealer I bought it from I got screwed royally. Ford cancelled my entire power train warranty and refused to cover the repair, because the car was modded. I had 18 months left on the warranty!


What exactly happened, did your 03 Cobra overheat and crack the heads and block cause of the Ford defect

[Larry Moser]

Being one of those "old fogies" Gonein60 talks about, let me say this. This RWHP is a bunch of crap. After a sideways at 100 mph in a friends "900 RWHP Terminator"! If you can't put it on the ground you're just making a fool out of yourself. John Force imitations don't win races, legal or illegal. Gonein60, what I do with my car is none of your business.

[Larry Moser]

Oh, and as a retired Ford Dealer employee. They don't have to do anything. Good luck suing, Ford has 100's of lawyers just waiting to smoke your ass. You modified your vehicle to increase engine output beyond design. Read your owners manual.

[Gonein60]

Oh, and as a retired Ford Dealer employee. They don't have to do anything. Good luck suing, Ford has 100's of lawyers just waiting to smoke your ass. You modified your vehicle to increase engine output beyond design. Read your owners manual.

Hey fogie,
You are wrong. Read MOSS Magnuson Act. The 03 Cobra failed cause of an inherent design flaw in the cylinder head, not because of his mods. Those 03 Cobra engines can take 800wheel all day and night, cause I have seen it first hand. Fully forged everything and low compression.

Second, I never directed any remarks toward you personally about being an old geezer who parks his car in the garage and never drives it(waste if you ask me). So if you find offense to my generalization then that's your darn problem. You took it personally because it must be true in your case. I don't give half a crap what you do with your dust collected garage queen waste of horsepower and velvet rope car. Lots of people on here make generalizations, read the post I quoted above and you'll see the other guy did too.

Lastly, I agree with you on some of these guys running 900wheel on the street, that's pretty lame man, unless the car can handle it, and the driver knows what he's doing.

Personally I wouldn't go over 800wheel on any street car. Lots of guys think more and more is better, and it is up to a point. But 1200wheel street cars are just a waste man, IMHO.

Just curious, did your friend wreck his 900wheel Terminator, or were you guys ok.

Don't take offense man, we are all grown men on here, and it's all good.

[MKG6925]

Come on guys I'm not trying to start any arguments here. We're all entitled to do what ever we want to do with our cars. Hell I wish I was able to spend "roush" levels of money and have it be a garage queen.

Gonein60 - the cdrovers side cylinder head cracked and cost me over 2 grand to fix.

Larry is correct anyways. Suppose I attempt to sue Ford. Ford's pockets are considerably deeper than mine. To contest a law suit agains Ford would be idiotic and a waste of money.

[Gonein60]

Come on guys I'm not trying to start any arguments here. We're all entitled to do what ever we want to do with our cars. Hell I wish I was able to spend "roush" levels of money and have it be a garage queen.

Gonein60 - the cdrovers side cylinder head cracked and cost me over 2 grand to fix.

Larry is correct anyways. Suppose I attempt to sue Ford. Ford's pockets are considerably deeper than mine. To contest a law suit agains Ford would be idiotic and a waste of money.

A lawyer would take your case on a contingency basis, cause the Moss Magnuson act would validate your arguement, and you would win.

[10Roush427r]

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. What's great about this site and the people on it (for the most part) is everyone demonstrates respect with one another no matter what they think or believe.

Skwerl/Gonein60........You were in the wrong by the way you displayed your lack of respect and common courtesy towards other members that don't believe the same thing as you. If people want to spend their money on a car and put it in their garage to collect dust, then that's THEIR CHOICE. You shouldn't criticize them because you don't agree with that, it's their choice not yours. The "old fogie's with garage queens" didn't mention anything about what you do with your car so, show some respect and common courtesy by keeping your negitive comments to yourself. Those negitive comments not only make people angry but they also shut threads down. This guy is genuinely asking for some advice and it's not fair when rude and disrespectfull people ruin it for others.

[LIracer]

MKG6925: Enjoy your car and run it, keep it in the garage or track it, whatever you want. That the great thing about the hobby, it's do what you want. Don't listen to a few here who have diarrhea of the mouth. THey sound like they know what they're saying but really do not. Certainly disregard most of their legal advice. I have been advised that if you mess with Roush's tune the warranty is voided. Roush is not the most willing to back up product anyway. Wit that said, many choose to highly mod any way (like me) and don't care about the warranty. Again its their decision. WHat I can advise you from experience is that your 540RH has the toughest engine Roush has made and it responds well to mods. It is very bullet proof. You will hardly find any issues or complaints about that motor, something (regretfully) that can not said about the current Roush offering. I currently am pulling 627 RWHP with high torque numbers (something else the 5.0 isn't doing) and will do high flow heads this fall. We are expecting close 670 dependable, trouble free RWHP (we may take a run at 200 mph in Texas). Have fun modding!