[RioRedSN95]

Hi there, Im pretty new to this forum. I wanted everyones opinion on whether I should keep my current mustang or sell it and buy a newer (2002-2004) mustang GT?

My current mustang is a 1997GT: rio red with black bullit rims. I love it but the reason I'm considering getting another GT is because it is an AutomatiC. I would like a manual transmission as that is more enjoyable to drive for me.

There is nothing wrong with her at all, and she's quite a looker. It does have some mods which are simple mods: PI intake, bbk cai, SCT tuner with Brenspeed tune, bkk catted x-pipe with flowmaster Super 44's. And with those mods being an auto I doubt I'm hitting 210rwhp lol

Would it be a loss due to the amount of money I've put into mine?

Thanks for your opinions guys!

 

[jep23]

Definitely make the upgrade. The 97 GT only had 215hp so even with the PI intake you're not hitting 200 at the wheels :laugh:

Do the upgrade and you'll start somewhere around 225rwhp. You'll feel the difference. I'm sure you could keep the tuner and just upgrade the tune.

 

[str8_lucK]

It all depends. You could start out with more power with a 99-04 GT but Ive seen some REALLY fast 98 GTs. Its what you want.

 

[RioRedSN95]

Definitely make the upgrade. The 97 GT only had 215hp so even with the PI intake you're not hitting 200 at the wheels :laugh:

Do the upgrade and you'll start somewhere around 225rwhp. You'll feel the difference. I'm sure you could keep the tuner and just upgrade the tune.

That is also one of the main reasons for upgrading. Yah I would keep the tuner and get a new tune forsure, only thing is I would have again buy new wheels and lower it as well. But 225ishrwhp is intruiging

 

[RioRedSN95]

It all depends. You could start out with more power with a 99-04 GT but Ive seen some REALLY fast 98 GTs. Its what you want.

Yah I would start out with more power I am interested in that. Yah there are some really fast 98s. If I stick to mine I would most likely supercharge (gonna be a pita to find a good used one). I would do the PI swap but a supercharger would yeild better gains. Sneaky98GT on youtube is a supercharged automatic makes somewhere around 325rwhp, not bad but not crazy fast.

 

[jep23]

That is also one of the main reasons for upgrading. Yah I would keep the tuner and get a new tune forsure, only thing is I would have again buy new wheels and lower it as well. But 225ishrwhp is intruiging

You can swap the wheels. Also, what suspension stuff do you have on your current car? You can keep a lot of the stuff and just transfer it to the new car.

 

[TigerSN95guy]

ur first post said u had a PI intake, but a few posts later it says u need to do the PI swap... i may be confused here, but i didnt know they made an adapter plate to bolt a PI intake to non-PI head??

the PI swap would be a huge improvement, but if u own ur car, and u like the way it looks, except for the PI and body style, oh and CoPs (correct me if im wrong guys) aint that the only difference betwenn a 96-98 and a 1999-2004?? as far as performance im pretty sure the CoPs dont really make a difference unless it comes to advancing timing curve??

what im gettin at, is that if u already own your car, and a 99-04GT would more than likely cost at LEAST another 5k on top of you selling your car for say 5k, if u kept ur car and threw a $4000 vortech kit on it, you would have much more than 225rwhp... just sayin!

and if u could find a "good used supercharger" like u said, that would be even much more savings... but if u prefer the new edge body style of an SN95, then by all means, go buy one!!:bigthumbsup

 

[RioRedSN95]

You can swap the wheels. Also, what suspension stuff do you have on your current car? You can keep a lot of the stuff and just transfer it to the new car.

Yah the wheels would be an easy swap, just the stock diamond cut wheels are on super bald tires from when I bought the car about a year and a half ago (85kmiles for $3900 amazing condition) which would lower the resale value, but not a problem I guess. For suspension I have just the common stuff: H&R lowering springs, CC plates I think M&M, tokiko shocks and struts.

 

[SoCal2V]

+1 to what TigerSN95guy said.

I don't think it's a big enough of a step-up to justify the cost. Now if you were talking about anything with a 4V engine that might be a different story though.

 

[jep23]

All of that suspension stuff would swap over.

 

[RioRedSN95]

ur first post said u had a PI intake, but a few posts later it says u need to do the PI swap... i may be confused here, but i didnt know they made an adapter plate to bolt a PI intake to non-PI head??

the PI swap would be a huge improvement, but if u own ur car, and u like the way it looks, except for the PI and body style, oh and CoPs (correct me if im wrong guys) aint that the only difference betwenn a 96-98 and a 1999-2004?? as far as performance im pretty sure the CoPs dont really make a difference unless it comes to advancing timing curve??

what im gettin at, is that if u already own your car, and a 99-04GT would more than likely cost at LEAST another 5k on top of you selling your car for say 5k, if u kept ur car and threw a $4000 vortech kit on it, you would have much more than 225rwhp... just sayin!

and if u could find a "good used supercharger" like u said, that would be even much more savings... but if u prefer the new edge body style of an SN95, then by all means, go buy one!!:bigthumbsup

Yes, I have a PI intake on her right now. And what I meant was that I was thinking about doing the full PI swap with PI heads and cams, but would only yield <300rwhp.
And yes they do make adapter plates to bolt a PI intake to a non pi head. I only know of one which is the Livernoismotorsports kit. That is what I have but it cost $500. There was a guy on sn95 forums that made his own adapter plates. BUT you dont have to use adapter plates you can just buy the pi intake and use RTV silicone on the ports, but I didnt trust that to last long

Yah as far as performance I think the only differences between the new edge and sn95s would be the CoPs and Im not sure but I think the exhaust was reworked a bit, and of course the obvious PI stuff. and I just recently like 2 months ago upgraded to MSD coil packs ha.

And yah I like your way of thinking haha, I love the SN95 I love the New Edge as well, but I already do own mine and if I could find a good used SC I would most definitely end up with more than 225rwhp as you mentioned. Yah I would need another 5k to do get the new edge. Yah I'm just shy about dishing out $4k for a new supercharger lol, even though it's within my budget.

 

[RioRedSN95]

+1 to what TigerSN95guy said.

I don't think it's a big enough of a step-up to justify the cost. Now if you were talking about anything with a 4V engine that might be a different story though.

Really? It would cost more to upgrade to the new edge sn95 but as tigersn95guy pointed out I could instead just supercharge. Ha Ive been searching for a 4v. Ive found a couple of good cobras here in AZ. There is a 98 cobra, convertible though, with like 65kmiles for $9000. Not bad at all.

 

[RioRedSN95]

All of that suspension stuff would swap over.

Yes it would, only IDK if I still have all the old suspension stuff to swap over but Im sure I can get it all.

 

[nined8vertible]

i wuld keep the car u have i got a 98 gt convertible and 2 years after i bought it all my friends got newer pi mustangs wich really pissed me off but wen ur racing its not about wat u can buy its about wat u can build and there is an all motor non pi mustang on youtube running 12 flat, the problem with the non pi motors is there ****** cams and restricted intake manifolds, u already replaced the intake i wuld suggest cams and a stall converter

 

[TigerSN95guy]

and again the 4V idea, IF you can actually find a 4V thats worth the price, u just cant beat the 4V with a s/c and many other mods cuz they just breathe taht much better than a 2V...

if you think ur car is pretty quick now, then just get the PI heads (maybe sell your adapter plate on Ebay used to someone and help pay for the PI swap) and then put that supercharger to it!!:bigthumbsup the nice thing about the brand new kits, they come with EVERYTHING you will need and its like investing the other $2500 to know your motor aint gonna blow up!! the kits come with the extra fuel delivery and im pretty sure they come with a tuner from vortech, but i KNOW if u buy the Steeda vortech kit u def. will be in the range u want they say 360-400rwhp the kit is $4,349.95 as of last year's catalog and they say that price include fuel pump conversion parts AND labor!! cant get a better deal than that for essentially the power of a 2011GT and having ur stock auto, it will handle that kinda power, but if u had a standard, it would blow the gear box to pieces or shred the splines off the input shaft :shigrin

dont be so hard on ur auto, get a nice set of gears and the power from the power plant up front and then go from there... just MAKE SURE THATS THE CAR YOU WANT TO DO IT TO lol

you will NEVER get the money back that u put into it:bigthumbsup

 

[nined8vertible]

i wuldnt do a pi swap and a blower, high compression + boost :nono:

 

[RioRedSN95]

TigerSN95guy- oooh yah I wish on a 4V haha. There's actually two good ones here in AZ right now; a 98 MYSTIC cobra with 73k miles for $8900, and a 98 Cobra Vert /) with 63k miles for also $8900. I could get either one if I sell my car, haha.

I wouldn't do a PI swap and blower tho, the high compression from the PI swap wouldnt allow for much boost and it wouldnt be safe. But a PI intake with PI cams and a blower is intriguing! Yah they come with all the parts you really need nowadays I've even seen some with the 225lph fuel pump included. That is a good thing so your motor wont blow!

An auto can really handle that much? more than a manual? Thats definitely reassuring! Yah I mean it is tuned so it shifts hard makes it somewhat feel like a manual without sounding cheesy lol. But I drove a manual truck yesterday doing errands and being engaged in the driving felt so good! but an auto SC would be nice!

 

[RioRedSN95]

i wuld keep the car u have i got a 98 gt convertible and 2 years after i bought it all my friends got newer pi mustangs wich really pissed me off but wen ur racing its not about wat u can buy its about wat u can build and there is an all motor non pi mustang on youtube running 12 flat, the problem with the non pi motors is there ****** cams and restricted intake manifolds, u already replaced the intake i wuld suggest cams and a stall converter

That would make me mad too haha especially if they are faster than you. But you can always reverse that! 12 flat in a non pi?? Thats wicked fast for a non pi thats NA. That must be a nice build! Yah I have done the intake part. I want the cams although I dont trust myself to do it so Id take that part to a shop. But Im wondering if I should do just PI cams or spend the money on a better set of cams. Stall converters I dont really much about tho.

 

[RioRedSN95]

i wuldnt do a pi swap and a blower, high compression + boost :nono:

amen to that! Ive seen that combination and it does not work well!

 

[TigerSN95guy]

i honestly dont know about what the compression ratio would be with the PI heads on a non-PI block, but i cant imagine it would take it above 10.5:1 and with 6-8lbs of boost, i think u would still be safe providing everything is dialed in right... the new 5.0 is at 11:1 and vortech built a supercharger kit for that, so hopefully someone who HAS a non-pi car with PI heads and supercharger can chime in and let us know??

the non-PI ports are just a cryin shame if u look at them compared to PI heads... but without supercharger/nitrous u just wont be up in the average everyday HP numbers (unless u go spend 40k on a new GT haha)

and yes Rio, an auto handles a LOT more than a standard, and u can have all the power in the world, but if u cant get it to the ground u got a whole lot of nothin! PERSONALLY i would work ur way from the tires IN instead of motor to tires; but thats just my own personal thing... You are also def. right tho about a standard, u just cant beat the fun factor of the 5 or 6 spd:shigrin

its all about what u wanna do with the car; what ur goals are; and most importantly, ur budget :shigrin you sound like u have a pretty good idea as to what ur lookin for, but question, do u have low gears like 3.73s or 4.10s in that car??