yeah, but the engine has had a huge overhaul since the mid 90's...2008 GT's can be seen making about 285-295hp on dyno's, which is pretty impressive for "just a GT"...
I've had my car for 15 years. I know what it feels like. And a K&N is always an improvement, no matter the year. And when I got the x-pipe, they also installed my O2 sensors. There's no reason they can't install them on his. And just because mine was custom-built doesn't mean anything either because they made x-pipes for those cars with all the appropriate O2 holes. Here is a link to a catted x-pipe for 1996-1998 4.6 Mustangs that clearly shows four O2 bungs. It even says in the 'features' that it is "Equipped with factory O2 bungs."
Headers/ free flow exhaust -- maybe a chip, but that is more of a question for FT because i'm not familiar with the Mustang computer. Beyond this you're going to have to do some work to the engine and with 85,000 miles that probably isn't worth the time/ money. Cold air intakes are something that has just become completely blown out of proportion lately. Many new 'cold air' intakes actually decrease performance because they are sucking in hot stale air right next to the engine. A good air intake should run away from the engine so fresh cool air is hitting it at the front or through a hood scoop. A K&N filter with a good intake will provide some benefits under certain circumstances, but it won't add horsepower.
They probably make a legitimate 290-300 HP at the flywheel which is how manufacturers rate their engines, but the actual wheel horse power is going to be much lower.
lately the only mustangs worth mentioning are the 03/04 Cobras and the new Shelby's...obviously, it took a supercharger to make big power on those cars, but hey, they're absolutely amazing...
Well, a 2008 stock GT still has 300 HP at the flywheel and 320 pounds of twist -- that is nothing to dismiss with 0-60 times right at 5 seconds. You have to go back to the mid 80's (86 LX 5.0) to get stock 60 times even close -- 5.5 to 60 for the 85/86 LX as I recall.
obviously any idiot can cut 4 holes in a pipe. it just makes it harder to pass inspection because they are expecting to see differences pre and post cats. thus my point of how it is different with the 96 models.
What differences? They're going to look to see that the cats are there and that all the rest of the emissions stuff is in working order. I guess I'm just not getting your point. You said that an x-pipe would make inspections difficult. It won't.
First after market cats are crap. There are documented cases of them blowing out because they are cheap, clogging the exhaust then breaking blocks. Second, the computer wants to see the values for the O2 sensor before and after the cats. If you only run 2 cats (one per side) then the values the computer sees with be wrong. This throws it off and trips a MIL. This will trip an inspection problem, unless you have it reflashed. Also there is high possibility the new cats are to small to handle actually burning off the bad stuff which could lead to a failing of the tail pipe sniffer. In any case I was talking about "off-road" x-pipes because thats what most people use. Using new pipes with cats has not been shown to make as big of a difference.
Anyone can burn out a cat. I've had mine for several years. I can't complain. My car originally would have had four total catalytic converters, but when I bought it had off-roads. Then I went from that to two total high flows. Never had a problem. Unless this is some new thing with the newer cars, but I can't imagine they wouldn't address that given the stupid amount of money to be made in the aftermarket.
the one i saw blew out, not burnt out. The crappy wire that held the guts in was crap and it blew out clogging that side of the exhaust. This made the left bank of cyl. almost impossible to move. Bang- cracked block. your car is not obd-II. eec-v is much smarter than eec-iv and it has to be fooled into accepting the cats. Basically this is trouble. Obviously there is a way to do anything but my original statement was "it will suck to get it inspected" and I define paying someone just to make it street legal again as "sucking"
I was going to say that once you start modifying your mustang...it's hard to stop once you start. Then i remembered that the FFW should be coming up soon 18th Annual Texas Thunder FFW Nationals Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, Texas May 2, 3 & 4, 2008 http://www.funfordevents.com/
yeah, but those LX's weighed in at only 3000lbs or so... an 08 weighs in at 3500lbs... i see they needed a much beefier engine in 2008 to turn similar 0-60's from the 85/86 LX 5.0's... i prefer turbos though
but the new cars are faster. Even the lightest coupe LX's would not do 13's stock. They needed at least some weight reduction, timing advance and other tricks. 2005+ stangs run 13's stock
