Looks or Performance?
Looks or Performance? I've got some extra money which I plan on throwing at my car this winter so it'll be ready for summer cruising and car shows. I find myself stuck between focusing on dress up items or performance parts for the SS. So far I've got
17" TT2 wheels with 17x11's out back, Eibach springs so it's lowered, SLP SS grille, SLP Loudmouth catback and tinted windows. The car is sharp, on the inside I've got the Trans Am gage bezel with white faced gages, Raptor shift light, White Hurst Shifter ball, DVD player and a two gage pod which isn't installed yet with carbon fiber autometer gages, oh and a carbon fiber door sill plate set. Under the hood I have the Carbon Fiber whisper lid, Blue Valve covers, black STB, SS Head plate, Ceramic Coated LT's and some other dress up items. There is no grease or dirt at all under the hood. Wish I had a current pic to show you guys instead of listing everything! I have a good deal of dress up items but I've still got a long list of tasteful things I want for it. However the car is just a bolt on car, I have a Torquer V3 cam but need to install it. Should I get some gears, Fast intake and other items to gain some good power or should I just focus on appearance add ons?
What would you guys do?
I'll post some pics as soon as I get some better one's of the car.
17" TT2 wheels with 17x11's out back, Eibach springs so it's lowered, SLP SS grille, SLP Loudmouth catback and tinted windows. The car is sharp, on the inside I've got the Trans Am gage bezel with white faced gages, Raptor shift light, White Hurst Shifter ball, DVD player and a two gage pod which isn't installed yet with carbon fiber autometer gages, oh and a carbon fiber door sill plate set. Under the hood I have the Carbon Fiber whisper lid, Blue Valve covers, black STB, SS Head plate, Ceramic Coated LT's and some other dress up items. There is no grease or dirt at all under the hood. Wish I had a current pic to show you guys instead of listing everything! I have a good deal of dress up items but I've still got a long list of tasteful things I want for it. However the car is just a bolt on car, I have a Torquer V3 cam but need to install it. Should I get some gears, Fast intake and other items to gain some good power or should I just focus on appearance add ons?
What would you guys do?
I'll post some pics as soon as I get some better one's of the car. going off of what you posted i would say start going performance. you seem to have a lot of appearance mods already. and those gears and fast intake would really help the cam, along with roller rockers, push rods, etc. for the cam
Your car, your choice.
I always think I already have a 160 mph car, and I want to spend even more money making it even faster? Yes I do!
If I had a civic, I'd buy performance parts, but I have a V8, so I've bought apperance things first. But hey, I want more power soon too.
What you want is up to you. Good luck.
I always think I already have a 160 mph car, and I want to spend even more money making it even faster? Yes I do!
If I had a civic, I'd buy performance parts, but I have a V8, so I've bought apperance things first. But hey, I want more power soon too.
What you want is up to you. Good luck.
For the past 5 years of ownership ive been doing both. Im in college so i do one major thing (expense wise, for me) at a time. I tend to alternate between performance and appearance. Now i have a full bolt-on car and appearance wise it is one step away from being done.
The only things Ive done appearance wise are the wheels and free things like pulling that ugly front grille and side molding and trying to keep it clean as possible. I like performance way more and spend most my money on that but as some point Im going to get a grille, halos, berger mod, and some black zr1's atleast I keep telling myself I will who knows when itll happen.... Just depends on what you want more!
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I drove a 3.8 for 10 years so getting an LS1 is both a performance and an appearance mod to me. Right now I am focused a little more on appearance as the LS1 is hugely modded compared to the 3.8 but I do have brakes/headers/shocks on the improvement list.
I think I'm going to focus more on the performance then since I've spent some money on the little things. I mainly drive this car in the summer around town, mostly looking and sounding good as it's got plenty of power. More power is always better though. I guess in reality you can never be finished modding a car because once I buy one part I see ten more I want to get. It's almost like a drug addiction. I know my wife doesn't understand it. You guys have some awesome cars, thanks for keeping me motivated in my hobby!
performance since you have a good amount of apperance mods. thats my opinion and when your done with performance you can always go back to apperaance or add a little something something here and there.
i say get the cam, get it tuned, and then get like a buffer or something to make the car nice and shinny for the shows. that way your getting something for both, and they will both make you happy.
I've mainly done appearance up until this year 
and a lot of those appearance mods are performance mods.
Examples:
Wheels spring and shock package get the right stance, look, and handling better.
Exhaust system headers and catback give you the sound and and performance.
Just concentrate on the weakest link of the car right now and focus on that area. Every time you modify one area its going to point to the weakest area. Like for instance do you have nice brakes to show off with the wheels and lowering. A nice brake set up is performance and looks.
After reading your list I say get the right components to make the cam install all good and it will work nicely for you. You get the performance the car can use and when you roll into a cruise or car show you'll get some attention with a nice lope. Its all about creating the total package and enjoying it. Good luck with the car.
and a lot of those appearance mods are performance mods.Examples:
Wheels spring and shock package get the right stance, look, and handling better.
Exhaust system headers and catback give you the sound and and performance.
Just concentrate on the weakest link of the car right now and focus on that area. Every time you modify one area its going to point to the weakest area. Like for instance do you have nice brakes to show off with the wheels and lowering. A nice brake set up is performance and looks.
After reading your list I say get the right components to make the cam install all good and it will work nicely for you. You get the performance the car can use and when you roll into a cruise or car show you'll get some attention with a nice lope. Its all about creating the total package and enjoying it. Good luck with the car.
I'd go with performance too. I've gotten my car to look like i like it, now its the same for me 
I went with appearance first though, because these cars are damn fast stock, and i need to make any car i own look like i want, plus its usually cheaper to go that route, because i know when i start modding the engine this summer, i'm going to be hopelessly addicted 
haha
I went with appearance first though, because these cars are damn fast stock, and i need to make any car i own look like i want, plus its usually cheaper to go that route, because i know when i start modding the engine this summer, i'm going to be hopelessly addicted haha