Irocem99

Say you can only add one thing a month..Would you add...A ram air hood 1st? Gears? Shift kit..? Buy a tuner?(Diablosport) Put in a nice stereo? I'm not going to add a cam or anything radical..Will I even need a shift kit after I use the tuner to stiffen the shift?

The muscle car Kid

My $0.02, go with the tuner because (if tuned right) can give you alittle more power/firmer shifts. Or do exhaust to free up some ponies.

ProjectCamaro

iTrader: (26)

I always do intake exhaust first as no matter what this is something that will need to be done to add any hp and it'll also give the car a nice exhaust note.

Irocem99

Ok,let me rephrase..Which one would be the most fun? Gears? But with the hood,it would really turn heads..The hood is the most expensive part tho..$770 for the hood,$200 to ship,$300? to paint.

Kev98Ta

iTrader: (4)

If you want performance... In an A4, Torque Converter hands down is the most bang for the buck.

Pair it up w/ a cooler & shift kit.

Irocem99

Why is a converter better than gears..I'm not looking to launch the thing..People on here are 50/50 saying they would do gears and some would do converters..I'm not going to do it myself and a converter requires you pull the tranny..I'm not doing that..What is the sense in putting in a converter if I'm not drag racing it at the track? How can that be better than going from 2:73 to 3:73 with gears?

Formula350

iTrader: (3)

First off, don't be a fool and buy a handheld tuner, they're garbage. Nice for small things like tire size change or gear ratio change, but worthless really other than that. Get a mail order tune, or shell out the money for a dyno tune. That's the last thing you'll want to do though, after you've modded other stuff.

Get the stock 10 speaker setup from another Firebird (if you don't have it already) if you want nice sound. Then you can upgrade the 10 speakers to something more quality for better sound. Subs, bah, added weight and are cool if you're in highschool.

Gears and stall, I'd go with gears first.

I'd get long tubes and cat back before anything though.

You don't need a ram air hood unless you like the looks, a CAI will be just fine.

Irocem99

I do like the looks of the ram air hood..Not the stock one,more like the raptor..Yes girls,looks do matter! Also,I think gears before exhaust..Everything I want is about $700-$900 bucks..That's the problem..The hood when all said and done will be around $1100..The gears $870,the exhaust I want(Borla,GMMG) $750-$900.. I'm just trying to get peoples opinion on what would be their 1st choice..I wouldn't go nuts with a tuner anyhow,just simple things..A stall doesn't make much sense to me.

LS1Transhed

Id go with exhaust, u may get barely any performance out of it but ull be happy with it every time you drive, plus it will turn heads of ppl that arent even looking the car at first lol.

Kev98Ta

iTrader: (4)

As you can see everybody has their own opinions, and offered them to you... You need to figure out what YOU want. Which is, if i had to guess..... A Ram Air Hood and Gears!!!


Seriously, every newb ask's these same exact questions you're asking now. You will find that most people start w/ the basic boltons. Intake- lid, cai, ported tb, etc... Exhaust- Lt's, y, catback... And it goes from there. What do YOU want out of your car???

Search around the site, there is a mindblowing amount of info here that is SURE to help you along the way...

Irocem99

True..Doesn't mean I'm a noob..In fact..I've had an 84 Z28,86,87,89 Iroc-z,89 Firebird Formula,86 Corvette Convertible Indy 500 pace car,94 Z28,93 3000GT VR4. NOOB? LOL No,just want to see if anyone that replies can push me over the fence one way or another..Also,I've only gotten a couple of opinions.I'm not going to drag the car,and I think most guys on here are hard core..I suppose it comes down to ,do I want the looks or the performance 1st..

LS1Transhed

To be honest, it seems like your leaning towards looks as it is... and well personally (as I said before) Id go with exhaust.... then Id say go for the hood... then work on its performance, simply because you dont seem to be in a real hurry to race it. Normally id say go back and forth between looks/sound and performance, but that doesn't seem to be your short term goal.

The exhaust will give you that satisfaction of being able to really hear your car... depending on the tips it will also bring the rear end together nicely... and the hood will bring out your front end aggressively. Then when you end up doing the performance part of it, you'll be able to feel the difference as you start modifying more and more.

FirebirdPhil

iTrader: (8)

Exhaust system if it were me. Think of it like this- you get looks with the tips and performance with the rest of the system. Nice Exhaust tips can really set off a car and kinda completes one. It's like using tire shine, you may have spent all day detailing the car but if you don't use tire shine it doesn't look finished.

Irocem99

Everybody has good points.. I like it..I'm suprised so many say exhaust and not gears..I would think the hood would be the big one..That's the 1st thing anyone see's. If your coming towards traffic or sitting at a light,people are going to see the hood and say,holy crap that looks sweet..If you drive by them they will say it sounds sweet.I like the stock tips alot. I've been hearing a lot of horror stories about aftermarket hoods not lining up or being damaged,that also scares me.If you get an exhaust that's around $400 it isn't a big deal,but the 2 I'm looking at are around $750..The hood I want is $770 + $200 freight and whatever the body shot will charge me for paint..Here is a link to the hood I want..Its the red hood,and the heat extractors look awesome..
http://www.lmperformance.com/3092/1.html

FirebirdPhil

iTrader: (8)

To atleast put your mind at ease, I've ordered from there before, good people.

LS1Transhed

Im sure that hood will look good on a stock body.. but every time Ive seen it.. its been on F-bodies where ppl put those ridiculous body kits on them. I hate those ppl lol.

Irocem99

Thanks guys for the input..I'm not doing any body kit or anything..I think that hood will look hot! I've never seen one on a car before in person..I barely even see WS6's anymore..I think that hood would make people look above all else,then the exhaust.. FireBird thanks for the vote of confidence for them,that does make me feel better.Wish I had enough dough to do it all at once..

Zeke34

iTrader: (5)

I don't know what your goal is for the car but assuming that you just want a nice car with a lil more performance that will see some to no track time this is what I'd do. Intake & Exhaust, Stereo system (nothing big), Suspension, Gears, then Raptor hood.

Irocem99

I think the hood makes the biggest impact..Look at your sig.. I was watching some exhaust vids and Borla sounds incredible..I love the low tone and it doesn't sound like a drag car. SLP has too much rasp,I don't like that..The Borla and GMMG don't have rasp.I think I might go hood,exhaust,gears..Intake and suspension aren't going to happen.I'm not taking it to the track and I will probably sell in a couple years and buy a WS6,M6 anyhow..But the hood,exhaust and gears will sell it for me..

98LS1Formula

iTrader: (23)

+1 for stall