I have a '05 roadster, with a 6 speed, and would like to do some performance upgrades. I just wonder what you folks think would be the most effective approach without spending a bunch of money. I know that intake and exhaust mods, and chip upgrades are the likely way to go, but in which order, and what products work best. Thanks in advance for the advice. STEVE T

 

NEEDSWINGS INTAKE

 

Cold air intake is possibly the most for the least in my opinion. That said, it is not all that great without a proper flash retune. Your down in Texas so the LET guys are a good bet.

Another inexpensive mod would be a sprint booster. $350 bucks or so. No HP gains but a more lively throttle response your manual shifter would appreciate.

You could cut the back Cats and run straight pipe inserts. About 3 HP gain maybe but a terrific, throaty, improvement in the sound. Any good muffler shop can do it.

CIA will likely make the engine run lean so next would be an upgrade on the injectors. Here, I would be sure you are working with a tuner like LET, TVT or Eurorcharged. Use the search engine to find them on the forum.

I had Eurocharge do all of the above and a dyno tune. Gained 38 HP at the crank. The car is amazing with the 18% increase in power.

Beyond that, you will need to spend some real dough.

I would look for an SRT instead, unless, like me, you're a stick guy.


roadster with a stick

 

Make sure the rubber is good (hint: stock Conti's suck).

And, unless you want to get an SRT6, listen to the guy above.

Also, check w/TVT; they specialize in NA XF's.
http://www.tvtdesign.com/

 

I still have quite a bit of rubber on the Conti's, but when it is time, what are your suggestions. Being budget conscious, I like the price of the Cooper Zeon, and they have a nice tread pattern. Not sure about the noise and grab in those though. Thanks to both of you above. I will check to see about the whole mod recommended in the first response. 38 horsepower is a lot of gain, and likely for under 1200 bucks it looks like.

 

Hey Franc, I am looking for info on LET. Can't seem to find them. I did look at TVT, and like the package deal that gives a 50 hp boost, but if LET is here in the south, I want to look at them also. Thanks again, STEVE T

 

LET is in Chicago? No more Texas. Look up Eurocharged...

 

$1,200 is shaving it low. Doing it all yourself maybe.

You might want to dyno tune and that can cost $500 for the dyno time. I highly recommend it.

I don't want to be biased, TVT has a good reputation but my work was done by Eurocharged. 630-496-8660 or www.eurocharged.com

As I said, other guys are very happy with LET and TVT so check them both out.

roadster with a stick

 

You've got good advice here from Franc, especially regarding LET (Eurocharged). If you're interested in what TVT can do for you, PM the user FP. He's had a bunch of work done by TVT, including the intake, injectors, and tune (I think).

 

The General Exclaim UHP's and Kuhmo Ecsta SPT's both have a good rep for a cheaper tire.

For a few more dollars, look at the Nitto Invo's; I had these and really liked them. I currently have the Sumitomo HTR ZIII's that were given a glowing review by Tire Rack, but I like the Invo's better.

BTW - the Nitto site is pretty cool: http://www.nittotire.com/

 

Throttle reset cheapest mod there is...then follow Franc....Hes a good guy!

 

Another cheap mod are speaker capacitors (bass blockers) for the door speakers - assuming you've got the stock stereo.

 

Stock as in base or stock as in Infinity?

 

How much of an horsepower increase can I expect from the speaker capacitors?

 

Stickers give you more than capacitors

 

I am going with the tvt 265 package and adding the 74mm TB to the package, and shopping for the cheapest deal on the sprint booster. TVT 265 is $1450.00, and the Throttle body is $250. I am also getting the back cats cut today, as a friend will do it for nothing. I hope this gets me in the vicinity of my G35 as far as performance. I will post after all is done. It will probably be over a month to get it in and send off ECU for tune. I can hardly wait to bolt on 50 hp. Thanks for the direction and tips. STEVE T

 

Steve,
I did pretty much the same thing with exception to the new T.B. I went with the larger fuel injectors, a N.W. CAI, Magna flow cat back system, a TVT tune/ Eurocharge and the sprint booster. I will tell you that it became a totally different car. Hoping to have a ball this week end at the Dragon.
Good luck.

 

Don't forget to budget for a ticket or two.

Tuned up like that, the car will MAKE you do it.


roadster with a stick

 

Hah, let me know what your experience is. I'm going to be buying a Crossfire within the month, and was hoping the TVT 265 would bring it up reasonably close to my G35 in performance. Crossfire vs. G35 in how the car feels is exactly what kind of comparison I'm looking for.

 

I hope the projects don't get done too close to each other. I am hopping up the G35 too, and it will be at 350 horse when finished. This will definitely be a tire burner after that, and the crossfire at 270 or so will be well short of the mark, but I bet with the 6 speed, it will be more fun light to light. The G is just more refined for both city and track, being more forgiving on bumps and off camber turns etc. They are both awesome fun cars that make getting up to go to work a lot of fun, and they have very different personalities. The Crossfire definitely gets more looks, especially with the top down!! I will post when the work is done-on both. Later, STEVE T