Newbie here....I have a stock 2004 TL 6MT. I have been considering a few basic performance mods, but am wondering if the gains will be worth the money. I want to stick to N/A, because while the Comptech supercharger seems like a great bang for the buck, I am just not mechanical enough to keep up with even the small amount of maintenance involved with that (changing belts, etc). This car is my daily driver, so it will be getting a lot of use and I need mods that do not sacrifice reliability at all.

So, I am considering the following:
1. Fujita Cold Air Intake
2. Greddy Evo II Catback
3. ATLP race pipe
4. ATLP J-Pipe
5. P2r throttle body spacer

I figure for parts and install, all this would probably run a little over $2K. Do you think the gains will be worth it? Will there be a noticeable difference in power? I am not expecting to turn it into an M3 or anything, but I want to make sure I will be getting decent gains before investing.

Thanks!

 

I'm pretty sure you will feel a little more power from this. I don't know if spending $2000 would justify the gains....

 

If its your daily driver I would be hesitant to go with the Greddy catback...its the loudest of all the exhaust setups out there. just my

 

All are good mods. The Greddy EVO is loud so just keep that in mind.

 

Here's what I've learned about performance mods. You will definitely notice them.....under heavy acceleration if not at WOT. Under normal driving, you won't feel much difference, if any, beyond sound with mods like the j-pipe, intake, cat-back, etc. You'll read most people here, and on any forum really, over-sell the gains they get/perceive from these kind of mods. IMO, this is partly justifying the money spent but also likely because most people drive pretty hard when they first add a performance mod. Watch videos that have been posted after a performance mod install and you'll see just about everybody banging the tach off the rev limiter.

Personally, I rarely run my car hard or even come near redlining it. So, most of the time I actually feel a minor decrease in performance from some lost low end torque sacrificed to gain more whp. Don't get me wrong, when I put my foot in it I can definitely feel the difference from stock. But, doing that is just not good for the wallet although it is fun now and then.

Basically, as long as your expectations are realistic, you'll be able to enjoy the mods without feeling like you blew your money.

 

^ couldn't have said it better myself!

 

Nice, thanks guys....Anything else I am missing from my list that would help?....other than s/c that is.

 

J-pipe, UR pulley, intake and RSB in my opinion are the best mods to do first since they make such a good difference for little money.

 

Greddy EVO catback is not THAT loud. I can drive past cops and they don't even look twice. I've been pulled over three times for tint and they don't even mention the exhaust. Personally, Greddy is the only way to go for your TL. The other exhausts available all look like hack job magnaflow setups.

 

i never understood how rsb really helped with performance =\

 

LOL. I used to have a Greddy EVO on my Accord i4 and it looked like a potato shooter. I'm not saying I dislike the Greddy but I don't think it's any better than any of the other exhaust and the Tanabe, XLR8, and ATLP look far better than the Greddy IMO.

 

wow, you definately dont know what the heck your talking about son.

 

it makes the car drive and handle a whole lot better from my experience.

 

especially for a car like a TL...

boat

 

Of course you think the others look better. You want this guy to buy your setup. It's all good

In what way was anything I said up for debate? It's an "opinion" and you can't falsify it in any way. Now you just look stupid for quoting me. Son.

 

So, in terms of numbers... My 04 TL puts out about 240 whp. With the mods I mentioned above, I would probably get to about 260-265 whp, right?

 

without any mods your stock 04 tl probably puts out more like 210-215 whp

 

Wow.....so even though it is rated 270 hp flywheel, I lose 60 in getting it to the ground?!? I thought the loss was more like 30 hp to get to whp. New here though....anyone else?

 

not a chance. base tl is around 205whp
base type-s is about 235whp

 

thats the old rating. its uncorrected, SAE corrected is 258

 

My 04 TL w/6MT with a CAI,throttle body spacer, and the Greddy EVO's put 243whp and 214lbs tq. So I say, those mods alone are pretty good. I now have the UR pulley, no 3rd cat and XLR8's Jpipe. So I should be a little higher now. If I were you, I'd do all + the UR Pulley.

 

QFT, couldn't have said it better. This is exactly how I feel.

 

Extremely loud dual fart cans ftl. They make the car look cheap and ricey imo. Have you seen some of the videos posted by TL members with Greddy EVOs? It's ridiculous how loud and obnoxious they are.

 

greddy is really friggin loud.

go with the RV6 package for under 500 and you will enjoy those gains. dont worry about a cat back. get the CAI for the sheer pleasure of hearing yoru car breathe

 

If that were true, he would be recommending XLR8 as the top exhaust, no?

Some attitude there, son.

I do agree the Greddy is a bit loud, but whatever floats your boat, I suppose.

 

everyone has their own opinion....

 

maybe if greddy added the infamous blue tips to our set up

 

Well just FYI if you read what I wrote I mentioned ATLP, Tanabe and XLR8. I don't sell ATLP, Tanabe is back ordered, and I do sell Greddy. And I used to have a Greddy EVO II on my Accord. As I said I didn't dislike it but claiming that all the other exhausts lookhack was pretty off base.

 

I must retort, The others do look alright. Personally I think the XLR8 quad tip could use some fine tuning on the overall appearance as well as the Tanabe. After further research I may change over to ATLP Quad. Also, I don't disagree that the greddy look like potato cannons. It has bugged me from day one. lol. ATLP has the same diameter graduations as Greddy EVO's. However the Greddy has better flow-through for forced induction.

OP, If you really want EVO's, let me know.

 

Great discussion on exhaust systems. I don't believe anyone commented on the Comptech catback in this thread. I am leaning toward Comptech. Any comments?

 

If you like COMPTECH check out the TANABE.. almost identical.

 

It is a tough decision between the Comptech and Tanabe catback. I am looking for some performance gains over stock but do not want any dronning, monotone etc. Maybe you guys have some insight? Any differences that I may be missing?

 

almost identical. IMO, comptech looks sexy and sounds sexy as hell

 

Dyno numbers with everything minus Mod 3 and 4 plus a better custom exhaust than Greddy. Figure atleast 10% higher than i calculated.
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-performance-parts-modifications-112/mustang-dyno-723518/

 

greddy's really help for better flow with f/i applications?

btw nice dyno run beach, you shuold add a jpipe and 3rd cat and see how you do since i'm probably going the same route as you with a 5at xP just tryna see what its gonna potentially give me.

 

Oh, the sad day when a base model owner first realizes what his advertised "270 hp" car actually puts to the ground. It's OK to cry, Man. We all did the first time (well, maybe just us 5AT guys).

 

Dear Op... here is what I would do if I was starting out all over again

1. Progress Rear Sway Bar (excelerateperformance.com)
2. Rv6-P Front Strut Bar (rv6-p.com)
3. Catback (Excelerateperformance.com or acuratlparts.com)
4. Jpipe (Excelerateperformance.com or rv6-p.com or acuratlparts.com)
5. test/race pipe or high flowing 3rd cat (Excelerateperformance.com or rv6-p.com or acuratlparts.com)
6. AEM Version 2 see the excelerate group buy in the performance forum to save some money
7. P2R Power Package (Excelerateperformance.com)


In my opinion that is $2k well spent... do a few at a time not all at once or you will be very bored