I have an 01 Trans Am Ws-6 and looking to speed up my car a little bit. I have a little more then $2000 to spend on my car. Any suggestions to get the most hp for my money?

 

nitros + exhaust,

if you are an a4= tc, exhaust, gears

h/c

exhaust, dr's, sfc's,

 

If the guy doesnt know what to do with his car, and its only his third post, chances are he wont know what all those abbreviations mean either. Way to go.

 

LOL.

For a beginner, I'd suggest the typical starting mods.

- Upgrade your exhaust to 2.75" or 3.00",
- Add headers
- I'd say Cold Air Intake kit, but I don't know T/A's and forget which have ram air and which don't.
- Lower than stock Thermostat, probably 160*, depending on your climate.
- PCM Tune


and that's not even $2k yet...

later on..

- Aluminum Driveshaft
- Gears (you could probably search for "gears" on the forum for more info). But gears are sometimes just as or more expensive to have installed as they are to buy, do-it-yourself is not an option with gears. You will also want a LSD (Limited Slip Differential with your gears.

Those are pretty much the basics, without getting too crazy.

All this is coming from someone who is also, a semi-beginner . Good luck, hope I've helped.

 

most likely it has an aluminum driveshaft. but if its an A4 with 2.73gears...it does have the steel. but there ins't much need to upgrade that yet. stock is fine.

i agree with the above for the most part.

lid, headers, exhaust and a tune

auto...get a torque converter and probably gears (3.73s)

 

For $2000 I'd want to see results....I'd save up another $500 or so and do the big stuff first, i.e. cam and headers. You have to take off the headers to do a cam swap anyway so shops will only charge you one straight fee (about $700), so do them both and you will feel major hp.

 

why do you need to pull the headers for the cam swap? now a head swap yeah...duh...but just the cam can be done from the front of the engine.

i a way i agree with what you say "get the big stuff first"...but those small things are what help the car, and support the big stuff later.

not to mention you need to learn how to drive your car before you make it 450hp. the best mod is a good driver. how many times have you seen a car that should run 11s get beat by a high 13s car?? because the driver missed a gear or spun halfway down the track or was shifting 500rpms short of ideal.

more info on the car and the goals are what is really needed. and whether you plan to do the work yourself...cause a $2000 budget WITH install cost is more like a $1000 budget on parts.

 

I also have an '01 Trans Am. Mine is "speeded up a bit". I got long-tube headers, an off-road-Y-pipe, and the rest of the exhaust. I also got a lid, and I got the car dyno tuned. I spent about $1500 for all this.

First you need to come up with a general idea of where you want to go with your car. Is this going to be your daily driver? Also, I see you're in California, so you have the toughest emmissions restrictions to pass. Keep this in mind. And, as mentioned above, are you going to install parts yourself? This may be your biggest consideration.

You do not need to upgrade your driveshaft right now. Let us know if you have a manual or automatic. If you're going for more horsepower to lower your times at the track then concentrate on traction first, not horsepower.

Abe

 

I always thought that you should do the small things first as a learning experience of how the car works, what is what in your engine, and how the mods affect it (mostly when doing work yourself). And gradually learning how to handle a high horsepower car. But that's just my opinion. Big stuff first is another way to go, there's really no problem with doing the "beginning" mods later, especially if you want quick results.

Good luck.

 

Definitely good advice. For about 90% of the people out there, (or 110% here in Orlando) the best change you can make is learning to drive well; you'll appreciate the car more and the car will appreciate you for not doing things like downshifting into 1st gear instead of upshifting into 3rd.

Abe

 

Thanks. I got my parts mixed up.

I still recommend the big stuff first. All the small stuff is a waste to do in the beginning IMO. You will spend all this money and you will feel nothing other than a deeper exhaust note. Gears will give you a little SOP feel but for a lot of dough. Get the big stuff first and enjoy the power then add the little things that only improve what you already have. The main reason people start small is because it is less expensive to do so. But you have a nice chunk of change that may be hard to come by in the future. Go BIG!

And I don't think an extra 30 or 60 hp is something he needs to get used to. Its not like he will be pulling 500hp. I bet his granmama can safely burn rubber in a week or two.