JakeRobb

So my birthday is coming up, and I think I might be able to talk my wife into buying me something for the car. Max budget is probably $200.

So, what do I buy? Here are some options I was considering:

1. Subframe connectors
2. Pro 5.0 Shifter
3. 160-degree thermostat

Should I consider anything else? What would you guys pick?

FWIW, I already have the factory Hurst shifter.

Car in sig -- '02 Z28 M6 w/ airbox lid and Corsa catback.

My eventual plan is to build the car up as an all-around performer. Decent on the strip, decent in an autocross, and still a good DD. I'm not looking to win any competitions -- just to enjoy the car.

NVetro

Shifter and thermo will be under $200

reamo04

i would go with the shifter and get a pistol grip shifter, you will LOVE it, it'll take some getting used to, but i drove my friends w/ it and i will never go to anything else if i ever get a m6.

JakeRobb

I appreciate your opinion, but I want my car to remain stock-looking, and I'm happy with my factory Hurst shift ****.

I'm also mostly interested in things that actually have potential to improve the car's performance.

reamo04

well, it wont improve the cars performance, but it will improve the drivers performance . Also look into a good tune from PCMforless.com or madz28.com you could do the 160* tstat and a tune for about 200

dangalla

thats what i would do

JakeRobb

You guys really think a tune is wise when all I have is a lid and catback? I was going to wait until I got around to getting headers before I ponied up for a tune. I know you can get re-tunes for relatively cheap, but I'd rather just do it once.

reamo04

well, im not entirely sure how they tune your car, but when I tuned mine with tunercat, i went through, firmed up my shifts (a4), changed my fan turn-on, added in some timing, and a few other things, and i could definatly feel a difference even though I am running rich (havent had the time to datalog and correct my AFR yet, that'll be a couple weeks probably), but I probably have 5-10RWHP left because im running so rich.

JakeRobb

Well, they tune by comparing your list of mods against a database of hundreds of cars with lots of different mod combinations, and giving you a tune based on the car in their database that's most similar to yours. You can then send them data logs and they'll tweak the tune accordingly. If you have an accurate data logging system and don't mind the trial-and-error process and all of the waiting, it seems to be just as good as a dyno tune.

What I'd really like to do is get a decent laptop and a copy of EFI Live, and then learn to do it myself, but that's big money.

dangalla

any possibility you could add some money to that yourself and make it lt with ory

JakeRobb

Not yet, but that is in the plan!

I want to go stainless steel for my longtubes, and that means it's quite a bit more money.

dangalla

that is for sure, i used to be able to just buy things when i wanted for my car, now everything is so expensive i need to sit at home and save money for a couple weeks just to do anything to it

JakeRobb

A couple weeks? I wish it was only that long!

Oh well, my financial situation is getting better...

reamo04

your also married, and probably have a mortgage payment and such. I know I can buy stuff about every other weekend for my car since im still in HS and no payments

JakeRobb

Yeah, I have a house, a wife, and all of the bills associated with each.

We just refinanced the mortgage, though, and she got a promotion (including a hefty raise and a monthly profit-sharing bonus), so the bills are now a lot easier to handle. We're going to get some other debt under control and pay down the mortgage a bunch, and then I should have plenty of play money.