Purchased a 04 gto looking to add more power where should I start? Any shops you recommend? I still want to be able to drive it on the street/out of town.
Regarding your question: Give us a final power goal, or you might be buying mods twice (IE you wont need an intake if you ever plan on going supercharged, as it will require a different intake, you wont need headers if you plan on turbos one day, etc)
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Being a new member, you're going to get shit. If you do anything to appear uneducated, young, disrespectful of other members, or even do something that will be viewed as poor taste (ricer mods for example), you will get shit on in an instant. Needless to say asking questions to which it is apparent you didn't even attempt to find an answer on your own first is going to result in nothing but trolling.
Consider this post a favor, as it's more than most get. I'm feeling bored and helpful at the moment.
Svede Speed over-the-radiator-cold-air-intake (SSOTRCAI), Kook's longtube headers (ceramic coated w/ mid pipes and O2 harness extensions), catback exhaust of your desire. Do your research on mufflers for sounds you want. Spintech = loud but raspy, Flowmaster = loudish but smooth, magnaflow = lol no, SLP Loudmouth I = piss off EVERYONE. Solid tune. After that, lurk the threads, learn more, do research, buy more parts. Expected price after everything varies on location and prices at the time (various sales and such), but I'd guess <$3k for everything. Sounds steep, but you can do it in chunks. DO HEADERS FIRST. DO HEADERS FIRST. DO HEADERS FIRST. Got it? Good. Go get 'em, killer.
remortage your home. buy two 80mm turbos. have a good shop fab up exhaust manifolds, induction/exhaust piping, oil lines, etc etc, and get a nice shiney intercooler and dual blowoff valves. get a junkyard 4.8 and build with forged internals. bolt on humonculous heads and shove in a donkey-dong blower cam. get a turbo 400 and have it built to handle a gazillion ft lbs of torque. get a gargantuan stall. have a custom driveshaft built. GForce 9" kit. Gforce suspension stuff, coilovers, control arms, brackets for the rear subframe, the whole shebang. Minitub. 10 pt rollcage. Mongo sized slicks. Godzilla fuel system. This is just a short, short list. There are many other details you will have to get/work on/fiddle with.
Drive the car for 300 miles and make sure it's in good driving order then fix or replace what needs it, then oil/fluid changes then let the modding begin that's what I did.
Since the car is new to you, do a complete car fluid change end to end. Start there so you at least have a maintenance baseline.
What are you power goals (give us a number)? These cars are 300-350rwhp from the factory. 450rwhp is streetable and daily-driveable (I'm making up words, now, haha) - this is close to 600hp at the crank.
If you just want some improved feel, get a Svede over-the-radiator-cold-air-intake (OTRCAI), new NGK TR5 plugs, and a street or dyno tune (Predator hand-held tune is OK-ish for just starting out). That'll get you 20rwhp right there for $600 (if you buy a used predator).
If you want more power still, get some long tube headers and accompanying mid-pipes (25-35rwhp depending on the tune). Headers are $300-$1000, so you have some fun research to do there.
Beyond that, you can get into the more expensive but high-HP modification like high-flowing heads, forced induction (superchargers + turbos), nitrous, etc.
Let us know what you want to do. The more specific you are, the more we can help you.
Just take it to Lingenfelter and be done with it. Tell him you want a twin turbo, procharged, nitroused LSX big block and let him work out all the details. Also tell him to build the rest of the car so it can handle all that power. Inexpensive and you'd have one helluva car when your done. Easy as pie.
Before anyone chimes in about cost for this I'm comparing his build to our national dept. This will be inexpensive when looked at that way. :angel:
Hell, if it wasn't for the 'out of town' part, then I'd advise you to sell yours and buy mine, lol. Of course, the 'mortgage your house' tip would be relevant, too.
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