If someone handed you the keys to a new 1LE or Z28 Camaro, or a new Mustang GT, or Challenger, or whatever turns you on, would it be hard to decide what to change on it first? We talk to people all the time who have new muscle cars and they are always debating on what to change, add, or modify. What to do first? That’s the big question. Sure there is tons of debate over which power adder to go for, but I’m not getting into that argument. But here is what I would do. I think. In what order though. Hmmmm.
If someone handed me the keys to a brand new 1LE or Z28 I would add Nitrous, New Struts to lower it, Sway Bars, Cold Air Kit, Exhaust, Tires and Wheels, and some stereo. Of course there are a hundred other things to do over time, but those are the main things. So which one first?
That’s the question. If someone handed you the keys to a brand new muscle car, what is the first modification you would make?
First (in fact only) thing I’d add would be a for sale sign. It sucks that where I am they frown on modifying new cars at all. Can’t see the point in buying some megabuck car that the cops might defect. Sooo, I’d sell the bastard and put the cash into an oldie…
thats exactlly what I’m doin John
electric steering ………piss it off
electronic throttle…….throw it so far away that capt. Kirk could never find it
electronic differential..just gay
air bags………………….the wife
weight……………………Jenny Craig that bastard
bluetooth………………..die you big fat P*%f
sat nav…………………..LMFAO
THIS!!!
Love It!!!! This is perfect!
Long tubes and exhaust.
Cold air intake, aftermarket exhaust.
Well…If you got a new 1LE… You won’t need much of the stuff you listed because it ALL READY COMES WITH MOST OF IT!
Get the aftermarket bimodal exhaust button so you can run the exhaust open on command, new shifter, aftermarket tune, wider rear tires and start saving for a roots style power adder!
I was blown away to see a 1LE at my local dealer and it was a “stripper”, cloth seats, no nav, minimal gadgets. BUT the $3500 1LE package adds ALL the good stuff!!!
20×10 front/20×11 rear wheels, sticky tires, 3.91 gears, lower/better suspension, good tremec 6sp and flat black hood.
The bimodal exhaust is an expensive option at $895 but it is a FACTORY proven adjustable volume exhaust system! Price a pair of GOOD electric cutouts…..
My only complaint is the rear tires are 285’s and are really too narrow for the 20×11’s…but that is easily fixed with a pair of 315’s!
A lot of guys will bitch at the 36K price tag….and they’re not wrong. But when most pedestrian cars are creeping up on the 30K mark, I think there is a lot of value with the 1LE. I’m just happy to see manufactures offering REAL (not just a decal and wheels) performance packages on their base model V8 performance cars.
Since when is an 11.22″ tire (285mm) too small for an 11″ wide wheel?
There was a really good article in GM High Tech performance with the guys who designed the 1LE and they mentioned being surprised that the car was faster around a track with the 285mm tires.
But hey, stick some 315s on there just to say you have them if that’s what floats your boat.
Skip shift eliminator is No. 1 for any GM car.
A Z-28 will need nothing…it has so much stuff on it already, should be track ready day 1…it already has exhaust and CAI on it.
The 1LE needs CTSV front brakes added, stainless brake lines, Castrol SRF, Carbotech pads and CAI, then go to track….
You’ve got to deal with the wheel hop first. REPEAT . . . You’ve got to deal with the wheel hop first. You don’t need one extra h.p. until you can get the OEM power down.
Not knowing this immutable truth, my first mods (for DW ’12) . . .
–Muffler delete pipes (saves weight, improves sound, cheaper than any the popular mufflers, and the cops have never questioned it in ~ 20,000 miles of daily driving)
–Air Lift Drag Bags
–Short MT Drag Radials (should have gone with real slicks . . . Drag Radials are too finicky)
–Sway bar disconnected (free, but the OEM bolts wear out quickly and start making noise . . . pop for the quick-disconnects instead . . . this mod is worth about a tenth)
–Driveshaft loops (needs two because of the two-piece driveshaft)
–Drive-by-wire N20 kit (failed to work, so it was just 15# of useless ballast)
–Colder spark plugs
Result: Violent wheel hop (just on “motor”) and 12.86 e.t. There’s quite a bit of time left in the suspension., though.
* * * *
The old-school basics like gears and suspension are more important to e.t. than the popular waste-of-money stuff like “cold air kits” and “Flowmasters”
Adjustable front struts (e.g. Strange), lower control arms with hard bushings, better third-link, an upper mount kit, and anti-squat brackets ought to get the suspension where it should have been from the factory . . . .
Trade it in for an older one ( preferably a 65 Vette ) and do a Resto Mod on the car so’s to make it a daily driver.
These new muscle cars may in theory be better ….. but in truth they’re dull as a box of nails to drive and look at 😉
Aesthetics are in the eye of the beholder. But modern muscle is anything but “dull” to drive. The performance “envelope” is much larger than almost any ’60s muscle car.
@ The Outsider – You’re confusing numbers with experience . Trust me son …. your aging Gram could drive any of these so called ‘ new ‘ Muscle Cars easily at 90% whereas it takes a DRIVER to even get 50% out of the originals . Same goes for sports cars as well .
So yeah … I’ll take real design over Track Day Wanna Be HotWheels aesthetics ….. the genuine enjoyment of driving rather than going faster by computer .. along with the knowledge that not everyone and his baby sister can get the most out of the car with little or no driving skill .
So back at ya ! 😉
Except for ABS, you turn off the electronics at the track for maximum performance. It’s hardly “dull.”
I sincerely doubt there are too many senior citizens who could wring maximum performance out of a modern muscle car. The g-forces and limits are simply too high for average drivers. Track day instructors will tell you that the driver, not the car tends to be the limiting factor among those without prior experience.
I have both old and new muscle (and drove my first performance car over 35 years ago). New muscle wins on every objective metric except perhaps price, depreciation, and ease of modification.
Certainly the old stuff is arguably slightly ahead on some of the subjective measures (aesthetics, nostalgia, attention-getting, etc.), though, But that hardly makes new muscle “dull.”
And even on price, it’s often a lot more affordable and more convenient to buy a one of the new hot cars from one of thousands of local dealers on a low-APR manufacturer’s easy payment plan than it is to locate and swing the cost of a comparably restored, fuel-guzzling, afraid-to-park-it-at-Wal-Mart ’60s muscle car.
Also, insuring a new muscle car for daily use is a lot easier than adequately insuring a collector car for anything but life in a garage between occasional pleasure cruises.
And if you happen to get in an accident, the new muscle car is much safer and easier to replace.
Certainly, both types of muscle have their place.
Sell it to some idiot $5000 under sticker, put the $45,000 into my old cars.
One more thing . . . if you’re going to “open track” the car (especially if It doesn’t have the Brembo option), harder brake pads absolutely must be your first mod. At Hallett, my OEM front pads were done in about 25 laps.
While you have it apart, a brake duct kit is not a bad idea.
And if you’re going autocrossing, you’ve got to dump the rock-hard UTQG 400 tires for something class-legal that will stick.
@ The Outsider – Methinks son y’all need to have a look at the current specs of those ‘ new ‘ muscle cars you’re so vigorously trying to defend before coming up with ‘ track ‘ modifications that in fact they do not need .
Wheel hop ? Since when ? The 60’s ? OEM brake replacement on the current breed ? If you’re wasting em that quickly you’re abusing them and don’t know how to drive . Brake ducts ? For all you’ll ever do on a pretentious Track Day excursion the OEM’s have all they need on board ( I’m no fan of the Track Day Wanna Be crowd )
Tires ? Jeeze son … aint you been looking at the options sheet ? There’s nary an OEM performance car available today that doesn’t have HP summer only tires as an option .
No son … I’m afraid you’ve got some serious ‘ Learnin ‘ to do before being inducted into the GearHead Fraternity … serious learning ….. very serious .
I ran new muscle for ~ 37 passes at DW ’12 . . . I could write the book on wheel hop.
I’ve also actually open tracked my car, and got my times down to within a handful of seconds of the prepared “showroom stock” track record for my type of car.
And I’ve autocrossed my car on the hard factory rubber.
“Summer tires” are mostly useless for drag duty. You’re leaving e.t. without slicks or at least UTGQ 00 DOT drag radials.
I’m amazed that all the “wisdom” shared by those with apparently NO ACTUAL EXPERIENCE .
Depends on what you will use it for. Probably a K&N air filter and cold air box kit.
“New Struts to lower it”?
I always thought springs (or airbags) were used to raise or lower the ride height on most cars?
Glad I wasn’t the only one to notice that…
I’d start with weight reduction and some serious performance tires. Then see what sort of handling and traction problems it exhibits on sticky rubber, and go about solving them.
A PCM tuner. You can’t do anything else until you can communicate with the PCM to make adjustments. Gear, tire size, intake, thermostat, headers whatever. The PCM has to know.
My car’s PCM didn’t care a bit when I swapped on shorter-than-stock M/T Drag Radials.
Wheel hop is still the first thing to fix.
Exhaust
Trade it in on a Shelby or Roush BEFORE titling it.
Id pull the motor and trans and sell the rest as parts or hole to some one else only thing modern cars are good for is the motors or trans
I dunno. Gonk, my 2012 Mustang GT’s kinda good for . . .
Getting me to work daily . . .
Slicing quickly through lengthy road trips in restful comfort . . .
Blasting through the twisties on the backroads . . .
Hammering the off-ramps . . .
Grocery getting . . .
Combining 12s with 24+ m.p.g. fuel economy and anvil-like reliability . . . .
Open track days . . .
HRM Power Tour . . .
Goodguys Super Sunday . . .
Placing in class at All-Ford car shows . . .
Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it.
I’d plastidip it black mat to mess with people’s minds.
WEIGHT Reduction!
Adjustable Computer Mods
Cold Air Intake
Somebody handing me a Boss 302 Laguna Seca,my only mods would be class legal roll bar and belts plus a secound set of wheels and sticky tires.
Yo, Outsider, Hows that speedo reading? Every S197 Mustang owner knows lower control arms are the first upgrade.
Don’t need a “speedo” for 1320 . . . they hand out time slips with trap speed at the timing shack after every lap. I run the full-height tires on the street.
I’ve also run taller tires on a PCM-controlled Ford product without throwing any codes or computer funny business.
A computer reflash is nice (if you want to void your warranty) and can be necessary for some mods. But it’s hardly the first thing to do out of the box.
Exhaust, nothing brings joy like noise, then tires and brakes unless it’s already the top performance model with those mods already.
Power is useless if you can’t use it. Smoke is all show and minimal go.
Pull the motor and trans, swap it into a 3rd gen and scrap the rest of that ugly hot wheels lookin’ sucker.
I’d look up the number for NRE (Nelson Racing Engines). You name a HP number, and he’ll get it for you. Never met the guys, but have seen and heard some of the engines he’s built on youtube.