2011 gt500, new owner looking for mod suggestions

[cmb570]

I picked up a low mileage 2011 gt500 recently and now ready for the mods to begin. Im still learning these cars so hoping you guys can help me with suggestions. Its a street car that I drive everyday and want to keep it that way

So far:
Aluminum DS
Steeda springs
Steeda 114m CAI
barton shifter
Adjustable Panhard Rod
True Forge chicanes- waiting for invo's

List of things Im thinking about doing:
1. oil seperator
2. pulley & tune
3. blower swap (wait for a while on this for now)
4.

Any suggestions to make safer or last longer are greatly appreciated too.

 

[ZX6Ray]

One of the first mods to really wake this car up is a pulley/tune/intake/O/R x pipe combo package as much as 80-90 hp for $1200. It was probably the best bang for the buck as far as power goes. 500 hp to the wheels in a 3800 lb car isn't that much of a "wow" factor anymore these days when you are looking at power to weight ratio.

I would then put a dual fan heat exchanger as one of the priority items in your list bc when summer comes around this car loves to pull timing with associated heat soak. You lose considerable amounts of power when that happens. Especially in stop and go traffic! Just my .02

Then go for the other things in your list.

 

[SuperFly03]

What's with the new driveshaft? Don't get me wrong it's a good upgrade but if you aren't going balls out is it really worth it?

As far as theCAI, get a JLT 127/123mm intake. Steeda does make some good stuff but I wouldn't get their intake.

Either do a pulley and tune or a blower swap and tune. Don't do a pulley then a blower swap lateron. You'll waste money on the pulley and tune. So that's more of a question to you in terms of your end goal.

I have a Barton shifter and love it. Great shifter. People are also happy with the MGW. I have no experience with it but only hear good things.

In addition to springs you need new control arms and potentially relo brackets.

 

[SuperFly03]

One of the first mods to really wake this car up is a pulley/tune/intake/O/R x pipe combo package as much as 80-90 hp for $1200. It was probably the best bang for the buck as far as power goes. 500 hp to the wheels in a 3800 lb car isn't that much of a "wow" factor anymore these days when you are looking at power to weight ratio.

I would then put a dual fan heat exchanger as one of the priority items in your list bc when summer comes around this car loves to pull timing with associated heat soak. You lose considerable amounts of power when that happens. Especially in stop and go traffic! Just my .02

Then go for the other things in your list.

Good advice. Don't forget exhaust. May not be a great deal of power but, for me, I want it to sound as bad ass as it looks/is.

 

[My Monster]

I'll suggest:

Lower control arms
Relocation brackets for the lowers ( BMR )
Adjustable upper control arm and bracket ( I am running BMR, no complaints )
Adjustable Panhard Rod ( BMR , about to order one from Van at Revan Racing. Good guy to do business with. )

Others will chime in shortly but my opinion: figure out what you intend to do with the car, make a plan, get the suspension sorted out, get a bigger heat exchanger, don't buy cheap tires, HAVE FUN. The best toy I ever bought myself has been my 2011 Shelby.

 

[Ninjak]

I picked up a low mileage 2011 gt500 recently and now ready for the mods to begin. Im still learning these cars so hoping you guys can help me with suggestions. Its a street car that I drive everyday and want to keep it that way

So far:
Aluminum DS
Steeda springs
Steeda 114m CAI
barton shifter

True Forge chicanes- waiting for invo's

List of things Im thinking about doing:
1. oil seperator
2. pulley & tune
3. blower swap (wait for a while on this for now)
4.

Any suggestions to make safer or last longer are greatly appreciated too.

Hmm if you plan on doing any 'spirited' driving I would also suggest:

1. LCA's of your choice
2. LCA relocation if you have lowering springs. (check to see if it was not done)
3. If you upgrade the blower:
a. FRRP or choice TB
b. 123 MAF
c. LT Headers of your choice.
4. tensioner/Idler

Mods can be fun, but you just want to make sure you keep everything within tolerance and get mods that support the other mods.

 

[PistolWhip]

If your "So Far" is what's already done to the car and there is no other suspension work done, my recommendation for immediate future would be:

1. Upper and lower control arms (BMR, Bobs, J&M, CHE, etc...), CHE lower relocation brackets and upper control arm mount.
2. Drag Radials
3. Pulley and tune or blower swap and tune depending on your budget
4. full exhaust (LT's if you swap the blower, just a good 3" manifold back set up if not)

 

[Nasty500]

Ya driveshaft makes no sense but anyway

Cheapest lca's you can get they are all the same
Jlt intake/ tune / tune - vmptuning
305 dr's/ panhard bar

 

[09Troublemaker]

C & R Heat Exchanger works fabulous and well worth the $$$

 

[cmb570]

I keep seeing the following, could someone give me more details please (pro's con's )
thanks

1. LCA's of your choice
2. LCA relocation if you have lowering springs. (check to see if it was not done)

Also what are your feelings on oil seperators ? needed or not ?

 

[Ninjak]

I keep seeing the following, could someone give me more details please (pro's con's )
thanks

1. LCA's of your choice
2. LCA relocation if you have lowering springs. (check to see if it was not done)

Also what are your feelings on oil seperators ? needed or not ?

OK. The stock LCA's = piece of crap. If you start adding power you will get crazy wheel hop when you launch the car. Aftermarket LCA's are so much better.

The relocation kit for LCA's are for when you lower the car, the LCA's stay at the correct angle so they will function properly. Since you have steeda springs, your car is probably lowered already. So maybe the person did it the right way and used relocate kit when it was done. If not, you would want to get that kit.

On any FI car oil separators is a good thig period.

 

[Silver_Serpent]

Suspension work can be good and all, but especially if you have a performance package car, it may not be the most bang for the buck right away. As a matter of fact, I have no complaints at all about my stock suspension. The car tracks straight, spins straight, and hooks well. I am running drag radials with 665/665.

If I was starting all over again with my car, I would go straight to shopping for a take off TVS ... max HP per $ to start with!

 

[Ohio Snake]

I have a '12 and I am upgrading as well, but all Shelby parts to Super Snake specs. Done so far:

Pulley, tune and spark plugs took me from 500 RWHP to 569 RWHP. This will be until I upgrade engine performance components ( blower, etc.)

Brakes all upgraded to Shelby Wilwood 6 piston, front and 4 piston rear, plus pads and rotors. What a difference over stock Brembos!

Oil separator. A must on passenger side.

Bought but not installed yet... 1st quarter 2014.

Shelby heat exchanger with fans and radiator.

Borla cat back exhaust system

Aluminum drive shaft.

More upgrades over the next two years to list.

 

[NightRide]

Your plan looks good so far and Cooling mods need to be on the short list as well. For a DD street car that isn't going to be drag raced often money could be better spent elsewhere rather than on suspension, imo.

 

[PistolWhip]

I keep seeing the following, could someone give me more details please (pro's con's )
thanks

1. LCA's of your choice
2. LCA relocation if you have lowering springs. (check to see if it was not done)

Also what are your feelings on oil seperators ? needed or not ?

These cars already come with gobs of power and gobs of torque. Power and torque that most drivers never have the ability to put to pavement before they start adding more. Now don't get me wrong, there is NEVER anything wrong with more power or more torque, but it's kind of wasted when it all goes up in smoke. Sure it's cool the first couple times you blow the tires off the rims in 2nd or 3rd, but after a few very disappointing track days you start to wonder what you're burning your hard earned cash on.

Now, start with traction by replacing the seriously week links in the back end of the car and you can start using the power you already have and instead of disappointing track days you'll crush your expectations.

That all being said, Drag Radials are usually my first recommendation but a lot of people recommend against them on DD's. They can be a bit hairy in wet weather and don't last very long at all. If the car's a DD, you can get almost as good results by adding stiffer lowers (Bob's or BMR seem to be the most popular) and correcting the angles with relocation brackets. The relo brackets correct the angle of the lower control arm, which gets thrown off and into a counterproductive angle by lowering the car.

As for the oil separator, I would suggest the Bob's separator on the passenger side. I don't think the driver side is worth while. It won't give you any noticeable power increases but it will keep a ton of hot blow by oil from saturating your intercooler and building up over time.

 

[dirtyo2000]

I would figlure out my overall plan for the car and go from there. DS is cool but wouldn't really change it in the beginning. First would be the stance that you want with LCA/UCA and springs/struts. I did the FRP3 kit and couldnt enjoy the handling better plus the adjustability for track days and street cruising is great.

Once you get the suspension straight I would just save for the larger blower or whatever you plan on doing. Like memtioned earlier why buy tunes and pulleys when you will not be able to use them when the new blower comes along. Try to just spend one time getting to your ultimate goal.

 

[Poppacapp]

Good advice. Don't forget exhaust. May not be a great deal of power but, for me, I want it to sound as bad ass as it looks/is.

Pulley/tune will be a good start for mods. If you are not planning on a larger blower anytime soon. But the TVS kits are such good deals its almost too hard to pass up.. and I can guarantee you there is a HUGE night/day difference in the car from pulley/tune to TVS. It really depends on how car you want to go with it. Give BJ @ VMP a shout.. email or call.. he can talk you through and give good advice.

I got a good sound from my 2012(at least in my opinion) by just gutting my cats and keeping full stock exhaust. PM me OP if you want more details on the method I used.

Here is a gopro vid. I just suction cupped the camera to the back bumper. Exhaust is gutted cats only.

[youtube_browser]GYY5ARSOjJU[/youtube_browser]

 

[brandonflood123]

this is all pretty intresting. i just picked up a 10 gt500 2 months ago. ive done some for apperance not to much for actuall mods. im not new to modding cars by any means but this is a large investment to me and im sure people here have more experience then i do.(fully built 07 gt was my last car) im curoius as to what mods to look into as well. ive already put the eibach pro lowering kit on my car. and just got me some 305/35/19 nt05r tires as wel as the jlt 127mm intake.

im thinking of going with the lethal off road x for now and upgrade to long tubes later. i dont know what axle back to run thats a nice good sound but isnt too quiet. also what kind of LCA's have yall had good experience with. im also going to be doing a 13 take off supercharger upgrade. with a 2.5 pully and probly an inovators 15% lower. but im up for all the svt guys input on how to go about doing this. and mainly doing it the right way. i havent installed any motor mods yet as i havent decided who i want to go with for tuning most likely a local tuner here in texas, i dont like the whole email tune thing.

sorry for my book above lol just this stuff is important to me and would like some knowledgeable feed back.:beer:

 

[Nasty500]

Nothing wrong with the email tune. If you are just running an intake there are tons of guys running vmp, jlt or lethal tunes. Buy an sct from vmp and call it a day