Anyone with car knowledge here?

Hey guys. I was talking to my Dad and his first car he spent alot of time and effort on. It turned into a pretty fast and good looking piece of machinery. I am looking to do the same. I bought a 2002 Mercury Cougar last year. It is the special edition version, has custom leather interior, Bose sound system, and a 2.5 liter DOHC engine. She moves pretty well. But Im posting because I want to make it better. I take just as much pride in my car as I do in my tanks. I was looking to get a new superchip and air intake in the future. Would these be good ideas? Thanks guys. Havent had the chance to join a car forum so I decided to go to my 3reef family. ;D

 

How much exactly would you like to spend?
Can you do most of the mods yourself?
How much do you want to mod? Simple, Insane, or a good balance
Are you looking for just performance, or looks as well?

 

these would be good ideas! got any pics? are you looking for visual addons, performance addons, or luxury addons

 

well need to research what programmers not chips are available if there are any for that model / year. I use diablesport programmer and you can tweak settings, datalog,etc.. the cheap hp mods are: cold air intake, chip/programmer, and catback exhaust. then after that its headers/full exhaust, cam shaft, or nitro.


I wouldnt do camshaft or nitro unless your redoing pistons, timing, etc. but first 3 will help and not total rag on engine & trans.

 

I would go with an air intake and exhaust. If you were going to race the car then thats a different story. Good Luck!

 

Wow. Lots of feedback. Thanks guys. You have to keep in mind that I am a 17 year old kid. I dont have a ton of money, but I would consider myself to be handy and my Dad would be glad to help with whatever additions I choose to add. Hopefully that will cut down on some costs. First I would like to give the engine a bit more kick. I would rather have my car be faster than just look faster when I start upgrading. I will also be adding a body kit down the road for the record. Sound system is a must for me, but I already have that set I believe. I will be running some 12in Sony Xplode subs. Not totally sure on my amp that I will be using yet, but man do these things have the bang for the buck.

What would be some suggestions for first upgrade? Maybe something a bit cheaper to start with.

 

Night-rida nailed it on the head. Cold air Intake, Cat back exhaust, programmer. These are you best bang for the buck without cracking open the engine and providing great reliability.

They are not cheap. About 300-400 a piece, but well worth it. Not to mention they are HP building mods. For instance:

Cold air = 15 HP gain
Programmer = 9 HP gain
Cat back = 20 HP gain
All of them together = 60 HP gain

These are just fake numbers of course. Each individual brand and mod will vary for your specific application. Just to give you an idea.

 

personally, i dont like sonys line of subs. i installed my own Kicker CVR Comps 2x12" with a bridged Rockford Fosgate 1000w amp and it hits beyond belief. i install for many people and always recommend kicker. if you check craigslist you can find great deals... and btw unless you have some good experience installing an amp isnt very easy.

 

http://www.autoanything.com/performance-chips/77A1777A2521121.aspx?kc=ffsku

http://www.raceinspired.com/p-12004...-1999-2002-front-left.aspx?affiliateid=10065&

http://www.amazon.com/Mercury-1999-2002-Cougar-Bumper-Performance/dp/B001D6UW62

http://mercurypartspeople.com/searc...254092688930&year=02&productdesc=Rear Spoiler

http://www.racinglab.com/injen-sr-intake-mercury-cougar-004.html

http://brakeperformance.com/site/br...14_135639_135642&dv=020410&ad=google.shopping

http://www.slickcar.com/productdetails.asp?ProductID=10061

http://thmotorsports.com/aem/aem_short_ram_intake/22454p/i-47161.aspx?googlebase=22-454P-03-2002

theres some things to get you started.. I like the AEM intake (link above^^)

 

Also, If running a bigger sound system, you may want to look into upgrading the alternator. Some stock alternators are horribly inadequate.