Saw a thread on modifying S197s and figured I'd try and make one for 94-95 5.0s.
Exhaust
-Stock Exhaust - 4 Cats on an H Pipe, Quiet Mufflers
- Realistically, if you want your 5.0 to be loud, its never going to have that iconic 5.0 sound without removing the catalytic converters. An offroad X, H, or prochamber will really wake your 5.0 up, volume wise, and you'll pick up a few ponies.
- Mufflers- All depends on your sound preference. Do you want that chambered sound like Flowmasters, MAC's etc.. Or do you want a straight through muffler like SLP Loudmouths, Magnaflow Magnapacks etc.
- Midpipe - Stock midpipe is a catted H (4 cats!= really quiet). If you can get away with taking your catalytic converters off, you have a choice of an X pipe, H pipe, or prochamber. You can also just have straight pipe welded in place of your cats. X pipe's give a raspy, more high pitched tone. H pipe's give a deeper, more beefy tone. Prochambers give a nice deep tone. All depends on the sound you want, Flowmaster 40s and an offroad H will give you the traditional Mustang sound. Offroad X + Maganflow Magnapacks will give you more of a race car type sound(very loud, raspy, throaty). I myself have an offroad H pipe, MAC Flowpath mufflers and 2.5'' tailpipes, perfect sound imo. No drone, nice and throaty on hard accel, quiet while cruising and screams at WOT
Engine
- Don't waste $$ on an aftermarket MAF, bigger throttlebody, or underdrive pulleys. None of them do anything to justify their costs.
- If you have an aftermarket H/C/I (Heads/Cam/Intake) setup, then a bigger MAF(Mass Air Flow), throttlebody, pulleys would significantly benefit your 5.0.
HEADS/CAM/INTAKE SWAP.-
A very popular mod for 94-95 5.0s and really all 5.0s are an aftermarket H/C/I swap. The stock E7 heads are garbage (unless ported), the cam is actually pretty decent, the intake doesn't help either(chokes the car). You can do a budget H/C/I build like this. Get GT40 or GT40P(require special headers!) off a 5.0 explorer, GT40 upper and lower intake manifold(from a 5.0 explorer or 94-95 Cobra), and an aftermarket cam. GT40 setups usually reel in 260-300rwhp depending on other supporting mods. (MANUAL's will have more RWHP/RWTQ than automatics due to less drive train loss). Or you can spend 2-3k on a complete aftermarket top end such as Trickflow, Edelbrock etc. A H/C/I swap will require a tune for your 5.0 to run right and get the maximum performance out of your modifications. 94-95 5.0 computers are very picky when it comes to modifications, so a tune is a must. Cam choice are based on what you want the car to perform like and what your setup consists of. 2 Cam's off the top of my head that work very well with the 94-95 5.0 and their picky computers are the Steeda #19 & Trickflow Stage One Cam.
Transmission- Stock AODE transmissions really aren't performance oriented, they feel very soft and not aggressive at all. You can beef up your AODE trans with a shift kit to make it shift firmer and feel more sporty.
- Manual Trans- Don't really know too much about manual tranny's since I have an auto, but you could upgrade to an aftermarket clutch, flywheel etc.
- For auto transmissions- You could upgrade to a High Stall Torque Converter which will make the car a significant amount quicker. But, when you install a high stall tq converter, you need a transmission cooler to prevent anything happening to your transmission
Gears- Most people say 4.10s or bust, don't fear the gear. Stock 94-95 5.0s come with either 2.73s or 3.08 gears, not anything to rave about. These gears were made for fuel efficiency on the highway. If you have an auto 5.0, 3.73s would be the best all around gear for around town and the highway. 4.10s would be the best performance wise but on the highway your RPM's would be a lot higher than usual, causing a nice decrease in MPG's and top speed. If all you do is town/city driving, than 4.10s would be your best choice. 3.73s are usually the ideal choice for manual transmissions, although some people like to put 4.10s in their manuals, totally up to what you want out of the car.
Suspension-
Let's face it, they sit like trucks from the factory, handle decently, and thats pretty much it lol.
Strut Tower Brace- If your 94-95 doesn't have one, you should get one, it'll help tighten up the front end.
Lowering Springs- If your concerned about scraping, bottoming out, the most you should lower your Stang is 1.5'' inches. If you live somewhere and the streets are extremely smooth and not bumpy, H&R SuperSports & or Eibach Sportlines would be a pretty low drop, close to 2'' or more.
Shocks & Struts- Whether you just need new shocks and struts, or you're lowering your Mustang, it's very important to get the correct shocks and struts for your application. For example, if you're lowering your 94-95 2'', you cannot use stock shocks and struts, they'll blow pretty quickly.
Lower Control Arms- Want to keep your rear end planted on hard acceleration or launches? Invest in a nice set of rear lower control arms such as J&M, Maximum Motorsports. Stay away from BBK, SR, or anything like that. The new rear LCA's will make the rear a lot tighter and you'll notice how much better the car will handle.
Sway Bars- If your Mustangs mostly stock, I'd leave the stock sway bars as theres really no reason to upgrade them. But, if you're upgrading the rest of your suspension, sway bars would be ideal to tie everything together. A good brand for sway bars is Eibach, stay away from Steeda. Steeda's rear sway bars have a tendency to crack
Shifters-
-If you have an auto (AODE) 94-95, you can upgrade from your stock shifter to a B&M Hammer Ratchet Shifter. I have one in my 95, its a lot of fun. BUT, it takes awhile to get used to, as you need to ratchet through every gear. You cannot just pull all the way back into Drive like a normal shifter. You can also put a nice shift kit in (B&M is a good brand)
-If you have a manual transmission. You can upgrade to an aftermarket shifter such as an MGW Short Throw Shifter, Steeda Tri-Ax, Hurst etc.. Most aftermarket shifters have a shorter throw than your stock shifter, so pick what you'd be comfortable with.
Power Adders-
- Superchargers - Vortech, Paxton, Kenne Belle, all very well known and proven superchargers. These superchargers vary in price depending on the kit you choose.
- Turbochargers - Hellion, ON-3 etc. These are usually in the 4-6k price range.
- Prochargers- Only brand I know of is Procharger.
Pick what you want, supercharger, turbo, or a procharger. All depends on what you want out of your 5.0- Any of the three I listed above will get you well over 300 rwhp (rear wheel horse power) in your 94-95 5.0. These cars came with 215hp @ the flywheel stock, which translates to about 180-190 for manuals, 175-185ish for autos due to drivetrain loss.
Now take into account, adding any of these will put more wear and tear on your vehicle. Beefing up your transmission, suspension and rear end are usually good things to do when adding a s/c, turbo, or p/c. You'll also need a dyno tune when you add one of these three to your 94-95 5.0, so find a good reputable shop that you can trust to tune your car.
This is all I can think of off the top of my head, feel free to add anything or correct anything that might be wrong.
Exhaust
-Stock Exhaust - 4 Cats on an H Pipe, Quiet Mufflers
- Realistically, if you want your 5.0 to be loud, its never going to have that iconic 5.0 sound without removing the catalytic converters. An offroad X, H, or prochamber will really wake your 5.0 up, volume wise, and you'll pick up a few ponies.
- Mufflers- All depends on your sound preference. Do you want that chambered sound like Flowmasters, MAC's etc.. Or do you want a straight through muffler like SLP Loudmouths, Magnaflow Magnapacks etc.
- Midpipe - Stock midpipe is a catted H (4 cats!= really quiet). If you can get away with taking your catalytic converters off, you have a choice of an X pipe, H pipe, or prochamber. You can also just have straight pipe welded in place of your cats. X pipe's give a raspy, more high pitched tone. H pipe's give a deeper, more beefy tone. Prochambers give a nice deep tone. All depends on the sound you want, Flowmaster 40s and an offroad H will give you the traditional Mustang sound. Offroad X + Maganflow Magnapacks will give you more of a race car type sound(very loud, raspy, throaty). I myself have an offroad H pipe, MAC Flowpath mufflers and 2.5'' tailpipes, perfect sound imo. No drone, nice and throaty on hard accel, quiet while cruising and screams at WOT
Engine
- Don't waste $$ on an aftermarket MAF, bigger throttlebody, or underdrive pulleys. None of them do anything to justify their costs.
- If you have an aftermarket H/C/I (Heads/Cam/Intake) setup, then a bigger MAF(Mass Air Flow), throttlebody, pulleys would significantly benefit your 5.0.
HEADS/CAM/INTAKE SWAP.-
A very popular mod for 94-95 5.0s and really all 5.0s are an aftermarket H/C/I swap. The stock E7 heads are garbage (unless ported), the cam is actually pretty decent, the intake doesn't help either(chokes the car). You can do a budget H/C/I build like this. Get GT40 or GT40P(require special headers!) off a 5.0 explorer, GT40 upper and lower intake manifold(from a 5.0 explorer or 94-95 Cobra), and an aftermarket cam. GT40 setups usually reel in 260-300rwhp depending on other supporting mods. (MANUAL's will have more RWHP/RWTQ than automatics due to less drive train loss). Or you can spend 2-3k on a complete aftermarket top end such as Trickflow, Edelbrock etc. A H/C/I swap will require a tune for your 5.0 to run right and get the maximum performance out of your modifications. 94-95 5.0 computers are very picky when it comes to modifications, so a tune is a must. Cam choice are based on what you want the car to perform like and what your setup consists of. 2 Cam's off the top of my head that work very well with the 94-95 5.0 and their picky computers are the Steeda #19 & Trickflow Stage One Cam.
Transmission- Stock AODE transmissions really aren't performance oriented, they feel very soft and not aggressive at all. You can beef up your AODE trans with a shift kit to make it shift firmer and feel more sporty.
- Manual Trans- Don't really know too much about manual tranny's since I have an auto, but you could upgrade to an aftermarket clutch, flywheel etc.
- For auto transmissions- You could upgrade to a High Stall Torque Converter which will make the car a significant amount quicker. But, when you install a high stall tq converter, you need a transmission cooler to prevent anything happening to your transmission
Gears- Most people say 4.10s or bust, don't fear the gear. Stock 94-95 5.0s come with either 2.73s or 3.08 gears, not anything to rave about. These gears were made for fuel efficiency on the highway. If you have an auto 5.0, 3.73s would be the best all around gear for around town and the highway. 4.10s would be the best performance wise but on the highway your RPM's would be a lot higher than usual, causing a nice decrease in MPG's and top speed. If all you do is town/city driving, than 4.10s would be your best choice. 3.73s are usually the ideal choice for manual transmissions, although some people like to put 4.10s in their manuals, totally up to what you want out of the car.
Suspension-
Let's face it, they sit like trucks from the factory, handle decently, and thats pretty much it lol.
Strut Tower Brace- If your 94-95 doesn't have one, you should get one, it'll help tighten up the front end.
Lowering Springs- If your concerned about scraping, bottoming out, the most you should lower your Stang is 1.5'' inches. If you live somewhere and the streets are extremely smooth and not bumpy, H&R SuperSports & or Eibach Sportlines would be a pretty low drop, close to 2'' or more.
Shocks & Struts- Whether you just need new shocks and struts, or you're lowering your Mustang, it's very important to get the correct shocks and struts for your application. For example, if you're lowering your 94-95 2'', you cannot use stock shocks and struts, they'll blow pretty quickly.
Lower Control Arms- Want to keep your rear end planted on hard acceleration or launches? Invest in a nice set of rear lower control arms such as J&M, Maximum Motorsports. Stay away from BBK, SR, or anything like that. The new rear LCA's will make the rear a lot tighter and you'll notice how much better the car will handle.
Sway Bars- If your Mustangs mostly stock, I'd leave the stock sway bars as theres really no reason to upgrade them. But, if you're upgrading the rest of your suspension, sway bars would be ideal to tie everything together. A good brand for sway bars is Eibach, stay away from Steeda. Steeda's rear sway bars have a tendency to crack
Shifters-
-If you have an auto (AODE) 94-95, you can upgrade from your stock shifter to a B&M Hammer Ratchet Shifter. I have one in my 95, its a lot of fun. BUT, it takes awhile to get used to, as you need to ratchet through every gear. You cannot just pull all the way back into Drive like a normal shifter. You can also put a nice shift kit in (B&M is a good brand)
-If you have a manual transmission. You can upgrade to an aftermarket shifter such as an MGW Short Throw Shifter, Steeda Tri-Ax, Hurst etc.. Most aftermarket shifters have a shorter throw than your stock shifter, so pick what you'd be comfortable with.
Power Adders-
- Superchargers - Vortech, Paxton, Kenne Belle, all very well known and proven superchargers. These superchargers vary in price depending on the kit you choose.
- Turbochargers - Hellion, ON-3 etc. These are usually in the 4-6k price range.
- Prochargers- Only brand I know of is Procharger.
Pick what you want, supercharger, turbo, or a procharger. All depends on what you want out of your 5.0- Any of the three I listed above will get you well over 300 rwhp (rear wheel horse power) in your 94-95 5.0. These cars came with 215hp @ the flywheel stock, which translates to about 180-190 for manuals, 175-185ish for autos due to drivetrain loss.
Now take into account, adding any of these will put more wear and tear on your vehicle. Beefing up your transmission, suspension and rear end are usually good things to do when adding a s/c, turbo, or p/c. You'll also need a dyno tune when you add one of these three to your 94-95 5.0, so find a good reputable shop that you can trust to tune your car.
This is all I can think of off the top of my head, feel free to add anything or correct anything that might be wrong.