Best bang-for-the-buck mods
 

In your opinion, what are your guys most highly regarded best bang for the buck mods? Im looking for ideas for my next purchase - tires completely changed the dynamic of the vehicle. After reading about Simmons' review on the whiteline differential bushings, it got me thinking about other mods that would really wake the car up and change the driving experience.

What are your thoughts?

edit: Apparently people are having a difficult time registering the idea of an opinion. Im clearly asking a subjective question. Im questioning what you personally felt was the best utility from your hard-earned money.

mostly everyone says tune ! tune+headers help alot of torque dip

fuck that torque dip honestly. People that complain just dont know how to rev out the motor.. Best bang or buck mod are most likely tires. After that, exhaust if you want to hear the car better, and then maybe just springs.

I'd definitely go with coilovers. Lowers, tightens and smoothens your ride all in one.

front camber bolts. I got both the upper 16mm and the lower 14mm. Having 2.4* front camber makes the car turn-in and grip so much better everywhere. It also reduces the amount the tire is rolling onto its sidewall, thus reducing the amount of apparent body roll and affects how the rear reacts to the front suspension's roll stiffness. I'm on stock tires and it's a pretty big difference compared to zero camber.

Depends on how many bucks you have to spend.

Depends on what you're looking for? If it's looks, then nothing gets better than a drop and some wheels.

Performance wise is debatable, you can go with a few mods that would do very well, but I'd still say suspension and wheels are the top two for me at least.

Yeah bang for the buck in terms of what? If you want to increase performance, then grippier tires and wider wheels is probably the best. If you want more straight line performance, there really isn't any "bang for the buck" there considering everything will cost a lot anyways.

A short shifter was a cost effective, yet cool mod for my FR-S personally. I love the change in shifting feel. Also, some aftermarket tranny/diff oil (Motul 300 works well) is quite effective at eliminating that stock "notchiness" that a lot of 86 owners experience. Coilovers, if you have the money to spare, are also an excellent option. Being lower not only enhances the overall aesthetics, it also lowers your CoG, greatly improving your handling and overall driving experience. Just my two cents :D

Blitz drop-in filter... 45 bucks and nets about 6 WHP

4.56 or 4.67 FD

I had the standard radio in my FR-S and had a Kenwood receiver (DNX570HD) with GPS and XM capabilities installed.

I find my center arm rest to be nice.

humfrz

clear markers

We put RCE Yellow springs on my son's FR-S. I am very impressed by the change. The car feels much more planted but the ride is still supple. These are with the springs on the stock struts. Also it dropped the car almost an inch which is a subtle but noticeably improved look without any rubbing, dragging or clearance issues.

Go away.

Tune + Header will become a must do mod when the tune portion becomes accessible. Give it a year.

Hot girlfriend mod. Lots of bang for relatively little buck.

As far as I know, hot girlfriends can be just as expensive as car mods.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...34766686_n.jpg

My order of mods was tires, catback, then ordered a light pulley, shift kit and cf driveshaft (excessive, but whatever my tire/catback deals justified the majority of it), none of which has arrived.

In terms of bang for the buck, think outside of the box, utilize deals, craigslist and classifieds.

I had the turanzas, those things sucked, pulled them before the first tank of gas and resold on craigslist for over 300. Found a deal on oem sized bf gsport comp 2 locally, after reselling the nearly new turanzas the net cost was about $50. That $50 absolutely transformed the car. A grippy 215 is more than adequate for legal roads, going wide is not absolutely necessary, especially if you want to follow bang for the buck.

Found a catback local used at a good price. Down the road that will have a net cost of very little to 0 when its resold long as i keep it in good shape.

At the end of the day, this is a slow car in the scheme of things. Making it fast is not going to be bang for the buck. Unless you like taking pictures of it more than driving it I'd focus on driving enjoyment, i.e. handling, aural feedback, shift feel, etc. Then later on, when the power scene is more ironed out, then give all that a look.


Camber bolts and the tic steering rack bushings done at the same time (alignment) seem like a really good bang for the buck mod.

Yes utilize the classifieds on this forum, you can get some great deals. The only problem is you end up buying mods you had no intention of getting (carbon fiber engine cover).

Plasti dipped all my emblems yesterday for like $3 (half can) and it looks wayyyy better. So in terms of bang for the buck, I'd like to see another $3 mod change the car that much

But a tune seems to be a great bang for the buck in terms of power and getting it up like 15-20 horses

Heres my list of mods that I feel transformed the car for not too much money

Wheels/Tires
Springs
Axle back exhaust
Clear Sidemarkers
Sharkfin antenna

Oh and i get compliments every day for my Toyota Emblems

Best bang for buck will always be force induction

Have you had any issues with uneven tire wear with said alignment? I have huge problems with the tires rolling over while autocrossing (stock all season tires) and 20 bucks worth of bolts and an alignment is an appealing fix if it is compatible with daily driving / commuting!

camber bolts work miracles. buy the bolts through your local suby dealer - i paid $6 or $7 for both. Theres no need for an alignment if youre completely stock - as long as your toe is 1/16" or less total to begin with, you wont need one. I had an alignment done before i installed mine and had it rechecked afterwards. i picked up 1-1.1 deg camber and 1/32 total toe.

Fail

This is the most ignorant and useless comment I've read on the forums in a while.

It's okay to disagree, but lets not devolve this into a 4chan style message board. At least have the maturity to provide some sort of reasoning why you disagree.

In terms of hp gains per $, FI is actually one of the best bang for your buck mods you can get. It might be out of the price range of most budget minded consumers, but that hardly makes the statement incorrect or "fail".

Please stop posting nonesense here. Use your big boy words. :slap:

as long as u keep toe near zero its fine. i check my aligmment often with firestone lifetime alignment.

i prefer spc or whiteline bolts bcz i never had luck w crash bolts not slipping and i dont autox so class rules arent important

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[QUOTE=utekineir;1090189]Fail[/
Not really. To me the best bang for the amount of money spent will always be forced induction. On the other hand I suppose you could spend 400.00 for an intake so it can make 5hp. Yep super duper value there.

best bang for the buck mod is to tighten the nut behind the wheel :)

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Spend a few hundred dollars and take a few track days, you will have alot of fun learn new skills and figure out what you want to change. Once you have gone out a few times you can say to yourself "dam id be awesome if......." and thats where you start.

There is more that goes with fi than just a turbo kit. Once you start adding power beyond what the car was specced to handle from the factory other items start being an issue. Tires, clutch, suspension, axles, etc.

Let alone the increased maintenance and warranty issues.

Just some quick halfassed numbers:

direct:
3-6k for kit,
500-1k tuning

indirect:
tires: 400-1k
clutch: 500-1k
suspension 300-whatever
cooling:500+

labor if applicable: $$

Sorry but at the moment fi is not bang for the buck. Regardless of the amounts of kits on the market, or the dyno success that has been had to this point it is still a platform that is a year old. Long term effects have not been seen.

No fi kit has seen the real world use where it should be recommended on a whim to anybody at random, let alone the state of tuning currently.

Has the progress in fi been remarkable for a year old platform, absolutely, should it be recommended to anybody, especially someone seeking value.

Absolutely not.

Modding is a pay to play game, if you don't go into it acknowledging that from the start you're just looking for trouble.


If you think theres bang for the buck and value in dumping an extra 5-10k of power mods into this car you're fucking nuts. Just go buy a c5 or c6 and call it a day since the warranty is going to be meaningless anyway.

Now please suck my tiny ****.

Drop in air filter, the cheapest 3-5 horse power everrrrr :thumbup:

I dont know if it qualifies as "bang for the buck" but I would say the most enjoyable mod is a sweet sounding catback exhaust.

It will be the one mod you notice the most anytime your car is running whether you are inside or outside the car.

This is the first car I have ever owned that I have invested in an exhaust and now I am kicking myself for going all these years without doing it.

This is total BS. Objective testing has shown that drop-in filters do virtually nothing to enhance power output. Google it.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=349361

[ame]http://youtu.be/OwyYDsXqfyM[/ame]

because of this video, it makes me question ALL of their video now....

To quote the video, " the panel filter has a good sound as well..."

I mean... If you got nothing to say about it... maybe not saying anything might be the best way to go...

One of the intake kits actually dropped power... the TRD intake only made 2.6 RWHP IIRC...

[ame]http://youtu.be/KjQ4HbHX3hY[/ame]

-0.6 WHP... lol