Order of performance mods

[Terrorizer]

I am in the process of doing the upper and front 60k on my recently purchased 1990 5 Speed SHO, after I get all of the maintanence stuff out of the way I would like to do a few performance mods. This car will be my daily driver and I will take it down to the drag stip occasionally just to see what she can do. I want to maintain drivability and not sink toooo much into it (we’ll see how that goes, haha) I’m just looking to make it a little more fun to drive-even though I already have a blast driving it. Here are my plans so far: (in order)

1 . Finish up 60k and other maintenance items
2. Replace warn out suspension parts, tie rods, bushings etc. - I don’t know much about suspension, are their any upgrades that I should do at this point that will make my car more fun to drive without sacrificing too much ride quality?
3. Replace tires with sportier ones –don’t know which ones yet, when current ones wear out
4. Catted aftermarket y pipe
5. Aftermarket catback
5. drop in High flow air filter-none of that hot air intake cone filter crap. From what I have read the stock intake is adequate, has anyone noticed any improvements with a high flow filter?

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. From my searching online it seems like the aftermarket for these cars is pretty limited. Does anyone have any suggestions? What do you think about the order of the mods? From what I have read you should replace the y pipe before the catback.
Thanks

 

[hawkeye18]

This is probably the best plan of action by a n00b I've ever seen. There's not much you can do to make the SHO faster, but there is a lot you can do to make it handle better and stop faster. The 11.6" upgrade for you would be a bit more complicated for you as you'd need knuckles from a 94-95 SHO, but pas that it's just FN74 calipers, 11.6" rotors and 598 size pads. There are bazillions of threads on it - use the search function and a whole world of possibilities will be opened up.

Past that, easy suspension mods include a bigger rear sway bar (if yours doesn't have the right size already) - 26mm is the preferred size on the rear. You can also get strut tower braces - those are relatively cheap and easy to install mods that dramatically increase sharpness in handling. You can also upgrade your subframe bushings to either Gen 3 bushings or aluminum. If you want to go all the way, you can also get subframe connectors and a rear H-brace. You can also get Ingalls adjustable strut rod bars to help with alignment. SHOSource (http://www.shosource.com) has a LOT of stuff you can buy to hook your SHO up. You can also check out RCM (http://www.rcmautomotive.com) for a lot of OEM replacement parts that are good quality. In fact, you can pretty much click on any of the banner ads at the top - they all link to SHO forum sponsors that sell parts, both performance and factory.

But definitely do the maintenance first. That's the best SHO mod you can give your car.

 

[jayro]

Sounds like you have a good plan. I would say y-pipe (which you have listed). Then I would hit the suspension stuff. The 3 that seemed to give my car the most improved feel were the subframe connectors (really help the sway bars work), larger rear sway bar/smaller front one (though I think the Gen 1's may already have a good set up) and aluminum subframe bushings. The brake 11.6/'96 brake up grade with some good pads is also well worth it.....the stock ones will stop you once, but have alot of fade. Just my 2 cents

Jeremy

 

[nothingtoseehere]

I'm with Jason. You have a great plan of attack. The y pipe is the single best mod you can do. A well maintained SHO with a better y-pipe gets you reliability and enough oompf to keep you happy.

 

[SuperHO]

about bloody time we got a newb with his head already removed from his ass. jason pretty much hit the nail on the head. as far as the intake goes, there's been no proven power gains from a high flow air filter in the stock airbox. yamaha did their homework with the induction side of this engine, as from a naturally aspirated point of view, it's hard to extract power on that end.

 

[sperold]

The drag strip results will probably never impress you or anyone else. You might consider looking into some road (circuit) racing, which will really emphasize your suspension improvements and brakes. You will enjoy the car alot more when it is in the element it was built for.

 

[kevinspann]

You can get a drop in K&N usually pretty cheap used($20-25). No, it may not do anything, but it may make it a little louder. That and removing the cone in the fenderwell. Noise = speed right? That seems to be what ricers think with their fart cans.

Any ways, K&N - you'll never have to buy another filter, but you'll have to clean it and oil it (but not too much or it'll get on the MAF) Your choice. Everything else you have is spot on.

 

[SHOmethewayhome]

Also to his credit, he's probably been using the search function like mad as well. Dude seems like he knows what's up.

your plan seems fine man, do it to it.

as far as suspension goes, i would say a set of eibachs if you can find them with some monroe struts, or call SHOsource and drop some quality coin on a coilover set up if you really wanna improve handling.

Tires are funny, i always ran Kuhmo Ecsta ASTs on the SHO, they were super cheap to replace for me (50-60 a tire). Tires depend on whether or not you keep the stock wheels.

just a K&N panel filter was all I ever ran in my car. i noticed a difference after i pulled the silencer out of the fender and put the K&N into the car.

 

[Terrorizer]

Do the aluminum subframe bushings cause any squeaking or reduce ride quality? If the rubber ones are bad will they look cracked/dried out?

 

[kevinspann]

No squeaking, unless they are loose. But squeaking will be the least of your worries then. They can transmit more noise/vibration, but it won't affect the suspension's ability to absorb bumps.

And yes to the rubber ones. They are most likely original, and will need to be replaced.

 

[SHOtime2511]

replace catback exhaust with brake upgrade.

 

[SuperHO]

come to think of it, the three most important mods that should be done to any SHO in no particular order are brakes, good tires, and the ever elusive driver mod.

 

[lowc]

agreed with all above the only stop that wasnt mentioned is shonutperformance.com but that would be a more aggresive mod stop and if you plan on draging the car look into a quafie (limited slip diff) of you will be puting in tranys more than anything else but after suspention,brakes,and maitnence i would do exhaust port+polished intake with bigger secondarys

 

[SuperHO]

grammar and punctuation pwns you...

 

[Terrorizer]

I have heard that the SHO tranny is not fond of hard launches and burnouts and I am hesitant to put in an LSD that costs more than the car so I am thinking I will only take it to the drag strip a few times a year to avoid blowing anything up. Are larger butterfly valves worth while without a ported and polished intake? I mean after I did all the other stuff I mentioned.

 

[lowc]

waz neva anys goods at grama

 

[jayro]

The quaife/wavetrac replaces the part of the trans that explodes due to burn outs ect.... other than that the trans is usually okay up to about 300 ft/lbs (okay for any NA sho). The larger butterflies are okay, but wouldnt be at the top of the list of mods. First is maintinance, then ypipe, then suspension and brakes. You may get a few ponies out of hp mods, but the most driver enjoyment will come from brakes/suspension improvements in these cars.

Jeremy

I have heard that the SHO tranny is not fond of hard launches and burnouts and I am hesitant to put in an LSD that costs more than the car so I am thinking I will only take it to the drag strip a few times a year to avoid blowing anything up. Are larger butterfly valves worth while without a ported and polished intake? I mean after I did all the other stuff I mentioned.

 

[pejohnson]

Great thread!!!!

 

[B-savage]

From what I have gathered upgrading the exhaust on the SHO's is one of the best things you can do performance wise. My 95 MTX is currently undergoing an engine transplant at Northeast SHO, I cant wait to start it up and hear the custom NESHO exhaust!