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need help - $3,000 budget for nc2 upgrades

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 11:03 am
by la3541
I just bought a 2010 soft top GT 6mt. Its a pretty sweet car! I love the way it handles and drives. However, I would not mind if it were a little stiffer and faster.

I have a $3000 budget and I live in Los Angeles. I can bring it down to San Diego. I am not too familiar with installing parts myself, so I need to include installation labor costs in my budget.

What would you recommend I get? I don't plan to track the car, just drive around canyons and roads having fun.

Thanks for any advice.

-Greg

Re: need help - $3,000 budget for nc2 upgrades

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 5:17 pm
by Brian
Welcome and congrats on finding that 2010. That budget is enough for a wide range of suspension choices depending on how fast you want it. The BEST is our Ohlins coilovers on the group buy of $1974 and with install still well under your budget....but that may be overkill if no autocross or track days are planned. For lower cost coilovers look to our Tein Street Advance. There are also fine choices in just spring/shock/sway upgrades. You are welcome to come down and ride in my wife's car which has just our Progress Sways and Progress Springs and yet is a MUCH faster car in the turns than the stock setup while riding much like stock.

Re: need help - $3,000 budget for nc2 upgrades

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 12:07 pm
by la3541
I don't want to go too overboard, at least at first! Your idea of just upgrading the spring/shock/sways sounds good. I was also thinking of doing something to increase the engine performance. I saw some exhaust/header packages on your web site that looked pretty good. I saw that the header one was not carb approved. Does that mean it won't pass a a smog test in california?

Re: need help - $3,000 budget for nc2 upgrades

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 12:12 pm
by Brian
Correct, no smog legal headers for California at this time.

Re: need help - $3,000 budget for nc2 upgrades

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 6:47 pm
by NaregM677
This is actually a great post for low-budget California residents like myself.

Re: need help - $3,000 budget for nc2 upgrades

Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 8:57 am
by la3541
Since the header option is not available for CA residents, are there any other engine performance recommendations that you can make?

Re: need help - $3,000 budget for nc2 upgrades

Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:11 am
by Brian
Muffler is all you can do legally for power right now.

Brian

Re: need help - $3,000 budget for nc2 upgrades

Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 8:01 pm
by NaregM677
Any idea when CA legal items will be available?