I have owned my Fairmont Ghia AU3 V8 for approx. 9 months now and I am looking to upgrade the car to provide more power with the least amount of fuel increase.
The car's set-up is totally stock, no modifications have been done.
I was looking to change the exhaust and the ECU chip, could anyone give me advise on what I should do first (if at all) and what parts I should be looking at (Type of chip or exhaust), of cause I am also looking to spend the least amount of money (As we all are!!).
I am based in Melbourne so any good mechanics etc. you could recommend would be appreciated.
I would recommend a twin exhaust system as the first mod, that should set you back around $1200 in mild steel, more for stainless.
Unichips, chiptorque etc are excellent as they are a realtime piggy back computer. I would recommend staying away from 'off the shelf' type chips as they dont have the best interest in your car, where as the unichips are setup specifically for your vehicle. Your looking at $1300 for that.
Imo, your best off getting good-excellent quality parts, that way you shouldnt have too many if at all any problems.
With the above mods, I reckon you should see 20-25kw increase at the wheels.
I would recommend a twin exhaust system as the first mod, that should set you back around $1200 in mild steel, more for stainless.
Unichips, chiptorque etc are excellent as they are a realtime piggy back computer. I would recommend staying away from 'off the shelf' type chips as they dont have the best interest in your car, where as the unichips are setup specifically for your vehicle. Your looking at $1300 for that.
Imo, your best off getting good-excellent quality parts, that way you shouldnt have too many if at all any problems.
With the above mods, I reckon you should see 20-25kw increase at the wheels.
Correct me anyone if Im wrong.
Hi blueoval, thanks for the advise......
A couple more questions.....
Should I install a full exhaust system ie headers & Cats back or would a cats back system be sufficient?
Is there a big advantage in using stainless or just stick to mild steel (I only intend on keeping the car for another 3 years).
I have also heard of people putting the Pursuit ute (250kw) chip into their stock Windsor (175kw-185kw) is this a good option? would there be an advantage to using a higher kw chip out of another ford model ie pursuit 250kw (either cost, warranty, Ford dealer installation).
Go the hole system front to back, Use interferance headers highflow cat twin 2 1/2in
into a single rear of the diff, K&N filter should be good for 10 to 15 kw with a heap of NMs go to thread T3 power gains, that will give you an idea of what you get.........
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I'd stay with a mild system, unless your feeling wealthy. For another 3 years, there will be no problems with the lifespan of a mild system (which really should be ok for 6 - 10).
I wouldn't use a pursuit chip - just a unichip. The pursuit chip will be setup for the 5.6, and expecting a completely different behaviour from the engine and engine components, so it would probably run quite poorly - no where near as well as a well tuned uni-chip will. The uni-chip will be setup for *your* car - which will be slightly different to every other one out there...
Apart from that, I would expect that the pursuit chip is probably more expensive than the unichip . . .
IMO don't worry about any chip or EEC modifications. As others have said, get a full ehaust system and then I would throw in a cam like the Crane 2031 0r 2030. After that, if you have some money left then you can start looking at EEC mods.
Should I install a full exhaust system ie headers & Cats back or would a cats back system be sufficient?
Is there a big advantage in using stainless or just stick to mild steel (I only intend on keeping the car for another 3 years).
I have also heard of people putting the Pursuit ute (250kw) chip into their stock Windsor (175kw-185kw) is this a good option? would there be an advantage to using a higher kw chip out of another ford model ie pursuit 250kw (either cost, warranty, Ford dealer installation).
Look forward to any replies.
Norton
As everyone else has mentioned, you would be best getting a full exhaust system with extractors for best improvement.
Stick with a tunable chip to program for you particular vehicle as XR8 Lamah said, every car is different. You will get best results from that.
Try not to take short cuts unless you can help it. For being a little more patient and perhaps saving a bit extra, you will be far better off knowing you did it right the first time and without the hassles.
Be aware that most people that mod their car, naturally wait until they have done what they want engine wise before intalling a chip. Only for the fact that if you were to get a chip fitted and perhaps installed a cam or bigger tb after, you would need to keep going back to the unichip dealer to get the car reprogrammed to suit the new changes. Thats an added expense for something that can be all done at once after all mods you intend on doing are made.
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