Modding my Car

[MoeMyGod]

I've had the 2007 pontiac g5 my dad gave me for a while now, and I think I'm ready to start modding it. I was thinkig of starting with a cold air intake, or something that doesn't need too too much work and complex stuff to do.

 

Any thoughts? 

 

 

only thing i dont really wanna do is add an exhaust, or anything too complex to install

 

[terrytek]

honestly an exhaust is not too complicated, like it's just hangers and piping and that's about it. there should be premade exhaust systems for your car.

[RypeDub]

Take out your dashboard and instruments and get digital ones. Get that projector thing that makes holograms on your windshield. Add GeoHots Atonomus Driving Kit to your car. Swap your dash for a computer system and stereo. Add some subs into your car not taking up space in a box. Get some laptops and mount them upside down or into your head rest for full computer usage including video for the passengers. Add LED lighting for all the accents like how Ford and Chevy do it. Add an OBD reader and modifier so you can tweak your performance on the fly.

[Omon_Ra]

1 hour ago, MoeMyGod said:

I've had the 2007 pontiac g5 my dad gave me for a while now, and I think I'm ready to start modding it. I was thinkig of starting with a cold air intake, or something that doesn't need too too much work and complex stuff to do.

 

Any thoughts? 

 

 

only thing i dont really wanna do is add an exhaust, or anything too complex to install

 

Does the car have any issues or servicing that it needs now/soon? Take care of that stuff first. An intake is a good place to start; easy to do and will give you marginal gains. Exhaust isn't that difficult, the hardest part is getting under the car. If you don't have enough jacks or a lift, it will be pretty annoying. What do you want out of the car? Just to turn heads? Little bit more power? Better handling? Something to tinker with? Depending on what your end goals are for the car, should really dictate where you start. Always remember with modifying cars (and really, anything in life) there's fast, reliable, cheap; pick two. You can have a fast and cheap car, but it probably won't be reliable; a fast and reliable car won't be cheap, and a reliable, cheap car won't be fast. Keep that in mind with what parts and mods you buy/decide to do.

[MoeMyGod]

Just now, Omon_Ra said:

Does the car have any issues or servicing that it needs now/soon? Take care of that stuff first. An intake is a good place to start; easy to do and will give you marginal gains. Exhaust isn't that difficult, the hardest part is getting under the car. If you don't have enough jacks or a lift, it will be pretty annoying. What do you want out of the car? Just to turn heads? Little bit more power? Better handling? Something to tinker with? Depending on what your end goals are for the car, should really dictate where you start. Always remember with modifying cars (and really, anything in life) there's fast, reliable, cheap; pick two. You can have a fast and cheap car, but it probably won't be reliable; a fast and reliable car won't be cheap, and a reliable, cheap car won't be fast. Keep that in mind with what parts and mods you buy/decide to do.

I want it to sort of be a sleeper car. I don't really care too much about aesthetics. My plan is just to mod it more and more as time goes on and as I learn more and more about how to add components and stuff like that

 

Right now the car doesn't really need any servicing from what I know. The coolant, oil, and trans fluid have all been changed in the past 3-4 years according to my dad. (oil still has 60% life from a few months ago)

 

Basically my goal is to smoke all the bmws and decent cars that are at my school, or at least keep up with them..

 

do you guys think coilovers would be a good idea? I heard they improve handling. And I will think about adding exhaust

 

[Omon_Ra]

26 minutes ago, MoeMyGod said:

I want it to sort of be a sleeper car. I don't really care too much about aesthetics. My plan is just to mod it more and more as time goes on and as I learn more and more about how to add components and stuff like that

 

Right now the car doesn't really need any servicing from what I know. The coolant, oil, and trans fluid have all been changed in the past 3-4 years according to my dad. 

 

Basically my goal is to smoke all the bmws and decent cars that are at my school, or at least keep up with them..

 

do you guys think coilovers would be a good idea? I heard they improve handling. And I will think about adding exhaust

 

If it's been 3-4 years since the last oil change...that's first on the list. Coolant, you might want a flush or just a drain and fill, and trans fluid should be fine.

 

Depending on if it's a base G5 or a 'GT,' you're still only working with a 2.4l 4 banger pushing 173hp at best. You're going to have a hard time trying to 'smoke the Bimmers.' Street racing is dumb anyways. I used to go to a lot of get-togethers of local car enthusiasts (VW mostly) in high school, we'd basically just meet somewhere and hang out. The racer crowd was never welcomed because of the unneeded attention from the law and their general doucheyness was annoying as well. Go to a track day or something like that if you want to drag race. Twisties are more fun anyways.

 

Coilovers aren't a bad idea, but you really need to make sure you get a quality set (which will probably run >$1000). Don't get the cheapo shits from eBay unless you want to bounce all over the place. And you'll also need new shocks/dampers as well. You'll also definitely need an alignment afterwards unless you want to ruin all of your tires. There are 'cup kits' which are paired shocks/springs at a set lowering height which are far more affordable and without having a track to tune the suspension, generally offer better performance out of the box. You'll still want an alignment afterwards. And if an exhaust seems like too big of a job, don't even consider messing with the suspension.

 

A car like that doesn't have much to give as far as more powwahhh. Just keep it reliable, maintained and in one piece. I'm guessing this is your first car, so odds are it's going to be in a wreck (not saying you're a bad driver, but when you're 16-18, accidents are just more likely to happen..especially if you want to live your life a quarter-mile at a time). Having a reliable car is far more important in high school than a fast car.

 

If you're mostly just after learning more about working on cars though, start with the basics. Replace your air filter (or get an intake; those don't matter as much as far as price/quality goes...it's literally a tube with a filter on the end of it), change the spark plugs, do an oil change, drain the coolant and refill it, check your belts/timing chains, replace or clean the injectors, the basic maintainence stuff. You'd be surprised at how much power is lost just from time, it is almost a 10 year old car now. Little things like that will keep it running longer and more efficently; not to mention more cost efficent, short and long term, than trying to bolt on 2 or 3 horsepower here and there with various parts.

[Kenji the Uke]

10 hours ago, RypeDub said:

Take out your dashboard and instruments and get digital ones. Get that projector thing that makes holograms on your windshield. Add GeoHots Atonomus Driving Kit to your car. Swap your dash for a computer system and stereo. Add some subs into your car not taking up space in a box. Get some laptops and mount them upside down or into your head rest for full computer usage including video for the passengers. Add LED lighting for all the accents like how Ford and Chevy do it. Add an OBD reader and modifier so you can tweak your performance on the fly.

Lewd

[johnny5c]

If you have the 2.2L engine you should have the timing chain tensioner replaced if it hasn't been already, the 06'-08' G5's and Chevy Cobalts had a inferior tensioner that's famous for failing at over 100k miles.  The 2.2L is what's know as a interface engine, it means that if the tensioner fails the timing chain slips and the pistons slam into the intake valves causing massive internal damage.  I've seen this over a dozen times at my shop in the last few years, car comes in as a no start case and the owner usually goes into shock when you tell them it's going to be $2000+ to replace or rebuild their engine.