whats up guys, KG here, just bought an S! I have wanted one since day one, and finally 12-13 yrs later I have one! So happy I have insomnia! an '07 blk on blk with 48k miles.
I am going to be simultaneously lazy and resourceful by asking the community the following questions:

1) best/favorite 1-2 options for intake, looking to spend low
2) best front and rear tower bars/ braces, more liberal on price for these
3) best sway bars
4) headers
5) is looking into changing intake manifold worth it?
6) not looking for exhaust unless there one out there that is same decibals (or less) than stock...if it gets any much louder, i may never get my wife in it!
7) hawk, ebc, or some other brake pads?
8) fav replacement tires for the stock rims?
9) know of a good shop in Atlanta area?

thats it, nothing lucrative, just the minor tasteful stuff hopefully! thanks guys

pics probably after i get it buffed/detailed and take the exterior from a 7 to hopefully an 8 or 9

 

1) oem gutted box+k&n drop in filter+snorkle or k&n fipk
2) bars dont do **** on this car and it comes with an oem rear one
3) y? it depends what you are trying to do with the car
4) its header singular not plural we have one header, j's, plm
5) no
6) who cares about the wife shes just extra weight. get the berk 3inch single
7) hawk hp+ or axxis ultimate
8) dunlop direzza star spec 225/255
9) no

I answered your questions now I can flame.

WTF dude have you done any research at all? considering u wanted this car for 12-13 years i would think u would look into this **** more.

you are embarrassing yourself buy asking stupid questions that have been covered 39457924867845276times

 

what are your plans for the car? are you doing track days, auto-x, etc?

 

the search function works really well....you should try it...especially since you already admitted youre beig lazy about it

 

Buy my old turbo manifold, down pipe and dump tube.

 

Thanks! exactly what i was looking for.

wanting the car forever and getting it are two separate things. why would i spend several hours reading a bunch of secular arguments about which individual products is better when i knew i would get at least one thorough response like this? need a starting point, been out of cars for several years.

you msg board search ***** are confusing, is there actually anything new someone could bring up at this point? it is a msg board, not google, thought i would treat it like one.

plans for the car are to make excuses to drive it as much as possible since i dont drive to work. no autocross.

also, how weird would it be to embarass myself by typing words onto a screen? hell, even in person, i would ask the same questions face to face.

anyways, thanks sincerely for the tips!

 

haha, we get a lot of idiots on here, but you sir, are not sir.

 

1) K&N or gutted OEM
2) most people say it is useless on our cars..
3) why are you wanting sway bars? unless you want to go nonstaggered or something along that line, I don't really see a point in sway bars..
4) depends on the budget
5) not worth it imo
6) quiet ones are either Fujisubo legalis R or mugen.. both are same size diameter as stock but a lighter.. both are quite expensive though..
7) unless you are going to do some crazy tracking, stock brakes will be more than good enough
8) star specs seem to be popular for grip and daily driving

- Sung

 

1) best/favorite 1-2 options for intake, looking to spend low
- K&N FIPK hands down. People will cry "heat soak!" but I never had a noticeable issue with mine. Other option is stock airbox with a K&N drop-in filter. The FIPK is definitely your best bet though.

2) best front and rear tower bars/ braces, more liberal on price for these
- Save your money here and don't buy one. They are basically just for show on our cars. Though, I will say they do add a nice flair to the engine bay. But your money is better spend in other areas (like the intake just discussed).

3) best sway bars
- Since you aren't going to autocross (or track it I assume), then there really isn't a need to get a huge sway bar like the autox'ers have (Saner, Gendron, etc.). I don't have any experience with the other brands as I am an autox'er, but see a lot of people with the Whiteline, the Eibach, and the Neuspeed. You would have to research s2ki for opinions on those though. Don't replace the rear bar, just the front.

4) headers
- Here is where the brand-name fanboys get on their soap boxes. I have a PLM header. It is one of the cheapest yet still quality (in my book) header options for our cars. I saw minimal top end power gains from adding this, but it did give me an extra bung for my wideband that I just installed, so it was worth it. I think I bought mine used for less than $200 in excellent condition. But honestly, a header on our car is another one of those "minimal gain" mods. If you are going with a full exhaust and looking into FI, then yeah it would be worth it. But if you are staying NA and don't want a loud exhaust, then I say keep the stock. We have a pretty damn good tubular header from the factory.

5) is looking into changing intake manifold worth it?
- Nah. You can get a larger throttle body from Science of Speed, but you need to pair it with a larger diameter intake tube and some porting on your intake manifold for it to really make a difference. I say leave it alone.

6) not looking for exhaust unless there one out there that is same decibals (or less) than stock...if it gets any much louder, i may never get my wife in it!
- Nothing worth buying will be as quiet as stock. I would suggest getting a Berk high flow cat (the smaller size) to replace your factory cat. It will increase flow substantially, and if paired with an aftermarket header, the sound is superb. Not loud, and I would say pretty much the same volume as stock, but the exhaust growls a bit more and sounds much more aggressive. I love the sound of mine. I had an Invidia Q300 dual, ended up not liking it (I should have known I wouldn't) and now I'm back to stock catback.

7) hawk, ebc, or some other brake pads?
- I use OEM pads and rotors. IMO we have one of the best braking cars from the factory out there.

8) fav replacement tires for the stock rims?
- For daily driving in all weather conditions, Hankook Ventus V12. I have them on my DD wheels and I love them. Not the utmost performance tire, but very well balanced. Quiet, smooth, still grippy and lively. If you want more performance at the sacrifice of some comfort and life of the tire, then the Dunlop Star Spec is good. I use the Hankook RS-3 on my race wheels, but they aren't too great in the rain or cold. Hot summer days they pwn though.

9) know of a good shop in Atlanta area?
- Sorry, I don't.

 

^Damn good first or second post!

 

Do not put anything on car that does not make it go faster. Unless you know what you are doing dont just spend money so you can talk about your mods. Extra $$ give it to folks who want to go faster.

Bill

 

congrats on your new ride! I had same feeling as yours the night before I picked up the car.....I don't own it anymore though..

 

Why is blacks2k bitching about someone asking questions? If i just joined then i wasnt here the past 10years to see the questions covered "39457924867845276times"
As a brand new s2k owner, these are the exact threads i love to read!

 

Star specs...definitely. Best tire for the money for three years now...

 

^^^^^^This.

 

Incorrect. Tire rack tested the Hankook ventus 112 evo's against the star specs and they came in a very close second and are significantly cheaper.

 

Hmm, not so fast there. The ventus 112 is probably more comparable to the direzza dz101 in both performance and price. The star spec is more of a direct comparison to the Hankook rs3 in both tread compound, ability to deal and hold heat - almost like an R compound for the street. If your doing any spirited driving where you need the tire to warm up and deal with heat, the star specs and cheaper priced rs3 cant be beat.