noob in the house

[sweatnblood]

Hey guys, I'm super excited to announce that I have finally bought my shelby:coolman: She is a 2011 convert with the SVT package less than 30K on the clock so should be good to go for a long time. I've been reading and reading trying to figure out where to start. I've seen a lot of post about tires and what not but seems most people have hard tops so my 1st question is best upgrade for the convert on helping out the handling...more autocross than drag strip. Then that would lead into wider wheels, I think I seen something on Gridds site that had competed packages but they start from 4K then jump to 8K+. I know they have been around a long time so quality will be great but is there any other packages from other companies that have good reps? on the power side of the house I've been looking into the VMP 720HP kit or Brenspeed 750HP kit...seems like they are pretty close in price although I've read that the costumer service is pretty dam good from brenspeed so leaning that way for now. With all this being said is the stock clutch and axles strong enough for this (not going to be going to the drag stip every week) mostly a highway killer with some added winding roads since I live in SoCal. Last thing, the car will be in the Dallas area until I get back in end of Dec from Iraq anybody recommend a shop in the area that does quality work so I might get this done before I get back and can just get in and go...again thanks for your time and beyond excited to finally get my dream car for years to come

Tony

 

[1 Alibi 2]

Welcome to the site, congrats & good luck with the new ride.
If you have to choose between Brenspeed & VMP, I would use VMP.
Have no experience with either, but have read many posts on several sites, happy with VMP sales & service.
My tuner also offers e-mail tunes, with satisfied customers all over the world.
.
www.teamjdm.com
.
Both of my cars were tuned @ their shop, driven, data-logged, & dyno'd by the tuner.
The owner, Jim Sr., used to work for Ford..........as a tuner !!

 

[RedVenom48]

Congratulations! Welcome to the club. There is a ton of info on these great boards, and im sure someone will be able to help with the chassis stiffening question.

As for bringing the car to Socal, i would absolutely call the California DMV and find out if you are going to need a Smog inspection to register in CA. Its possible you will because its an out of state car being brought in.

If you do require smog, buy the parts but leave the car stock to you get your smog and registration complete. Depending on where you are in Socal, finding an installer shouldnt be hard.

Since youre a fellow San Diegan, check out JBA in Kearny Mesa for your project! I work at the Lexus dealer across the 163 and bought my Torco from them. Always a bunch of hi perf cars in front of their shop. Good Cars n Coffee too.

 

[HillbillyHotRod]

Do not know about brenspeed but my experience with VMP has been nothing less the stellar. First rate service and they will not sell you anything you do not need.

 

[Catmonkey]

I'm not familiar with Brenspeed, but I have a lot of experience with VMP and I highly recommend them. I'm not sure the Gen II or 2R is CARB certified. I'd contact VMP, or more specifically BJ McCarty at VMP, and quiz him what would be emissions compliant in Kalifornia. You shouldn't have any issues with the axles unless you're running drag slicks, but Moser and Strange both make replacements. Griggs is sort of hard core. Unless you're doing a lot of road courses and little street driving, it's probably fine, but there are ways to make your ride handle better in the twisties and still deliver decent ride quality for the street. On tires, do some research. Almost all manufacturers limit a 285 as the widest tire for a 9.5" rim. Sure a larger tire will mount, and lots of guys that are not engineers will tell you it's fine to do that. If you want your car to handle, don't do it. Look at wider rims or widen the stock wheels and find something with a UTQG rating under 200.

 

[sweatnblood]

Thanks guys for all the info. I'm going to get the car reg. in TX so that gives me more options. I think I've found a good shop in Dallas area where the car is being dropped off this week. So going to get the shifter upgrade, tune/pully, cooler upgrade and I'm going to pull the trigger on a watts-link. This should be a good base for now. have not decided about the exhaust since there are a lot of options with the axle back vs cat-back not sure what way to go.

 

[builttodrive]

Just a little on the Griggs. keep in mind my car is an 07 Coupe. I have the griggs coil over Koni adjustable stuts up front and the the Koni adjustable coil overs in the rear with the Watts Link and torque arm. The car handles and gets the power down extremely well! But it also rides much better than my previous 07 Shelby GT that was stock and also rides better than my cousins 2011 SVTPP when it was stock. He has since replaced the stock SVTPP shocks and it improved his ride. The ride is still on the sporty side for sure but it isn't terrible. The other side of the coin is these improved suspension components with hardened joints transfer noise through the car a little more than standard rubber bushings. My 3.73 gears whine a little and I know the suspension is amplifying it more than it would if the car were stock.

 

[Dynobrat]

I do not recommend Brenspeed. They had a facebook clearance sale a while back, with items listed on ebay. I bought a jlt 123mm intake advertised to fit 10-12 gt500's. When I received it, the heat shield was for a 07-09. I had to fight with them tooth and nail to get them to honor the original purchase and after endless emails and visual proof of their ad they finally man'd up and sent it. But it was lousy customer service and I would never buy anything from them again. If you have to fight for what you pay for they aren't worth a dollar of my or your time.