Hello, Need Ideas To Mod. My Gs With Only $2k

[rkpub]

Hello everyone, this is my first post in the forum. I really like the forum, people shared their experiences with others, and I've learned a lot from them. I hope it will continue to be that way. I am currently a college student and I've been driving my dad's GS for a year or so, and he just offcially gave the car to me recenly. I want to do some modifications to my beloved GS, but due to budget limit, I only have $2k so far. I know lots of you have mod. their cars, so please give me some suggestions and advices about what are some of the good modifications I can do with only 2 grands. Thank you.

P.S. I've installed a K&N filter, but I am looking for a intake and exhaust. Can SRT's intake increase 30 hps? How about Injen's?

[Neo]

Intake and exhaust can get you close to that 2k already depending on what you get. What are you looking for in an exhaust? If you are looking for power, don't expect too much from the current choices. How loud do you want it to be?

The SRT intake is pretty good. Many are happy with it but you will have to splice in their piggyback ECU. Some have reported the check engine light coming on with the SRT, more of an annoyance than anything.

What else are you interested in? Body? Drop? Suspension/Handling? You are somewhat lucky in the sense that there is a good amount of choices for the 2nd gen GS. The bad part is how to choose what to do. ;)

[Omegagavin]

Here's a short video of my GS400 with Carson Tuned exhaust, SRT intake and Precision Industries torque converter. Probably irrelevent to you but the sound is great on the CT exhaust w/srt intake on the GS400.Video

[rkpub]

Thanks Neo and Omegagavin. I hope your guys can tell me a little bit more. I am not into extior mod. right now, b/c I want my GS to be a fast car first, not simplly a show car with only body kits but nothing under the hood. I am looking for things that are practical and with qualitiy. With only 2 grands, I know I won't be able to buy lots of parts, but I don't want to waste my money on low-quality parts. So quality goes first here, and quantity comes later.

I wanna get things that will improve hps or torques as well as handling, like intake, exhaust, strut bar.... Please give me some recommendations and advice on those parts (THINGS THAT ARE NOT HARD TO INSTALL, NO MONEY FOR LABOR :cries: ). And please tell me where to get them, I've already known lexitasy.com, L-tuned, but I need somewhere that has LOWER price for my "BUDGET".

Is SRT's intake the best choice for my GS 300, can I install it by myself? Are there any alternative choices, like Injen's? What are some good exhausts (NOT TOO Loud, but can significantly improve hps) HKS? Where I can get good quality strut bar (Light one)?

I am only a newbie to mod., but I want my GS to be fast among those Bimmers on campus. Plx give me some advices, thank you very much!!! I am proud to drive a GS!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Anyone from San Diego area?

[HREWheelMaker]

Oh, you have a 300... better be prepared for the BMWs to pretty much kick sand in your face unless you turbocharge your car. The 300 is a great car and a great engine, but it is HEAVY. You can spend a lot of money on intake and exhaust for the straight 6, and the gains will likely be about 20 hp or so...

I would spend the $2K on coilovers (like H&R) and sway bars (the Daizen sways are awesome)- and then save like mad for nice wheels and tires. If you decide not to turbo the car, it will never be "fast," so it might as well look pimp!!

[Neo]

I also have a 300 and have basically given up on making it fast. I was going to do FI but have now backed off and save that $ for the hybrid GS in a few years.

Other than FI, your options are headers, exhaust, intake, and torque converter. You'll probably be able to squeeze out about 20-30 HPs (and not even at the whees) at best. The TC will help you get the most out of your torque but you are still limited by the 220. The TC will eat up most of the 2k since it is 900+ for parts and another 400-600 for install. Not really a DIY.

Although you cannot make the 300s faster without significant $, you can make it handle well (or as well as can be for a 3800 lbs car). For 2k, I would concur with HREWheelMaker that you can get a good set of dampening and height adjustable coilover set for about 1300 + 200 install. Then for 500 you can get the Daizen sways. These will flatten your ride without hurting the ride quality. There are more braces and bars for front, rear, top, and bottom that are in the 200 - 400 each that you can add overtime.

I know coilovers seem costly and you can go with a shock/springs combo. You just need to be honest with yourself how far you are going to take your car. I started with shocks/springs and wheels thinking that was it. I now have intake, exhaust, all the available bars and braces, coilovers (3rd suspension: 1 s/s, 2 coilovers), different wheels, body parts, and a whole bunch of little touches. I never thought I'd take it this far but I love my car. If I knew I would be here, I could have saved $ but going to what I have in the first place.

And I'm still not done. ;)

Good luck in your search. Let us know what you decide or if you have more questions.

[rkpub]

Thanks Neo again, what you said was really helpful, and I will take consideration of the suspension and coilovers set up. I need to make something clear since I seemed misleading some ppl. I do know GS is heavy as hell, and without a turbo or a V8, it won't go THAT fast. I just want to push the potential of the NA I6, and what I am hoping is my GS can at least catch the Maximas and pass the 530i.

Neo, you said you had intake and exhausts in your GS, so what you got for those and what you recommend? My plan is, I want to get intake, exhausts and strut bar first, then lower it with coilovers (probably), last but not least change the front bumber and of course a set of 18' rims. Basiclly I am shooting for intake, exhausts and strut bar now.

I just looked for strut bar on ebay, do you think it is worthy to pay $280 for CUSCO's strut bar? (I am not familiar with CUSCO).

For the SRT intake, can I install it by myself?

Thank you!

[Black Widow GS300]

i've had the same problems with the gs since i got it.... the car's so damn heavy so everything i do seems to have no effect (damn those light hondas... lucky *BLEEP*s) oh well we're rollin with style so that makes it all better.

as far as mods i have an intake,exhaust (APEXi World Sport), S-AFCII, and a nitrous system i started out with a 50 shot to see what happens and i recently bumped it up to a 85 shot and it seems to be doing just fine!! if you have any questions reguarding nitrous just ask me. (yeah i was afraid to run nitrous at first but it's not bad stuff like people make it to be... you just have to be careful)

in the next month orso i'm getting a engine and tranny swap done withe the twin turbo moter from the supra and adding some other stuff and putting down about 600whp; and found a guy that could hook me up for about $5000 installed!!! that's a good deal considering it's the engine,tranny,and install so look into that too.

PS. i know how you feel in the school parking lot with beemers and riced out hondas LOL

[MonStarr]

Is SRT's intake the best choice for my GS 300, can I install it by myself?

I am no means an expert on car mechanics, but I have been told that YES, the SRT is a DIY job. I believe you have to perform some soldering work on the ECU. I Besides that it is pretty much a remove and replace type deal.

I had bought a Weapon-R intake and put it on in about 45mins. or so, when I realized that the company had sent me the wrong intake. The O2 sensor wouldn't fit. After doing a little reserch I am indeed going with the SRT/ECU combo. From what I have been told, an intake is pretty much worthless w/o a racing ECU.

As for an exhaust, it is also a DIY with the proper rescources. I have been told that the existing bolts are extremly difficult to remove and unless you have access to a garage w/ a lift, I would suggest just taking it to an auto shop that deals with mufflers, exhaust ect. I should only take them an hour or so to do the work and should run you under

$80 bucks. In fact, as I am typing this response, my GReddy EVO2 catback is getting put on right now for $55.

I am going to order the SRT next month from lextsy.com next month. They seem to have the best price @ $525.

Also, I got a reccomendation from the Nopi guys about headers yesterday. Scince I cant seem to find any online for my GS3, I am going to go with custom built ones from this place in Florida. After I deal w/ them an get a price I will post the results.

Once again, I am no expert, but I am learning a lot as I go. Especially with just researching and asking questions on this forum.

Good luck and I hope this helped.

MonStarr

[rkpub]

Thanks Monstarr and Black Widow for giving out advice, I really appreciate it :D . I think I am set with the SRT intake since it seems the most popular one among the GS owners here. So now the questions lie on the exhausts and strut bar, which are commonly installed in YOUR GUYS' GSsssss. SO tell me what exhausts i should choose, something not too loud but effective, practical and of course look nice. How are Blitz's exhausts? What brand of strut bar I should choose, or just buy a OK one? Tell me guys. Thank you!

:whistles: ;)

[Neo]

I have not had experience with the CUSCO bar but AS FAR AS I KNOW, there are only two STBs that will fit on the GS300: UGO and RMM. These are also in the price rance of the CUSCO (read not cheaper). The other popular ones like TRD and Tom's have clearance problems. There is also one that is "cheaper" called RVM. This one is sometimes rebadged with other names. I have the UGO. I'm not sure you can even get the UGOs anymore.

As for intake and exhaust, I went for quietness so I got the PLP Silent Flow Intake and RMM exhaust.

For power gain, I do like the SRT intake. It is a little noisier and I did not like splicing into the ECU.

The RMM exhaust is almost dead quiet until WOT on a 400 but drones a little on the 300s. It is still on the quiet side. There is a nice system called Carson Tuned which I believe is full catback. These are also quiet until pushed. It is about 900 though. I may trade up to this one of these days but not now. :) If you wnt a little more sound, there are others from L-Tuned, Apexi or HKS. THe HKS Hiper is somewhat popular.

You can get an idea of some exhausts by going here:

http://www.lexusgonewild.com/norCal_v2/QT_I6exhaust.htm

Although some of those cars are ISes, they use the same engine so the sound should be close.

[Black Widow GS300]

i've been messing with quite a few gs's but for two grand this setup will be best... an apexi world sport mufler- no popping ar anything like that it sounds mellow and kinda like a supra and you can get it at suprastore.com for $500, and an apexi S-AFCII $400 which corrects your air fuel ratio- pretty much what that addon ecu with the srt intake but you can adjust it to what kind of modifications you have... and to monitor air fuel ratio go with the apexi- turbo timer which has the air fuel ratio guage built onto it $100~150 and keep it around 14.0~14.5 on the readout the higher the number the leaner you are running and too lean and you will detonate (Bad stuff) and a intake from ebay will work you can get it for $40 plus shipping which sounds cheap but you can dial it in with the S-AFC to get like 20~30 extra horses for cheaper!!! and you can install a wet nitrous kit from zex and run like a 50~75 shot all day and all night and it WILL NOT BLOW UP trust me on this one... and you will be able to kill some z28 camaros,350z's and g35's

plus you might have some moey left over after somebody works on it

this setup is cheap but effective and it works like a dream plus your car will sound good

[new big400]

hey monstarr who is building your headers id love to have some for my 400.Also rkpub you should lookon ebay for a rear stb I bought one for $50 new this guy is constantly listing them I was kinda worried about the quality for the price but I decided to check one out and it was a great deal it is very nice you cant beat it for the price.I think the price scares alot of people off ( so cheap) but is nice. look for a brace that is polished finish with blue ends there always on there and it made a huge diff.Good luck

[rkpub]

Thanks Black Window GS300 (BWG), Neo and Big 400. BWG, your info and advice were really helpful, same to Neo. Your guys' experiences and professionalism give me a better understanding of modifications as well as choosing the rights parts for my GS.

Hahahah, I really appreciate Neo for sending me the exhaust competition link, so I could get a chance to compare diff. exhausts. I really like the Apexi World Sport one, the sound was so deep, not the high pitch kind, which I think really fits the GS stereotype. I really have to thank BWG, I couldn't find better price for the Apexi WS other than the surpastore.com. It was quite a bargain, $500 + $30 shipping. However, one concern is, the exhausts sounded really good in a GS4xx in the exhaust competition, but will there be a big difference on my GS3 and will the WS make my GS lose a lot of low end torgue (after installing SRT intake or the Apexi set up). But if there is no huge sound difference or my GS slows down like those civic with big pipes, then the apexi WS is my choice!!! :)

According to BWG, the apexi S-AFCII and turbo timer combination seem more attractive than the SRT intake, which something that I was determined to get at first. The Apexi set up seems have more flexibility and potential. I need further information for that though, so guys plx tell me what you think of the two options. Another thing, I think I will probably get the Injen intake if i go for the Apexi set up, I'd rather starve for three days or work at a strip club to get that additional for a better intake, always high quality. :D

Time for Strut bar, I just wonder if strut bars that fit the IS will fit on my GS. Another thing, for the CUSCO STB, I can get it for like $210 exluding shipping from http://www.upgrademotoring.com/suspension/...tbar_toyota.htm.

Let me do the math:

Apexi WS: 530

SRT: $525 or Apexi set up: $525 + injen intake: $220 (App)

STB: $230

Labor: I guess $150

TOTAL: $ 1435 ---- $1655.

With 2k, I probably will have 400 or 500 left, I probably will buy spring or a front lip for the rest of the money. Up to this point, I can see that with only $2k, it can make some significant diff on my STOCK GS, and I really need to thank your guys.

BWG, I don't think $400 bucks is enough for the Nitrous kit, maybe after I save some money, then I will go for it since you made me feel confident that it was safe and fast. Pplx tell me where I should go for the Apexi parts, and is it noisy for the Apexi combo, what intake you use? THANK you so much!!!

Sorry guys, wrote so long, yeah got too many questions, but plx share your insight, wisdom, experiences .... HERE! Thank you!

P.S. Downpipe, what you think guys?

[Black Widow GS300]

about the apex-i SAFC-II go to suprastore.com and i think it's under the electronics section under supras ... and don't worry it'll fit on a gs it's not model specific.

ps. after it's all done go have fun and suprise some other gs's lol

[Neo]

A few notes:

Exhausts will sound different on the GS300 and GS400. I cannot tell you how the Apexi WS will sound on the Gs300 but it will be different. ;)

SAFC is nice but you will have to manually tune it. If you are into that, then it's great. The SRT Intake ECU is setup to be what SRT thinks is optimal for the car. Whether you agree with that setup is another story. :)

STB - I have not heard of someone installing a front Cusco STB. i'm not saying that it does not work. I just have not seen posted an install of one. I've seen people use the rear but not front. Does your car have an engine cover? I know the 98s do not and early 99s do not. The engine for the GS300s sits relatively high and I have not seen any STB fit the GS3 with the OEM engine cover still on, except maybe the RMM but I'd have to verify. All I'm saying is make sure about the Cusco before buying it.

[rkpub]

Thanks Neo!

Coupel more questions:

1. can a STB that fits in a IS300 also fit into my 99 GS300, which doesn't come with engine cover?

2. Is it hard to play around with the Apexi S-AFC? If anyone of you is using it, plx tell me how to do it. I can get it for like $300 with shipping.

3. Does the IS 300's SRT intake share the same fitment for my GS?

Thank you! :)

[rkpub]

Cool Aristo

[Neo]

Thanks Neo!

Coupel more questions:

1. can a STB that fits in a IS300 also fit into my 99 GS300, which doesn't come with engine cover?

2. Is it hard to play around with the Apexi S-AFC? If anyone of you is using it, plx tell me how to do it. I can get it for like $300 with shipping.

3. Does the IS 300's SRT intake share the same fitment for my GS?

Thank you! :)

1. Nope. The frame is different on the two cars so the spacing is different.

2. I don't have the SAFC so I'll let the guys who do have it chime in.

3. I don't think this will work either. Although the engine is the same, the components around it are built differnently to fit/take advantage of the space around it. On top of that, the chip is supposedly tuned specifically to the different cars (all components and not just engine).

I think the engine parts that are interchangeable are the radiator and oil covers. ;) (well and some non-serviceable parts)

Go for GS parts. Your car will like you better for it. :D

[DaGuNit]

Here's a short video of my GS400 with Carson Tuned exhaust, SRT intake and Precision Industries torque converter.  Probably irrelevent to you but the sound is great on the CT exhaust w/srt intake on the GS400.Video

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That is bad !Removed!.... Your ride sounds very similar to mine but a little more throaty probably because of your intake. I have Blitz Nur Spec full sys. exhaust and lowered with eibachs and some wider, stickier rubber/wheels. I don't have the intake or the TC. I was wondering..... Are you breaking loose b/c of that TC. I have to turn off Trac cont. and be in power and still have to power brake to break loose off the line. In the video, I noticed that you let off brake before or at the same time as slamming on the pedal. I'm a big fan of GS videos. If you have any more, please post.

Dis my ride:

[shoaf213]

you can get the S-AFC II on ebay for $255 shipped.

http://search.ebay.com/S-AFC-II_W0QQfromZR...leZSQ2dAFCQ20II

I had a buddy with a 97 Eclipse GS-T, DSM, it wasn't that hard to use, but you might want input from people who have it installed already, I believe it will change depeding on which mods you do have, it's NOT HARD to tune it though.

[shoaf213]

You might wanna try the following search on EBAY, I'm sure you'll find some of these parts cheaper than you think

(98,1998,99,1999,2000,00,2001,01,2002,02,2003,03,2 004,04,2005,05) (gs300,gs 300,aristo,jzs 160,jzs160,jzs 161,jzs161) -(wheel,wheels,rim,rims,BHP,car cover,chip,rtec,3 " air intake filter,suicide)

http://search-desc.ebay.com/search/search....=&fsop=3&fsoo=2

[shoaf213]

What about a pulley set? I haven't seen too many people do it, but it's relatively cheap and I remember when I swapped pullies on the last car I had it made a HUGE difference!

[shoaf213]

as far as mods i have an intake,exhaust (APEXi World Sport), S-AFCII, and a nitrous system i started out with a 50 shot to see what happens and i recently bumped it up to a 85 shot and it seems to be doing just fine!! if you have any questions reguarding nitrous just ask me. (yeah i was afraid to run nitrous at first but it's not bad stuff like people make it to be... you just have to be careful)

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I was thinking about NO2, but I have a 1st gen, did you not change anything, just installed the kit? no colder plugs, nothing? What kit are you using? I just want to pull up next to a Z28 and purge ;)

[gs300t]

hey black widow is there any way i can get ahold of u? please hit me up on aim anhxdreamer or email me lick_this_itch@yahoo.com i would love to talk to u about ur swap.