Im running an 06 STR, and considering having Mafioso ship an elbow (sounds like a Sopranos type thing!) over to me.

This would be my first STR mod, and in fact the STR is my first supercharged car.
Im used to modding other cars Ive owned, namely Japanese turbocharged cars.

I get the general impression that these cars are already at a relatively high state of tune, and the gains to be had are relatively minor (especially as bang for buck goes)
Beyond the intake im considering a replacement exhaust system. Not sure if just Cat-back, or a full system.
I'd love to hear from folks who have experience of STRs with aftermarket exhasust from the Cat back, and experience of full replacement systems, and can compare the relative merits in an STR application

Finally, what other mods should I be looking at? I hear S/C pulley replacements talked about fairly often.

I want to be able to plan a set of upgrades as a well considered holistic activity rather than just doing things here an there that don't necessarily compliment each other....hope that makes sense, and thanks in advance for any responses

 

Did you try Search? This comes up all the time

 

As far as your tuning experience goes.
Where you a bolt on tuner or experiment with ecu maps?

Because always remember it's all a balancing act.
If you open the breathing of a motor you must open the exhaling.

You can't breathe through a 1" pipe and exhale through a coffee stirer.

Any forced inducted powerplant will benefit from exhaling better the trick is not going overboard

 

Yeh had found a few threads but couldnt really find much in the way of comparing the relative merits of a full replacement exhaust system with hi-flow cats, and just replacing from the cat back, in the STR application, with consideration to both power and torque across the rev range; I think thats what Im most interested in - understanding iof the additional outlay for a full system is worthwhile...

 

Most of my tuning experience is with Imprezas - have had 3 in total, the last one being a 2007 model with just over 400bhp and just under 400lb/ft.
Also on a couple of N/A Audis.
All of them have had remaps to take best advantage of the mods applied, and I have a basic understanding of ECU maps though have always trusted the critical mapping decisions to experienced folks in tuning houses.

On a side note, I typically start with suspension and brake mods, but I feel the STR is pretty well set up in that respect.

 

from what I've seen the basic bolt on's that I've seen are pulleys, mafioso type intake, and exhaust. I did speak to one guy recently that had ported his SC. But short of openning things up the aforementioned items seep to be the norm and none of it is cheap. Actually the intake isn't bad for the money.

 

Your original post is pretty much right on as far as logic goes for modifications. IMHO these cars are very well prepared right out of the box. I guess it comes down to what your goals are and how much you want to spend. The old adage "Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?" applies here.

I have the Mafioso intake and a K&N drop in filter. I do not have dyno numbers or any significant statistics or readings to assert any performance gain. That being said, the vehicle feels a little more reactive to WOT input and my gosh the noise of the blower is glorious.

IMHO exhaust changes should be done carefully so as not to affect low end torque. I still have the OEM exhaust, since my car only has 24k miles on it I can't bring myself to throw out a perfectly good exhaust system yet. At some point, I will go cat-back. Really, tube headers would be nice but the side effects and cost are probably not worth it.

There are some on here with different pully sizes in various combinations who I'm sure will chime in. A twin screw blower is another oft-discussed mod but I do not know of anyone who has made it a reality.

 

Depends on what you classify as cheap. Compared to modifying any other European car I dont think the Jaguar is that expensive to mod. The intake is about the same as an intake for a Mustang etc. If you piece the exhaust yourself and just buy the components its not gonna be that much. Hell for my Mercury a cat back system was about 800 and if you did cats and long tubes you were almost to 2000. You can easily piece together a system for under 800 including cats and sticking to stock piping for the torque. The pulleys are only about 250 from various vendors. Thats a bargain. I wanted to get an E55 AMG Mercedes. You ever see how much a pulley cost for that. About 2-3000 for a decent one.

 

I think your qualification of other european cars actually luxury euro cars is right on. That said many of those cars are in the stratosphere to mod. What makes modding jags difficult is that there just aren't a lot of options. If your doing a Mustang, Vette, "Name your Riceburner", heck even VW's there are a million options. It's a lot more limited with these cars without having to start fabricating a lot of things. But hey when it comes down to it a little more power would be nice but it's not bad as it is. I would like to know where you found a set of pulley's for $250?

 

This will make it get up and go. Next time search please.

 

LOL! Rick, in reference to your pic. of the ship engine; where do you put the STR? KMROD22, a few of us here have performed exhaust mods, etc. to our STR's. jagv8 advized ya to check the threads...plenty there. Vance580 hit the nail on the head...don't over do the exhaust if you plan on staying in the 400-475 hp range. My STR experienced different combo's of pipe and muffler configurations; eventually gravitating (in my opinion) to the best for all around road performance whilst not sacrificing low end torque and not too much noise in and out of cabin i.e. Magnaflow's hi-flow cats and x-pipe, 2 1/2" pipe down, pair of Walker 12" glass-packed flow-through tube mufflers to function as resonators (pre-mufflers) leading to a pair of Walker DynoMax Super Turbos. Low-end torque is maintained whilst delivering a hardy rap that leaves a decently quieted cabin during cruise. She also has a K&N drop-in a/f, 1.5 lb pulley (3 lb goes on this week), "Mafioso Air Intake Elbow", NGK iridium plugs, and low temp. thermostat. The "*** Dyno" indicates a serious power increase (est. 60 hp). She takes out metal that would have otherwise shown their taillights. An occassional hard-reset is performed to clear "Adaptive Learning". Hope this helps and don't be afraid to step out and just "Do it".

 

Pretty much all of them are the same price. Eurotoys has the 1.5 and the 3 for 245. Just to clarify I'm talking about the supercharger pulley. If you are talking about underdrive pulley no one makes those for the STR. There is a lower pulley upgrade but its pretty expensive and I dont think I've heard of anyone on here that has ran in on a STR.

 

Thanks Chris.

I appreciate the informatiin, and your perspective on exhaust changes - I tend to be of the same opinion, and am thinking just the cat-back system would be the most sensible choice, at least initially.

 

Thanks for the really useful post. Makes a new member feel very welcome

Hope it made you feel superior.

Next time, read please.

You will have noted that I did search, and didnt find anyone comparing full systems with cat-back upgrades

Thanks to the folks in this thread who have offered me useful input, I very much appreciate it.

 

Thanks for this bfsgross.

In your experimentation did you ever just change the cat-back and leave the rest stock?
If so, how did that compare with the prretty extensive set of exhaust mods that you finally settled on?

 

I have the lower SC pulley upgrade- from Racing Green in the UK (Arden Uk dealer)- not cheap as the oil filter housing need to be replaced with a new casting that moves everything away from the lower pulley....but the cost was worth it- enormous low down torque...and no risk of belt slip...

 

subvertbeats, I first performed a cat-back exhaust mod. The change in exhaust note was nice, perhaps a slight power increase. The stock cats are a "Major cork in the butt". So on went the hi-flow cats...Bam! Others here will attest to a noticeable difference in throttle reponse and "giddy-up". The Magnaflow x-pipe brought more torque and a distinctive 16 cylinder rap due to each pipe barking out all 8 cylinders. Highly recommend hi-flow cats, x-pipe, 12" Walker flow-through glass packed tube mufflers, leading to Walker Dynomax Super Turbo's. Popping em on will cause you to immediately develop a smile from ear to ear. The Magnaflow mufflers were admittedly fun in the noise dept. but ditched due to noise upon acceleration and loss of low end torque (which was eventually recovered with the Dynomax Super Turbo's).

 

avos was at one time developing a twin screw setup for the STRs, not sure if he still is or not.

 

I think he is.

 

No, if I had wanted to feel superior, I would have pointed out the numerous grammatical and syntax errors. Luckily for you, I chose not to.

I searched and found everything that you were looking for in about two minutes.

Oh and welcome to the forum (you may want to look up the definition of humour too ).