Hey guys...
I just bought a 95 formula 6speed and was wondering wat mods i should get for the most hp and the least amount of $$
Thanks Luke

Welcome to The Source. That's a good looking Bird. If you want to make a few HP for not much money, try a cold air intake and performance exhaust. The two of those together should give you a little seat of the pants improvement. I'm sure others will chime in with suggestions but that's where I'd start. If I had the money, I'd supercharge mine. Big dollars, but big HP improvement.

Start with basic bolt ons.

Long Tube Headers, Cold Air Intake, A Catback Exhaust, Highflow cats or cutouts, 1.6 Roller Rockers, 4.10 Gears, a 160 degree thermostat, and maybe a trickflow or vortech intake elbow to save you some headaches. Get an LT4 knock sensor to keep the engine from retarding itself due to the increased sound of the exhaust. Also drag radial tires are awesome.
All this will get your car to low 13's in the 1/4 probably. Maybe high 12's depending on your driving skills/ condition of the car.

Also with these cars, you want to make sure and keep them tuned up as they are getting old. Plugs and wires, cap and rotor, fuel filter, and a pcv valve might be in order.

When you get into doing heads/cam/intake/nitrous/supercharger/ whatever you want to do (or if you want to do it) all these bolt ons will help those mods out.

Stay away from the Throttle Body and Mass Airflow Censor. People like to change these things because they are easy to do, but the truth of the matter is, with over 400hp you will actually loose horsepower by putting oversized TBs and MAFs on there.

hope this helps.

yeah thanks alot man.. its bone stock right now but a blast to drive... i cant wait to start getting the mods and making it faster... o yea do you suggest any certain brands.. cause i definatly dont wanna bbuy junk that will break in a few years..
Thanks Luke

haha yeah thos will probaly be the first to mods i get for it...

what does the knock sensor do?

GEARS!!!!! Best bang for buck out there, it doesn't increase HP at all, however it seriously increases the acceleration of your car. Not very expensive either, compared to most mods for these cars. I'd say 200 bucks for the ring and pinion, and maybe another 200 for the install (best to get that done professionally because precision tools are needed to ensure the gears are fit properly)

Most people start with the CAI, since those are only like 100 bucks, but if you are expecting to notice a difference in power, you'll be disappointed. Exhaust is a good starting point, plus it gives your car that awesome sound, gotta love that!!!

How to I choose what gears are right for me?

if you have an auto, 3.73's are the best to go with. For the manual, 4.10's. Brands usually are close to the same, but some brands cause a "whine" from the gears. I heard that Richmond Gears do this...although that's only what i've heard.

yeah i got the 6 speed.... so 4:10 .. but not richmond.. hahah

In terms of brand, SLP is probably the closest fit to stock, but there are many excellent brands to work with.

I have Pacestter Longtubes and ORY pipe (no cats). I have a QTP cutout but I am about to trade that out for an SLP Loudmouth I setup.
MSD makes excellent distributors, and some people love and some people hate the OTVC Taylor Wires. I love them and they are excellent if you go for longtubes. I also have NGK spark plugs, they work well for me.

In terms of just making repairs and tune ups, I would go AC Delco, as it is the OEM brand. Guaranteed to fit and work well.

o ok.. thanks guys.. and fyi i found a cool website with all firebird stuff... www.ws6project.com

oh yeah i've checked out that website a while back. Pretty good info on there.

i looked up the cutout and i had another question... if i did get the long tube headers high flow cat and a cutout .. would the cutout produce more hp then buying a after market exhaust???? is it worth it to buy an exhaust if i did get the cutout??? thanks

Honestly i'd say ditch the cutout idea. A catback will sound way better and will provide good backpressure. The cutout will not give you any more horsepower at all over an aftermarket exhaust. You can always run your cutouts before the catback, so that way if the cutout is closed, you have the nice aftermarket exhaust. Of course, that is all up to you.

For the gears, it depends on what you want to do. A 3.73 on a manual will give an all around boost. Spend the money, get a good posi unit or and e-locker. 4.10s are not needed unless you are going to be on the track all day everyday. Some say it does not effect your mileage others do. My feeling is the that if you ever decide to farther, most power adders respond better to 3.73 than 4.10s. That is just my thought on it.

CAI and exhaust is a really good starting point. You can easily spend at least $1500 here alone just on basic parts. It will pick it up a good bit and is a good foundation. The rest will follow.

A cut out will open up the horsepower, but hurt the torque. You do not want to drive around with the cutout open, unless you state is ok with the noise and emission complications. For the track though, a cut out is going to make a difference.

Here is what I suggest:

1. Get a good Cold Air Intake. They are all about the same. So a brand is not an issue, just preference. Just do not get the eBay special conical filter and import tube.
2. Get a good Cat-back exhaust SYSTEM, not the mom and pop setup. The systems are proven.
3. On a six speed, get a short throw sifter and a lou's Short Stick. This will make shifting easier and faster for you. you can usually do this for around $200.
4. Get a good clutch in and make sure you break it in properly. This will make sure you get the power to the ground. The stock one will go quickly after upgrading.
5. On a used car, I would make sure to do a tuneup and change ALL of the fluids. Flushing is not really needed unless there is a lot of crud.
6. Get an Aluminum SS drive shaft, not a big deal, but helps. You can usually get one off ebay for cheap.
7. Stiffen the suspension. Shock tower brace, new shocks, SUB FRAME CONNECTORS. All of these will help get the power to the ground and not twist the car causing you to waste energy. You can go even further and replace the entire suspension and lose around 100 pounds and make it handle like a gocart as well as launch at the track.

Matt

ok thanks alot guys, its really helped

now if i got a aftermarket exhaust then got a cut out would there be any hp gain from the cut out?

Yes, but only when it is open and you want to get attention. You will lose torque, but gain horsepower.