hi all,

just looking for your opinions on what mods i should start with on my 2000 au falcon forte wagon?
I am looking at lowering it, body kits and the such but what would give it some grunt? I have done a few commodores before this but dont know where to start with this one. It is stock standard for now and I only want to do things slowly, it is still a family 6 seater after all!!!
Any help is much appreciated and all advise will be considered and put to the ministry of finance for approval....

start with extractors, exhaust. then cold air intake, i think some guys are using xr6 or xr6t intakes? and a quality high flowing air filter (k&n etc). make sure all your ignition componants are in good order ( plugs, leads etc ) and your throttle body is clean.

Hey, metallicat. I'm in the same boat - trying to get a bit more grunt out of my AU, but not rushing it. I've done my EF about as much as I'm going to, and am taking a more subtle approach to my AU. In fact, the plan is to leave the engine unopened - but we'll see what happens once the "mod bug" takes hold.

I pretty much agree with jcflat. The AU has notoriously average breathing - in and out.
- Exhaust upgrade is a must. I am trying to keep mine quiet but with a deep note, so favouring an RPS sports cat-back system with one muffler (Flowmaster type) and two straight-through resonators. Some go with one muffler, one reso for more noise and performance; and some with just one muffler
- headers will help - I'm tossing up between Pacemaker PH4480 (I like the sound) and Coby F19. The Coby eliminates the cat (legal here in NZ) so not an option for Oz.
- the snorkel is very restrictive. Upgrading to the XR8 or BA XR6 Turbo snorkel is cheap and easy. You can add the F6 lower snorkel if you don't mind a little bit of induction noise. Or is you have the money, go for an SS Inductions Big Mouth - it's huge! but very noticeable induction noise.
- the airbox exit is a major bottleneck - only 50mm across! I have bought a BA induction tube, which is larger and smoother. I'm joining it to the airbox with a custom airbox exit made from 75mm PVC drainpipe (a single $15 length is enough for several cars), bell-mouthed with a heat gun, and painted satin black. It's a perfect fit with no cutting or grinding, it looks factory, and it flows over twice the volume of the original. I did this on my EF, which was nowhere near as restrictive to start with, and the difference was noticeable.
- Any performance panel air filter (K&N, Simota, etc) will be an improvement over the paper ones. The gains from a pod filter conversion are reported to be minimal - and you get a lot more noise - but that may be what you want. I have an Amsoil in my EF and Simota in the AU.
- Again, agree with jcflat - get the ignition in good shape. A set of Bosch Motorsport or Champion steel core leads are around $100 and should last a few years. Autolite 985 projected-tip plugs are supposed to be good for 3-4kw; maybe it's snake oil, but for $25 it can't hurt - you probably need new plugs anyway. If the coilpack is questionable, replace that too.
- Use a good synthetic oil (Royal Purple, Amsoil, Nulon, etc) - it reduces friction, wear, and heat. Mobil 1 gets mixed reviews. I use Royal Purple. Even if the kw benefit is too small to measure, I would spend the money just for the wear reduction, and to better handle the abuse I dish out
- A cam regrind is cheapish (mine cost $120), and you can go as mild or wild as you want. A step or two up will wake up the top end and complement your other mods, while not affecting idle or driveability.
- If you are going to be taking the head off, get it skimmed to increase the compression - but you will probably have to run premium only afterwards.
- After the other mods are done, definitely get a custom-programmed J3 chip. I got my EF one from TI Performance for about $200 - best bang per buck available.
- Other than that, just simple maintenance items: fuel filter, thermostat, throttle body cleaner, injector cleaner, manifold and combustion chamber cleaner (from a Subaru dealer), etc.

Hope that helps.

* Full service, plugs/leads/filters/fluids etc.

* Adjustable shift kit

* BA Intake, 3" pipe going through airbox exit, BA XR6T snorkel

* Pacemaker headers, 200cpsi cat, 2.5" exhaust

* 4.11 LSD and speedo corrector to correct the obvious

I would do these things in order, and once all done it should considerably change the way the car drives

Thanks guys, all taken on board and will be considered in due time. Used to be an exhaust fitter and find the pacemaker are awesome headers. Lots of ideas here so will do a bit of pricing up for the minister of finance to review and hopefully will get the go ahead if she approves...

Sorry but everything goes through the wife now, last few cars been very costly and even though they were pretty awesome, didnt raise much of a smile when she found out how much i spent......

I just want you to know that xr6 are the best mods I had.