Auto Racing: Mustang performance, rear end gears, cold air intake

Question
Hi, can you tell me what things I can do to the engine of my 2007 Ford Mustang V6 to increase the performance? Preferably inexpensive modifications. I've heard someone say installing a cold air intake and adjusting the computer would help. Is this true? If so, can you tell me more about this and any other ideas?  Thank you.

Answer
David-

  Well...the list of possible modifications is pretty long, but a cold air kit and reflash of the computer is definitely a good start.  I'd recommend investing in a handheld tuner like the Diablosport Predator or one of the units from SCT.  It's initially more expensive than having a chip burned to alter the computer, but it pays for itself real quick if you ever want to change the computer settings since you can make adjustments without having a new chip burned.  Higher rear end gears would make a big difference in acceleration (even though they don't actually add power).  I'd use 3.55 or 3.73s for a manual transmission and 3.73 or 4.10s for an automatic.  With an automatic a torque converter would be a big help, but I'm not sure how many companies are marketing them for the new Mustang 5 speed autos yet.  Some exhaust changes would help too.  You wouldn't see huge gains in power, but it bumps up power a little and definitely increases the fun factor.  All of these mods are relatively cheap and probably the best modifications you can make before you start getting into opening up the engine and spending a small fortune on serious performance parts.  Hope this helps.

Steve