Having owned one of these and being set down the path of mild/moderate street car builds because of this car in my mid twenties this hits the nostalgia spot hard. Some notes from a forum lurker back in 2006, the delta v6 is starved for air. The casting bumps and lines in both the intake and heads can be cleaned up for small gains with a dremel tool with wand attachment and time, keep in mind the heads require removal to do this. The throttle body has a giant sharp lip that can be sanded down to a smoother transition. The stock air box has a resonator in it that actually makes the car quieter, switching to a true below the bumper cold air intake gives a deeper growl to the exhaust and the suction noises and deeper exhaust notes when mashing pedals is fun. The stock front motor mount is VERY flexible, so flexible in fact that during hard acceleration and going into the next gear the motor tends to twist and the mount lets it move pretty far for a motor. While the noise vibration and harshness with considerably increase switching to a poly or delrin front motor mount helps alot with traction and has the added bonus of letting you chirp the tires on takeoffs. The car really needed a factory one piece front strut brace and rear strut brace, adding both considerably stiffened up the car and led to more consistent cornering and transitions on uneven surfaces. The stock shifter is super squishy a good short throw shifter and delrin shifter cable bushings really dial in the direct feeling. Overall tiburons are far lighter than most cars being made now by a good 5-700 pounds, just doing all of the above nets a massive increase in feel and response and fun factor.
Good stuff to know! Switching to poly mounts has always been a tough thing for me to consider the benefits vs the pros. Either way not looking forward to the day mine go lol
@@theliltibby of the options poly would be the least harsh, at the time I ended up running an aluminum billet front insert and at idle the thing would rattle the entire car 🤣. But it 100% helped with wheel hop and getting better grip from a standstill. For pure enjoyment the intake was my favorite though, it noticeably changed the exhaust tones. Sometimes driving a slow car to its limits is more fun than trying to reign in a fast car and the Tiburon made a good case for that out of all the vehicles I've had since.
@@UnholySeoulI’ve had one on mine for months with no CEL. Albeit the 2006 with an intake will always run gently lean but not enough to damage anything.
I think you summed up Tiburon ownership perfectly. I love these things and now that I have my first one, I don't see myself getting rid of it, or not having a tiburon at any given moment 😂😅. I don't think it's particularly the best at anything (except design) but if you have a personal reason, it's a fantastic, reliable driver that is worth spending money on!!!
@theliltibby im just irrational and weirdly patient with the car because i have a emotional connection with it. Its stupid but...i'll turn it into something cool!! 😍. Cant wait to see yours with the new wrap!
thanks for introducing me to the tib and you were the final push that i needed to actually buy it, so far done about 2k in mods, looking to turbo it in the coming months
I still have my 03 tiburon gt with 317k it's my only car and I love it I don't care about the performance of it as long as it keeps up or passes traffic on the highway I got into a bit of a crash but I got it back in shape but it still runs great
Good to see another upload from you! :) As a project car, I like the Tiburon, as it's generally easy to work on. Some things on mine irk me, like how difficult it is to get the rear fog lights replaced (I opted to drop the bumper..) and how water ingress issues go from a nuisance to catastrophic by noise isolation foam that's installed everywhere, necessitating welding and body work... but all the stuff that really matters - electronics, engine, suspension stuff, fuel system, even the door locks - everything is easily accessible, generally well documented and made serviceable. I just wish I got one when these were new (or that I would be able to find a near-pristine example here - no chance; generally, because the car was sold for cheap, it got treated cheap). Yes, the V6 tops out at "only" 170 hp, but it's got plenty of torque to make the car feel zippy in stock form. If you remove the rear seats and noise isolation, unnecessary upholstery and accessories and replace the front seats with lightweight racing seats, you can shave off a noticeable amount of weight to make the car faster. Slapping on some simple bolt-ons like exhaust headers, catback and cold air intake and do a bit of ECU tweaking, you can get some more power and noise. Beyond that.. well, if you know, you know. The V6 can put out about 400 hp with an unmodified (but well-maintained) bottom end, with less than a bar of boost, getting the car well into the 4 second 0..60 mph category. That said, the car is best enjoyed close to stock, with cosmetic mods and beefed up audio. It was never meant to smoke Porsches. It was meant to be an affordable and fun sporty car.
That last part of your comment is spot on. My 05 GT is slow, but the 5spd manual with a short throw makes it enjoyable. Catback, and all polk audio speakers, with sound deadening added make it a pleasant experience. And it's not ..... THAT slow. I recently pulled away from a brand new Civic on the highway in 4th gear. Back in the day when I was in High school, I had it up to 145 windows down and sunroof open. While a lot of car guys call the styling of the car girly.... It's kind of a plus. The ladies love it. 🤷♂
I second that last comment👍🏼 this car does it’s best just being simple and unless you’re ready for all the hurdles of modifying it, you’re better enjoying it as is. Not that mine is modified heavily but I do get annoyed with the things I have done and having to fix where I went wrong and worrying about wires shorting or aftermarket parts failing. My coilovers are giving me a run and it’s making me never want to mess with suspension again 😂
Hey! Thanks to all your videos, I finally bought a Tibby. I have an 03 GT and plan to show my progress as well on my channel. Thanks for the content and I hope more people come to love Tiburons.
good vidd :DD I was looking for 2007 tibby for like half a year now but now cheap 2.7 2005 came up in perfect condition.. Im gonna check it out this weekend but still not too sure about it xdd
Just picked up another 03 GT. Running crossclimate2's makes it a dream to drive especially in the rain, before I would white-knuckle grip the wheel to avoid issues. It's a fantastic vehicle, parts are becoming more difficult to source, especially rubber moldings/trim.
Yah I always warn people about getting examples that already need a lot of work and to find all your parts before getting into that 😅 otherwise you’ll be in junk yards a lot, always the parts you don’t expect to break too. I need a new bumper retainer clip and the dealership can’t even find it, there’s no record of it even existing in schematics
Can't wait to see what you do with wheels and what fitment you come up with! I'm hoping to get new wheels on mine next year. Your Tib always looks so nice, that clean wrap makes it look like a new car!
I did get the wheels on but I’m waiting on the spacers. They’re not too far from the wells and I might go slightly lower so I was thinking 10s in front and 15s in rear with extended studs 🤔 what are the wheel specs you’re going for?
@@UnholySeoul sorry I meant what size tires. How much sidewall specifically. I was considering 18 inch wheels, but I was leaning towards 17 because I thought 18s wouldn't leave me much room for tire side wall.
Mine has been incredibly reliable with 178000 miles, no problems, no major maintenance issues. I dont see any reason to consider it less reliable than other options. Any car can have issues when they get this old. I guess that's fair if you are comparing it to a newer car though. I did rebuild my entire front suspension, not because it had issues but just to make sure it was solid to start out. (PTSD from my 97 civics front baljoint failing while driving) Only cost me $600 in parts. However, aftermarket support outside of catback exhaust and coilovers starts to get pretty rough.
No prob👍🏼 I’d like to SC it one day but for now I’m just trying to fix the wheels, doors, sunroof and aero. I never have much time so these take me forever lol
@@theliltibby plus I already have 2 v8s. A 745li bmw and a 2000 Dodge ram van 3500... What would make you suggest a v8 if it won't fit... 🤔 A b18c1 would be a way better suggestion
@@VegasD702 because only a couple engines can work in a Tiburon without extensive custom work and drivetrain swaps, it’s documented in a forum. I just like throwing out v8 as a joke cuz it’s funny to imagine
@@bogdangeorge8079 the lifter tick? That never gets fixed unless you replace the lifters in the engine. But you can silence it sometimes with Lucas oil treatment. It’s ok as long as it stops when the engine is warm
I want one so bad but the Tiburons go for like almost 10k in Australia like why?! and like there are maybe 8 for sale at the moment in the whole of Australia sad how these cars r not as popular anymore they look so cool!
@@federicodoxa2197 well yah if you buy any car for 5k or under it’s not going to be hard to replace or go over what you bought it for if you want to restore it. That’s why I don’t recommend buying this or any old car if you don’t want to spend money on it. But Tiburons are considered rare so to find one in good condition can be hard, that’s why some choose to fix what they have
I love my Tiburon but what gets me down is it's the same stuff I'm fixing again and again, drop links - makes no difference if I buy cheap ones or expensive ones a year later I''m doing them again, same with suspension and track control arms only it's 2 years later I have to do them again. I suppose I should be thankful that is just bolt on stuff that's giving me issues and that it's not the cars fault that new parts are just dogsheet in recent years.
@@rodpanhard drop links shouldn’t be failing for no reason unless there’s an underlying suspension issue causing them to wear prematurely (or they’re cheap quality) have you checked your sway bar and the bushings incase those are worn, I’m sure you’ve had an alignment but that can cause it too. And coilovers/lowering springs can cause wear depending if something is wrong. Or If they’re not tightened correctly or if you hit potholes. There’s a lot of reasons 😅I feel like these are very sensitive to hot holes too I hear a lot of people get bent tie rods
@@rodpanhard I’m with you there on Canadian roads being not much better. But you’ll start to see that happen to any car as they age it’s the quality of parts and no machine being able to sustain hits for 20 yrs over and over without deteriorating 😩
@@theliltibby The quality of car parts has deteriorated especially since covid, you used to get cheap parts, mid range parts and expensive parts but now mid range parts are just cheap parts sold at a mid tier price.
I always suggest to my friends to get a Tiburon if they're looking for a good daily/modded daily, but alas they always flock to the civic si like a bunch of sheep. You never see any good Tiburon's out in the wild, only rust buckets owned by crackheads or immature teenagers. I'm holding onto mine for the rest of my life because i'd hate to let it go and later down the road see it all clapped out and destroyed.
For anyone talking about Hyundai I drove mine without a drop of oil in her for about 2 days buuuuttt like I said gotta get oil cause im kinda on the idc I like it side
Having owned one of these and being set down the path of mild/moderate street car builds because of this car in my mid twenties this hits the nostalgia spot hard. Some notes from a forum lurker back in 2006, the delta v6 is starved for air. The casting bumps and lines in both the intake and heads can be cleaned up for small gains with a dremel tool with wand attachment and time, keep in mind the heads require removal to do this. The throttle body has a giant sharp lip that can be sanded down to a smoother transition. The stock air box has a resonator in it that actually makes the car quieter, switching to a true below the bumper cold air intake gives a deeper growl to the exhaust and the suction noises and deeper exhaust notes when mashing pedals is fun. The stock front motor mount is VERY flexible, so flexible in fact that during hard acceleration and going into the next gear the motor tends to twist and the mount lets it move pretty far for a motor. While the noise vibration and harshness with considerably increase switching to a poly or delrin front motor mount helps alot with traction and has the added bonus of letting you chirp the tires on takeoffs. The car really needed a factory one piece front strut brace and rear strut brace, adding both considerably stiffened up the car and led to more consistent cornering and transitions on uneven surfaces. The stock shifter is super squishy a good short throw shifter and delrin shifter cable bushings really dial in the direct feeling. Overall tiburons are far lighter than most cars being made now by a good 5-700 pounds, just doing all of the above nets a massive increase in feel and response and fun factor.
Good stuff to know! Switching to poly mounts has always been a tough thing for me to consider the benefits vs the pros. Either way not looking forward to the day mine go lol
@@theliltibby of the options poly would be the least harsh, at the time I ended up running an aluminum billet front insert and at idle the thing would rattle the entire car 🤣. But it 100% helped with wheel hop and getting better grip from a standstill. For pure enjoyment the intake was my favorite though, it noticeably changed the exhaust tones. Sometimes driving a slow car to its limits is more fun than trying to reign in a fast car and the Tiburon made a good case for that out of all the vehicles I've had since.
@@jonf2009 have you figured out a way to get rid of the check engine light caused by the intake? That’s the only thing holding me back from one
@@theliltibby You have to get it re-tuned. You'll get a code for running lean otherwise.
@@UnholySeoulI’ve had one on mine for months with no CEL. Albeit the 2006 with an intake will always run gently lean but not enough to damage anything.
Yes, absolutely.... Your car motivated me to get mine!
Glad to hear! Hope it’s treating you well 👍🏼
I think you summed up Tiburon ownership perfectly. I love these things and now that I have my first one, I don't see myself getting rid of it, or not having a tiburon at any given moment 😂😅. I don't think it's particularly the best at anything (except design) but if you have a personal reason, it's a fantastic, reliable driver that is worth spending money on!!!
See and you’ve been to hell and back with that thing 😂 so if you want to keep it forever that’s a huge compliment to the car
@theliltibby im just irrational and weirdly patient with the car because i have a emotional connection with it. Its stupid but...i'll turn it into something cool!! 😍. Cant wait to see yours with the new wrap!
thanks for introducing me to the tib and you were the final push that i needed to actually buy it, so far done about 2k in mods, looking to turbo it in the coming months
I remember seeing this everywhere growing up. Really nostalgic and nice to see around nowadays. Always confused it with the Celica
I used to not be able to decide if I wanted this or the 2005 celica as a kid, but I thought this looked better
I still have my 03 tiburon gt with 317k it's my only car and I love it I don't care about the performance of it as long as it keeps up or passes traffic on the highway I got into a bit of a crash but I got it back in shape but it still runs great
Best car I own 💯 reliable
@@finalk7072 same 🫡
I currently have a 2.4 Cobalt SS, which handles pretty fun. I also love the tiburon as well. Every once and while I have a urge to want one.
Good to see another upload from you! :)
As a project car, I like the Tiburon, as it's generally easy to work on. Some things on mine irk me, like how difficult it is to get the rear fog lights replaced (I opted to drop the bumper..) and how water ingress issues go from a nuisance to catastrophic by noise isolation foam that's installed everywhere, necessitating welding and body work... but all the stuff that really matters - electronics, engine, suspension stuff, fuel system, even the door locks - everything is easily accessible, generally well documented and made serviceable.
I just wish I got one when these were new (or that I would be able to find a near-pristine example here - no chance; generally, because the car was sold for cheap, it got treated cheap).
Yes, the V6 tops out at "only" 170 hp, but it's got plenty of torque to make the car feel zippy in stock form. If you remove the rear seats and noise isolation, unnecessary upholstery and accessories and replace the front seats with lightweight racing seats, you can shave off a noticeable amount of weight to make the car faster. Slapping on some simple bolt-ons like exhaust headers, catback and cold air intake and do a bit of ECU tweaking, you can get some more power and noise. Beyond that.. well, if you know, you know. The V6 can put out about 400 hp with an unmodified (but well-maintained) bottom end, with less than a bar of boost, getting the car well into the 4 second 0..60 mph category.
That said, the car is best enjoyed close to stock, with cosmetic mods and beefed up audio. It was never meant to smoke Porsches. It was meant to be an affordable and fun sporty car.
That last part of your comment is spot on. My 05 GT is slow, but the 5spd manual with a short throw makes it enjoyable. Catback, and all polk audio speakers, with sound deadening added make it a pleasant experience. And it's not ..... THAT slow. I recently pulled away from a brand new Civic on the highway in 4th gear. Back in the day when I was in High school, I had it up to 145 windows down and sunroof open.
While a lot of car guys call the styling of the car girly.... It's kind of a plus. The ladies love it. 🤷♂
I second that last comment👍🏼 this car does it’s best just being simple and unless you’re ready for all the hurdles of modifying it, you’re better enjoying it as is. Not that mine is modified heavily but I do get annoyed with the things I have done and having to fix where I went wrong and worrying about wires shorting or aftermarket parts failing. My coilovers are giving me a run and it’s making me never want to mess with suspension again 😂
I'd recommend tiburon to anyone looking for a stunning, reliable car for cheap. I absolutely adore mine 😊
Hey! Thanks to all your videos, I finally bought a Tibby. I have an 03 GT and plan to show my progress as well on my channel. Thanks for the content and I hope more people come to love Tiburons.
Awesome video, the tibby is looking clean! 👌🏼
good vidd :DD I was looking for 2007 tibby for like half a year now but now cheap 2.7 2005 came up in perfect condition.. Im gonna check it out this weekend but still not too sure about it xdd
Took me almost a year to find mine and many sketchy ones until I got lucky. Next video will be on tips of what to look for when buying one 🙌🏼
@@theliltibby Cant waittt :D ...Btw I bought it and fell in love for a second time :,)
Just picked up another 03 GT. Running crossclimate2's makes it a dream to drive especially in the rain, before I would white-knuckle grip the wheel to avoid issues.
It's a fantastic vehicle, parts are becoming more difficult to source, especially rubber moldings/trim.
Yah I always warn people about getting examples that already need a lot of work and to find all your parts before getting into that 😅 otherwise you’ll be in junk yards a lot, always the parts you don’t expect to break too. I need a new bumper retainer clip and the dealership can’t even find it, there’s no record of it even existing in schematics
Can't wait to see what you do with wheels and what fitment you come up with! I'm hoping to get new wheels on mine next year.
Your Tib always looks so nice, that clean wrap makes it look like a new car!
I did get the wheels on but I’m waiting on the spacers. They’re not too far from the wells and I might go slightly lower so I was thinking 10s in front and 15s in rear with extended studs 🤔 what are the wheel specs you’re going for?
This car looks best with 18x8.5 +35 5x114.3 wheels. No rubbing in front and very slightly in rear, if you roll the rear fenders, its perfect.
@@UnholySeoul with what tires though?
@spencerlorrigan I'm partial to Michelin Crossclimate2's because I live in a rainy area and these tires are excellent in water.
@@UnholySeoul sorry I meant what size tires. How much sidewall specifically. I was considering 18 inch wheels, but I was leaning towards 17 because I thought 18s wouldn't leave me much room for tire side wall.
Mine has been incredibly reliable with 178000 miles, no problems, no major maintenance issues. I dont see any reason to consider it less reliable than other options. Any car can have issues when they get this old. I guess that's fair if you are comparing it to a newer car though.
I did rebuild my entire front suspension, not because it had issues but just to make sure it was solid to start out. (PTSD from my 97 civics front baljoint failing while driving) Only cost me $600 in parts.
However, aftermarket support outside of catback exhaust and coilovers starts to get pretty rough.
Great video! Thanks for the channel plug too!
What are your future plans for your car?
No prob👍🏼 I’d like to SC it one day but for now I’m just trying to fix the wheels, doors, sunroof and aero. I never have much time so these take me forever lol
please keep making these videos
@@Wong0ne will do 🫡
Suggest to see if u could get 09-10 optima v6 in there with headers and intake manifold. Stock is like 194 so I’m pretty u could gain up to 210ish.
Nice channel keep it up.
Thank you... Im gonna buy one .. and for sure swap out that hyundai engine... 😂
@@VegasD702 put a v8 in it 👀. It won’t fit but you can try lol
@@theliltibby not my idea. Maybe a Honda k20 or something similar... #jdm
@@theliltibby plus I already have 2 v8s. A 745li bmw and a 2000 Dodge ram van 3500... What would make you suggest a v8 if it won't fit... 🤔 A b18c1 would be a way better suggestion
@@VegasD702 because only a couple engines can work in a Tiburon without extensive custom work and drivetrain swaps, it’s documented in a forum. I just like throwing out v8 as a joke cuz it’s funny to imagine
Did you find out were that ticking noise come from? You talk about that engine noise in one of your videos
@@bogdangeorge8079 the lifter tick? That never gets fixed unless you replace the lifters in the engine. But you can silence it sometimes with Lucas oil treatment. It’s ok as long as it stops when the engine is warm
You can't handle the power of the MIGHTY Honda VTEC!!! Oooh-wee!!
Did you find out were that ticking noise come from?
Make more videos w the mazda I would love to see it more
I wouldn't mind Ls swapping this❤
@@autogsport6815 do it 👀
What was the mileage on Tibby when you bought it?
@@itzMeo._. 70k miles or 120k kms and now it’s at 150k miles or 250k kms
I want one so bad but the Tiburons go for like almost 10k in Australia like why?! and like there are maybe 8 for sale at the moment in the whole of Australia sad how these cars r not as popular anymore they look so cool!
Where did you find the headlight eyelid cover?
got mine just last week
so if the maintenance maxed at 1k a month means in a year is basically another used tiburon? 😮
@@federicodoxa2197 well yah if you buy any car for 5k or under it’s not going to be hard to replace or go over what you bought it for if you want to restore it. That’s why I don’t recommend buying this or any old car if you don’t want to spend money on it. But Tiburons are considered rare so to find one in good condition can be hard, that’s why some choose to fix what they have
I love my Tiburon but what gets me down is it's the same stuff I'm fixing again and again, drop links - makes no difference if I buy cheap ones or expensive ones a year later I''m doing them again, same with suspension and track control arms only it's 2 years later I have to do them again. I suppose I should be thankful that is just bolt on stuff that's giving me issues and that it's not the cars fault that new parts are just dogsheet in recent years.
@@rodpanhard drop links shouldn’t be failing for no reason unless there’s an underlying suspension issue causing them to wear prematurely (or they’re cheap quality) have you checked your sway bar and the bushings incase those are worn, I’m sure you’ve had an alignment but that can cause it too. And coilovers/lowering springs can cause wear depending if something is wrong. Or If they’re not tightened correctly or if you hit potholes. There’s a lot of reasons 😅I feel like these are very sensitive to hot holes too I hear a lot of people get bent tie rods
@@theliltibby You have not seen the third world roads round my way.
@@rodpanhard I’m with you there on Canadian roads being not much better. But you’ll start to see that happen to any car as they age it’s the quality of parts and no machine being able to sustain hits for 20 yrs over and over without deteriorating 😩
@@theliltibby The quality of car parts has deteriorated especially since covid, you used to get cheap parts, mid range parts and expensive parts but now mid range parts are just cheap parts sold at a mid tier price.
yes
I always suggest to my friends to get a Tiburon if they're looking for a good daily/modded daily, but alas they always flock to the civic si like a bunch of sheep. You never see any good Tiburon's out in the wild, only rust buckets owned by crackheads or immature teenagers. I'm holding onto mine for the rest of my life because i'd hate to let it go and later down the road see it all clapped out and destroyed.
Where are the clear headlights from ?
Shark racing
What are those eyelashes on car lights called?
NIA design eyelids
For anyone talking about Hyundai I drove mine without a drop of oil in her for about 2 days buuuuttt like I said gotta get oil cause im kinda on the idc I like it side
@@rabbit_be_funny6622 Felt. I drove mine for like 2 years on blown suspension and leaking Cv axels 😂
@@theliltibby hey I didn’t say anything about my suspension 😂 mine is too
Yeah. Hyundai Beta engine. This is one of those times the Hyundai engine is tough and not like the engines that came after it.
Do you listen to Kpop and like Korean food?
I did not know you were a chick