most people agree that y-pipes and cai are great first hp adding mods because they work together, and have the easist install, and are cheap enough. After those two, whats a brother to do to increase hp for not a lot of money, i know nos is cheap, but were talking bolt ons, bang for the buck improvements. thank you in advance and PEACE

 

well you can get a underdrive pulley(UDP), advance the timing to 20 degrees but after that nothing is cheap, its either a JWT ECU or some "custom tuning"......

 

will 89 octane work with the 20 degree setup, or will i still get pinging,

 

I've heard a few people run 89 on adv timing before and have NO pinging, but most people suggest runnig 91 when you advance timing! but if you get mostly "good" gas like Exxon, Shell, 76 etc. I doubt their 89 would hurt with 20 degree timing!

 

you know if the VG will automaticly retard the timing or will it continue to knock until the engine falls off

 

I'm not 100% sure, but I think it automatically retards it when set in the stock position, but I think after you manually set it to be at 20 degrees all the time, it might not automatically retard it anymore so it might be knocking and knock till the engine dies...but I'm not too sure!

 

i have also heard that advanced timing doesn't add hp, whats the deal on the gains with a 20 degree advancement? by the way thank you for answering all my newbie questions

 

yeah I think it adds an estimated 1-2hp , but from what I've see it improves the VG's off the line starts VERY well...I think recently one of the DC guys ran a ~16.6-.5** in his VG auto with only intake and advanced timing so its gotta be worth something indeed!

 

Advancing the timing on the VG engine is a purely mechanical procedure. You loosen a bolt underneath the distributor and move the distributor to the right while the engine is running. I don't see how the engine could move the timing back, seeing as how it is a purely mechanical and not electronic procedure. Advancing the timing doesn't really add HP. Rather it helps with throttle response. The gains of advancing the timing are similar to a short throw shifter; these mods don't add horsepower, but you will see faster track times and better acceleration.

 

thanks Cincy! I needed an exact explanation of the whole "advance timng" thing too, I was kinda in the dark myself!

 

NO, advance timing is delt with advancing and timing, it has nothing to do with mechanicalizm

 

what are you talking about???

 

hahahah im just messing around

 

I disagree.

I guarantee you that you would see at least 2-3 hp from advancing the timing alone if you were to use a dynometer. Nissan sets the base timing with consideration for heat, idle quality, gas quality, smoothness, emissions, etc. and with the base timing as it is there are many compromises for the forestated conditions. By advancing the timing, ignition occurs earlier in the combustion stroke, allowing the mixture to be more thoroughly burnt, thus producing more power. Take my example: I went from a stock 1/4 at 15.5 to 14.8 (7/10 sec.) with only 20 degrees timing and a cone filter. Those are results that you can quantify unlike an STS.

 

what is an sts?

 

After you have done those two, I would also do the UDP($150 or so), get a RT cat($100) and freeflow catback($300). Get quality tune up gear like good NGK plugs, 8mm wires, and do a comprehensive tune up(filters, clean TB, pcv, engine flush, 5w-30 synthetic, good antidrainback filter, cap/rotor, coolant F&F, and any other tuning item). Its my bet that 90% of cars on the road could gain 5 hp (and run better all around to boot) from proper tuning.

 

i dont know, when ever i got the car from my dad, the timing was already advanced to 20 degree's, and it still is.. so i dont know if my car is faster or not..

 

yah so what i was trying to say, that i dont know what kind of gains u get from advance timing because, i always had the car advanced before i got it from my dad, i dunno its pretty slow i`ll tell u that.