i have a 96 se 5spd max thats basically stock. I ran a 15.3 @ 91.9mph with a 2.4 60'. I WANT FASTER NOW! My 60' could be better and i could probably run a 15.1 at best. As for bang for my buck i think i could get some runners cheap at the junk yard and have em ported then do a little exhaust work. i also had a question about, and i don't sing me a story about how its illegal, taking out the cat and running a straight pipe. Or would i lose hp because of back pressure and would it be a better bet to go with a high flow?

 

Start by reading the FAQ, all of it.

The best bang for the buck mod is a Y-pipe. $170 and you'll get at least 15hp to the wheels.

 

yeah but i forgot to mention one thing, i dont want it loud. i want an everyday sleeper. but thats what ive heard thanx for the reply

 

You can do a full exhaust and keep the stock muffler if you want it quiet. That will only cost you 1-3 hp over an open muffler.

Porting the intake runners is much more work than it's worth.

 

its useless.

 

useless?!... how come?

 

I think the reason most don't go this route is that there is the bolt on MEVI plenum option ($500) that has dual air paths one long and one short. A solenoid opens the short route at high rpm for a more direct short runner effect that considerably increases high end HP.

You could have the stock intake ported and polished,but I think your gains would be minimal compared to the MEVI. A better route would be to do some head work,opening up chambers,CCing,port matching to intake manifold,polishing and a 3 or 5 angle valve job.

The Y pipe option is the cheapest bolt on HP mod, as it bypasses 2 factory "pre" cats. You can take out the 3rd cat with a straight pipe,they even make resonated straight pipes to keep noise down. A bigger B pipe from cat(or straight pipe) to muffler can be had to keep up exhaust flow too. The whole thing should get you 20-25 hp. Bolt on cold air and short ram filter intake tubing should get you 5-10hp too.

I'm new here too, but the FAQ's have this pretty well detailed

 

thanks "sweet daddy", you make a good point. i really didnt want to mess with the exhail of my car because i dont want it to sound like a honda but its so friggin congested that its obviously the first thing i need to get to. The MEVI idea is good idea too, ill be sure to get one just as soon as i hit this damn lottery.

 

I've got over 200tq and it's nearly stock quiet. Stock runners for right now

 

I should have said two distinctly different air paths, I know the MEVI doesn't have two runners per cylinder. But, I was under the (mistaken) impression that the short path opened under high RPM.

 

I would also side with just getting a Y-pipe. When I got my Y-pipe installed, it really didn't sound any different from stock but the power is definitely palpable.

 

According to the exerpt below copied from the 4th gen FAQ on MEVI, the shorter path is what opens up during high RPM. Don't wanna start a flame war but I hate it when people say I'm wrong when I'm not.

Dynamic Supercharging is the concept that when the intake valve closes it causes a pressure wave to travel from the outside of the intake valve back towards the air filter. When the pressure wave reaches the plenum (the common part of the intake track between the throttle body and the individual runners) it bounces back towards the intake valve. If the intake valve opens just as the pressure waves gets back, then more air is forced into the cylinders and it increases the volumetric efficiency. There is a specific engine speed at which this Dynamic Supercharging effect happens, and the length of the runners changes this engine speed, because of the time it takes the wave to travel.

Intake spacers change this effect to a lower engine speed (because the wave takes longer) giving the engine more bottom-end grunt (marginally, and at the cost of mid-range grunt)

The dual-plenum design gives the engine TWO speeds at which dynamic supercharging happens - at high speed the upper plenum valves open and the shorter path to the upper plenum gives the dynamic superchargin effect at higher engine speeds, increasing breathing and prolonging the powerband.

That's it, in a nutshell.


Credit: Scruit

 

The high rpm setup is effectively shorter as the top of the MEVI functions as the plenum at high RPM when the MEVI is open, rather than the "normal" plenum that is in the same spot as the stock intake manifold.

Get ypipe and b pipe for exhaust mods and your car will be as quiet as stock. Don't bother with the test pipe you won't gain anything from it.

Porting the intake runners yourself would be cheap but I bet that you do more harm than good if you don't know what you're doing, if you dont clean them up nicely you won't make more power.