I am a college student who is in love with his car. I also don't know much about cars besides cosmetics. I was wondering if you all had any ideas that I could do to my engine that would make it faster. I need ideas that are relatively inexpensive and can be done to an engine with 120k on it. Rebuilding the engine is not an option right now. Thanks

 

Read the Sticky FAQ's before posting stupid questions like this.

 

First off get an aftermarket Y pipe. That is where I started and just about anybody here. It is the most gain for your dollar. And all are the same as far as power just about, but all are priced very different. I personally have a Warpspeed Y on right now. with a Warpspeed Cat back on on its way and I love Warpspeed but not everyone will agree with me on that.

 

I'm in the same boat and for just over a grand I did this:

Warpspeed Y-pipe
Magnaflow high-flow cat
Technosquare ECU upgrade
GReddy SP2 catback
Drop resistor mod

I got lucky because there were group deals going on for the first three. Check that forum often for big savings. The DR mod cost all of $5

The gains are very noticeable as the car pulls harder and accelerates at speeds in excess of 80mph much better.

~THT

 

All of that stated above, you probably would gain 15-20 hp at the crank.
Good mods and good advice.
I would recommend not spending the money on a catback from a name-brand company, but rather just going to a muffler shop and having one custom made for your car for about $50.
If you got the y-pipe($180) and the custom 2.5" b-pipe(keep the stock cat, replacing it doesn't do anything.....$50), you should get pretty much all of that hp out of it.
You will be able to notice that your car pulls much harder.

 

[QUOTE=Brudaddy]All of that stated above, you probably would gain 15-20 hp at the crank.

Dont you mean at the front wheels...ecu and y-pipe being the big gains there should yeild about 35 or more hp at crank from what ive read

 

no way you will gain 35 hp.

15-20 hp sounds right. maybe 25hp tops.....

 

Well, the ECU upgrade alone is known to increase by 12whp (on average). I'll get a dyno done next time I'm in Chicago.

~THT

 

On average the y will gain a solid 10whp to 12whp. With the ecu upgrade, you're probably looking for about another solid 10whp. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem like alot but it is.

Last weekend, just for fun, i took off the y and ecu to see what i would be missing if i sold these precious items. I put on the stock units back on. I'm never doing that again. With the aftermarket y and ecu it gives the car so much more zip. It feels like i was driving a slug compared to when these mods were in. I would definitely recommend you get a y-pipe first and if you have the patience to save up for an ecu upgrade get that next (catbacks really don't yield power like these two).

 

Yeah, I got the catback because I needed one, same with the cat. And well, the DR mod was cheap and easy lol

~THT

 

i think this guy means besides mods and aftermarket parts...but rather what to tune up in his engine @120K miles to get more power out of an ageing engine...


so you said rebuild is not possibility so gaskets, extrude honing, and valve/head jobs are out of the question...I would just say have the bilstein engine flush done (should cost about $100) but before that try BG44K, only run premium gas, change knock sensor and O2 sensors, change fuel filter, pcv, clean iacv, clean egr, clean MAF, clean throttle body, have your timing checked, change spark plugs, etc.

 

i'm creeping up to 140k and still modding...

 

I was being conservative. That is why I didn't say that was power at the wheels.
It takes a long time to get up to 35whp in N/A maxima. It is just not very probable, because after those mods, everything else gives you like 1-2 hp or less. It takes a long time to get up to where you are pulling 35whp on NA.

 

But how do you know that knock and 02 sensors are bad? SHould you change them anyway? I've got 130 miles and just wanna do the maintenace. feels a little sluggish on low gains, but awesome on the mid.

What about this MAF, IACV anf EGR? what are those?

 

Mass Air Flow sensor
Idle Adjust Control Valve(or something like that)
EGR(no clue)

I don't think that you should change your P2 sensors unless your codes say that you need to. However, I think that you should test and then possibly change your knock sensor to help with that lack of power.