Any tips on how to get some hp out of your car without spending hardly any money or buying much?
what kind of motor is it?
1999 2.4L w/ nitrous
John Condon wrote:Any tips on how to get some hp out of your car without spending hardly any money or buying much?
If it was possible everyone would have 10 second cars. You gotta pay to play.
219whp - I <3 whine
Tinkles wrote:John Condon wrote:Any tips on how to get some hp out of your car without spending hardly any money or buying much?
If it was possible everyone would have 10 second cars. You gotta pay to play.
Yea this.
To OP, I hear electric superchargers are the way to go if you wanna go cheap.
~2014 New Z under the knife, same heart different body~
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Using synthetic fluids where possible? lol. Start with the basics; Intake? Ebay intake if you want so you can enjoy your car a little more. Personally not my preference.
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also depends what u have access to, if ur a machinist by chance then theres a lot haha
Its a 2.2 auto. Only has a AEM intake and headers.
go full exhaust maybe? even thats not cheap tho, ur kinda SoL for cheap mods on this platform lol
John Condon wrote:Its a 2.2 auto. Only has a AEM intake and headers.
aw damn son, you've got more than one header in the car? no wonder its slow, you only need one header, take the rest out they're just extra weight.
1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
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Dan Cummings wrote:also depends what u have access to, if ur a machinist by chance then theres a lot haha
are you talking about doing lighter pulley's and such, my friend is a machinist and was going to do some work for me, is there anything else besides lightening the pulleys you think he could do?
...you want a pic, then help me build something worth taking a pic of....
i say buy a cheap ass turbo kit from ebay, blow it up and be done with it.
maxZ24 wrote:i say buy a cheap ass turbo kit from ebay, blow it up and be done with it.
He has a turbo kit on it, but the turbo crapped out...
P&P Tuning
420.5whp / 359.8wtq
hey man can you tell me how you got the turbo without spending much money ... man that would be a sticky
jfire wrote:check his profile
Hell, I'll post his profile...
Quote:
John Condon
(turboj10)
Location: St. Charles, MO
Joined: Thursday, September 10, 2009
Last Update: Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Email: johncondon.10@gmail.com
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Cars:
2000 Chevrolet Cavalier Coupe - Red
Birthday: July 23, 1992
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Single
Ethnicity: Caucasian (White)
Education: High School
Occupation: School
About Me: I love cars! I have a 2000 Cavalier that i am in the process of turning into a show car. And im very young. Try 17, but dont judge me just because of my age. i bet if you talk to me id surprise you about how much i do really know.
Hobbies/Interests: working on my 2000 cavalier.
What's New: Tryin to get my baby tuned.
Favorite Quote: Once you pop, the fun don't stop. -pringles
I only drive this way to piss you off.
Dream Car: 3000GT VR4
Quote:
2000 Chevrolet Cavalier
About This Vehicle:
http://s878.photobucket.com/home/johncondon10
Body Style: Coupe
Color: Red
Engine: 2.2
Transmission: Automatic
Interior: Custom red
MODIFICATIONS
Engine:
•Stock with turbonetics T3 turbo
Suspension/Wheels/Brakes:
•Lowered 2"
Interior:
•all dash pieces and other small interior parts are painted red to match the exterior.
Exterior:
•Carbon fiber hood
•body kit
•17" aftermarket wheels
•spoiler
•5% window tint all around.
Audio:
•600 watt amp with 2 10" pioneers diamond series
You never explained your point.... I see a profile that has not been updated in a while. I also see where it says he has a Turbo... If this is what you are trying to point out, you failed to read what I posted earlier.....
P&P Tuning
420.5whp / 359.8wtq
Have not looked at your current mods, more of a list for anyone wanting to go for cheap mods.
Cheap mods:
Weight reduction- lose the spare, jack, and all contents in trunk - you can drop weight by removing sound reduction matting- get rid of your AC
Intake- go to Pep Boys, get the twisty intake piping/ cone filter and make your own CAI connecting to the existing part that has sensors and crank case hose attached as the Pep Boys piping wont have fitments.
Ground Wire Kit- these are $15 on E-bay, I have one and it made a positive difference.
Voltage regulator- these are $20 on E-bay, I don't have one, but the APEX'i set-up using a premium heavy gauge ground wire kit along with an optimum regulator landed them over 10hp in gains. The E-bay version wont get anywhere near that. Yes, they used modern cars with similar grounding, so it was not a 69 Charger or something like that with a bad ground. Gains are minimal, but so is the price.
Strut brace- E-bay has these for $30 shipped if you find offbrands like Toyz. Mine is the E-bay cheapo series, but it workes surprisingly good.
Porting & honing- this can be done with a Dremil or drill with stone and honing attachments. The TB can be stepped so that the entry way is opened up a bit so it steps down to the stock butterfly, do not dremil near the butterfly or you will just have an erratic or high idle. The plenum can be smoothened up, removing any flash or burrs. Port matching would be the goal, making sure the flow is not disrupted. Not to do a real porting job. Using a marker to draw on the material needing removed is very helpful. If it is plastic, fine grit sandpaper to finish it. If it is metal, stainless steel then brass honing attachments to finish it up.
I have done a couple of my own honing projects. Each time it turned out good. The rules I was told was, do not ruin the air deflectors, do not overbore, the bigger the intake runners, the higher up the power band moves up. Bigger is better when using forced air induction, no NA. There are many more rules, I am not an expert by no means, just someone who one other cars that were easier to work on had some time to fart around and ended up gaining a few free hp.
I don't know if you have the 2.4 or 2.2, but if you have a distributorless ignition, get a DIS-2 box and Blaster coils.
If you have a distributor, get the Omni Torquer ignition box by Jacob's Electronics.
You will also need a set of KV-85 8.5mm suppressed wires. Any thicker and it will actually lose current. 8.5mm is optimum...
Jacob's Omni Torquerer used (can rarely be found new) is about $50 or less.
MSD DIS-2 is around $320 new, you can find used ones for around $180. Search around E-bay...
E-bay header- you can find here and there, a header for around $70 shipped. If you can do the install, this is the best hp gain mod.
4:2:1 for lows and mids boost with a little extra on the high end. 4:1 is for mostly high end, 'sometimes' loses low end and gains a little on the mids. 4:2 is good for a manual tranny, not so much for an automatic, but an automatic too will gain performance from it.
Alloy wheels, someone is always selling off their stock alloys to get a fancier set. Craigslist is best for this as shipping ruins the deals. I have seen stock alloys for Cavs and Suns for $100 a set, WITH tires. Deals are out there... I still have steelies, but need a set of offsets that will fill in the rear of my Bomex body kit nicely, anyone out there know of a good set of alloy rims for such a set-up?
Racing seats- stock seats are 'heavy', you can find clearance and deals out there.
Carbon fiber- expensive... but, if you walk a few bone yards, you may find a hood, trunk or fenders that are undamaged for cheap.
Maintenance- it is amazing how much hp, and mpg you can lose from not following the correct order of things required for replacement or service because of bad maintenance. My wife's Sunfire has gone from 29MPG to 25MPG average and the up and go feels like it lost a little. It needs a new driver side axle and most of the grease has come out of the CV boot. This is causing a lot of friction. I also found the tires to be at 27psi, I like them at 32, even though they suggest 30. Lots of drag from mushy tires. This should not have been a problem as the Lube Shop was "supposed to" check this, and they apparently don't.
Aerodynamics- the less drag, the quicker you go. Shaving the door handles, getting the stubby antennae, smaller side mirrors and losing the wing can help. This stuff can be done for little if you have the know how, I don't... but probably could if motivated. I just hate projects as there is always a missing bolt, screw, tool or something that ruins the whole deal.
Alternator alloy pulley- these are not much $, but they don't free up much. Cheap mod...
Anyways, thats all the items I can think of for low $
My wife's 2003 Ecotec 2.2 liter Sunfire:
* 2 1/4 inch in and dual 2 inch out muffler Trans Am muffler
* 2 1/4 piping to a very long 2 1/4 inch resonator
* 2 1/4 inch catalytic converter
* an AEM true cold air intake NOPI edition
* 8 gauge ground wire kit
* Toyz front strut brace
* Russell stainless steel brake lines all around.
I forgot to mention, on some cars, throttle body spacers will work. The gain is more like it removes parasitic points than any real hp gains. It just add a little more volume of air behind the tb. Not sure if the 2.2 or 2.4 non Ecos like this mod. The Ecos apparently do not.
My wife's 2003 Ecotec 2.2 liter Sunfire:
* 2 1/4 inch in and dual 2 inch out muffler Trans Am muffler
* 2 1/4 piping to a very long 2 1/4 inch resonator
* 2 1/4 inch catalytic converter
* an AEM true cold air intake NOPI edition
* 8 gauge ground wire kit
* Toyz front strut brace
* Russell stainless steel brake lines all around.
I know how you can go much quicker without gaining hp... proper gearing. I'm not sure how common aftermarket or compatible gear sets and final drives are in the j-body world but they made a big difference with my car
I have heard about this mod too. The problem is, I do not know who to go to to have such a modification done. I do not believe there is many places that do this kind of mod.
I have said before that my car having the limiter at 115mph would benefit from such a modification and got shot down for it.
Re-gearing the tranny would be nice to make the most out of the range I actually use optimally.
I will be getting tuning one day, and I am tempted to leave the limiter on, just because I do not want a commuter car hit speeds that just for me, are unacceptable for the road. Even going to Vegas in the 75MPH zone wont allow for speeds over 100MPH. I even pondered having the limiter set to 85 as 86 is criminal speeding. Remember, this is just what I want, most people will disagree I already know. I will never have this Sunfire at the track, and the wife is the driver most of the time.
It would just be nice to have incredible response up to 85MPH. Re-gearing the tranny sounds like something I would like to do the day the tranny needs rebuilt anyways, and not something I would do now. When you need a repair, mind as well upgrade.
My wife's 2003 Ecotec 2.2 liter Sunfire:
* 2 1/4 inch in and dual 2 inch out muffler Trans Am muffler
* 2 1/4 piping to a very long 2 1/4 inch resonator
* 2 1/4 inch catalytic converter
* an AEM true cold air intake NOPI edition
* 8 gauge ground wire kit
* Toyz front strut brace
* Russell stainless steel brake lines all around.
