I have a '01 Sunfire 2.2L auto trans and I was wondering what I could do to make it go faster? Any sugestions on mods or anything.

Well it would be a decent idea to read the Performance FAQ at the top of the page... thats a great place to start... It will tell you exactly what parts are available and where to get them. Most people start out with an aftermarket intake, cat-back exhaust and a header... that should give you a good amount of sound and power to get you hooked on modifying... Expect 10-15 hp for those 3 mods combined...

You could do anything but what is your goal amount of money you want to spend?



www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837

And goal HP/ET/Setup (Turbo, Supercharged, Naturally Aspirated)? For instance, I'm pretty sure I wanna supercharge it eventually so I bought a header-back exhaust... if I were going to turbo it, I wouldn't want to waste money on a header when it would have to be replaced.

Tim wrote:And goal HP/ET/Setup (Turbo, Supercharged, Naturally Aspirated)? For instance, I'm pretty sure I wanna supercharge it eventually so I bought a header-back exhaust... if I were going to turbo it, I wouldn't want to waste money on a header when it would have to be replaced.

Yes HP Goal/ET/Setup is also what you should think of but you need a dollar amount before anything. If he says he doesn't want to invest more than X amount of money into his car because it's not worth that much than he should get X. If he decides he wants X HP than he should get X product or go a certain route. I will say the wrong way to think of things is that you want X HP but you don't want to spend more than $X....you shouldn't let money decide your goal.

I'm pretty sure if you decided to go turbo you could sell your header with no problem. I'm giving mine away to a friend that could use it cause he's supercharged and it's also a late christmas present.



www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837

For now I dont want to go supercharge or turbo I just want some more speed to it. And I dont count with a lot of moey since I am a college student. I already bought an intake and I am thinking of changing the header set and going to go to a muffler shop to get the piping done from the header to the muffler. What header should I buy for not a lot of money? The piping will be 2.5'' wide, is that good? Any more ideas. Thanks

Xavier Suarez wrote:What header should I buy for not a lot of money? The piping will be 2.5'' wide, is that good? Any more ideas. Thanks

a pace setter armor coated header would be a good choice, and i believe 2.25 piping will benefit more if your staying n/a.

motor mounts and an autotrans interceptor would probebly be next on my list if it was me.

ghostleg wrote:

Xavier Suarez wrote:What header should I buy for not a lot of money? The piping will be 2.5'' wide, is that good? Any more ideas. Thanks

a pace setter armor coated header would be a good choice, and i believe 2.25 piping will benefit more if your staying n/a.

motor mounts and an autotrans interceptor would probebly be next on my list if it was me.

Agreed, 2 1/4" is what you need... 2 1/2" is too big, don't make the same mistake alot of people are doing.



www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837

Hey, thanks for the piping tip. Why is it that a smaller piping if I am staying n/a a better choice? and what is an autotrans interceptor? Thanks again guys for the great suggestions. Is a borla a good choice for a muffler? Sorry for all the questions I am a newbie at this.

You need some pack pressure in the system if you want any kind of power down low. You put 2.5" pipe all the way back and I guarantee you your car will be slower off the line and perform worse. It might pull a little harder up top, but its not worth the trade off in low end power seeing as how you don't have a whole lot of torque to begin with.

2.25" is probably overkill for a 2.2L in my opinion. A good true 2.0" exhaust system would be fine for a 2.2L that you don't plan on doing a turbo on. But if your gonna spend the money, do 2.25" from the header back. Don't waste your money on mandrel bent pipe either, compression bent is fine for your application. Try to stay away from crush bend pipe though as it has ridges in it which can affect flow. Get a decent muffler like a magnaflow or something. Those round apexi style mufflers sound like @!#$ and look gay. Unless you want to sound all raspy like a bumble bee stuck in a tin can.


Scott
2002 Audi S4, black
1996 Z24 auto, red

^^^ it's not backpressure you want, it's exhaust velocity. not the same thing.



15.574 @ 89 mph stock

Straight through mufflers can actually sound really good on the right application, I will get a sound clip as soon as my motor is re-assembeled.

So I would be better off doing a 2.0'' piping instead of 2.25''? And what is that interceptor stuff for the transmission?

The stock exhaust is 1 7/8" to 2" so nonsens to use a 2" exhaust. Use 2.25" and you'll be fine.



Gilles
2.3 Ho

Thanks man

these guys have you on the right track. i would stick to magnaflow for the muffler, and i would personally stay away from the "coffee can" mufflers. most (not all) sound like crap. 2.25" piping is perfect for n/a 2.2L. i know you want to keep it economical, but if you're concerned with sound quality, put an inline resonator at least 18" on it. another thing to consider is a hi-flow cat. together, a resonator and a hi-flow cat will cost you maybe $150 more. i say if you're gonna do it, do it right. thats just me though. my recommendation for an intake is go to ebay, buy the cheapest one you can find and when it shows up, throw away whatever junk filter they send with it and go buy a K&N at your local autoparts store. an intake is only a pipe with a filter on it, GET A GOOD FILTER. Below are the part numbers i would recommend and the cheapest price i have found(yet) go ahead and do more checking if you want.

magnaflow muffler #12255 $73.51 ajusa.com
magnaflow catalyst #94035 $67.51 ajusa.com

i picked up a cheap intake by vibrant on ebay for ~$60 and w/ a K&N it works great. as far as the resonator, magnaflow does make one, but it's only 14" (part #14415). i'd check around and see about a longer one. sorry to write a damn book for ya, but i hope this helps!

Thanks for the tips man. But if I put a resonator and a high-flow cat wont that affect what the piping does, let more air thru. Isnt it better to just leave the high-flow cat without a resonator. Or the other way? Wont putting them both restrain the air flow.

a resonator is just a long thin pipe with sound damping material. if you pick one with a core (inside) dia. bigger than 2" then you wont lose any flow. a resonator will neither help nor inhibit flow if chosen correctly. it only has to do with eliminating the raspy, high pitched sound. it gives a deep soothing tone. we all hear crappy-sounding exhausts every day. those are the guys that cheaped out and didnt apply a resonator. by the way i hear that dynomax makes a good resonator for much less $$ than magnaflow. i still need to check into that, you might want to take a look.

I am just asking because I have a friend that says that putting the two of them together will not let it have a good airflow. I would just buy one from a local autoparts. I want to know who is right.

all a resonator is is a tube inside another tube with fiberglass or some soft packing material inbetween. and on the inner tube is louvered to kind of 'catch' some of the sound in the fiberglass. if the inner tube is the same size or bigger that the rest of your exaust you will see no losses

Xavier Suarez wrote:And what is that interceptor stuff for the transmission?

it is a plug and play module that lets you adjust the line pressure and the torque converter engagment. basically it makes the tranny shift more agressivly. deff. worth looking into.

Turbo Tech Racing has them, click here.

^^ my bad, it just occured to me that you have a 2.2L.......sorry

The 2.2 had the 4spd too so it still work.



Gilles
2.3 Ho

What everyone is tell you is correct. Here's a few tips as far as the exhaust goes:

As for as the header, the PaceSetter header is good. They do use a good, heavier gauge (than most cheap brands) of steel. For the longest lasting and best looking go with the Armor Caoted one, especially if you live in a snowy area. You can get the painted one, but I would recommend you repaint it with either VHT's High temp Coating or DEI's HT Silicone Coating. The paint that comes on the header is only on there to protect it till the consumer gets it, it will burn off leaving bare metal. Don't use Dupli-Color, it too will just flake off the first time you start the engine.
When using the VHT or DEI, get some chemical paint stripper and strip all the old paint off, wash it and use Prep-Sol. After painting it, cure the paint according to the manufacturers directions. This will require more work and an oven to cure the paint. This will last longer than the bare metal, though not as long as the coated header.

When looking for mufflers, look for any perferated core muffler, not a louvered core (looks like a cheese grater). Ther perferated core allows for a smooth gas flow, while the fins of the louvers disrupt the gas flow. Also look for the core to be the same diameter as the inlet/outlet size. Magnaflow, Dynomax UltraFlo and Borla are good ones to look at.

Definitely use a resonator, these will get rid of the raspiness associated with high performance mufflers/exhaust. Resonators typically are open bodied with a core for the exhaust gases to flow through and use sound delflection to reduce noise. For a typically cheaper alternative, try a glasspack muffler. Glasspacks are the same as a resonator, except they use a fiberlass matting to absorb sound waves. With reonators or glasspacks, look for a constant diameter and a perforated core, just as i mentioned above. Some good glasspacks/resonators are Magnaflow (round bodied mufflers or resonators), Thrush Magnum Glasspacks(watch the core dia.), Dynomax Ultra Flo (bullet or round bodied).

If you shop around, you could get these for really cheap and have a good flowing exhaust that sounds deep and not raspy.

Here are a few other upgrades you might want to consider, after you do the things listed above:
A 2.3L HO 56mm throttle body swap. For more mid to upper rpm air flow.
Crane Gold Race Roller Rockers. For more accurate valve lift(more air flow) and less frictional losses. Stock rockers are supposed to be a 1.6:1 ratio, but actually only measured out to be 1.54:1(done by Karo at Car Customs)
Some tranny work, the Autotrans Interceptor(for the 4 sp auto), shift kit(if it's a 3 sp) and a higher stall torque converter.
A port and polsh job on the head. At this point, the head is now the biggest restirction to more power. This will definitely compliment the TB and rockers.

I know much of this is covered in the FAQ's at the top of this forum, but these are the best mods for the 2200 OHV, short of boosting.
Good luck and happy modding!

Thanks guys for all the help.