So I have about 600 bucks to spend on upping the horsepower on a bonestock 05 sunfire, soon i'll have more,,, what would you reccomend that would get me the most bang for the buck? I know the basic air intake and exhaust will help but beyond that i could use a little guidance. Also if you could include where to get things and and estmated price i would appreciate it greatly, thanks in advance for any help i get.

What kind of goals do you have for the car? Each persons different. When I had that much I didn't buy intakes and stuff I started purchasing turbo parts. It all depends on what you want to do to your car.


~Boost. Its what's for dinner!~

To Me, most bang for your buck would be intake and full exhaust being that it will net you a nice gain and it will be the most reliable.

However, you could spend a little more (shop around a bit) and get a turbokit pieced together and get a lot more power from that, but your reliability will suffer, especially if its not done correctly and you dont cover all bases that turbocharging a car requires.


If you arent looking to go crazy, Id say get an exhaust, mounts, B&M Shift+, cheap intake, bigger throttlebody if you can find an inexpensive way to get it. The first place Id look is on the classifieds, you can usually find some stuff for pretty cheap.

good luck

eventually i am going to boost the car, but i'd like to get it in the 200 hp range n/a before i move into the higher dollar options such as turbos,,,, once i start my new job next month, then i'll go all out, but for now, i just want a good noticeable difference

NITROUS FTMFW


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Honestly don't bother with bolt-ons, they amount to almost nothing, its a huge waste, just buy a decent nitrous kit, then save your money for a turbo.


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Intake, full exuast, Gm Charger.. SET !



My Cav
I give up...
i'm buying a VW those people love trees, so they should love eachother too... "Andy"

If you're going for boost, why waste time and money on in takes and bolt ons.
On the other hand, you could easily burn $600 on a decent cat back.

how much money does the g.m. supercharger cost??? I cant find a price for it, all i can find is a crate motor with it already on

around $2,600.



Proud member of Jbody of Kentucky ... Click on sig to go!

Casey Schaaf wrote:how much money does the g.m. supercharger cost??? I cant find a price for it, all i can find is a crate motor with it already on

looking in the boost forum does wonders



Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!

If it's a daily driver, and you don't have aspirations of being the next space shuttle, header + full exhaust + GM charger. Best combination of power and reliability.




1989 Z24 Convertible - Dust Covered
2006 tC - Dust Covered, but driven more

Quote:

how much money does the g.m. supercharger cost??? I cant find a price for it, all i can find is a crate motor with it already on

Yeah the create motor is the (LSJ) 2.0L S/C Ecotec, the same motor as found in the Cobalt SS, & Ion Redline.

The GMPP Supercharger for the 03-05 2.2 Ecotec for cavaliers & Sunfire is a around $2,600 (As JoeyDaBomb stated). Funny thing is the Create motor is only about 500-600 bucks more - IIRC, but makes almost the same hp(according to HP ratings), as the S/C kit for the 2.2 Ecotec..

Still back to original problem - about the only things to do to your car for around 600 bucks, is either a good Cat-back Exhaust, or a Short Ram Intake, larger TB & Intake manifold.

A good N/A engine build up, may cost about $4,000-6,000

Either way - you may get about 10 whp, but nowhere close to 200 hp you want. For that you need about 50 whp

Only other option is a low boost Nitrous Kit say around 30-50 hp. But then your power isn't always there- either.

Personal Note: I just don't like Nitrous - because I tend to like my power to be more reliable, and constant. So that if I need it - it's there.

Buy a nice performance clutch. SPEC Stage II or III.

600 dollars is a nice sum for the eco motor.
I know personally
z24 2.4 intake (ebay) $20, short shifter (ebay)$45ish,
catback i got customed welded together for $180, try and find a pair of used headers on the org like i did (weapon R's $45), thunderbolt sells a nice cat for about $42 http://www.performance-curve.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1150, upper motor mount ttr $114, lower motor mount rksport $50. t hat right there is roughly 500 bucks and a fairly decent eco. and 100 to put away and start saving for the good stuff HPTUNERS!

I take it you are a senior in high school? Are you going away to school? If so, I hate to be the hypocrite, but it would be wise to save that money for other things.

Otherwise save for the m62 charger.


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"Youth in Asia"...I don't see anything wrong with that.

my college is already done and paid for so what i work for between my 2 jobs is just for my car and an apartment,,,

is it hard to swap in the 2.0 s/c motor?? i know the wiring is different but i want reliable horsepower,, it might be more work than its worth

its not worth it just buy the s/c kit from gmpp and make more base power than the 2.0 puts out. cheaper than doing that swap.

I just finished my 03 Sunfire's exhaust today at Mad Hatter Mufflers.

It has a 2 1/4 cat, 2 1/4 mid pipe with sensor mount, 2 1/2 resonator, and 2 1/4 piping back to a turbo muffler that is 2 1/4.

I of course reset the computer and it is a night and day difference. The up and go is incredible!

Why not go 2 1/2 all the way? 2 1/4 supports 200 hp. I am not going to get 200 hp unless I supercharge or turbo the car of which I am not. Some cars lose low end by going to 2 1/2.
The resonator is 2 1/2 because the baffling inside is a reduced diameter of which 2 1/2 inches on the resonator I got is more like a real equivalent to a 2 1/4 straight pipe.

Magnaflow had a chart of liters, hp and torque to figure which exhaust your particular car will benefit most from. 2.2 liters and around 155hp after current bolt ons pointed towards me getting 2 1/4.

I have a drop in K&N filter which seems to be good enough for now on the intake side.

The only reason I say the drop in filter is good enough, is because I never had a moment where the intake has created a vaccuum for me. A vaccuum is a noticeable leach in performance from a long moment of WOT. The intake having a vaccuum means it cant deliver enough air or deliver it fast enough to keep up with the high rpms. The stock intake seems pretty good as is.

I am pondering with my Bomber style body kit to make the stock intake tube get modded into a ram air unit. I will upgrade the diameter of the piping, cut some metal, and make a huge mouth behind the front left intake slits on the bumper. This in itself does add a couple more horses and is a cheap mod. Forcing air into the tube is a good option.

Some people who get CAIs get a lean code.

The 10.1:1 compression of the 2.2 Ecotec is really pushing the ability to run 87 octane without predetonation that is a result of running lean. So working on the intake side of the Ecotec is just pushing the car to run lean.

Some intakes have upgraded to a one piece set-up, this seems to have gotten rid of popping a CEL. But it is still making the engine run hot from the borderline running lean.

If I get a CAI, I am going to run 89 octane from then on.

There is another mod, if you have an automatic:
B&M Shift Plus

People have been saying lots of good things about it.

Also, the cheapest hp gain is a ground wire kit with voltage regulator. The gain is 5 or more hp, seriously. I have already done this on my Dodge Daytona in the past. It made a very noticeable difference in up and go, start ups were quicker, and the idle was smoother.

I am getting this for the Sunfire asap.

Porting the exhaust manifold is a good option. Do more of a match port than go wild.

The throttle body and plenum is touchy.

If you go wild on it, you lose your low end and boost your high end. Sunfires have the limiter so why shift it into regions you cant use?

Match porting and cleaning up burrs is better when working the intake side.

Quote:

Some people who get CAIs get a lean code

and these people would be??????



Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!

What all is involved in a ground wire kit with a voltage regulator???

with $600 you almost have enough for pistons and rods. Buy them. Go big or "get out"

JK, but if you are wanting to boost in the future, don't waste your money on stuff you don't need, or you can't sell for the same price you paid for it. CAI?? $30 to make your intake sound different and debately give you power.. boo urns. Intake manifold.. good investment if you want to stay NA, but the stock manifold supports way more than the stock internals.... a header?? toss it or take a loss (unless you find a good used one cheap) when you go turbo.. 2.5" mandrel (must be mandrel IMO) exhaust, might be over kill now, but will decrease turbo lag in the future.. and if you are concerned that it might be "too big and lose torque at low end" then you won't be turbo charging in the future. lets see, motor mounts are a great idea for NA or turbo. SPEC stage 3 clutch is good but a little grabby IMO (LD9 experience only) I have read much better things about the SPEC stage 3 PLUS. Throttle body is really useful if staying NA, but you can make good power with a stock sized one too with a turbo.

so if you want to turbo in the future:

1)motor mounts
2)2.5" mandrel exhaust
3)maybe a cheaper used ebay manifold (or new)
4)rods/pistons
5)anything that works towards a turbo setup in the future (pillar, gauges, HPT, clutch, team greed LSD insert if doing clutch)


thats my 2 cents.


HP Tuners | Garrett T3/T04B | 2.5" Charge Pipes | 2.5" Downpipe | 650 Injectors | HO Manifold | Addco front/rear | Motor Mounts | HKS SSQV | Spec stage 3 | AEM UEGO Wideband | Team Green LSD | FMIC | 2.3 cams | 2.3 oil pump swap | 280WHP | Now ECOTECED