I have a Automatic(makes me sad) 2004 sunfire with 87250 miles on it. The only mods i have done to it is a thrush glasspack exhaust. I am a noob at performance parts and i wanted to know what would be the cheapest way to get 250+ hp. Also is a engine swap possible with a sunfire?

Go with the gm supercharger kit. It will give you a solid boost in power. Do the supporting mods such as header, full exhaust, engine/tranny mounts, heat exchanger and tune.

i heard that superchargers only give 8-10 psi boost for ecotechs. That does not seem like much.

Boost psi doesnt mean diddly when it comes to power., and in the end is going to make a huge difference compared to the 10-20 hp you get off a intake and header install.

Read in the boost forum and make some informed decisions.

Adam Chandler wrote:i heard that superchargers only give 8-10 psi boost for ecotechs. That does not seem like much.

I make 16psi with my supercharger on my stock ecotec........
and can make 20+ psi easily by swapping on one of my smaller pulleys.....


But seriously, PSI is basically a ricer number that they use to compare egos. Take 2 of the same engines and give them to a ricer and a tuner and tell them to both that they have to make 300whp. The ricer will just slap an ebay turbo kit on and just turn up the psi until he hits 300whp. The tuner on the other hand will rework the engine to remove airflow restrictions and improve the efficiency of the engine and then boost it. The ricer could be using 20psi to hit 300whp while the tuner only needs 10psi to make the same power.

With a ported head, aftermarket cams(requires valvesprings), and a M62 S/C kit with a good heat exchanger system and tune, 250whp should be easily attainable. Shop around and find deals on used parts/kits is going to be the cheapest way. Boost is the cheapest way to hit that power goal. N/A is going to cost a couple grand more and you wont enjoy driving the car because it will be very "high strung". The S/C kit on the other hand is very mild mannered until you decide that you want to rip.

Sure there are other engines that you can swap in, but very very very very very very very very very few swap the Ecotec out in favor for another engine. The ecotec can hold ~270whp-300whp on a good tune and is very easy/cheap to boost. There are 3 "junkyard" boost kits for it. 1. M62 supercharger off 2005-2007 Cobalt SS and Ion Redline. 2. Turbo kit off 2008-latest Cobalt SS/ HHR SS. 3. Turbo kit off 2003+ Saab 9.3t. All 3 are fine on a stock ecotec and will hit your power goal with alittle tweaking.

we need a damn like button.....good post Kyle!

Tinkles(KGM) wrote:

Adam Chandler wrote:i heard that superchargers only give 8-10 psi boost for ecotechs. That does not seem like much.

I make 16psi with my supercharger on my stock ecotec........
and can make 20+ psi easily by swapping on one of my smaller pulleys.....


But seriously, PSI is basically a ricer number that they use to compare egos. Take 2 of the same engines and give them to a ricer and a tuner and tell them to both that they have to make 300whp. The ricer will just slap an ebay turbo kit on and just turn up the psi until he hits 300whp. The tuner on the other hand will rework the engine to remove airflow restrictions and improve the efficiency of the engine and then boost it. The ricer could be using 20psi to hit 300whp while the tuner only needs 10psi to make the same power.

With a ported head, aftermarket cams(requires valvesprings), and a M62 S/C kit with a good heat exchanger system and tune, 250whp should be easily attainable. Shop around and find deals on used parts/kits is going to be the cheapest way. Boost is the cheapest way to hit that power goal. N/A is going to cost a couple grand more and you wont enjoy driving the car because it will be very "high strung". The S/C kit on the other hand is very mild mannered until you decide that you want to rip.

Sure there are other engines that you can swap in, but very very very very very very very very very few swap the Ecotec out in favor for another engine. The ecotec can hold ~270whp-300whp on a good tune and is very easy/cheap to boost. There are 3 "junkyard" boost kits for it. 1. M62 supercharger off 2005-2007 Cobalt SS and Ion Redline. 2. Turbo kit off 2008-latest Cobalt SS/ HHR SS. 3. Turbo kit off 2003+ Saab 9.3t. All 3 are fine on a stock ecotec and will hit your power goal with alittle tweaking.

thanks man ill look into that