Wanna make my car faster...what to do/buy?

[sumone 10+ year member]

What mods/additions are available to make my car faster?

I've heard of turbocharging & nitrous-something. HOw much does turbocharging cost usually to get done? I doubt I'd use nitrous cause I heard you only use it in small spurts.

What other options are there? I don't know much about how cars work per say, but I've been trying to read up at http://www.howstuffworks.com ...

Click to read more...

 

[ss3079 5,000+ posts]

What kind of vehicle is it ? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

- Steve

 

[pwr2max 10+ year member]

yah and whats your budget...you can do anything if you have enough.

 

[MonkeyBizIU1859 10+ year member]

Ummm... Unless you have a ridiculous budget, forget turbocharging or doing Nos. Those installs are $4-$5k+ just in parts, and the labor is ridiculous, and it's probably not something you want to do yourself. Ideally, you'd do the big three for performance: Intake, Header, Exhaust. Buy yourself a nice cold air intake from AEM or Injen, either a 4-2-1 or 4-1 header if it's a 4 banger, and then get yourself a nice cat-back system. Greddy makes good ones. Realistically, all that will run you somewhere in the neigborhood of $1000-$2000, depending on what kind of stuff you get and who makes it. It'll improve your performance a lot, and are generally considered the best upgrades for the money. Hope that helps!

 

[NINaudio 10+ year member]

i/h/e are good solid options, but are really only building blocks to your next level. You really need to decide on a budget and if you want to go with a forced induction buildup or a naturally aspirated buildup. If you intend at some point to turbocharge your car, then just wait and don't buy an intake or headers as they won't be used with the turbo. Nitrous is probably your best bet. A good wet system should run around $600-700 dollars and if you can install a stereo system, you can install a nitrous system. Also, telling us what kind of car you have would really help.

 

[Dragonknell 10+ year member]

Air intake and exhaust are musts

new computer chip to tune all the new parts a must if you get anything else (get it after all other mods, to get the most out of it)

cheap not exactly legal hp gain, simply saw your mufflers off... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Depending on what your vehicle is you can sometimes wrap your stock air intake tubes with cooling tape and actualy gain decent mpg and hp, of course thats just with older vehicles.

Make sure to keep clean air filters, and if you know anything about welding straighten your exhaust

change the headers on the engine,

If you've got a older vehicle you could rip out all the stock seats and replace em with racing (alot lighter) you could take the spare out of your car, any weight reduction

Or just get a new engine if you know anything about automtivs (of course then you prolly wouldnt be postin here)

Intercooler if its avaible for your vehicle... (of course we wouldnt know that...)

you can get an engine overhaul and have everything polished and cleaned to reduce resistance, (expensive //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/greedy.gif.5a53e6246569d7ab79867170f3b06629.gif ) but as a last option its pretty decent

Nitrous is not really a good idea, unless you plan on racing?

super chargers and turbo chargers are sweet, but once again if you plan on racing, there is a "turbo-lag" and you should prolly look at these after other mods.

I personaly favor any subtle modifications on cars.. sleepers, (not saying that all muscle cars arent among the sexiest things i've ever seen)

(also out of curiosty has anyone tried anything like draino in your exhaust (obviously while its not on the car) to decrease resistance and clean it out?)

 

[sumone 10+ year member]

my bad, it's a 2000 Chevy Malibu. 3.1L V6. I'm not looking to get crazy fast only for racing or anything (but would like to be able to have the potential to...), I just feel my car lacks as far as accelerating. Plus I only get like 15 MPG, my brother says it's because I haven't had a tuenup since I had the car (december of '03, first car).

As far as a budget, I'd say under 1000-1500 would be nice, but over time that number will probably grow, cause right now I'm just thinking of it as a one-time thing and be done with it (and I'm guessing it's gonna be like it is with systems; fine for a while, then you wanna upgrade). I'm especially conservative right now cause I don't know much about cars and don't wanna get gypped into buying some expensive thing I don't even need.

Buy yourself a nice cold air intake from AEM or Injen, either a 4-2-1 or 4-1 header if it's a 4 banger, and then get yourself a nice cat-back system

you lost me after "Injen"...

so, as far as intentions, just looking for an improvement, not for racing, just to make my car go at the rate I want it to go. It's kind of vague, but I wanna start with the easy/less-expensive options first and I guess decide on whether or not I wanna build on top of that.

 

[dbhittin 5,000+ posts]

the header starts out with 4 pipes, then goes to 2 and then to 1 main which connects to your cat.

 

[Jonahdude 10+ year member]

cat= catalytic converter //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

 

[Depression 10+ year member]

Hey JMAC...That was hillarious!!!!!!

hell..those mods seem to work for the Import kids. but a "Mothfart" exhaust is a must!!!

Nitrous is the cheapest single mod you can make with the biggest results....Yes it works in small spurts but are you running in the INDY 500 or Stoplight drag racing?

 

[wErd 5,000+ posts]

A whole bunch of stickers, a big wing, and a body kit = SUPER FAST

havent heard that one in a while //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

 

[sumone 10+ year member]

ok, so you mentioned the big 3: intake, header, exhaust. Is there a big 1 that I should start with....? Or which out the three is the least costly? Isn't the exhaust just the muffler?

 

[Dragonknell 10+ year member]

The exhaust is the muffler(s), and the pipes and headers from your engine to the back of your car.

As far as the first 1500, i'd personaly get a nice air intake and a new dual exhaust kit, it will sound clean and 'hollow' and if you want better mpg, just use plus gas, you can really tell the difference, at least in a '98 xplorer //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

Join a Chebby forum. I'm sure there's tons of them. The best people to ask what's available for your car are other people with the same thing.

If it was an Olds, I could help...

 

[Germanlookt2 10+ year member]

if there is something i know its cars and engines. first off its a v6, nothing wrong with it, but parts are hard to find that will really help you out. Pretty much its 2 things Power and weight.

here are some ideas for ya, If you really want speed, not all will apply to you

1. rip out the a/c, the compressor all the guts, that extra pulley sucks away power even when off

2. lighten everything, all the useless interior stuff, body panels seats, whatever you want out

3. since your car runs on a ecm, chip it, there are dozens of companies, I suggest dont go cheap on a chip, and you can get certain ones reprogrammed for different mods you preform exhaust, etc

4. Exhaust, dont be an idiot and buy like cheapo exhaust, people think that ricer exhasts increasce performance, to keep it simple you want gasses to flow easier through your can system, but dont lose complete back pressure, look on tuner sites for exhausts, spend like 150-200 on a decent one,

5. Intake, odds are there are a slew of intakes available, these will add a small increase in power, if you look into a performance mass airflow sensor it might help also

6. fuel system, change all your filters, clean youre injectors, dont go with nos, ....damage

7. chargers are nice, but 3 grand for a complete setup, remember it never is bolt on, there is alot of other things ie computer, exhaust, headers.

8. wheels, get some light alloy wheels and some grippy tires, they help the acceleration.

9. last as im running out the door,... look for a shift kit, there tricky for noobs to install but they really can pick up your speed times....need any other pointers let me know mang.

-addict out