How can I make my car faster?

bhuff30

Founding Member
Dec 11, 2001
6,037
35
129
Olathe KS
I don't want to use a power adder quite yet, and I don't want to touch the head. I am talking bolt-ons that will make a noticibible difference.
Here is a list of parts I have now:
CAI
gutted upper and rounded lower
slider cam with the specs of the A237 (set at +4)
long tube pacesetter header
off road exhaust with dynomax muffler (2.25" except tailpipe which is 2")
Right now, I seem to be around 110-115 flywheelhp.
What is left for bolt-ons with a noticible gain? The ignition is excellent from the factory, I suppose I could get underdrives... but I didn't think those made much difference. :shrug:
What is left in it without power adders or head porting, or did I max it out? :shrug:
 
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mostly, I said that because I don't want to mess with the head until I install a low compression, turbo head with better exhaust valves, porting, and everything.
Gears would definatly help me. I am afreid it is a little out of my price range though. I would have to find a good deal and install them myself.
 
Do you think the ranger header will help? What about changing my CAI to aluminum instead of PVC?
Seriously, I was trying to think of other simple things to do which would make more power, and I have nearly come to the end for bolt-ons. I guess a 25hp gain isn't to bad. :)
Maybe it is time to start losing weight.
 
bhuff30 said:
I don't want to use a power adder quite yet, and I don't want to touch the head. I am talking bolt-ons that will make a noticibible difference.
Here is a list of parts I have now:
CAI
gutted upper and rounded lower
slider cam with the specs of the A237 (set at +4)
long tube pacesetter header
off road exhaust with dynomax muffler (2.25" except tailpipe which is 2")
Right now, I seem to be around 110-115 flywheelhp.
What is left for bolt-ons with a noticible gain? The ignition is excellent from the factory, I suppose I could get underdrives... but I didn't think those made much difference. :shrug:
What is left in it without power adders or head porting, or did I max it out? :shrug:
Take your car to the side of a cliff. Put a damn brick on the pedal and send it away to its doom. With the laws of gravity going with you, i think you have a good chance of doing 0-60 in like 2-3 seconds flat. Now that is fast!
 
..... yea I need to loose some pounds cuz this morning the scale.....




....
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Being that the head is the biggest bottleneck on these motors. I think you will be hard up to find any decent gains without doing head work. If nothing else you could pick up a turbo head, port it, do a valve job, etc. and install it. Your compression should still be pretty good with the flat tops (you can figure that out).

Maybe playing with fuel pressure could net some small gains. I would also build a "real" ram air/cold air intake that is down low near the ground and in the direct airflow. Making sure your timing is turned up as far as possible like 18-20º (even so far you have to use premium) would get some pretty decent gains.

Other than that you need 2 things: Gears and a 5 Speed :(

Stinger
 
ganador01 said:
Take your car to the side of a cliff. Put a damn brick on the pedal and send it away to its doom. With the laws of gravity going with you, i think you have a good chance of doing 0-60 in like 2-3 seconds flat. Now that is fast!

I think he's speaking from experience. So tell us then, did th 5.0 drop
faster or did it just have more arrogance when it splattered?
 
I don't know if it would be noticeable on the auto, but on the 91 5 spd, the car was noticeably quicker through first and 2/3 of second when I went to the aluminum drive shaft. -put your beast on a diet- rotating weight first(tires/rims)- I'm currently running a set of 205/50/15's on a lighter set of wheels. I loose no acceleration due to traction, and with the other lightening I've done to the beast,those tires have large enough contact patch that they are sufficient. The speedo is thrown off, but even taking that into account, the car is noticeably quicker 0 to 60 with the drastically reduced rotating weight and lower gear that the smaller tires have. Only drawback is it looks like someone put 13"wheels on my car. :shrug:
 
bhuff30 said:
Do you think the ranger header will help? What about changing my CAI to aluminum instead of PVC?
Seriously, I was trying to think of other simple things to do which would make more power, and I have nearly come to the end for bolt-ons. I guess a 25hp gain isn't to bad. :)
Maybe it is time to start losing weight.

Bhuff30 if you already have a longtube header then going to a Ranger shorty would be a step backwards.

And if you dont have it yet you need to get a 3.73:1 geared traction lock rear.