make more horsepower w/o spending money

BENJO · 07-23-2004, 09:14 PM

haha i found this site that has ten so called "tricks" that cost nothing that could add horsepower to you car.

IMO some of these tricks are pretty stupid.. like removing your air intake filter? haha but i guess its worth a look

Munch · 07-23-2004, 09:59 PM

why dont u post the url so everyone else can see it too?

BENJO · 07-23-2004, 10:06 PM

OOPS haha i thought i did

here you go

http://www.royalpurple.com/dragsport1/ds1p1.html

07-23-2004, 10:29 PM

sorry to say but alot of those sound like total bs.

Unbolting the exhaust system? come on, if the noise doesn't kill you, getting busted by the pigs will.

The octane booster isn't exactly free either, nor would I use the NOS junk as a fuel system cleaner, it sucks. Get the greased lightning or redline stuff. Those two work out of the many dozen or so fuel system cleaners I've tried.

Pulling the air filter too? dude I can smell bad news just lurking around with bad advice like that. I wouldn't even do that at the track let alone on the street.

Advancing the timing is a good way to dial up some power but keep in mind you also increase the chance of knocking and serious damage to your motor in the long term if advanced too aggressively without a careful watch on how your motor is behaving and I'm not even talking about using knock sensors since they're too damn inaccurate (stock ones).

Shimming the wastegate is also a bad idea if you decide to slap on one too many washers. 10 psi is already getting damn close to maxing out the stock IC and injectors on the redtop. I can already see some average joe thinking "oh I can slap a few washers in there and it'll be fine" and by a few washers we're talking packages of em.

The thermostat is another bad one. You think it'll buy you power, although it will decrease the motor temperatures, you also keep the coolant temperatures low enough to keep you in fast idle mode and your mileage goes to crap. Knowing that you should run at least a 91 octane fuel in your tank with an SR and with current gas prices, that's not a freebie at all. You'd just be better off with keeping the thermo stock and saving that money you'd otherwise be wasting and spend it on a real performance part.

BENJO · 07-23-2004, 10:41 PM

yeah some of them are total bullsh!t..

Chr1s · 07-23-2004, 10:58 PM

I stopped reading when I saw

Quote:

KA=Kan't Accelerate

Ripper · 07-23-2004, 11:17 PM

um okay, i haven't read the article yet, but removing your cat converter forsure adds acceleration, and reset ecu is worth a try.

santi · 07-25-2004, 02:21 PM

i removed my belt driven fan,took off the ac and put on a test pipe.. my ka can walk on any stock ka .and even ka's with intake and exhaust.. thats all i can think of when ppl say free power. i agree with most others about most of that beein bs.

NismoSigma · 07-25-2004, 03:39 PM

Life with no ac in NJ, heavens no!

Nemesis · 07-25-2004, 03:50 PM

the only one that seemed worth it was the "unbolting the exhaust system" being loud? depends i guess...my friends with srt-4's run open down pipes and nothing else...not too loud...sounds jus like an aftermarket exhaust and only get's REALLY loud at WOT...if i had to compare it to an exhaust system it would be like the Tanabe Racing Medallion....relavtivly loud but LOUDER @ wot...

i did open headers on my civic and my car was louder than the srt-4's...

05m0515 · 07-26-2004, 02:16 AM

Loud is a 4ag running open headers. I was driving under a tunnel with my friend and blasted the throttle and he thought a shotgun went off. Then he had to change his pants

mranlet · 07-26-2004, 07:59 AM

IMO, there's really no such thing as "free" power - exhaust mods can get you tickets, intake mods like removing the filter are bad news, shimming the wastegate adds a lot of stress to a system taht wasn't engineerred to handle that from the factory, and putting in a test pipe can cause you to fail emissions.

If you want increased performance for free, weight reduction is really the only reasonable option, IMO. (check out the link in my sig)

GRiDRaceTech · 07-26-2004, 09:38 AM

I agree wholeheartedly with MR.

But... if you're not in California, drill some 2" diameter holes in your 240's airbox and gain a little power. If you're in California, just hope the smog guys don't notice it. (It's illegal to modify the stock intake here. Ghey, I know.)

scirocco · 07-26-2004, 01:07 PM

i used to reroute my A/C pipe into my intake manifold and used CO2 cartridges pointed at the rad and intake on my old hachigo... it felt like i supercharged it. i also took off the filter and exhaust after the headers and i removed many of the body panels and the hood completely and simply got a flat underbody kit for the car. took a full 2.5 seconds off the quartermile

Parry · 07-26-2004, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by scirocco
i used to reroute my A/C pipe into my intake manifold and used CO2 cartridges pointed at the rad and intake on my old hachigo... it felt like i supercharged it. i also took off the filter and exhaust after the headers and i removed many of the body panels and the hood completely and simply got a flat underbody kit for the car. took a full 2.5 seconds off the quartermile

No you didn't, and no it didn't.

scirocco · 07-26-2004, 08:22 PM

i was joking

that would just be dumb and 2.5 seconds is way too much

Xantos · 07-26-2004, 09:12 PM

open headers... the only decently sounding one, reminds me of last weekend. My step-brothers friend is a rich jerk whose parents bought him a WS6, he recently got many new engine mods but with his new headers he cant run the stock exaust system, and since his new one didnt get in yet he decided to run open headers, I have never heard or smelt anything worse, i mean you have not heard loud until you heard this thing just idleing. However since he got a large amount of horsepower boost his computer was freaking out, so it broke down on his way home, he found out it is frying spark plugs (i dont understand this so if someone knows why please tell me) so far he has spent 50$ in replacing spark plugs...

07-26-2004, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by scirocco
i used to reroute my A/C pipe into my intake manifold and used CO2 cartridges pointed at the rad and intake on my old hachigo... it felt like i supercharged it.

That'd be a bad idea too. CO2 doesn't burn, although it would decrease the temperatures of the air entering the system, it would also occupy volume in the intake supply squeezing out the oxygen molecules that are alot more important than just dropping the temps. Also since the air surrounding the CO2 gas would not be as cold as the CO2 lessening the benefits of such a system especially as the gasses expand the closer they get to combustion time.

spinitsidewayz! · 07-26-2004, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Xantos
open headers... the only decently sounding one, reminds me of last weekend. My step-brothers friend is a rich jerk whose parents bought him a WS6, he recently got many new engine mods but with his new headers he cant run the stock exaust system, and since his new one didnt get in yet he decided to run open headers, I have never heard or smelt anything worse, i mean you have not heard loud until you heard this thing just idleing. However since he got a large amount of horsepower boost his computer was freaking out, so it broke down on his way home, he found out it is frying spark plugs (i dont understand this so if someone knows why please tell me) so far he has spent 50$ in replacing spark plugs...

open headers... the backpressure would be way too low... sucking air right trough the engine...

ElementOfRed · 07-26-2004, 11:21 PM

the only way you can get some "free" real power, is by buying your own machines and doing all the work on the engine yourself. Getting everything coated, polished and such helps a LOT, but wait thats not free unless, well........

"Most of the things in this world that are free, cost a lot."

think about that 1

scirocco · 07-27-2004, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 180fan
That'd be a bad idea too. CO2 doesn't burn, although it would decrease the temperatures of the air entering the system, it would also occupy volume in the intake supply squeezing out the oxygen molecules that are alot more important than just dropping the temps. Also since the air surrounding the CO2 gas would not be as cold as the CO2 lessening the benefits of such a system especially as the gasses expand the closer they get to combustion time.

umm i wuz joking first of all and second of all, CO2 aimed at the intake manifold but not going INTO the intake manifold would add horsepower since it would create denser air but the CO2 wouldn't actually enter it... just like an N-tercooler or a CRYO2 intake... i must speculate again that i was joking

TireFrier · 07-28-2004, 12:19 AM

wow you guys are NOOOOOOOOOOOOOBS. unbolting exaust on a sr20 would make more power! its a turbo car. turbos hate backpressure. i would know. removing your air filter, that means free flowing air! better than a K&N! advanced ignition timing, more power (low end). how many of you guys have actually tried this *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored*? i know i have, and it works. doing this stuff helped me to lose 4 tenths in the 1/4 mile at less boost on my starion. oh and your turbo will act like a muffler. it really quiets the engine down, its nothing like open headers.

LucidStrife · 07-28-2004, 08:17 AM

Wow Relax TireFrier, some of them are joking around and others dont need to be bashed for not knowing as much as you expansive brain has managed to soak up. Everyone gotta learn these things eventually you cant just know them. The Forum shouldnt be a place where people are not affaid of getting flamed, but where people can get answers to their questions, no matter how simple a question is. At least this was a decent question, instead of one that has been asked 12 times earlier. Anyways that is pretty impressive dropping that much time on mods that didnt coast anything. What are you running in your starion? what is your time now? I'm seriously interested.

Lucidstrife

RallyGT · 07-28-2004, 09:17 AM

the only things that make sence are the spark plugs and advancing the timing....
i bought some platinum plugs for my escort and advanced the timing but like 500rpms...it was a lot faster...but then agian it was an escort

GRiDRaceTech · 07-28-2004, 09:31 AM

Spark plugs often do nothing for increasing the performance of a Nissan engine. I know the KA likes OEM plugs and wires in there to run its best.

Don't run with a removed air filter anywhere but the drag course... little rocks kill motors.

Advanced ignition timing runs the risk of detonation, which will kill your engine. I wouldn't recommend messing with it unless you know what you're doing.

07-23-2004, 09:14 PM	#1
BENJO Street Sweepers Join Date: May 2004 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 202	make more horsepower w/o spending money haha i found this site that has ten so called "tricks" that cost nothing that could add horsepower to you car. IMO some of these tricks are pretty stupid.. like removing your air intake filter? haha but i guess its worth a look

07-28-2004, 08:17 AM	#23
LucidStrife Newbie Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 47	LOL Wow Relax TireFrier, some of them are joking around and others dont need to be bashed for not knowing as much as you expansive brain has managed to soak up. Everyone gotta learn these things eventually you cant just know them. The Forum shouldnt be a place where people are not affaid of getting flamed, but where people can get answers to their questions, no matter how simple a question is. At least this was a decent question, instead of one that has been asked 12 times earlier. Anyways that is pretty impressive dropping that much time on mods that didnt coast anything. What are you running in your starion? what is your time now? I'm seriously interested. Lucidstrife

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07-23-2004, 09:59 PM	#2
Munch Resident Crappy Artist Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Fresno, CA Posts: 227	why dont u post the url so everyone else can see it too?

07-23-2004, 10:06 PM	#3
BENJO Street Sweepers Join Date: May 2004 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 202	OOPS haha i thought i did here you go http://www.royalpurple.com/dragsport1/ds1p1.html

07-23-2004, 10:29 PM	#4
180fan Guest Posts: n/a	sorry to say but alot of those sound like total bs. Unbolting the exhaust system? come on, if the noise doesn't kill you, getting busted by the pigs will. The octane booster isn't exactly free either, nor would I use the NOS junk as a fuel system cleaner, it sucks. Get the greased lightning or redline stuff. Those two work out of the many dozen or so fuel system cleaners I've tried. Pulling the air filter too? dude I can smell bad news just lurking around with bad advice like that. I wouldn't even do that at the track let alone on the street. Advancing the timing is a good way to dial up some power but keep in mind you also increase the chance of knocking and serious damage to your motor in the long term if advanced too aggressively without a careful watch on how your motor is behaving and I'm not even talking about using knock sensors since they're too damn inaccurate (stock ones). Shimming the wastegate is also a bad idea if you decide to slap on one too many washers. 10 psi is already getting damn close to maxing out the stock IC and injectors on the redtop. I can already see some average joe thinking "oh I can slap a few washers in there and it'll be fine" and by a few washers we're talking packages of em. The thermostat is another bad one. You think it'll buy you power, although it will decrease the motor temperatures, you also keep the coolant temperatures low enough to keep you in fast idle mode and your mileage goes to crap. Knowing that you should run at least a 91 octane fuel in your tank with an SR and with current gas prices, that's not a freebie at all. You'd just be better off with keeping the thermo stock and saving that money you'd otherwise be wasting and spend it on a real performance part.

07-23-2004, 10:41 PM	#5
BENJO Street Sweepers Join Date: May 2004 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 202	yeah some of them are total bullsh!t..

07-23-2004, 11:17 PM	#7
Ripper post whore Join Date: May 2004 Location: SoCal Posts: 883	um okay, i haven't read the article yet, but removing your cat converter forsure adds acceleration, and reset ecu is worth a try.

07-25-2004, 02:21 PM	#8
santi Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: boynton biaa Posts: 96	i removed my belt driven fan,took off the ac and put on a test pipe.. my ka can walk on any stock ka .and even ka's with intake and exhaust.. thats all i can think of when ppl say free power. i agree with most others about most of that beein bs.

07-25-2004, 03:39 PM	#9
NismoSigma Driftin' to the MOON! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 675	Life with no ac in NJ, heavens no!

07-25-2004, 03:50 PM	#10
Nemesis Boro Miata Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: San Antonio Posts: 722	the only one that seemed worth it was the "unbolting the exhaust system" being loud? depends i guess...my friends with srt-4's run open down pipes and nothing else...not too loud...sounds jus like an aftermarket exhaust and only get's REALLY loud at WOT...if i had to compare it to an exhaust system it would be like the Tanabe Racing Medallion....relavtivly loud but LOUDER @ wot... i did open headers on my civic and my car was louder than the srt-4's...

07-26-2004, 02:16 AM	#11
05m0515 Guest Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Washington Posts: 171	Loud is a 4ag running open headers. I was driving under a tunnel with my friend and blasted the throttle and he thought a shotgun went off. Then he had to change his pants

07-26-2004, 07:59 AM	#12
mranlet Smokes Dynamite Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Tampa, CT, all over the place! Posts: 1,090	IMO, there's really no such thing as "free" power - exhaust mods can get you tickets, intake mods like removing the filter are bad news, shimming the wastegate adds a lot of stress to a system taht wasn't engineerred to handle that from the factory, and putting in a test pipe can cause you to fail emissions. If you want increased performance for free, weight reduction is really the only reasonable option, IMO. (check out the link in my sig)

07-26-2004, 09:38 AM	#13
GRiDRaceTech Opposite Lock Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: SoCal Posts: 1,096	I agree wholeheartedly with MR. But... if you're not in California, drill some 2" diameter holes in your 240's airbox and gain a little power. If you're in California, just hope the smog guys don't notice it. (It's illegal to modify the stock intake here. Ghey, I know.)

07-26-2004, 01:07 PM	#14
scirocco Large Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: The Moon Posts: 354	i used to reroute my A/C pipe into my intake manifold and used CO2 cartridges pointed at the rad and intake on my old hachigo... it felt like i supercharged it. i also took off the filter and exhaust after the headers and i removed many of the body panels and the hood completely and simply got a flat underbody kit for the car. took a full 2.5 seconds off the quartermile

07-26-2004, 08:22 PM	#16
scirocco Large Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: The Moon Posts: 354	i was joking that would just be dumb and 2.5 seconds is way too much

07-26-2004, 09:12 PM	#17
Xantos Registered User Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Round Rock, Texas Posts: 294	open headers... the only decently sounding one, reminds me of last weekend. My step-brothers friend is a rich jerk whose parents bought him a WS6, he recently got many new engine mods but with his new headers he cant run the stock exaust system, and since his new one didnt get in yet he decided to run open headers, I have never heard or smelt anything worse, i mean you have not heard loud until you heard this thing just idleing. However since he got a large amount of horsepower boost his computer was freaking out, so it broke down on his way home, he found out it is frying spark plugs (i dont understand this so if someone knows why please tell me) so far he has spent 50$ in replacing spark plugs...

07-26-2004, 11:21 PM	#20
ElementOfRed Newbie Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Franklin Lakes, NJ Posts: 7	the only way you can get some "free" real power, is by buying your own machines and doing all the work on the engine yourself. Getting everything coated, polished and such helps a LOT, but wait thats not free unless, well........ "Most of the things in this world that are free, cost a lot." think about that 1

07-28-2004, 12:19 AM	#22
TireFrier Registered User Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 115	wow you guys are NOOOOOOOOOOOOOBS. unbolting exaust on a sr20 would make more power! its a turbo car. turbos hate backpressure. i would know. removing your air filter, that means free flowing air! better than a K&N! advanced ignition timing, more power (low end). how many of you guys have actually tried this CensoredCensoredCensoredCensored? i know i have, and it works. doing this stuff helped me to lose 4 tenths in the 1/4 mile at less boost on my starion. oh and your turbo will act like a muffler. it really quiets the engine down, its nothing like open headers.

07-28-2004, 09:17 AM	#24
RallyGT Domestic Drifter Join Date: May 2004 Location: SLC, Utah Posts: 463	the only things that make sence are the spark plugs and advancing the timing.... i bought some platinum plugs for my escort and advanced the timing but like 500rpms...it was a lot faster...but then agian it was an escort

07-28-2004, 09:31 AM	#25
GRiDRaceTech Opposite Lock Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: SoCal Posts: 1,096	Spark plugs often do nothing for increasing the performance of a Nissan engine. I know the KA likes OEM plugs and wires in there to run its best. Don't run with a removed air filter anywhere but the drag course... little rocks kill motors. Advanced ignition timing runs the risk of detonation, which will kill your engine. I wouldn't recommend messing with it unless you know what you're doing.