VW Cabrio
offspring49
11-10-2001, 01:03 AM
hey, I have a '95 VW Cabrio convertible and its not super fast yet but I'm workin on that. I have been looking everywhere and cannot find headers for my car, can anyone help? I'm getting performance plugs and wires plus a new intake. I'll be replacing the exhaust when I get more money. Is there anything else I can do to increase performance (preferably less than $500)? My goal is to beat just about any Honda.
CAptynCrunch
11-10-2001, 10:14 AM
Ok, there's really only two basic ways to increase your engines power and therefore to make the car go faster. One is to increase the comprression of your engine, the other is to make your car lighter. supercharger, or Natural Aspiration.
A turbo system is what everyone and their dog uses, i'm not saying that this is a bad thing, if anything it's a testiment to how good a turbo is. A
To increase the compression you have Three options, a turbo system, a turbo works by ramming the exhaust gases back through the engine, therefore causing there to be more air in the engine, therefore increaseing compression. The only problem with this is that i requires exhust gas, which isn't produced until after the the engine is started, so theres something called "spool time" that's basically a second or two period when you don't get the extra power, but once it spools up you get a substantial boost to the top end of the power band. So in summary a turbo is good for addiing to top speed, but not so greatat adding to acceleration.
A supercharger is kinda the same as a turbo, but different. A turbo runs on exhuast gasses, while a supercharger is powered by a belt connected directly to the engine. Good thing about this is that theres no spool time because it's belt driven. The downside is that superchargers aren't known for giving as much of a boost as a turbo of the same level. Also, a supercharger gives a boost to the lower level of the power band. This means not as much top speed, but more torque and lowend acceleration.
The other is my personal favourite, Natural Aspiration or N/A Tuning. This is increasing the compression and performance of your engine without using any form of bolt on like a turbo or supercharger. N/A gives you, in my opinion the biggest power boost, because it gives an instant(no spool time) boost to the entire powerband, not just acceleration or top speed. N/A is also the hardest to do because you have to know what your doing to tune the engine, it requires the most work by far, but it's worth it. You need to get forged pistons(titanium being the best) with a shorter stroke, this decreases the ammount of room in the chamber, therefore increasing the compression. It also includes things like performance cams and pretty much every other engine part. It also causes that RRREEEEEEAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYY nice engine sound when you rev the engine up to 14,000 RPM everytime you shift.(this is how a non-turbo, non-supercharged spoon civic can hit 216 mph.)
None of these are gonna cost you under $500, well maybe a small turbo, good for about 30-40 HP but a turbo is the cheapest and easiest.
The other way is to reduce the weight of your car, unless your really serious about this, most people won't want to do this, because it takes away looks, comfort and convenience. This would mean carbon fiber everything. seats, dash, everything. But this is in the thousands of dollars price range. Or, you can just remove all unneeded seats, seat belts, upholstry, safety gear, everything except what you need to drive the car.
So, for under $500 there ain't much you can do besides a small turbo. Crap like wires and stuff doesn't make your car faster, tehy might make it last longer, but thats it.
A turbo system is what everyone and their dog uses, i'm not saying that this is a bad thing, if anything it's a testiment to how good a turbo is. A
To increase the compression you have Three options, a turbo system, a turbo works by ramming the exhaust gases back through the engine, therefore causing there to be more air in the engine, therefore increaseing compression. The only problem with this is that i requires exhust gas, which isn't produced until after the the engine is started, so theres something called "spool time" that's basically a second or two period when you don't get the extra power, but once it spools up you get a substantial boost to the top end of the power band. So in summary a turbo is good for addiing to top speed, but not so greatat adding to acceleration.
A supercharger is kinda the same as a turbo, but different. A turbo runs on exhuast gasses, while a supercharger is powered by a belt connected directly to the engine. Good thing about this is that theres no spool time because it's belt driven. The downside is that superchargers aren't known for giving as much of a boost as a turbo of the same level. Also, a supercharger gives a boost to the lower level of the power band. This means not as much top speed, but more torque and lowend acceleration.
The other is my personal favourite, Natural Aspiration or N/A Tuning. This is increasing the compression and performance of your engine without using any form of bolt on like a turbo or supercharger. N/A gives you, in my opinion the biggest power boost, because it gives an instant(no spool time) boost to the entire powerband, not just acceleration or top speed. N/A is also the hardest to do because you have to know what your doing to tune the engine, it requires the most work by far, but it's worth it. You need to get forged pistons(titanium being the best) with a shorter stroke, this decreases the ammount of room in the chamber, therefore increasing the compression. It also includes things like performance cams and pretty much every other engine part. It also causes that RRREEEEEEAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYY nice engine sound when you rev the engine up to 14,000 RPM everytime you shift.(this is how a non-turbo, non-supercharged spoon civic can hit 216 mph.)
None of these are gonna cost you under $500, well maybe a small turbo, good for about 30-40 HP but a turbo is the cheapest and easiest.
The other way is to reduce the weight of your car, unless your really serious about this, most people won't want to do this, because it takes away looks, comfort and convenience. This would mean carbon fiber everything. seats, dash, everything. But this is in the thousands of dollars price range. Or, you can just remove all unneeded seats, seat belts, upholstry, safety gear, everything except what you need to drive the car.
So, for under $500 there ain't much you can do besides a small turbo. Crap like wires and stuff doesn't make your car faster, tehy might make it last longer, but thats it.
offspring49
11-11-2001, 11:46 PM
where can I buy this stuff online?
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