20-30hp gain for 04 cavy?

Hey guys, I finally got some decent cash flow coming in and i finally want to get some stuff done to my auto 2004 ls sports coupe. Anyone know what i can do to get about 20-30 more hp? Also anyone know anything about improving the shifting of the auto tranny? Also one more question :iceslolan How do you do a proper launch with the auto transmission? Whenever i try the car acts very upset. Anyways thx alot :)

20-30 HP is a tough number to hit with a low amount of cash.

First of all you should get air in and out of the motor.

1) Air Intake (AEM, RSM, Vibrant)
2) Exhaust Setup, Cat-Back, Header, muffler etc.

After that, you're looking at either Nitrous, Turbo, or Supercharger to get more then that.

As for the automatic transmission.. Its never going to launch like a manual, because it changes gears on u. You cant make the car do what its not meant to do.

Visit www.j-body.org for more info on the Cavalier.

www.induction-dynamics.com has the best intakes for the LD9 and ecotec motor by far. After all that stuff you might want to get a larger TB port the head on intake and exhuast sides, for an auto you can power brake, you hold the brake at the tree and give it some gas maybe to like 2-3 grand then when the tree drops you let go of the brake, or you may even beable to do it with the ebrake. but for a quick 50hp increase you can alwasy spray. i hear zex is pretty good.

Much research has led to me to believe that easy increase (read minor) are the intake and exhaust, porting of the heads (in degree of difficulty). The next would be nitrous. Then lok into a turbo. I have seen a couple kits that will run up to 8-12 psi of boost and get you to 235 HP (GM has rated this engine safe to 18-21 psi of boost). I have found numerous sites with Turbos, but you are looking at a good investment, and immeadiate warranty problems with the engine as GM has not released an approved kit for the Ecotec yet like they did the 2.4.

However, with the release of the Saturn Ion Redline that will have a turbo, I think that out time is coming, and we have a little more space under the hood than the Ions do so it will fit just as easy for us.

and that is my :2cents:

Anyone know about the Venom chips? Do they really work... I keep hearing either they rule or they suck, never anything in the middle

B&M shift plus will work to increase line pressure to the tranny to firm up the shifts...put the car in 2nd gear when you launch...that disables traction control which is what is making your car bog off the line as soon as your tires start spinning...

I have an auto tranny, and what i do when i launch is keep it in Drive hold the brake all the way down and rev it to 4000 rpms. Then when you hear go let off the brake and slam down the gas!! Ive beaten a v6 camaro and mustang, an 98 eclipse gst w/turbo, 89 crx w/ a b16 vtec engine n a buch of other shit done to it!!!!

Ahhh I'll have to give that a try. One more question, k&n air filters say the give approx 10 hp... and cold air intakes give approx 10 hp... so would it be better to just get the air filter?

As you can see I know nothing about this stuff :iceslolan this is my first car even worth doing something to lol.

unless you have an aftermarket torque converter in that thing you aint reving it to 4 grand...a 4T40e will hold to about 2700rpm before the brakes give lose...

a cold air intake w filter will get you MAYBE 5hp at the wheels...

STYLEZ24 my auto can launch just as good if not better than a 5 speed...I can torque break to 2600rpm's and pull low 2.2 60' times...an automatic car doesnt shift at the launch till its time to shift to second (bout 35mph)

well if the # 4 on the tach means 2700 rpms then yea your right but im pretty sure it means 4000 rpms

i have the ecotec in one of my cavys too. AEM short ram intake for the eco is not out yet, but will be in the next month or two. I am checking constantly because I want one. Aem intakes have a very nice appearance and have an extensive backround of good reviews. Regardless, a good brand name intake is going to run you around $200. I have a borla cat back on my eco and that gave it a little boost (maybe like 5-8hp. Power gains from just intake and exhaust are going to be very minimal, but the sound and appearance is well worth the money. If you need a serious boost in hp (ie more than 20) you will need to go turbo or supercharged. I am looking into it myself right now. Don't wait for the gm supercharger (the one on the ion red line and cobalt) because you will pay a fortune to buy one. I think we all have a little experience with purchasing parts straigt from GM and it's not a pleasant experience unless you are Donald Trump. Superchargers in general are a fortune. You can get a nice turbo for about half of what you pay for a supercharger. The catch is that they are a little more difficult to install. Oh yeah, check out www.cavalierconnections.com They have a turbocharger specifically for the eco motor

oops, that is actually www.cavalierconnection.com

yeah im sure it does say 4000 rpm's but you aint getting it to go that high without putting the car in nuetral. Your car didnt come with the secret high stall converter option...hehe

Well what kind of performance increase can I expect to see from a turbo/super ? And I dont just mean horsepower gains but over all acceleration. - Thx Mav

Well with a turbo you won't feel it's effect right away when you stomp on the gas. A turbo runs of the exhaust gases so it kicks in after about 3-5 seconds of regular acceleration. You can expect a major major difference at that point. You can actually feel it and hear it kicking in. I'm basing this on my experience in my friend's turbo talon. Compared to just the regular talon, the turbo talon is enormously faster. Depending on how much boost (ie p.s.i.) you run with the turbo will determine the amount of the speed increase. I think I read that a stock eco can handle 6-8 psi without harming the drivetrain components. As for the supercharger, you can feel the effect right away when you step on the gas. A supercharger has it's own pulley and runs off the engine, so it's essentially always spinning and always working. I can't say which is the better option of the two, but either one will give you a major boost in acceleration. Either one will put a stock 140hp ecotec into the 200hp range.

i used to post on a site called J-body.org... There were a lot of guys with your car running 13 sec times with bolt ons and a 75-125 shot of nitrous... nitrous is cheap speed...