speed and power secrets

[white97ex]

ok. i'm looking for some tricks to get more speed out of my car or power out of the motor. lets say under 50 bucks. or maybe 100. not massive gains just little ones. change a sensor here turn a screw there....any thing. anyone got something?

[YellowMaranello]

You could always go for the better oil and gas.

[white97ex]

i run castrol 5w30 oil. it is in my opinion the best mineral oil on the market. I dont want to mess with synthetics, i would have to flush the oil system and then replace with a full synthetic. i plan on doing a swap in about a year. I'm looking for some cheap stuff. like on camero's i know you can change either the MAP or IAC sensor, dont remember which one and it will improve performance. as for the fuel. our cars are designed to run on regular gasoline. in stock form. using a higher grade gas isn't going to make much if any difference. there might be more detergents in the higher grade but it would do much the same thing as using a good quality fuel treatment/cleaning system such as the gum-out complete or a lucas product.

[ivymike1031]

you could get a generic cold air intake, or make one for yourself. They'll add a little bit o' power.

Make sure that your tires are properly inflated... that can help a little bit too.

If you're just trying to improve acceleration, you could replace your spare & jack with a can of fix-a-flat (and keep your fingers crossed). Maybe lose a little weight too...

[white97ex]

well, if i lose any weight i'll look like a skelaton. i am 5'7" about about 115-120 lbs. depending on how long its been since i ate. I was thinking about getting a k&N cone type filter and mounting it directly to the TB but there is a sensor or something in the stock air tube before the TB as well as a vacuum line.

[GSteg]

custom air intake has got to be one of the best mod under $100.

[ivymike1031]

The tube is for the PCV (crankcase breather) system, and the sensor is for air temperature. You should include them both in your design if you make a custom CAI.

[black 00 civic dx]

white 97ex, i got the 00 dx and found a cp brand real cold air intake for 80 shipped. i messsed with taking the resonator box out, but the cold air was the shit, cleans up compartment and looks pretyy, i was advised on the homemade route but cp is carb legal (go no mas popo's) and has sticket and everything and aem/injen is more than twice the price for the same thing.

ryan

[Duatone]

if you want instant responce, go with a cai, or just replace your flywheel with a lighter one, or a really good first mod, swap out all the pulleys for lightweight ones, mainly aem or unorthodox racing. I can't think of the price off my head, but theyre worth it. but you see, I wouldnt mount a filter striaght up to the throttle body, thats just way halfed ass, the manbufacturer makes their intake pipes a certain length and diameter for a reason, and someone can argue this, and they will, but once you swap out the intake and put something else on, even just a filter, your messing with the air/fuel ratio, and the cpu knows this, its more worth it to just swap out your throttle body for a bored out one and swap out your intake manifold, then worry about sucking in more air and get an air/fuel gauge while your at it. or if you want really cheap, sneak int the local airport and fill your tank with their jet fuel, thats like..100 octane or something, and for more fun, on top of that, dump in a bottle of octane booster.

[luti]

I was under the impression jet fuel was a form of propane and not gasoline, but I could be wrong.

[ivymike1031]

Yep, somebody is going to argue. Changing the filter or the intake tube shouldn't affect your a/f ratio.

You can get avgas for a piston engine, and some of it does have a fairly high octane rating. The important thing to note is that a high octane rating doesn't mean anything for a normal car. Octane rating tells you about the anti-knock properties of the fuel, not how much energy or "fun" you can get from it.

[white97ex]

well, now that this thread has gone in a completely different direction than i had planned. I plan on swapping motors in about a year...hopefully at income tax time. b20b. so making a CAI would be useless or even buying one would be a waste of money. really anything done to the motor to get performance would be a waste of money. i was just thinking about the map sensor and such.

as for the diameter of the intake pipe and length being done a specific way.....i'm not really sure about that. the regulating factor in the air intake process is the throttle body. the bigger or smaller the throttle body the more or less air you will be able to get into the cylinders. the intake tube has nothing to do with the process other than to prevent the intake of dirt and harmful particles, as well as water. the reason a honda intake goes through the bumper and makes the J or U however you want to look at it, is so that you wont be sucking any water up into the intake pipe, then into the engine. that is also why there is a plastic plate covering the end of the intake tube. so varying the diameter and length of the pipe really should have no affect on the A/F ratio of the engine.

so yeah...someone did have to argue with it.....:finger:

[strodda]

Originally posted by Duatone
if you want instant responce, go with a cai, or just replace your flywheel with a lighter one, or a really good first mod, swap out all the pulleys for lightweight ones...

what are the names of all the pulleys that are normally changed? i have an a/t if that makes a difference. all i know about is the flywheel, and the aem trupower pulleys. but what stock parts are those replacing? i dont know much about the gears and such.

[ivymike1031]

Sounds like the flywheel is out of the question then...

[luti]

Originally posted by strodda

what are the names of all the pulleys that are normally changed? i have an a/t if that makes a difference. all i know about is the flywheel, and the aem trupower pulleys. but what stock parts are those replacing? i dont know much about the gears and such.

Flywheels are located after the engine but before the transmission (at least in a manual). The pulleys are turned by belts coming of the crank shaft. They control the air conditioning, power steering and alternator.