Wondering about speed on an automatic

[PearlGT]

but ok heres the deal, i just purchased a used 93 3000gt automatic which i love dearly. Im not looking to get into the racing scene but i was wondering if there was anything i could do to up the acceleration on my car.

I know since its automatic i'm bound to have some laughs come my way but honestly i would just like to know what i can do or buy to increase my speed just a bit. Also the accelerator seems a bit stiff and i would like to find a way to fix that up as well.

(i didn't get a manual because i live in a place where the traffic is just so horrible that it would be an inconvenience to drive a stick)

Theres actually a vr-4 i had the option to buy but i just decided i wanted to get an automatic, its just more convenient for me.

[Hotshot8792]

of course there's plenty of things you can do to get some speed and no one will laugh at you, cause if they do, they gotta mess with me. Grant it, i have an ATX, but mine whipped up on a VR-4 (yes, i have TTs). Now for being an N/A, to get a little bit of hp, first thing you could do is add an open element intake, not much of a gain, but it helps more as you add more things to the car. Dont spend anymore than 50 bucks on an intake. Also, remove the resonator bottle underneath your intake pipe, it'll give you a throatier sound, just replace it with like a vitamin cap. Next, if you dont have emissions, get your catalytic converter removed. Another mod i really recommend which will help you off the line much more noticably and give you about 12 whp gain, 3sx aluminum pulley from www.3sxperformance.com. Other mods could include a full catback exhaust (mine custom made was $250), or some people buy a VR-4 catback for about $75 and get that put on, and it gives a nice gain as well. The downpipe is also a restriction, will cost you around $325 for an aftermarket one. Also, give your car a good tune up, NGK coppers, $1.87 each at NAPA and some nice aftermarket plug wires. That should set you up for a while. Also, performance wise for an ATX, you can start off by installing a tranny cooler to preserve your tranny's life, $35 at any autostore. You can also install a translab tl-175 shift kit ($75 for the kit) and has proven to knock off up to .4 seconds off your 1/4 mile due to crisper, firmer shifts, and also, you can replace your end clutch with an alto end clutch ($70) which keeps your 4th gear running as our atx stock end clutches are known to go out. Hope this helps and gets you started, and if you have anymore questions, just let me know.

[PearlGT]

An end clutch applies to automatic as opposed to a regular clutch correct? I have been looking around and have seen the lightweight pulleys around which i will consider buying if i have enough spare cash around. No worries i will take my car to the shop to show me how to take good care of her and install aftermarket parts.

Also whats the difference in a vr-4 catback and a regular(custom) catback? my 3000gt is a base 93 which runs 222hp right? Will the lightweight pulley help ease the stiffness of my accelerator?

[Hotshot8792]

Originally Posted by PearlGT

An end clutch applies to automatic as opposed to a regular clutch correct? I have been looking around and have seen the lightweight pulleys around which i will consider buying if i have enough spare cash around. No worries i will take my car to the shop to show me how to take good care of her and install aftermarket parts.

Also whats the difference in a vr-4 catback and a regular(custom) catback? my 3000gt is a base 93 which runs 222hp right? Will the lightweight pulley help ease the stiffness of my accelerator?

An end clutch is your 4th gear, overdrive. Replacing it with an alto end clutch is supposed to give you better 2-3 shifts as well as more of making it stronger so it doesnt go out on you. Lightweight pulley's are nice, before i became mechanically inclined, i had a mechanic install my timing belt, and gave him the aluminum pulley to put on, and he put it on at no extra charge due to the fact that he had to take off the crank pulley anyways. A VR-4 catback is cheaper than a custom catback, used lol of course, and probably weighs a little more depending what all you get done. A VR-4 catback will give gains due to the fact the N/A exhaust is 2.5 inches and the VR-4 exhaust is 3 inches, has no premuffler or resonator, and it has less bends in it as well. You can probably find one for sale on 3si.org in the parts for sale or parts wanted forum. Lets see, what have i forgotten, ah yes, your base 93 is a DOHC 222 hp model. The lightweight pulley has nothing to do with your throttle cable so it wont affect the accelerator stiffness, just try to find someone who can grease that up for ya. Basically, the lightweight pulley is obviously turned by your engine to run your accessories, and being turned is rotating mass. Now your stock crank pulley i believe weighs around 7 lbs and the lightweight pulley weighs just under 2. The thing with rotating mass though is for ever pound you free up, you free up 2-3 hp to the wheels. Anyways, hopefully this will get you a good start.

[PearlGT]

thanks a bunch, i really appreciate the help

[NightRiderGT]

quick question what and where is the catalytic convcerter?

[NightRiderGT]

another thing what does ATX stand for?
i know im asking too many questions sry but i wanna mod my car also and its hard when you dont know what they are. sry again

[PearlGT]

i believe ATX is automatic transmission (i think the x stands for transaxle)

the manual in your car may say something about a catalytic converter but i honestly dont know where to locate some of the parts mentioned such as the catalytic converter

Edit - i would also like to know from somone what the more expensive speed increasing parts may be for an ATX, thank you

[PearlGT]

OK sorry for continuing this thread with newbie questions but i've been talking to my friend about this and he said the best thing to do is buy some sort of cold air intake or any kind of exhaust system for cheap easy hp.

so does anyone know if the Maxspeed Rear Performance Muffler adds as much as it claims to?

and if the HKS Super Mega Flow Intake Kit Fits on all 3000GT (90-96) would be a good choice to buy (its the only non turbo i could find)

With the more money i earn towards my car i broaden my search for parts that could increase my hp, but i want to hear you guys out before i make any decisions based strictly on marketing, i'd like to know the best muffler and intake system for the price for a base 93 (222hp stock) i could get. (if it matters keep in mind im ATX)

[Igovert500]

atx stands for automatic tranny.
the cat converter is under your car, it is piece of your exhaust system that is used for emissions purposes. Inside the piping it has a honeycomb of chemicals that work as a catylist and convert carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide. This is great for our environment, unfortuantly it is very restictive as far as airflow. To free up horsepower the trick is to get more air and more gas into your engine. So anything that allows your engine to breathe better (ie, intake and exhaust upgrades) are good. So the reason you get an intake and exhuast system would be to free up air flow. The cat(catlytic converter) is on the bottom of the car, about midway back, it is relatively bubble shaped, if you follow your exhaust pipes from the engine to the mufflers in the back, you will see it about halfway back. The actual cat is only about a foot long. Many people replace these with a free-flowing "testpipe"(aka racepipe). I don't specifically know about the mufflers you are asking about, but mufflers are useless if thats the only part of your exhaust that you do. You want to replace the whole exhaust system, from your engine back, therefore a downpipe to a gutted cat or testpipe, and then a catback system with mufflers. You want it all to be as close to 3" diameter as possible, ATR and BORLA are good brands that are usually prefered by 3000gt owners, but you can search around. www.3sxperformance.com is a good place to get stuff relatively cheap.
A coldair intake = an intake (roughly speaking) but any open element cone filter will work fine. I'd check ebay for that.
Lastly, every company claims ridiculous hp gains with their product, don't believe it. If you upgrade to any openelement airfilter or coldair intake will give you 2-3hp, the downpipe will give you 5-7 and the catback w/testpipe will do about the same(5-7), so whatever they tell you about 15-25hp, don't believe it, it's bs, with entire new exhaust and intake, you'll gain 12-15hp.

[Hotshot8792]

actually, the downpipe will give you more along the lines of 10-15 hp. As for intake, you can find some K&N's for $40 or less. As for muffler, i hear that N/A's sound best on dynomax or magnaflow

[Igovert500]

his isn't twin turbo, i'll believe 10-15hp on a tt, not an NA until I see a dyno...I maybe wrong, but that just seems a bit too generous

[Hotshot8792]

Originally Posted by Igovert500

his isn't twin turbo, i'll believe 10-15hp on a tt, not an NA until I see a dyno...I maybe wrong, but that just seems a bit too generous

its actually about 25 on a tt, buddy of mine has one put on his car (N/A), he said it gave him a 13 hp gain

[Igovert500]

My ATR downpipe is going on when it gets warmer (vr4), I'll have to check it out then. Buddy of mine has one of those 300dollar performance meters that supposed to calcuate hp/tq/1/4 and so on, how acurate are those things. (obviously the weight I enter will have to be pretty acurate).

[Hotshot8792]

Originally Posted by Igovert500

My ATR downpipe is going on when it gets warmer (vr4), I'll have to check it out then. Buddy of mine has one of those 300dollar performance meters that supposed to calcuate hp/tq/1/4 and so on, how acurate are those things. (obviously the weight I enter will have to be pretty acurate).

let me know how that comes out, i'm trying the stillen downpipe on mine, mainly to eliminate the front precat and the main cat