Recently got myself a newer Cav, I want to give it some boost.

[TG96]

I just recently got my '96 Cavalier: 2.2L 4-door automatic white. I like this design of the 2.2L over my old '91's design.

I'm not all too mechanically inclined, but I just want to give it a little extra horsepower. NO MUFFLER. I use my car for commercial purposes and with everything else I want to do to my car, a muffler would be too extreme. Besides that, I don't believe in "high performance" mufflers.

I plan on turning the car into a sleeper at first, but I'm also getting stuff like CF tail lights and new paint job. Then putting some subs and stuff in it as well.

[studballs]

definition of a sleeper...a car that looks factory and doesnt attraction attention to itself and is much faster than stock.

unless you turbo or run a descent shot of nitrous on your car it will never be a sleeper, specially with the added weight of bulky stereo equipment.

a muffler too extreme? and you want to turn your car into a sleeper? thats the first time I ever heard that one...

[-Jayson-]

yeah im really confused to. You want a sleeper but you think a muffler is to extreme? i got news for you buddy, horsepower adds noise. IF you want a faster car, your gonna get a louder car. And if a muffler is to extreme for you, your car will never be anything other than stock.

[public]

Yea, a muffler would be first. Since that is out of the question, Try some old time exhaust cutouts. I used to have some spring loaded ones that wworked pretty well. It was great to see their eyes when i put the throttle down and they opened up.

[TG96]

UH, guys, I'm not talking a huge project car here or anything. And by sleeper, I mean doesn't look like it's modified to be faster at all.

How can you guys all say a muffler is such a huge improvement for horsepower?

[GRANDAMLD9]

well if you want to make it so the car doesnt look like its modded, run nitrous and maybe an intake then some head work and alot of internal stuff. the 2200 really isnt the best motor for the cavi to mod, but i guess your stuck now.

[cavygirl15]

I agree, I thought about trying to mod my 4 door cavy, but after researching and talking to my bf, I got a diff car with a 5 speed and a supercharger, what a difference.

[whlanteigne]

Reducing back pressure is the quickest and cheapest way to add power. You get more horsepower increase for the dollar with exhaust mods, and a muffler is about as cheap as they come. You can simply replace the OEM muffler with a glasspak and get noticible power improvement, for under $20, so I don't understand why you don't want to do that. As mentioned in a previous reply, an increase in power is most likely going to make the car louder- not necessarily always the case, but generally true. Replacing the OEM exhaust manifold with a set of tuned headers is the next logical step- and headers work fine with a quieter exhaust. Think of the engine as a pump, increasing the size of the intake pipe (improving carburetion or induction) won't be effective if your outlet remains the same. Any serious quest for more power should begin with upgrading the exhaust system. I believe Thrush used to market a quiet performance muffler called a "Hush Thrush," designed specifically for use with header systems (that was 30 years ago, I'm sure there are similar products today).