Extra gains suggestions on N/A

[HaXx]

Originally Posted by spcmafia

While I save for either turbo or supercharger, I want to get the most (safely) from my N/A setup. Off the bat, E85 is out of the table because it's difficult to get it where I live. I searched, trust me. So far I have:
Inlet Tube with drop in air filter
Lightweight crank, alternator, water pump pulleys
JDL UEL catted (Emissions and headache witching to stock) headers.
Overpipe
Stage 2 Tune OFT

Double resonated FP
Q300 Catback.



Honestly I'm mostly curious to see what people look for to maximize their N/A set ups. This is for educational purposes more than anything.

my answer: decat the stock header and fp, then dynotune

talk to efi logics in conn, theyre probably not far from you, they installed and dyno tuned the jrsc on my brz. instead of coming up with some weird idea of what youre going to do to make more power, talk to people who do this for a living. trust me, they do this for a living, they know more than us.

as others have said, header and tune are what you do, if e85 is out of the question thats ok, 93 is easier.

all the gains from a header come from the fact that ur changing to a catless one, so the fact that ur considering upgrading headers but staying catless is pointless. i dont care what product descriptions say. also, use oem filters, that goes for engine oil, engine air, cabin air.

what i, and a lot of other people have done is decat the stock header and front pipe. it costs the price of new gaskets. decatted stock system is not loud, sounds great, no rasp. this way you get the hp of catless, keep the sound down, and its hella affordable. dynotune it after you do that. dynotuning is always a great idea. on a bone stock car off the dealer lot, a dynotune could probably yield 10hp, and improve driving feel. remember, driving feel is always more important than 10 hp at redline

so ur looking at ~$65 in gaskets, and ~$600 for a dynotune.


also, placebo pills are great. lower the car a little with stiffer springs (rce yellows etc) and make the car a little louder and its going to feel 100% faster. way better than 10hp at redline will make the car feel.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Cephas

What's the current thought on power blocks for a car that'll stay N/A? Seems some disagreement about them in the threads I've read on here.

This goes back to the original being already designed for performance. Such changes have a much greater affect in engines that were never designed for performance in the first place.
Is there an "improvement"? Maybe, but it will be very very small.

[CrowsFeast]

Originally Posted by spcmafia

Great suggestion, bit pricey for CF but doable. Never ever will I go wide wheels, camber, lowered set up. Hence my exhaust setup, conservative.

I presume you're saying you would avoid a 'stanced' setup.

Lightweight 17x9 with 245 or 255 tires and 3.5*F, 2.5*R camber works pretty good on stock struts. People will tell you 255s don't fit with stock struts but I've got 255 RS4's with stock struts. using maxed out camber plates and then dialing in the camber using camber bolts. I may not have needed the camber bolts but I was in a hurry to get setup for a time attack event.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by CrowsFeast

I presume you're saying you would avoid a 'stanced' setup.

Lightweight 17x9 with 245 or 255 tires and 3.5*F, 2.5*R camber works pretty good on stock struts. People will tell you 255s don't fit with stock struts but I've got 255 RS4's with stock struts. using maxed out camber plates and then dialing in the camber using camber bolts. I may not have needed the camber bolts but I was in a hurry to get setup for a time attack event.

Mine hit when the tires were cold so it made me uncomfortable.

another MCBer lol

[TommyW]

Header and GOOD tune.

Big difference from stock. Mid range torque greatly improved. Past that not much you can do except go FI

[Windycitystig]

Ace EL header with over pipe, flex-fuel kit so I can take advantage of e85 when available, and tune (delicious tuning) are what I plan to do right after my warranty ends. That combo should get me at least 40 whp extra which is like 50 at the crank.

After that, you have to go FI to get anything more based of my research.

[Ernest72]

Originally Posted by Cephas

What's the current thought on power blocks for a car that'll stay N/A? Seems some disagreement about them in the threads I've read on here.

If you stay NA they are worth it, helped mid range. Not the same as header and tune though.

[Cephas]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

This goes back to the original being already designed for performance. Such changes have a much greater affect in engines that were never designed for performance in the first place.
Is there an "improvement"? Maybe, but it will be very very small.

Yeah, I mean I know it's not gonna light the world on fire, but at this phase in life it's fun to tinker a little. The dyno graphs I've seen in a thread or two on here were interesting enough, and it's not like they're a zillion dollars. Wonder if they've done any tests on the 2017+ though?

Originally Posted by Ernest72

If you stay NA they are worth it, helped mid range. Not the same as header and tune though.

Got an OFT with Stage 1 flash at the moment, header will go in at some point in the next year probably. Still debating UEL or not, catted or not. For sure staying NA at any rate.

It's never gonna be a race car, so I'm not necessarily concerned with getting the max power possible. More like getting improvements where I can, otherwise refining the delivery a bit. I even did an HKS drop in filter because it's not like it hurts anything.

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

Why not just put that money towards your boost budget Seems like a better option to me then spending money on marginal gains.

It is, I'm already saving for it. Already have UEL headers, a tune, then the rest was for sound. I was just curious about what else people do to get the most out of their N/A engines.

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Literally what I just mentioned, could be placebo, could be an actual marginal improvement. It's a subject a huge debate over most forums.

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by Lantanafrs2

After 7 years of forum threads, it seems that header, tune and e85 are about it. You might be underwhelmed after you get used to it. Driving a stocker at that point will be a good idea just to remind you where you came from

I believe you, the car definitely drives a lot different than when it was bone stock. Can it be justifiable whether dropping money on things like pulleys, CAI, SRIs, Inlet Tubes, FP, OP, Catbacks? No one will ever know, it's a matter of feel. The car feels different, I'm happy the current setup. It's been interesting to see the different responses people have posted. Seems like I already got the most that I could have gotten: Header and tune.

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by HaXx

my answer: decat the stock header and fp, then dynotune

what i, and a lot of other people have done is decat the stock header and front pipe. it costs the price of new gaskets. decatted stock system is not loud, sounds great, no rasp. this way you get the hp of catless, keep the sound down, and its hella affordable. dynotune it after you do that. dynotuning is always a great idea. on a bone stock car off the dealer lot, a dynotune could probably yield 10hp, and improve driving feel. remember, driving feel is always more important than 10 hp at redline

also, placebo pills are great. lower the car a little with stiffer springs (rce yellows etc) and make the car a little louder and its going to feel 100% faster. way better than 10hp at redline will make the car feel.

I've never heard about people modding their current headers on the twins, inexperience and lack of research I guess. Wish I could've known that before buying the headers. I do have to agree with going to a certified tuner, I guess I took the cheaper, quicker route with OFT, achieving only 80% of maximum gains.

Not really looking into lowering the vehicle, but improve suspension in a foreseeable future. Same with louder exhaust, I already know they don't do anything, I chose the Q300 to keep things quiet and make a deeper note than stock.

[spcmafia]

Interesting responses, seems like the overall consensus is that on an N/A setup, the truest gains will come from a header and tune. At least I got that part right on my mod list. On the other hand, for what some people consider, even at a marginal rate, improvements. For others is nothing but a placebo pill. So it's matter of pure taste and how it feels. Justifiable to spend money on air filters, other exhaust parts, pulleys, etc? Maybe so. Every little bit helps? I guess is part of the thrill for some, to be able to work on a car, install all these things, and feel a slight change no matter how minimal it might be. From an HKS air filter or shift knob, to a FI setup.

My goal was to achieve some level of education on this car, and the responses certainly did that.

[CrowsFeast]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

Mine hit when the tires were cold so it made me uncomfortable.

another MCBer lol

I'll have to keep an eye on you! Definitely trouble.

Haven't heard mine rub, even during the 3 or 4 laps I managed to put on track. I'll keep listening for it though because it's definitely tight.