Thread: Need for Speed

put a turbo on it. any mods to it while its n/a is not really going to get you all that much.

lol i think a turbo may be just a bit extreme

What kind of gains are you looking to get? Like how much more horsepower are you looking to achieve? Are you talking 20hp or more like 100+hp? How much money are you looking to spend? That will give us a better idea of what to suggest for you.

Like stated there is only so much you can do without forced induction. If you're looking for some decent gains, intake, downpipe, PEM's,PCM,HV3, rockers. Any of those, or better yet a combination of those will give you noticeable gains. If you're looking for bigger hp, forced induction whether it be a top swap/ssm90 kit or turbo is the way to go.

anything you do on an n/a platform will not net you that much result. im still voting turbo.

if you want an all out fast car in the end, the l36 mods you can do will just surplus your turbo later. if you just want a car thats quick, not fast then an m90 swap would be your best bet, but then all the n/a mods would be useless unless you went as far as a cam and heads.

just think about what you really want to do with it before you start throwing money around.

Hey man,

Well I recommend that you begin with brakes! Stopping power before anything... some vent disk and high performance pads will do the job.

Then If you are not supercharged and don't want to do a top swap, then go for the k&n cold intake system (about $250-$350) and that will give you like 10-20hp. Or if you want to go all way out, then go turbo (about $4,000) and that will give you 100hp+ depending on stage and configuration. But Never consider an electric turbo since it is a fraud! They advertise a 2-3psi boost but what really happen is that is a 2-3psi restriction with the turbo powered off and normal performance when the turbo is powered on. (Yes you will feel the boost... from restriction to normal!)

Then delete the U-bend on the exhaust, that will give you like 3-5hp. And if you want a nice sound, then go magnaflow or flowmasters (you'll love it, unless you got small kids and a wife then your wife will hate it since is very loud and blah, blah, blah!!) and it will give you like 15-20hp with the U-bend deleted.

Change the ignition coils from stock (rating 15,000 volts) to racing (rating 40,000 volts) all six for $150 in grandprixstore.

Then you can upgrade your suspension to allow the HP to go more freely from your engine to your tires, you'll always loose some HP from the Flywheel to the Tires (from 15-25 % depending on weight and other stuff) but suspension upgrade will help you to not loose that much.

If anything comes to my mind, I'll write later.

Also, remember that when you are installing performance parts to your car you can't expect to be mathematically adding horsepower with every upgrade you install, sometimes 1hp + 1hp isn't 2hp, sometimes it is 1.5hp at the end and sometimes is 1.2hp and so on. All performance upgrades need to be balanced to help each other to increase the expected horsepower.

Anyway, good luck.

Originally Posted by gjgblackdragon

Hey man,

Well I recommend that you begin with brakes! Stopping power before anything... some vent disk and high performance pads will do the job.

Then If you are not supercharged and don't want to do a top swap, then go for the k&n cold intake system (about $250-$350) and that will give you like 10-20hp. Or if you want to go all way out, then go turbo (about $4,000) and that will give you 100hp+ depending on stage and configuration. But Never consider an electric turbo since it is a fraud! They advertise a 2-3psi boost but what really happen is that is a 2-3psi restriction with the turbo powered off and normal performance when the turbo is powered on. (Yes you will feel the boost... from restriction to normal!)

Then delete the U-bend on the exhaust, that will give you like 3-5hp. And if you want a nice sound, then go magnaflow or flowmasters (you'll love it, unless you got small kids and a wife then your wife will hate it since is very loud and blah, blah, blah!!) and it will give you like 15-20hp with the U-bend deleted.

Change the ignition coils from stock (rating 15,000 volts) to racing (rating 40,000 volts) all six for $150 in grandprixstore.

Then you can upgrade your suspension to allow the HP to go more freely from your engine to your tires, you'll always loose some HP from the Flywheel to the Tires (from 15-25 % depending on weight and other stuff) but suspension upgrade will help you to not loose that much.

If anything comes to my mind, I'll write later.

Also, remember that when you are installing performance parts to your car you can't expect to be mathematically adding horsepower with every upgrade you install, sometimes 1hp + 1hp isn't 2hp, sometimes it is 1.5hp at the end and sometimes is 1.2hp and so on. All performance upgrades need to be balanced to help each other to increase the expected horsepower.

Anyway, good luck.

dont buy a k&n. its a waste of money. make your own intake for $50 that will work better.

u-bend delete is a good idea as it is the exhausts biggest restriction, but mufflers will net nothing but a sound increase. id leave those stock.

be smart when youre modding, dont just buy stuff because it is advertised to work. if i were to do an n/a build id go with a home make FWI (fender well intake), hv3 intake insert from zzp, 1.9:1 ratio stock modded rockers, a powerlog with a ported rear manifold, and a 3" downpipe. this will allow you to get some get up and go out of your n/a 3.8 as well as setting you up down the line to throw a turbo on it since the only thing youll have to ditch is the downpipe.

if youre handy while everything is apart you can do your own port jobs too.