Be Honest

[redcv6]

Hey boys ans girls. i'm getting to that stage where i only have a few months left before i get my licence and i want to start preparing my car engine wise.
be honest with me, what kind of chance do i have at reaching 150rwkw, without doing major work on the engine, and without spending a great deal of money. say $2000- $2500 i would be willing to spend.
so far i have these mods in mind:
- stainless steel extractors $350 (worth bout $1200 i believe but there from a mate and he is putting a turbo on, so said i can have them for dog cheap)
- 2.5" exhaust all the way $400
- K&N Pod filter $free
- memcal re-mapped $600 (one of those $1200 ones, but my sisters boyfriend is sponcored by some shop and they will do it for cheap)

any other cheapish mods you can think of wouyld be great.
So what do you guys think, like i said be honest with me.
FORGOT TO MENTION I'M NOT TURBO OR SUPERCHARGING THE CAR

Kind regards Johnny

[sircruisealotVS]

you said be honest...so, i will.
to start with you've got roughly 115kw (155hp) at the wheels now (being a manual...less power lost though driveline than an auto).
those mods you outlined would amount to about 15-20kw (20 being pretty generous), so now its roughly 130kw.
the next 20kw is the expensive part really, your either going to want to get a cam or some high ratio roller rockers. that "might" push you pretty close the 150kw. if you added ported heads to that you'd definately be 150+kw.

[redcv6]

cheers sircruisealotVS,
everyone agree?
please let me know.

[fnlow1]

cam + ported heads are the next step after the mods you listed

do the memcal remap after you do cam and heads for best results!

Also if you only do cam the heads will become restrictive to the amount of power you can make..... so do both for best results

[redcv6]

cheers fnlow1, what am i looking at cost wise, for the cam and heads?

[TheForgotten]

an off the shelf cam can be about 300, depending on who from, heads depend on the workshop, as they're always 100% custom, so it could be 1500-2000 or cheaper. best bet is to get on the phone and talk to machinists, as they'll be able to help in regards to taking what you want, and making it what you get

[redcv6]

thanks for the help
johnny

[Scooter79]

Hey boys ans girls. i'm getting to that stage where i only have a few months left before i get my licence and i want to start preparing my car engine wise.
be honest with me, what kind of chance do i have at reaching 150rwkw, without doing major work on the engine, and without spending a great deal of money.

I'll be honest. How old are you? If you're only just getting your licence I don't think an insurance company would give you a second look. With extractors and exhaust and P plates you're insurance would be way over $2K. I don't mean any disrespect but a stock 3.8L VT will have plenty enough power for ANY P plater.

[redcv6]

hey scooter79, like i said i wanted you to be honest, so thats great. my folks will be paying for insurance i will just be a driver, so cost doesn't really matter.

[shaggerz]

I agree with above... cam swap first, heads ported next, then finally chip remap after those... do them all at once is your best bet.

[chappy]

I'll be honest. How old are you? If you're only just getting your licence I don't think an insurance company would give you a second look. With extractors and exhaust and P plates you're insurance would be way over $2K. I don't mean any disrespect but a stock 3.8L VT will have plenty enough power for ANY P plater.

Here Here well said!

I total aggree before your start worrying about power and shit like that you would be better off spending your dollars and a good driving course first up.

If you are hell bent on improving you car that cool to but I would suggest you start with the tyres (good quality one) and brakes (new pads and get your rotars skimmed or replaced). This will make your car safer.

And as the other guy said you will be pushing shit up hill trying to get insurance with thoes mods on your vehicle.

BIG HINT. Make sure you have insurance before you start to turn a wheel, I am sure you wouldn't want to be paying off a dept for a accident for the next 15 years if you unluckly got involved in a bingle with a BMW or Benz.

Anyway best of luck with you new venture in to the big wide world of crazy drivers.

Cheers.

[wagonb0y]

Hi mate,

Like people have already stated make sure with your insurance company abvout what you can and carn't do. even if your parent's are paying and ypur allowed to do a few thing's, would they be happy paying say $1500 then $2000 plus so you can have more power?

Im 19 and ive had my license dead on 18months today, i started with a camry then a vn that was a big jump and a few months back i got a VL turbo, now ive had more time on the road then you and i wont touch my engine cause of the power, ive already come un stuck with it, Just be careful mate, sounds like it has a bit of power already.
and one more thing, not sure what state you are from, but NSW 99% this is the law, your not even allowed to have extractor's on a car if your on your p's unless you got your license befor the rule come out, wich you arn't.
cheers

[CALAIS 6]

get some diff gears like 4.11's if u want a good pick up on it

[Charg'd]

maybe you should get some driving experience first before you start modding your car? i dont mean to sound nasty, but maybe get used to the power you have, get used to driving by yourself & stuff?

Just a suggestion

[azkwazere]

THe guy didn't ask for driving and life advice, he wants to know how to get more power...

basically waht everynone has already said..

Cam... then heads..

+ all your stuff..

aZk.

[Charg'd]

THe guy didn't ask for driving and life advice, he wants to know how to get more power...

basically waht everynone has already said..

Cam... then heads..

+ all your stuff..

aZk.

im sorry for offering advice to him, it wont happen again

[azkwazere]

im sorry for offering advice to him, it wont happen again

its not like that, its giving the wrong advice... its like someone saying"what colour should i paint my car?" and someone saying "why dont you lower it first?" its useless information...

stay on topic is the idea...

aZk.

[Scooter79]

its not like that, its giving the wrong advice... its like someone saying"what colour should i paint my car?" and someone saying "why dont you lower it first?" its useless information...

stay on topic is the idea...

aZk.

It's far from useless information. Has he even checked that his insurance company will even insure a car with big mods or checked with the RTA?

[sixshooter]

150kW at the wheels = approximately 200kW at the crank !

[minux]

there is only one way to get more power, get an 8.

[POVRTY]

throttle body, maifold, heads valves and cam all fairly pricey though after what you already have planned. sounds like your on the right path though. keep me posted on how you go and what you decide to do!

[Stupa]

Hows your suspention? what sorta tyres you got? best bet would be to do brakes, maybe some police pads, or bedix ultra's front and rear. some good tyres, not cheapies. this is gonna help keep your cr on the road and not wrapped round a tree. probly a good start.

[redcv6]

hey thanks for your advice guys.
POVRTY nice to see you back man.
thanks azkwazere, your right i just want them to answer my question, but then again, they are just trying to help me.
minux i agree, if you want real power then buy an 8, but at this stage i don't want that kind of power yet, plus if i was to get an 8 i would want a 5.7, so then all it takes is for the cops to pop my bonnet and im off the road, at least this way its easier to get away with it if a cop was to pull me over, and look under my hood.
I think i have come to a conclusion
extractors
2.5" exhaust
K&N POD filter
throttle body
cam
re-map the memcal.

this should get me pretty close, then mabey 2 years time, if i still have it, throw on a supercharger.

if i was going to do the heads, wouldn't be worth my while to work it from top to bottom while its apart?. cheers guys

[shaggerz]

Not really... pulling the heads off is a much smaller job than pulling apart the whole engine. You dont need to pull the motor out to work on the heads but you do need to pull it out to rebuild it.

Its a good thing to do but initial gain is quite small while cost is quite high, i.e. over a thousand dollars, sometimes two thousand, just for a forged crank. It'll allow you to push the thing up to many hundreds of kilowatts in the long run, but in the short term there is little to no benefit.

You need to ask yourself what you want from the car.. do you want a streeter with a bit of poke or do you want a horsepower hero? If you arent sure, then it would be best to leave the rebuild for now.

[sixshooter]

I'd say you'll need a fairly lumpy cam to make 200 KW at the crank from a N/A engine. You should also modifying the heads to breathe rather than leaving them stock. At least enlarge the exhaust ports to the size of the extractors and port match the intake runners.

This is where it gets expensive to mod an N/A motor to the power you want. You could buy a second hand S/C 6 for $3000 and put a 10 PSI pulley on it for $170 and rockers for $650 and be making 220 KW at the crank.