Vy how to gain more power affordably 6 cylinder

[1985VK]

water injection

 

[PlenumBiscuit]

put an additional fat lug ground cable from battery to block she'll start faster (more earth on spark plugs)

seal up air intake super tight with new vaccum hoses and polish out out al the gunk from tb and plenum and she'll purr 20% better if not 21% better haha

 

[Skydrol]

I say none on a tight budget. Want to play, you got to pay. No such thing as affordable performance.

Modern engines puts out quiet a bit of power with reliabilty and economy. To add any significan amount of power the right way, require some significant investment. Once you change some, another thing needs to be changed or adjusted. IMHO, the best bang for your buck is a Tune and Exhaust. Depending on how good is the tuner you might get a few more ponies enought to feel it but not to make a huge different.

Back in the days, around the 70s, cars came out with so much junk that was easy to get a 50% increase with just simple mods. Now days... on the budget, invest in maintenance and keep your car in good running order.

You will be surprised, how much power can be restored from an old and tired engine by doing some simple maintenance (replacing worn out parts, scheduled checks and adjustments if any).

Anyway, is your money.

 

[figjam]

Back in the days, around the 70s, cars came out with so much junk that was easy to get a 50% increase with just simple mods. Now days... on the budget, invest in maintenance and keep your car in good running order.

Too true. How easy was it to get a 149 > 202 to perform better for a small monetary outlay, and it was DIY for mugs.
Engine………….cam, YellaTerra head, extractors, a weber carby or two.
Suspension ……….. Kmac stabiliser bars, wider wheels and radial tyres.
Job finished ……… no exhaust emissions, no engineer’s certs, no magic computer boxes. Just the cops if the exhaust note was too loud, and most of the time it was self-inflicted by being a show-off.
I can understand that blokes want get their car performing better, but really, for the amount of farnarkling and money, just buy a ready-made, better performing vehicle. And there is the chance of anti-social stigma of being an ‘irresponsible hoon’ on A Current Affair, or Highway Patrol.

 

[Skydrol]

Is not that some truth.

Going from a Carb to SFI is like day and night, let alone with DI. Try to use regular fuel on a carbed engine with a mechanical ignition system, no computer. Talk about tune ups, jetting, timing... made a lot of difference. With the ECMs, that was thrown out, the Computer does that job several times a second.

Most people mod their rides for sound, more than performance.

Not knocking down modding, but one thing you never get back is the money, time and effort that you put into it. Me, when it comes buying a car, I walk away from modded vehicles. Most of the time are either fried or just done wrong.

 

[Fu Manchu]

The old, upgrade cables mod was something I did on my HX, HZ, Subi's and VP.
It was on the Subi and VP that the greatest difference was found.

Doing that mod has always drawn cynicism from many about the effectiveness of it. However when we look at cost, doing something on the car that can be enjoyable and creative, and some improvement over what it was, it does no harm.

These days a cheap hydraulic crimper for cables is the go.

My brain hurts a little to think back to the VP.
I recall a cable from the coil pack to body and to motor. One from that point on the motor to the negative battery. One from the battery negative to the body and one to the back of alternator to the battery negative. I don't recall the gauge I used, but it was cable left from doing an amp.

It ended up as Alternator to battery to motor to coil pack to body. Each section coming off the same mounting point as the previous one finished.

 

[Skydrol]

Yes, replacing old worn out cables make a big difference. A part that is way too often overlooked along with the O2 Sensors. Those little boogers tend to wear out at about 100,000 miles (160,900 Ks). Once they start to get "tired" the PCM/ECM get the wrong info and deliver the wrong fuel metering.

Spark Plugs are another one, properly gapped and the right ones by the maintenance manual. However, there are other kind like Iridium or Platinum. Invest in a good set. Want to get a bit crazy and cheap, index them. In my opinion, too much work for a little gain on a daily driver.