Newbie advice :)
 

I'm as newbie as they come... the most I've done to a car is change the radio and speakers. I have a 2005 LX-G and I'm looking to turn my 115 HP into something a bit more... hopefully. I'm not expecting 200 HP or even 160... just anything over 125-130 would be nice for now. I just need to know what to do. I have a friend with a 2007 sti (420 HP at the wheels holy crap that thing is fast) who can help me with anything I'll be doing to the car. And if he can't, then I have some cousins who are VW enthusiasts who'd love to help :) So, what can I do to the car to give it a little more push? I'd like to keep the budget as low as possible though because I still have to pay off the car itself... but feel free to suggest mods that I can look forward to and plan :) No need to go into detail either, I'll surely do research before anything.

Thanks in advance :)

ps, I'm so not a fan of ricers so I want to keep my sound as fart-less as possible :)

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

Header, CIA, colder plugs, 91 octane or better and Nitrous man! Only cheap, significant, reliable power source for our cars under 600 dollars.

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

Buy a wrx sti like your buddy did.

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

Yea, cheap mods won't get you over 125hp.

Most people just do the following:

cat-back exhaust (bigger piping, therefore more flow = more hp)
Short Ram Intake or Cold Air Intake (CAI is better, brings in cold, fresh air into the engine, allows for better combustion)
Headers (again, more flow = more hp)

Some guys straight-pipe their exhaust for even more flow, but that may be too loud for your liking.

But yea, besides a few minor bolt-ons, you won't get anymore than 4-5hp gains. Turbo it if you want some real power. Gotta have some moolah to do that though.

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

you can do intake header and exhaust as stated above then get a stage 1 cam and your looking at around 130-140 whp

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

I'll look into all of that :) I already wanted to do a cold air intake... saw some at canadian tire for 65$ which is good. I'll do that first then look into exhausts. Thanks. If anyone else has any other ideas, lemme know :)

I don't have $27,000

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

unless you do some serious engine mods, higher octane then what the manual recommends is a complete and utter WASTE OF MONEY.

higher octane fuel is HARDER to combust, thats the simple definition of octane.

and, it's a honda, it gets good gas milage... thats about it. if you want to go fast buy a sport bike.

-Zach

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

Just do not drive the car in water puddles. the cai is supposed to be very low in the car and water could go in the engine. If you have lots of rain and water puddles, consider a short ram.
Anyway, never noticed that in canadian tire.
First, use AEM filters, they are the differences. search around the forum,. you will find the most incredible intakes made even by pvc pipes, but a good filter in the end. and they seem to work.
Do you know what are the difference between cold air intake and short ram intakes?
Stage 1 cam, but you might only unlock the power with remapping chip.

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

finish paying off the car before you do anything substantial to it, especially if it's your daily driver, which it sounds like it is.

after you pay it off you can use it as a down payment on something with a bigger engine (which is probably the best thing to do). the best options, if you insist, are turbo or nitrous. turbo if you want constant power, nitrous if you want to keep the good gas mileage....

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

Yes I know the differences between the SRI and a CAI. I've made up my mind on getting a SRI. I don't know what a stage 1 cam is apart from knowing there's like 3 stages, each with their own benefits. Something to look up I guess :) No idea what a remapping chip is though lol. Thanks for the advice :tup:


Yeah I need to finish paying off the car before any substantial mods, but I don't see why I can't spice it up with little things for now. turbo is probably too expensive and i'm not into nos or any nitrous so i'll be passing on that. Thanks for the advice :) :tup:

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

sorry but your not going to accomplish anything with bolt ons. turbo or engine swap ar your only real options

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

Forget that more flow shit that is only right to a certain extent. Unless you have a high power N/A or turbo. You can actually lose power going with piping too big to supply adequete back pressure. ON a good engine intake header exhaust can add around 5-15 hp depending on the condition of engine and your set up. My cousins 05 ex with aem v2 spoon headers and skunk2 mega power exhaust gained near 20 hp.

Honda Tuning Mag did a column on a 01 Ex with CAI, Header, Exhaust and NX 50 shot. The car dynoed 110 hp to the wheels before the spray. And thats and ex with those mods so your gx is probably in the 80-90 whp range. After the 50 shot was added it went up to 154 whp and 210 lbs of torque. So spray is the only way to go for cheap.

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

High octane is a waste of money unless you're running high compression, which you are not. Use manufacturer reccomended octane.

Nitrous is cheap and good as long as you get a good kit that shuts off the nitrous if you loose fuel pressure (presssure sensor on a wet kit) don't cheap out or it will ruin your engine.

There is a lot of misconseption about back pressure. You need the right amount of back pressure. I suggest using a tuneable tip (supertrapp).

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

Under six hundred dollars for nitrous? That must be a "dry nitrous kit" which is completely unreliable. If not, then I want to know where you are shopping.

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

I found mine used in a local internet site called KSL.com. I got the dry nitrous NOS kit for 300 bucks used twice. It came with a box of NOS jets for fuel and nitrous. I bought the wet conversion kit new at SLSmotorsports on sale for 115 bucks, and a ZEX purge kit with intimidator LED purge light for 100! ZEX Nitrous plugs 25 bucks on Ebay. 4 hours of care and BAM!!!! Full on wet nitrous kit pushing a 75 shot! I have gone through over 19 10lb. bottles! Completely reliable! The CIA, cat back will cost ya a little more, but not much if you get stuff off of Ebay! You can get good quality cold airs and cat backs on Ebay! They are not dirt cheap, but they are cheaper than anywhere else.

Websites to go:
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=231...&type=&x=0&y=0

http://slsperformance.com/

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

Did all of thet come with the fuel pressure sensor that shuts off the nitrous?

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

125hp with a cam seams fairly reasonable

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

Yes the dry kit came with a fuel safety pressure switch. Throw switch to power the nitrous system and a WOT switch when I wanna ride some spray!!!:sweet:

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

There is another option, Crash your car and buy a faster one. Or do a engine swap to a k24 k20 for under 10K

Re: Newbie advice :)
 

Under 10k! I can swap a LS1 into an RX7 for that price. Don't waste your money, Hondas don't go fast.