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(109 votes) Published: Nov 01, 2007 4:15 p.m. Viewed 539 times
Automotive enthusiasts who enjoy engine modification generally start with the cheap, simple and effective bolt on parts that give the best results for adding more power. Unlike smoking, there is no patch that can be given to a speed addict to cure their craving for speed. Once you have gone 0-60 in 3 seconds, you must experience it in 2.9 seconds.
With that said, people like me will pull as much power out of their motor as possible. We will start with an intake and exhaust to feel the powerband open up and become stronger at certain points. We will drive our car like this for a few weeks and then feel the need to get more power again. So we will remove the valve cover and install a camshaft and adjustable lightweight cam gear to customize the powerband and push the power wherever we want it. We will upgrade the ignition system and install a microchip, remove the cylinder head and make drastic changes to it, install different fueling systems and install a lightweight flywheel, titanium valve retainers and install free-flowing headers with no catalytic converter. We install solid motor mounts and upgrade drivetrain components and stay with a certain power level for a few months. Thats when we usually get confused.
Some of us will turn to an engine swap and start from the beginning again, some of us will turbocharge our existing motor, add nitrous, supercharge it or rebuild the motor for higher displacement. But others like myself will persist in getting the most power from that motor, AND IT PAYS OFF. Not losing your patience with one motor and not getting bored with it is how you will get the most power from it. I have seen non-turboed 8 valve 1.8 litre cars destroy 16 valve 2.4 litre cars.
Surprisingly, the gateway to this last bit of power isnt complex, and isnt expensive. Much of it just requires some time and patience and fine tuning.
First of all, lets start with porting out your throttle body. Many times people will find that their current throttle body is the most restrictive thing in their intake passage. So they remove it, go to a junkyard and purchase 3-4 miscellaneous throttle bodies and hybridize parts from all of them to create one SUPER throttle body. This requires removal of the original and requires removal of the original butterfly valve and electrical components. Keep the original electrical components and remember where the original idle set screw was placed and get out your dremel tool. Some people find ways of swapping a mustang throttle body over to other cars with adapter plates, others find ways of installing larger butterfly valves or manufacturing their own parts. I personally removed my original throttle body and used a die grinder to grind the entire inside so that it is 1 cm thicker in diameter and has much smoother transitions and no huge variations in diameter. I polished up the entire thing after checking it for consistency, i then took a butterfly valve from one of the DONOR throttle bodies and i installed it on the original flapper rod. After that, i then removed the butterfly plate from the flapper rod after making measuring marks and ground down the flapper rod to remove excess metal that would be obstructive to incoming air. I then reinstalled it after polishing it. I reinstalled it on the intake manifold and immediately felt instant power increase and throttle response through the entire powerband. It was VERY SIGNIFICANT.
The next thing you can do after you have already installed titanium valve retainers, adjustible lightweight cam gear, lightweight flywheel and lightweight intermediate shaft pulley is to install a lightweight underdrive pulley. This makes it so that the accessories (A/C, P/S and Alternator) run at a different ratio to the total engine speed. For example, if the original crank pulley was 10 cm in diameter and the alternator pulley was 5 cm in diameter than each time the crank went around, the alternator would go around twice. So making the crank pulley underdrived so that it is 8cm in diameter or 5 cm in diameter will make the accessories run at a lower speed in relation to the engine as to reduce drag on the engine in relation to your engine speed. This makes the engine rev faster and gives 3-8% increases in power. If you have already removed your power steering and air conditioning than this will give a 2-4% increase in power.
If the most restrictive thing in your intake tract is your MAF (mass airflow meter) than swap it out with one with a larger diameter. Most bosch MAF or VAM (Vane air meter) setups have the same electronics for bmws, vws and mercedes so it will still register the correct amount of air being sucked in through the intake. Denso (toyota, honda nissan) are also usually compatible with eachother. Installing a big mass airflow sensor meter from a larger displacement bmw engine onto a small displacement vw motor will give more accurate intake air readings and make less vacuum for the engine to pull the air through which will allow it to suck in more air.
These 3 modifications are good for a 10-20% increase in engine power which is VERY noticeable with a 500 hp engine and fairly noticeable with a 100 hp engine. In total, the 3 of those cost $300-$500 to accomplish depending on what source you buy parts from.
Nov 02, 2007 1:14 am - I dont know why this is only rated 3* =[
You have submitted great ideas even if they dont appeal to people.
Good work keep it up
-lj
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