Car Performance

[techswede]

Just give it a proper service. Change the fluids, Spark plugs, filters, etc

Then i'd honestly only reccomend a "performance" air filter and a nice stainless exhaust. The basic intake + exhaust mod is a safe start.

After that you should really focus on the suspension and brakes. It'll handle better (if it's done properly) and that usually means it's faster through twisty sections of road. And more fun to drive.
If you do that you'll have a good base to mess with later.

[Stadiz]

insall a big fat stupid exhaust like every other numbnuts.

makes more vroom vroom sounds.

[theloveablemoose]

insall a big fat stupid exhaust like every other numbnuts.

makes more vroom vroom sounds.

No i think he should put a turbo and anti lag kit on just for the optimum amount of vroom vroom.

[Leonard]

Make sure you pay attention to your breaking power too.....K&N air filter does wonders.

[Stadiz]

No i think he should put a turbo and anti lag kit on just for the optimum amount of vroom vroom.

you know alot about vroom vroom

[AlwaysFSX]

I don't need a twin turbo I want a little more pep not a speeding ticket...

That means you aren't going fast enough.

 

Larger exhaust so you choke the engine less?

[Askew]

With that car and that budget I'd just be looking to fix the idle and give it a good service.

[terrytek]

If it were mine, I would immediately trash it. Performance parts for this car are either far fetched or low quality. Neither good for your car.

[Sintezza]

you could do a few things, but they are pricey, and you wont get much more boost out of an NA Engine.

You could look for bigger exhaust system, upgraded camshafts, cold air intake.

Those upgrades will improve the gas response allot.

But dont expect allot more Horse powers. maybe 10 / 15 HP.

 

If you realy want a boost in performance then indeed a Turbo, or Super charger, if your engine is capable of that.

Without internel upgrades.

[Scheer]

Is this the 3800 Lumina?

 

If so, I wouldn't imagine it would be hard to throw a supercharger on it. I bet you can find take-offs from Grand Prix GTPs cheap on eBay.

 

I had a GTP in college and it was a fun car, not a load of power, but enough to be enjoyable. Lumina should be better yet as I believe it weighs less.

 

Even with a supercharger, fresh filters, and exhaust I doubt you are going to see more than 75HP gains. Enough to be fun, but still not sure you can fit it in your budget and may not be worth it at that point. Even if you get a supercharger for $250, you will likely be twice that for the supporting parts and pieces.

 

I'm going thru the same thing with my car, I want to upgrade the turbo on it... A new turbo is only $1,500 but it is another $2-3k for all the little stuff you need to do to get the power out of the new turbo and protect it, plus a dynotune... it is a never ending slope. 

[Guest Philosophy]

Is this the 3800 Lumina?

If so, I wouldn't imagine it would be hard to throw a supercharger on it. I bet you can find take-offs from Grand Prix GTPs cheap on eBay.

I had a GTP in college and it was a fun car, not a load of power, but enough to be enjoyable. Lumina should be better yet as I believe it weighs less.

Even with a supercharger, fresh filters, and exhaust I doubt you are going to see more than 75HP gains. Enough to be fun, but still not sure you can fit it in your budget and may not be worth it at that point. Even if you get a supercharger for $250, you will likely be twice that for the supporting parts and pieces.

I'm going thru the same thing with my car, I want to upgrade the turbo on it... A new turbo is only $1,500 but it is another $2-3k for all the little stuff you need to do to get the power out of the new turbo and protect it, plus a dynotune... it is a never ending slope.

it is the 3400. I have a 3800 Buick with a supercharger that thing is a sleeper if I have seen one.

With that car and that budget I'd just be looking to fix the idle and give it a good service.

I have fixed the idle . My dad fixed it runs great he spruced it up for me

insall a big fat stupid exhaust like every other numbnuts.

makes more vroom vroom sounds.

I hate loud stupid looking exhaust as it stands, I have four 2.5 inch exhaust outlets. All stainless steel.

[terrytek]

I hate loud stupid looking exhaust as it stands, I have four 2.5 inch exhaust outlets. All stainless steel.  

Only imports make big exhausts sound good. GReddy exhausts sound good on especially imports like the WRX and the Integra.

[Scheer]

Only imports make big exhausts sound good. GReddy exhausts sound good on especially imports like the WRX and the Integra.

 

A WRX can sound good because it is a boxer engine, but there is a limit. My Legacy GT has virtually the same engine as the STI and I bought it with a high-ish end Perrin exhaust... it is coming off ASAP. Just makes the car sound like a try hard with the cute little 2.5L engine.

 

I've never heard a good sounding Integra, they all sound like rattling coffee cans.

[terrytek]

A WRX can sound good because it is a boxer engine, but there is a limit. My Legacy GT has virtually the same engine as the STI and I bought it with a high-ish end Perrin exhaust... it is coming off ASAP. Just makes the car sound like a try hard with the cute little 2.5L engine.

 

I've never heard a good sounding Integra, they all sound like rattling coffee cans.

Nah, they sound really good, if done right. Also, Mazdaspeed Proteges sound really good with their Racing Beat exhaust.

[Poohy14]

 Air Filter, Gas filter, Air intake.

 

just so you know it has been proven that a cold air intake does not make any performance difference. Dont know why since it allows more air to flow through, but I know that you need a air vortex to help with air flow and aftermarket intake take away that vortex and there for does nothing.

 

watch this video from Mighty Car Mods

 

The best thing to do is an exhaust since you want to get rid of those exhaust fumes faster which can generate more power

 

Edit: also get bigger injectors for your car because more fuel = more power

 

I actually build Racing engines with my dad in our shop so I know the ins and outs of an engine

[terrytek]

just so you know it has been proven that a cold air intake does not make any performance difference. Dont know why since it allows more air to flow through, but I know that you need a air vortex to help with air flow and aftermarket intake take away that vortex and there for does nothing.

 

watch this video from Mighty Car Mods

 

The best thing to do is an exhaust since you want to get rid of those exhaust fumes faster which can generate more power

No, it's been proven to increase performance. At high RPMs though. I installed a cold air intake on my 2002 Protege, after the old one took a shit. The dyno results that came with the intake stats on paper were a bit disappointing. No increase in power until like 6000 RPMs. But it still sounds good nonetheless.

[Poohy14]

No, it's been proven to increase performance. At high RPMs though. I installed a cold air intake on my 2002 Protege, after the old one took a shit. The dyno results that came with the intake stats on paper were a bit disappointing. No increase in power until like 6000 RPMs. But it still sounds good nonetheless.

 

If the cold air intake produces more than 10% hp then its worth it but most of the time its the same HP or 2 or 3 HP gain, not much to even worry about spending money on. I know it for a fact it doesnt really do anything because I have a Dyno machine at the shop so I know the results. The only thing that benefits from a cold air intake is a Diesel vehicle because it actually need the extra air for the turbos and helps with compression since they have much bigger pistons.

[Scheer]

Well if you have a dirty air filter, putting a new CIA would increase performance, the same thing would happen if you just put a clean stock air filter in.

 

There is a point where you need a higher flow intake system, but never at stock. Typically stock boxes are good until you get to about twice the horsepower of what you had stock, and then your intake becomes the bottleneck.

 

If the stock air filter was already the bottleneck when the car was new, you'd see huge power decreases within months as it gets slightly dirty and a year later it would be completely starving for air.

 

I ran the original filter in my truck for 5 years and 65k miles, swapped it out a few months ago and didn't notice a single difference. The filter I removed was caked in dirt and dust.

[terrytek]

If the cold air intake produces more than 10% hp then its worth it but most of the time its the same HP or 2 or 3 HP gain, not much to even worry about spending money on. I know it for a fact it doesnt really do anything because I have a Dyno machine at the shop so I know the results. The only thing that benefits from a cold air intake is a Diesel vehicle because it actually need the extra air for the turbos and helps with compression since they have much bigger pistons.

Well, I heard it does save money, over time it will pay itself, in saved fuel costs. It's probably because it allows more air, so more efficiency, i suppose.

[Mitico]

No way in adding horsepower in such heavy car imo...But if you really cant live without adding something think about small turbo kit.

[Guest Philosophy]

i've been tuning/dyno cars since fuel injection became mainstream.

once fuel injection went electronic thats what i did, remap PCM, do cylinder head

flow work, flow analysis, power analysis, camshaft/head compatibility studies.

 

all you can do is make a decision on the feedback from your posting. you feel

a need to upgrade, you need feedback on what's available and draw your own

conclusion.

 

 

Well that would depend heavily on what you like, though modding 88-96 5.0 mustangs is easy as pie and the parts are plentiful and cheap. Honestly I can't make that decision for you, if you want to mod your Lumina then go ahead but I would suggest taking a look around to see if you can find anything that you fancy more than what you have now.

 

 

Just give it a proper service. Change the fluids, Spark plugs, filters, etc

Then i'd honestly only reccomend a "performance" air filter and a nice stainless exhaust. The basic intake + exhaust mod is a safe start.

After that you should really focus on the suspension and brakes. It'll handle better (if it's done properly) and that usually means it's faster through twisty sections of road. And more fun to drive.

If you do that you'll have a good base to mess with later.

 

 

If it were mine, I would immediately trash it. Performance parts for this car are either far fetched or low quality. Neither good for your car.

 

For all who may be interested my car dies today, blown head-gasket is and leaking coolant. Not worth the amount for the car. As it stands I can't be without a car so I bought a Buick Park Avenue Ultra (supercharged) off my dad for $100 bucks . I will drive it until I find a new car

[Poohy14]

Well, I heard it does save money, over time it will pay itself, in saved fuel costs. It's probably because it allows more air, so more efficiency, i suppose.

 

Yes it might cut cost of fuel but not enough to make a difference to justify $50 for a cheap aftermarket intake. It will probably take longer to recoup that money than the actual life of the car. The way the "cold air" intake works it that, it draws air from the surrounding area, even the hot air from the engine (Which is kinda bad) because it sits in a place where it gets little amount of airflow unlike the stock airbox which will draw air from the fender like a Ram air kit. The stock box in every car is designed in a way to help maximize air flow and to get the most out of it. A aftermarket intake is designed to mostly look pretty and it sit in the engine bay with is a really big loss in air flow since it doesn't have the box to direct the air to flow only one way until stock (you can buy aftermarket intakes where it sits in the fender, but can get water, dust or bugs in the intake much easier). The only reason you get an aftermarket air intake is because when you get bigger injectors (more fuel), pistons, and other things, you will need more airflow to compensate for the more BHP so you try and find one like a Ram air or take out one headlight and place your intake there to maximize the airflow. Also, the idea of a aftermarket air intake is also like the idea that a programming chip (the ones you see on ebay for like $50-200) is really useless too and kinda doesn't make you gain really any HP. The point of a chip is to dump for fuel in the system (see them with Diesel trucks) but can damage the ECU in the process which will cause some series electrical issues or even dump too much fuel in the cylinders to blow them up. To get the best bang for your buck in trying to gain a little HP is to get an exhaust system because the more you get rid of the carbon through the exhaust, the less carbon stays in the cylinders which helps with compression and also helps with a better spark (combusts more fuel particles which creates more HP and saves on fuel since some fuel particles don't combust to due carbon build up and escapes through the exhaust, so bigger spark, less unused fuel, more HP.) Carbon build up is the worst thing to happen in your car, best thing to do is run a high grade gasoline like 89-92 (can give you more HP since it burns hotter) instead of 87 which is to low and cause more carbon build up.

 

Sorry I was trying to cover a few topics here and hope everything makes a little more sense. I'm not mad in anyway just trying to inform you on some things thats hard to explain and its common knowledge that everyone thinks a Aftermarket air intake will gain 50 HP which a lot of people do and I was just trying to clarify some things here. So hope there is no hard feelings here.

[Guest Philosophy]

Yes it might cut cost of fuel but not enough to make a difference to justify $50 for a cheap aftermarket intake. It will probably take longer to recoup that money than the actual life of the car. The way the "cold air" intake works it that, it draws air from the surrounding area, even the hot air from the engine (Which is kinda bad) because it sits in a place where it gets little amount of airflow unlike the stock airbox which will draw air from the fender like a Ram air kit. The stock box in every car is designed in a way to help maximize air flow and to get the most out of it. A aftermarket intake is designed to mostly look pretty and it sit in the engine bay with is a really big loss in air flow since it doesn't have the box to direct the air to flow only one way until stock (you can buy aftermarket intakes where it sits in the fender, but can get water, dust or bugs in the intake much easier). The only reason you get an aftermarket air intake is because when you get bigger injectors (more fuel), pistons, and other things, you will need more airflow to compensate for the more BHP so you try and find one like a Ram air or take out one headlight and place your intake there to maximize the airflow. Also, the idea of a aftermarket air intake is also like the idea that a programming chip (the ones you see on ebay for like $50-200) is really useless too and kinda doesn't make you gain really any HP. The point of a chip is to dump for fuel in the system (see them with Diesel trucks) but can damage the ECU in the process which will cause some series electrical issues or even dump too much fuel in the cylinders to blow them up. To get the best bang for your buck in trying to gain a little HP is to get an exhaust system because the more you get rid of the carbon through the exhaust, the less carbon stays in the cylinders which helps with compression and also helps with a better spark (combusts more fuel particles which creates more HP and saves on fuel since some fuel particles don't combust to due carbon build up and escapes through the exhaust, so bigger spark, less unused fuel, more HP.) Carbon build up is the worst thing to happen in your car, best thing to do is run a high grade gasoline like 89-92 (can give you more HP since it burns hotter) instead of 87 which is to low and cause more carbon build up.

 

Sorry I was trying to cover a few topics here and hope everything makes a little more sense. I'm not mad in anyway just trying to inform you on some things thats hard to explain and its common knowledge that everyone thinks a Aftermarket air intake will gain 50 HP which a lot of people do and I was just trying to clarify some things here. So hope there is no hard feelings here

 

You may want to read my last post

[Poohy14]

You may want to read my last post

 

lol I seen it after I just posted it, sorry about your car but the Buick is a really nice and fast car since it has the supercharger from the corvettes but only from a certain year (not sure what year you have)

[Guest Philosophy]

lol I seen it after I just posted it, sorry about your car but the Buick is a really nice and fast car since it has the supercharger from the corvettes but only from a certain year (not sure what year you have)

I have a 1994