Car Nuts

How many car nuts are there out there? I love cars, all types. I wich I could have one car for every type. I love horse power, the more the merrier. I know nate dogg is into cars. I just bought a little rice burner, Nissan spec V. For just under 17,000, tax, tag and title, I couldn’t have bought a more fun mini-burner 4-door. I think it flies for a not very notable, car. I Still i have the temptation to add horse power. My first goal it a cold-intake. I figure I could ten. Does anybody have any idea on getting “free” horse power? Or, near free, under $20 to $30 bucks.

Cars are addictive. If I had loads of money, I would own something like 50 and just keep them all in airline hanger. (Eddie Murphy has like 25)

Plus, I just bought a new Nissan 350Z. I would take this car over ANYTHING under 100,000. It’s too cool and can hang with a 911 or M3. Just see Road and Track’s new issue.

Free horsepower does not exist. Upgrade the octane in your gasoline for a little better performance or try an Accel Kool Blue Air Filter. Outside of that, be prepared to spend some bucks.

I am also a car nut! Not one for the ricers though. I stick with the American Muscle! First on the to do list is intake and exhaust! Mess with the turbo’s and spray when you get some cash. -Later-

I am in love with american muscle as well. Nothing exemplifies testosterone like a loud, big ass V-8. I used to have a '72 Olds convertable with a 455 cu in. God I loved that car. The only way to stop it from laying drag was to let off the gas. One day when I have more $$, I want to buy an old muscle car and fix it up.
Here is my dream project car: I want a '78 Dodge Magnum with a 400 cu in motor.Take out the motor and bore it 80/over but then drop nickle-platted sleaves in it to give it strenth and stability ruducing the bore to about 30. I want an aluminum crank shaft with aluminum piston rods. I haven’t decided if I want popup pistons 'cause I don’t want the compression ratio to be so high I have to burn rocket fuel. I need custom made heads with 4 valves per cylinder, with openings for 2 spark plugs to cylinder. To distributers slightely offset. As for lungs, I need a customer made highly polished intake manifold with slot for 4 huge weber 2 barrel carbs. For exhaust, I would have big ass headers running into a total of four exhust tips. I’ll give a little on the muffler, because, though I don’t mind loud I don’t want it to be obnoxious. I figure I could get about 600 to 800 HP with torque in the same neiborhood.
I’d like to drop in a manual tranny that will accomodate both torque and speed equally well. Suspensionwise, I would adapt a more reliable for of a nascar based set up. But, on the outside, I want the car to basically be a sleeper. I want to perserve as much of the original look, because I think the car is beautiful. That is my dream. Of course my other car will be a Ferarri!

I also have a SPEC. I hate the bloody thing, Nissan has some quality control issues to work on. I’m on my second engine.
Here’s the list of mods you can start with. These are all specific to our car, the SpecV.

  1. CAI from AEM or Injen (hotshot, place racing and others make them) Injen has the fewest problems reported on b15sentra dot net. @$200 AEM makes a v.2 an K&N makes a nice one, but they are quite expensive still.
  2. Then onto a 2.5" catback exhaust, under $350 from VRS, or up to $600 from others… performance is about the same.
  3. Knock sensor mod… this motor has an overly sensitive knock sensor. When it it activated, falsely or otherwise, the ECU will retard timing by up to 11degrees (i think) and kill off a bunch of horsepower. Go to b15sentra dot net and search for the mod for instructions… and use premium gas if you arent already. cost=$0-$20
  4. Unorthodox Racing lightened crank pulley… NOT underdrive. $200, good for 4-5 whp proven (about half of what the company claims)
  5. Balance Shaft removal. Say bye to your warranty, but a safe mod. Buy the removal kit from JWT for $90… good for 8+whp.
  6. Header, hotshot and AEBS make em. Hotshot is cheaper, well recieved.
  7. Bump the timing up by a couple degrees, you’ll need a willing nissan dealership to do this… good luck.
  8. Place Racing motor mounts, or homemade solid mounts… this will help with that annoying wheel hop the car suffers from.
  9. New CAM from JWT is on its way. It’s already seeing action in Dave COleman’s Rally Spec.
  10. New ECU also from JWT is “on its way” (vaporware)
  11. TURBO. The QR25 motor is not ideal for turbocharging. Anything past 250-270 whp and internals start breaking down. But Travis at forcedinductionracing dot com has two kits available, from $3-5000 plus intenstive installation labor.
  12. Good coilovers from Tein or Motivational, 1200++
    That should tide you over for now.

Here’s a few things to not waste money on. An “upgraded air filter” or even a short ram intake, both are good for 0 hp on this vehicle. Do not buy a so-called “axle-back exhaust,” it’s just a very overpriced muffler for the same cost as a catback system.
Or you could just bring the thing back and get a new mitsu EVO or a WRX, or a mazdasport protege or a neon srt4 (blah! still a neon) the list goes on.
I only say that because of the numerous problems I, and other owners, have had with the car. From the ubiquitous oil-burning motors that dont really meet their HP claims, to the poor-shifting trannies, to the leaking trunks, to the broken heater controls, etc. Don’t mean to piss on your parade, it’s still a fun ride. Good luck

Just got back from the Cleveland Auto show, IMO the new Ford Mustangs were the hit of the show. The new GTO was a HUGE dissapointment, didn’t even remind me of a GTO. I got some good pics I can post for you if your interested.

BTW - I was wearing my Testosterone T-shirt and all the Car babes wanted it. It was pretty funny cuase my 18 year old son wanted to trade me shirts but I was player hatin and wouldn’t give it up.

The new mustang concept is AWESOME, rarely in the last couple of years have I seen a new car that I just had to have and could also afford. I had a 66 mustang coupe, but got rid of it, as it became too much of a pain in the ass, it was also a straight 6.

Farnsworth, Thanks for all the good info. You have given me some good ideas!. You definately seem to know your stuff. I am sorry you had som many problems with your car. Mine seems to holding up ok. the only think that fucked up on me was the trunk release. I am used to Hondas where nothing goes wrong.


Mustang Concept…

Nice view here

Back end of the new Mach 1, nice color paint

I would beat my wife to get my hands on one of that new mustang…Man cars sure look better than they did in the '80’s

Yeah, I like cars, and I’m into the foreign cars over American Muscle. But I do respect some American cars. Just don’t ever expect me to buy one or drive one.

When it comes to naturally-aspirated cars, the i/h/e route is not really worth it. You may get 10 hp, but many times, you lose hp. So if you get a NA car, keep it stock. The most I recommend doing is a CAI. Unless of course, you decide to go forced induction and use a turbo or supercharger. This is just my opinion with my own experiences and my friends’ experiences as well as what I’ve read in various car mags that have done this type of thing to various cars.

If you have a turbocharged car, it’s much easier to gain more power. And simple things like an exhaust will free up much hp. Not to mention that computer chips, bigger turbos and intercoolers can make drastic hp increases.

If I had the money, I’d buy a new WRX STi or Mitsu EVO, as they offer a lot more bang for the buck, and there is nothing like AWD for performance. The Nissan 350Z is nice, but until they make a twin-turbo version, I’m not interested. Of course, Nissan is bringing out the Skyline, but you’ll be paying near $50K or so to get a hold of that bad boy.

Like I’ve said before, I wish I had kept my Type R. I loved that car (even more than my WRX), and it was unique. No, it wasn’t the fastest car, but it handled quite well for a front-wheel drive car and offered a good deal of performance for the money.

Many of the new cars (Nissan Spec V, Civic Si, Ford Focus SVT, Mazdaspeed Protege) just don’t do it for me. But the carmakers are on the right track. Yes, the new Dodge SRT-4 is impressive, but I’ll have to see it and drive it before I can say it’s all that they say it is.

As for now, I’m trying to sell my integra for another Type R or maybe a GSR. I want performance, but I also want reliability and good gas mileage, especially when premium gas is around the $2 mark these days.

If you lose HP from the upgrades, then they aren’t really upgrades, and something is being done wrong. On the nissan, IHE is good for nearly 20 horses, not bad at all. Is it expensive, shit yea, but that’s life. Keeping it stock just isn’t an option.
As far as the best upgrade, IMHO: DRIVING LESSONS.

NateDogg wrote: “When it comes to naturally-aspirated cars, the i/h/e route is not really worth it. You may get 10 hp, but many times, you lose hp. So if you get a NA car, keep it stock.”

Farnsworth,

Yes, it is correct, in most NA cars, adding an i/h/e usually results in a loss of horsepower. The addition of headers is usually the main cause for a loss. Don’t believe all the after-market companies that “claim” an increase in hp from their products. Most of it is marketing or from “skewed” results from paying off the tester or doing something else to make their products look good.

I’ve seen many times (the dyno doesn’t lie) where people add things to an NA car only to lose horsepower or get a minimal gain. Usually, a CAI is the only thing to get a hp boost, and on some cars, an exhaust may help, but other cars usually have an adequate exhauast (Type R - 2.5 inch exhaust).

And yes, you pay a lot of money for a 10-20hp gain in an NA car, whereas, a turbocharged car will gain a lot more with minor mods (exhaust).

There are many “rice boys” out there with i/h/e, and their cars are slower (and more annoyingly loud) than they were to begin with. I’m sure with the correct after-market supplier (a few companies are trustworthy), you will get the gains you hope with an i/e, but many times, it doesn’t hold true.

I aggree on the CAI. From what I can tell that gives you the most hp increase per dollar. Is there a chip for the specV?
I find those loud exhausts on the 4 bangers kind of funny. From the looks of many of them I can’t see how they would get any hp gain. There is to much tuning to allow a free flowing exhaust besides the fact that they sound like an endless fart. I wonder what ever happnd to the fanjet exhuast. I know they used to make it for hot rodders but I don’t know about compacts.