I am in the process of modding my car and I just wanted to make sure I was heading in the right direction. I have a small goal of somewhere in the range of 160hp at the crank. I currently have the iceman CAI and a 5zigen muffler. My next plan was either a af/x 55mm tb or a Mp 60mm, I was also going to get a af/x or unorthordox underdrive pulley and lastly I was looking at some crower stage 1 cams and poss. a header. The reason I chose stage 1 is so I can use my stock springs and I dont need anything too aggressive anyway. I was just looking for a little more get up and go over stock. With these mods does 160 crank hp sound about right or will I have more or less than that. Or is there something I am missing. I have no plans of going turbo in the future either. Thanks in advance for the help. I dont know too much about this stuff yet so your help is real appreciated.

Looks like you're going in the right direction to me. :thumbsup

from what ive read id go with the af/x 55mm throttle body, 60mm is too much for n/a. Also, you said you had a muffler, is it just welded on the stock piping? Id look for a gst cat/axle back system, they sound great and from what i understand the fastest n/a 420a here has one. Headers are nice but with alot of reading i understand that our exhast manifold has a good amount of flow to it and the only thing a header does is make your exhaust sound pretty. Other than that your list sounds good!

go stage two you poon. ;)

If you don't plan on going turbo then plan to have some burly ass cams. :thumbsup

Originally posted by JWoodley
go stage two you poon. ;)

I knew I would get that....lol...Is there really that much of a difference between stage 1 and stage 2 that its worth the extra money for the valve spring upgrade?? I'm sure I rose a few laughs with my "goal" of approx. 160 crank horse but you see I'm not trying to buld something serious here. This is my only vehicle and I just wanted to make a few extra ponies and in the process try to keep mpg's near stock levels. I'd imagine stage 2 would probally be a little harder on the valve train than stage 1 right?? And would I still have a decent idle with stage 2?? I got the car witha new motor and I've only racked up 4-5k on it so far so I'm not trying to kill it prematurely. Let me know what you guys think.........its really appreciated.

I think stage one will leave you wishing you had stage 2. Stage 2 does idle well. steve0677 had them in his talon. maybe you could PM him and ask his opinion. goodluck.

I think upgraded springs and retainers should be less than $300 really, and when you consider the cams are the same price regardless of trim (1s or 2s), it makes sense. Most people with the entry elvel cams say they wouldn't mind having the next step up. I'm getting 3s myself here this summer sometime, and I know of a local Neon guy run Crane #0024s on his DOHC Neon. }(

When upgrading to the stage 2's, if you chose too, might as well pocket port the head too while you have it off to change springs, if you have an air compressor you could do it yourself. At least thats what I think, how about you guys? Also, is your car manual or auto? If auto there's a lot of cool crap these guys have come up with that are cheap/free to do to your car that doesn't even involve going after the motor.

Thanks for the ideas. I'm still not sure what I'll end up doing about the cams but either way it will probally be the last mod anyway. But even if I would stick to stage 1 does 160 crank hp sound reasonable with the other mods(underdrive,55mm tb with port matched manifold , CAI, 5zigen muffler, and a header)I know if you add up what the manufacturers claim you get for hp then I'm way over 160 but we all know with alot of these mods the claims are much different then what you recieve so I'm trying to be conservative with the gains if you know what I mean. Thanks again

You've got a good set of mods there as others have noted so I have nothing to offer on that front, but you may want to consider changing your final drive ration in the transmission to a 3.94:1 in order to get the car to rev faster. The underdrive will certainly help with that, but coupled with different final drive, you should really be able to get the car into it's breathable range much more quickly. It's a bit of work, but it's something I'd strongly considered since the low end power on an N/T car is pretty weak.

Good luck and keep us posted,

Andy

Originally posted by OneSlowGS
You've got a good set of mods there as others have noted so I have nothing to offer on that front, but you may want to consider changing your final drive ration in the transmission to a 3.94:1 in order to get the car to rev faster. The underdrive will certainly help with that, but coupled with different final drive, you should really be able to get the car into it's breathable range much more quickly. It's a bit of work, but it's something I'd strongly considered since the low end power on an N/T car is pretty weak. Good luck and keep us posted, Andy

Ok, first of all this is just something that annoys the piss out of me, but you're not the only one that does it.

Ratio - Relation in degree or number between two similar things.
Ration - A fixed portion, especially an amount of food allotted to persons in military service or to civilians in times of scarcity.

Now on to business. If he has a manual transmission, which he hasn't stated yet, he already has a 3.94:1 final drive ratio, and the only way to change it is to change the internals of the transmission, or the transmission itself. That sounds like a good list of mods and should easily net you 160 crank hp. That's about 130-135 wheel horsepower.

On second thought why dont you just throw on like 5 stickers and a big wing, the stickers are like 5hp a pop and the wing is at least 15hp. On top of the 140hp stock your lookin at like 180 hp, and you didn't have to pop the hood. Don't underestimate a ricer with vinyl.

lol.......never thought of the vinyl, would be alot cheaper, and if I can order a wing thats higher than my car I'll be kickin ass. Oh and by the way I am a 5 speed. Thanks again