What engine mods have the best $/hp ratio? ***UPDATED***
Interesting power gains
I was up in the middle of the night and curious about what is the best way to spend your/my money in regards to hp/$ I simply did some searches on magazine articles online. Then this morning I took a look at what I posted and felt it was lacking. So I pulled all of my old issues out and found some more articles and got some more details on the ones I had already. I also wasn’t happy with the organization/presentation so I wanted to do that over.
I know my findings are not the most accurate thing in the world and these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. All of these tests are based on magazine articles and they are notoriously biased. I waded through what I could and made it as accurate as possible. I didn’t include some tests I found because their findings were so bad. You should also assume when I say something is stock that means it has a cold air kit and an axle back system. The cars in these tests all had them and 99% of the people on the board do too.
What surprised me the most were the heads; they cost a pretty penny but don’t do much for power. On the other hand Long Tubes rock! Have the gains broken down into percentages because that will make it easier to compare them and to apply them to your own car. I calculated examples of potential gains based on a stock 4.6 with a KB blower at 8 and 14psi. I did it this way because that’s my setup and I am about to turn up the boost. Seeing what mods may be worth doing is what got me started on this. Right now I have 8; soon I will be 14psi.
I managed to find FI and NA examples of each mod. Obviously the FI motor will get bigger gains with a particular mod compared to a NA motor but pay attention to the trends. There are some interesting outcomes.
The exhaust and heads are fairly linear as far as gains go because they are simple mods. In most cases bigger holes make for bigger HP as long as you don’t go overboard or only do one at a time. The cams are the big mystery mod. From the findings below you can clearly see that different cams on different combos and the option of locking out the VCT can net you a gain of almost nothing to simply outstanding. I would like to see a lot more cam testing by one of the magazines on a NA and a FI motor. For $600 they can be an incredibly beneficial upgrade.
I was originally planning on putting my forged shortblock in and just turning up the boost. I was only looking for 600rwhp and that can be done with a KB and a motor that won’t spit the rods out. I have had that plan in my head for over two years now. After seeing some of these results I have now changed my mind. I’m 99% sure I have some LT headers I my future and I would love to get some cams that were perfect for my combination (which shouldn’t be that hard). With the headers and the cams I will be able to make an easy 600rwhp and do it with less boost and therefore less danger of detonation. Sounds like a winner to me!
I hope this info helps some of you out. I obviously spent a ton of time on this.
If you know of ay more good test data PM me and let me know where it is. I would love to have more.
Enjoy
Headers
American racing LT’s
Tested on FI (Kenne Bell) ported and cammed 4.6 Gained 10.3%hp ad 8.7%tq
Peak Gains 8 psi + Headers. 3% gain @ 450HP= 13.5hpPeak gain 8 psi + Headers. 3% gain @ 410tq= 12.3tqPeak gain
Nitrous is pretty hard to beat as for best bang for you buck...don't you think?
600-800 bucks for 150hp to the ground.
Nitrous Express 3v plate kit does this. My 150 shot did just that. I put down an additional 150 to the wheels
Quote:
Originally Posted by sqidd
Interesting power gains
I was up in the middle of the night and curious about what is the best way to sped your money I regards to hp/$ I simply did some searches on magazine articles I know they are not the most accurate this in the world and these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. What surprised me the most were the heads, they cost a pretty penny but don’t do much for power. On the other hand Long Tubes rock! Have them broken down into 8 ad 14psi because that is what I am interested in. Right now I have 8, soon I will be 14psi. I presented/sorted them by percentage. All of the numbers aside from the exhaust are based off of NA motors. I would expect FI setups will have a little more power. I know it’s rough and not scientific at all but it is something interesting.
HeadersPeakAmerican racing 8 psi + Headers. 3% gain @ 450HP= 13.5hpPeak gain 8 psi + Headers. 3% gain @ 410tq= 12.3tqPeak gain
14psi + headers. 3% @ 581hp= 17.43hpPeak gain Headers Midrange 8 psi + Headers. 10.3% gain @ 450HP= 46.35hp Midrange 8 psi + Headers. 8.7% gain @ 410tq= 35.67tq Midrange
Like the other guy said. For bang for your buck, N2O is the cheapest way to make some big power. But now cams are starting to sound really good to me
Not that I am anti N2O, my next build is going to be a Notch with a BIG smalblock and a ton of N2O.
There are a few things to take into account when using N2O on a DD.
It’s hard to get armed, bottle opened, bottle heated, system purged in the time it takes for the light to change and the Z06 that you know you can smoke motors off into the distance.
N2O starts to cost quite a bit of money to keep the system useable and safe, etc when going over 150hp. All the electronics, fuel system upgrades, etc are not cheap.
Then there is the story of the LT1 Gen III Camaro with heads, cam, exhaust, gearing, converter, bla, bla, bla that I raced in October. I got him by about 4-5 cars (and his $250) and when we got back to the parking lot he told me he didn’t know I was FI until I was WOT and his N2O wasn’t working for some reason. I saw him 2 weeks later and he wanted a re-match. I was game. We lined them up, he gave me 2 cars because of my tires (he launched me to death the first time we raced) and some dude gave us an arm drop. By the time I was half way through 2nd and getting traction he was right next to me. We ran door to door with me pulling away just a little at a ¼ mile but we kept on going till about a ½. I got him by a car. He said something went wrong with his WOT switch or something and wanted to line them up again (we were not going for $$ this time) and I figured cool. So we went back down, lined up again and let em rip. He got a great launch this time and by half way through 2nd he had a fender on me but I was pulling a bit. We were side by side in third and just when I was going for 4th (which is about a ¼ mile) he disappeared. When we got back to where everyone hangs out he told me that he was running out of N2O and didn’t have good bottle pressure. What’s my point? Well, if his HP due to N20 was from something else he very well could have beat me a few times. His N2O wasn’t there when he needed it even though he was out to race. And I never eve lifted my hood, never iced down the blower, never let the intercooler water temp cool down, nothing. I ran all my races without having to mess with a thing, not even an ON switch. When I was on my way home (at 3am) I ran the car up to 175mph for a few miles on the freeway. Would I have been able to do all of that with N2O opposed to a blower?
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Under Construction. Better, Stronger, Faster than it was before.
Not that I am anti N2O, my next build is going to be a Notch with a BIG smalblock and a ton of N2O.
There are a few things to take into account when using N2O on a DD.
It’s hard to get armed, bottle opened, bottle heated, system purged in the time it takes for the light to change and the Z06 that you know you can smoke motors off into the distance.
N2O starts to cost quite a bit of money to keep the system useable and safe, etc when going over 150hp. All the electronics, fuel system upgrades, etc are not cheap.
Then there is the story of the LT1 Gen III Camaro with heads, cam, exhaust, gearing, converter, bla, bla, bla that I raced in October. I got him by about 4-5 cars (and his $250) and when we got back to the parking lot he told me he didn’t know I was FI until I was WOT and his N2O wasn’t working for some reason. I saw him 2 weeks later and he wanted a re-match. I was game. We lined them up, he gave me 2 cars because of my tires (he launched me to death the first time we raced) and some dude gave us an arm drop. By the time I was half way through 2nd and getting traction he was right next to me. We ran door to door with me pulling away just a little at a ¼ mile but we kept on going till about a ½. I got him by a car. He said something went wrong with his WOT switch or something and wanted to line them up again (we were not going for $$ this time) and I figured cool. So we went back down, lined up again and let em rip. He got a great launch this time and by half way through 2nd he had a fender on me but I was pulling a bit. We were side by side in third and just when I was going for 4th (which is about a ¼ mile) he disappeared. When we got back to where everyone hangs out he told me that he was running out of N2O and didn’t have good bottle pressure. What’s my point? Well, if his HP due to N20 was from something else he very well could have beat me a few times. His N2O wasn’t there when he needed it even though he was out to race. And I never eve lifted my hood, never iced down the blower, never let the intercooler water temp cool down, nothing. I ran all my races without having to mess with a thing, not even an ON switch. When I was on my way home (at 3am) I ran the car up to 175mph for a few miles on the freeway. Would I have been able to do all of that with N2O opposed to a blower?
Hey sqidd, what qtr mile et's are you running currently? Well not currently, lol, i am in Michigan also. I checked your info, could not find it.Just curious with the supercharger how well you do.
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2006 Mustang GT. CDC classic chin spoiler,Off road x , FRPP GTA axlebacks,Tunable Induction CAI,SCTtuner. FRPP 3.73 gear,Rear window louver,Qtr window louvers.CDC shaker hood,M&H drag radials, and ZEX 125 shot nitrous for insurance!
Best ET to date- 11.89 @ 114 mph
390 rwhp
520 rwtq
No more Nitrous all motor now.Don't ask.
Hey sqidd, what qtr mile et's are you running currently? Well not currently, lol, i am in Michigan also. I checked your info, could not find it.Just curious with the supercharger how well you do.
Never took it to the track....and I live 5 miles away With the stiff suspesion and road/roadrace tires the car would never even get close to hooking up. I figure why bother. The next car I put together will be for the 1/4.
__________________
Under Construction. Better, Stronger, Faster than it was before.
Never took it to the track....and I live 5 miles away With the stiff suspesion and road/roadrace tires the car would never even get close to hooking up. I figure why bother. The next car I put together will be for the 1/4.
So is your car steup for roadracing? where do you go? I assume you live close to Milan Dragway huh?
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2006 Mustang GT. CDC classic chin spoiler,Off road x , FRPP GTA axlebacks,Tunable Induction CAI,SCTtuner. FRPP 3.73 gear,Rear window louver,Qtr window louvers.CDC shaker hood,M&H drag radials, and ZEX 125 shot nitrous for insurance!
Best ET to date- 11.89 @ 114 mph
390 rwhp
520 rwtq
No more Nitrous all motor now.Don't ask.
you post no $$ figures to make the comparisons that the thread title references. Do you have those figures?
I did the hard part. I figured if someone was interested in knowing the rest they could simply calculate it themselves. Aside from that I don't know the prices on all of the parts and I have no idea what labor would be. Some people would need it with labor, some people without. Too may variables to deal with.
And if I did put a price up for somethig some smart @$$ would say I'm an idiot because they know where to get it for $5 less.
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Under Construction. Better, Stronger, Faster than it was before.
So is your car steup for roadracing? where do you go? I assume you live close to Milan Dragway huh?
I have the car set up to go around corners with some poise but it is by no means a track car. I could take it out to Grattan, Gingerman or Mid Ohio just about any time. I spend my entire summer at the track anyway. Probably wouldn’t be much fun though. I would destroy $1000 worth of tires and not even go that fast. I can lap all of the above tracks at least 15 seconds a lap faster on one of my bikes. Just driving the car around would be boring. I have gone out North Teritorial, Hadley Rd, Grass lake Rd area and straightened out some corners with some of my friends though. The car is set up great for that.
Yeah, I live 5 miles from Milan. I can get there without even having to go through a stoplight. I take a racebike down sometimes on a Wednesday afternoon right when they open sometimes but I am bored of making runs in about an hour. If you get there right when they open you can basically hot lap for the first few hours. I love not having a real job!
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Under Construction. Better, Stronger, Faster than it was before.
I did the hard part. I figured if someone was interested in knowing the rest they could simply calculate it themselves. Aside from that I don't know the prices on all of the parts and I have no idea what labor would be. Some people would need it with labor, some people without. Too may variables to deal with.
And if I did put a price up for somethig some smart @$$ would say I'm an idiot because they know where to get it for $5 less.
fair point, however the thread title is confusing.
Nitrous is pretty hard to beat as for best bang for you buck...don't you think?
600-800 bucks for 150hp to the ground.
Nitrous Express 3v plate kit does this. My 150 shot did just that. I put down an additional 150 to the wheels
Werd, I got my 175 shot brand new for $430 shipped and it's a "bolt-on" kit too. I make an extra 240lbs of torque at the wheels and an extra 140whp.
Now when you factor in the cost of filling the bottle at about $1/second it's gonna add up fast.
What engine mods have the best $/hp ratio? ***UPDATED*** 
(Mods in profile)
all motor now.Don't ask.
With the stiff suspesion and road/roadrace tires the car would never even get close to hooking up. I figure why bother. The next car I put together will be for the 1/4.
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