Best horsepower mods?

subzero24

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What type of stuff is the best to add for increased horsepower?

I've already thought about the cobra intake with tornado and an ecu chip.

The easier the better.
 
Gears, track lock, high stall converter, chip/tune, dual exhaust.

Cobra intake is nice for a gen 2, you would see less improvements on a gen 1. Gen 1 intake ain't bad. But gears/stall are more fun.

Headers are nice, but pricey.
Underdrive pulley if you want.

From there you mostly get into custom stuff.
 
Torque Converter, Rear Gears, and a J-Mod will make your car feel sooooo much different and FUN to drive!
 
Wait..you've been a member here for 6 years, and you're just now asking this basic question?

C'MO MAN!
 
What type of stuff is the best to add for increased horsepower?

I've already thought about the cobra intake with tornado and an ecu chip.

The easier the better.

I hear plenty of guys phrase it this way when they actually mean, what can I do to go faster? Going faster has just as much to do with holeshot mods as it does with hp gains, especially on a naturally aspirated setup.

For increased horsepower: headers w/full exhaust, intake, tune, underdrives

For increased performance with the same horsepower: gears, stall, JMOD

What you mentioned with the exception of the "tornado" (waste of money) is good for some hp gain but I just wanted to also clarify that holeshot mods go a long ways in terms of 1/4 mile times with these cars. If you can get the car moving with a set of gears and keep it high in the powerband with a stall converter, the hp stays essentially the same in terms of hp numbers on the dyno, but you are optimizing the use of the available horsepower you have.

For reference: I ran a 14.1 back in 2010 with 242rwhp. That is a measley 17 hp over stock numbers on the dyno but I ran pretty much a full second quicker than a stock Gen2. What made that possible was 4.10 gears and a 3800 stall converter in addition to the tune and exhaust. Half of the performance gain was from the tuning/exhaust the other half was from the gears and stall converter. Remember, as you make more hp, you also want to find a way to get to that sweet spot in your powerband and also find a way to keep it there. Gears and a stall will do just that.

So, do you want to go faster or just have more hp? :)
 
Wait..you've been a member here for 6 years, and you're just now asking this basic question?

C'MO MAN!

Don't beat him up too bad. Not only does he look bad, it doesn't look real good for this site either (no offense intended).....

I'm just sayin'!


Good post, Kirk! Read and re-read Kirk's post - lots of good info there!
 
Another thing to mention along these lines in explaining the idea of holeshot modifications, I have a blown 97 with 390 rwhp which equates to about 460hp@ the crank. It currently has stock exhaust with cats and magnaflows and a stock torque converter. Talk about taking forever to build boost and make power. Once you experience a stall converter, you'll know exactly what I mean, especially on a centrifugal supercharger setup that doesn't have one like my car where it needs rpms to build boost and make power. I'd like to run that one up against my all motor 98 and I bet the farm the 98 hangs right on the bumper at an 1/8 mile track. With a trap speed of 114mph, it shows a lot of potential in terms of 1/4 mile times with the right setup and shows that it does pick up some power on the big end of the track that it didn't have down low but not quite enough. A lack of a stall converter is at play here along with a little bit more tuning. I'm shooting for a low-low 13 in my all motor car which now has about 325-330hp @ the crank on the current rich tune. The blown car ran a best of 12.9 and a lot of that has to do with the lack of a stall converter. I think it is just as important on NA cars in terms of performance as it is on centrifugal setups/turbos. If I recall correctly, a centrifugal setup like the Vortechs don't even start making boost until 3000 rpms. So essentially, the car might as well be all motor coming out of the hole until you can get the rpms past 3000 and start introducing boost into the equation.

The difference in terms of tachometer readings upon engaging the next gear in my all motor stalled Mark8 compared to when it was stock was like 1000 rpms. My car is making significantly more power into second gear at 5000 rpms than it was at 4000-4100 with a stock converter which at that point it wasn't even at full torque yet. Introduce boost into the picture and now you're talking about significantly less boost pressure going into second gear with a stock converter than if it was engaging the next gear at 5000+ rpms. That is exactly what happens in a centrifugal setup with a stock converter. The boost is falling off into the next gear without a stall converter to keep the psi up there. So, the car is losing power into the next gear change. Not because it doesn't have the potential to make that power to run those better times, but because the stall converter isn't in place to keep the rpms high in the powerband and keep boost levels high.

Sorry for the ramble, but that was my attempt at explaining this in terms of centrifugal Supercharged setups. :p
 
Are stalls bad on highway

Absolutely not. All our converters lock at a 1:1 so no matter what stall you have, they are all the same at cruise. You will only notice the difference when you press hard on the accelerator and the converter unlocks.
 
Intake, Exhaust, tune = HP
JMOD, TC, gears = torque
 
Don't beat him up too bad. Not only does he look bad, it doesn't look real good for this site either (no offense intended).....

I'm just sayin'!


Good post, Kirk! Read and re-read Kirk's post - lots of good info there!

Not sure if you noticed but this guy just uses this site to advertise his eBay store..and really doesn't have that great of "deals", his prices are right up there with all the other crap on ebay.

And sorry but I wouldn't waste my time writing a novel about go fast secrets on someone who thinks a "tornado" is a mod..
 
Don't beat him up too bad. Not only does he look bad, it doesn't look real good for this site either (no offense intended).....

I'm just sayin'!


Good post, Kirk! Read and re-read Kirk's post - lots of good info there!

every site i see this guy on hes down talking people...got me booted off tcco too..cmon, let people ask questons..Google and other searches come back with alot of FALSE info, so i think its best to hear it from someone in real time who actually has 1st hand experiance with what you wanna know about..
 
every site i see this guy on hes down talking people...got me booted off tcco too..cmon, let people ask questons..Google and other searches come back with alot of FALSE info, so i think its best to hear it from someone in real time who actually has 1st hand experiance with what you wanna know about..

Not sure if you noticed but this guy just uses this site to advertise his eBay store..and really doesn't have that great of "deals", his prices are right up there with all the other crap on ebay.

And sorry but I wouldn't waste my time writing a novel about go fast secrets on someone who thinks a "tornado" is a mod..

Well, I didn't know a thing about this guy, I just tend to stick up for the underdog - just my nature.

FrankenBird, you're absolutely right! Wanna know how to go fast, talk to the ppl that actually do go fast! Makes sense, huh?

If I was on the drag circuit, I would be talking to people like Driller, Ron, JL (rip), Robert, Darren, Steve, Don, and basically anybody else who is in the 12s or faster. Obviously, they know SOMETHING GOOD!

I'm sure there is a bunch of ppl I didn't mention - I don't go on SCCoA, so I don't know those guys (and gals).
 
This subject has been covered repeatedly to death on here with the same answers over and over so I do not see how a search could yield bad information.
 
i was so close to 12's with my cougar.....13.2 was my best and im thinking if id had used my buddies drags i woulda hit 12's....
but KStromberg said it perfectly a few posts above....
 
This subject has been covered repeatedly to death on here with the same answers over and over so I do not see how a search could yield bad information.

i didnt mean bad info on the serach from this forum...I emant the net is flooded with missinformation and i wouldnt want him to read somethign wrong and mess his car up...
 
every site i see this guy on hes down talking people...got me booted off tcco too..cmon, let people ask questons..Google and other searches come back with alot of FALSE info, so i think its best to hear it from someone in real time who actually has 1st hand experiance with what you wanna know about..

who are you talking about? If it's me I think you're confusing someone else considering this is the only forum or site I post on..I was just joking when I said "C'MON MAN"..reference from monday night football count down?? nevermind..I don't talk down to people I was just calling him out for asking a BASIC question that you see posted hundreds of times over and over, and one would think since he's been a member since 2006 he would know to search this before asking.

man some of you have gone soft..you think that's bad, go visit the yellowbullet forum, say one wrong word and they tear you a new *******.
 
A lot of interesting info, its taken me a while to go through it all but it seems like there's a lot here. Good posts.


How about this thing here? Its an aftermarket Cobra intake...


http://modularmustangracing.com/prod manifold.htm


Looks pretty decent to me. Anyone have any know about these? Just wondering if its better or worse than the OEM cobra piece.
 
A lot of interesting info, its taken me a while to go through it all but it seems like there's a lot here. Good posts.


How about this thing here? Its an aftermarket Cobra intake...


http://modularmustangracing.com/prod manifold.htm


Looks pretty decent to me. Anyone have any know about these? Just wondering if its better or worse than the OEM cobra piece.

Stick to the stock Cobra intake. That piece is for a wild turbo/blower setup with shortened runners. Not at all an intake you want to use on a naturally aspirated Mark8.
 

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