Extra power from small engine?

tuxy

Hey I asked this on another thread but was way off topic so received no answers.

What kind of performance gains would one expect to get with a modified exhaust/back box and induction kit on a 1.3-1.6 N/A engine?

Thanks

OKenora

Very little tbh, the modified backbox will add little or no power and if badly designed may actually decrease it. To get a worthwhile improvement from exhaust mods it usually means replacing most/all the exhaust and even then only expect about 10bhp max.

Changing the induction filter will add little too, maybe 5 bhp on average and is pretty worthless without the exhaust being done as well.

A real good exhaust and filter combo might release about 10-15 bhp total but usually would be very expensive for the power increase gained.

tuxy

Ok I figured as much, thanks for clearing that up.
Am thinking off getting a prelude 2.2 vtec in the future, would there be much to be gained from such mods on a car like that?
Are these mods really only to make the car louder? If so I have no interest. But if there was some real power to be gained I may consider it.

OKenora

For a roughish guide, a complete exhaust change and de-cat with a proper performance intake filter which actually gets cool air in will net you about 10% extra power and usually a frreer revving engine.

Getting a re-map done on a petrol will also net you about 10% extra power, cost less/same and most likely be far more noticeable as it will shift the power band, possibly up the redline and smooth out any dead spots in the power curve..

Gaining power from simple bolt on bits is ok but only in small amounts, most of these mods only really work well with work in other areas to compliment them and without serious money being spent they really add little in power but a lot of the "sound of power"

Personally bang for buck i would re-map but I have the luxury of already having done the exhaust, new BMC CDA and the re-map. The BMC and exhaust cost about twice the price of the re-map but added about 1/3 (or less) of the extra power.

tuxy

Is this guy talking through his arse?
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=53646540&postcount=63
Sounds like he is but I'm not 100% sure.

OKenora

well 18bhp extra on a 90bhp n/a petrol is about a 20% increase......not bad seeing you would expect about 20% after a pro re-map, complete exhaust replacement with a performance exhaust and a new induction filter, plus probs a few more mods to get to the 20%, all costing upwards of €1000, he's managed that with what I presume was a weld in box bought down the markets for €50, impressive.......would love to see the rolling road figures verifying this, bet they don't exist though and the figures are simply plucked out of the air to sound good.

For a comparison, I spent over £600 on a complete sports exhaust (SuperSprint) and £180 on a BMC CDA air filter all for less than 10% of an increase in bhp from about 147bhp to about 160bhp (both rolling road verified).

Dish

4 Branch manifolds are very good for power gain a VTECs! VTEC controller on top of that will allow you to get full use of your VTEC. If u spend good money on an Exhaust System it will give you a good boost aswell! Skimming heads also! Can prove expensive though!

Atomic Pineapple

Dish wrote:

VTEC controller on top of that will allow you to get full use of your VTEC.!

95% of VTEC heads swear blind that these are next to useless and only help reduce your economy, mess up your ecu, run your honda lean and generally the advice given on forums like hondarevolutions is to stay away from them

Dish

Fair nuf! Never knew much about them! Mate a mine had one in gave him no bother! But he's a twit! lol!

Atomic Pineapple

Dish wrote:

Fair nuf! Never knew much about them! Mate a mine had one in gave him no bother! But he's a twit! lol!

they let you set the point at which the vtec kicks in which is grand if you dont like reving the vtec to get the most out of it but the side affects just arent worth it really

Dish

Yea he was sayin it lets him do that! But like I was thinking mesel that it cudnt be good for the engine having to kick it in so early all the time!

Iguana Bob

not a chance in hell induction kit and back box gives 10bhp. maybe in a 300bhp evo not in some ****ty civic. icetronics did a rolling road on the nsx. with a standard manifold and cat and then one with a DC 4-2-1 manifold and decat and got 20 bhp.

Andrewf20

There are other ways to make cars a little faster:

-Lighter flywheel
-Different final drive ratios
-Smaller rims

Ive put 15in/205/60s on my E36 and its noticeably quicker than the standard 225/16/R50s I got with it. My brother fitted a lighter flywheel to his E30 318is and its noticeably faster.

projectgtr

Iguana Bob wrote:

not a chance in hell induction kit and back box gives 10bhp. maybe in a 300bhp evo not in some ****ty civic. icetronics did a rolling road on the nsx. with a standard manifold and cat and then one with a DC 4-2-1 manifold and decat and got 20 bhp.

sup iguana bob
modifed mag (my fav import mag) dynoed a b18c5 ran first with an AEM induction kit got> extra +5WHP and +2TQ then added a dc sports single can exhaust and got another +4WHP and +2TQ, This may not sound much but you seem to know your honda and you should realise that this totally changes the power curve with gains throughout the band. so the long and the short of it, yeah a S****y civic could pull close to 10"WHP" with and induction kit and exhaust!

just thought id add my 2cents

tuxy

So many conflicting posts

nastysimon

projectgtr wrote:

sup iguana bob
modifed mag (my fav import mag) dynoed a b18c5 ran first with an AEM induction kit got> extra +5WHP and +2TQ then added a dc sports single can exhaust and got another +4WHP and +2TQ, This may not sound much but you seem to know your honda and you should realise that this totally changes the power curve with gains throughout the band. so the long and the short of it, yeah a S****y civic could pull close to 10"WHP" with and induction kit and exhaust!

just thought id add my 2cents

For one, I don't know this highly reputable magazine and can only assume that it is to the same high standards as the numerous other Japanese Tuner magazines. Secondly, this is a 5% improvement in power, and since the improvements are to reduce pumping losses, this should also improve efficiency too. If I was a Honda engineer who had worked to create what is meant to be a high performance engine (this is from an Integra Type-R), I would be very ashamed indeed. I must admit that I thought that Honda engineers were better than that and since most engines benefit negligibly from even the best induction kits, or in some cases, even the best kits are actually worse than the original, I guess that I must have been wrong about them.

Andrewf20

I dont know what car you have etc but I would probably recommend selling it and buying a more powerful unmoddified car. Alot of people are nervous about cars with engines that have been tuned up, so you could be looking to loose out financially if you want to sell in the future.