…I’m not absolutely sure that I do, but let’s say that I did.
Here’s the thing. I’m not much of a car guy. Partially because I don’t have the time or inclination, but also because I am not even remotely mechanically inclined. So anything but the absolutely simplest modifications I’d be talking about here would be something I’d have to pay someone else do for me.
I’m driving a 2005 Nissan Sentra, manual 5-speed. It gets me from A to B just fine, and that’s primarily what I want it to do, anyway. But my most recent vehicles prior to this one were a 1995 Ford T-Bird with a V8 engine, a 2003 Volkswagen Golf TDI (which, while low on horsepower, was incredibly torque-y) and a 1997 Kawasaki Concours for a motorcycle. So, compared to prior experience, this car feels a little…gutless, especially when getting onto a freeway on an uphill ramp, or anything like that.
I enjoy driving a stick, and it seems to me that this car has potential to be a lot more fun to drive on a daily basis. So talk to me like I know nothing about cars, because really, that’s pretty accurate. What could I do that wouldn’t be inordinately expensive to boost my car’s oomph in various ways? I know very vaguely about doing things like changing the air filter and the exhaust for minimal hp gain, and I’ve heard of chipping vehicles and changing fly wheels and clutches and whatnot. But I don’t understand all of it, and I’m certain I can’t afford all of it.
So, any thoughts? What would be fun but reasonable?
Oh – I should probably add that I am not really seeking higher top speed. I don’t think I’ve ever hit 90mph in the 8 months that I’ve owned the car, and I don’t really care to. So (I’m sorry if I’m describing this poorly) I think my main interest is in more low- and mid-range power (is that right?).
Maybe my OP wasn’t clear. I have heard of those things. I don’t “know about” them, I don’t know what they cost, and I’m not looking to do anything more expensive at all. If you’re telling me those things are cheap and worthwhile, that’s great. If you don’t think they’re worth doing at all, that’s great, too. Thanks.
A: Remove weight. Clean the damn thing out. (not your spare tire) Pull some carpet out you don’t use. Remember, it’s all about horsepower to weight ratio. Pull the weight out, and your effective horsepower goes up. Lose a few pounds.
B: Clean your gas lines. Maybe replace the PCV valve.
C: Change your oil proper.
D: Replace air filter with new, clean air filter.
E: Check tire pressure.
F: Learn to drive your car. Learn its torque pattern, so you can accelerate smoothly but quickly.
G: Lose weight. Nothing sillier than a carbon fiber car with a lard-buttered driver.
After that? Cold Air Intake. It’s like an air filter that sucks colder air down into the engine for extra compression. It’s a hunnerd bucks or so, and you’ll need a new custom air filter for it.
Exhaust’ll be a grand or two. Not worth it for the return on a 90 HP car. Money’s better served lightening it up.
To put it bluntly, there is nothing you can do for an insignifcant amount of money (short of removing weight) that is going to get you more than a barely noticeable improvement. Forced induction (turbocharging or supercharging) will get you what you want, but with a drastic change in fuel economy. An engine swap would also work, but again, comes with a host of other issues. Nothing you are looking at is going to come in less than a grand, and mostl likely a few times that.
All said, if you added every single modification discussed (cold air intake, free-flow exhaust, PCM/ECU chip – assuming it’s available) you are looking to gain maybe 10 - 12 hp. Not very much. And there is so much in the way of false advertising crap out there that it’s not even funny.
There are some “chips” which do nothing more than trick your car into thinking it’s running on denser air, and therefore richen the fuel mixture…great, but you’ll run rich and foul your plugs. There are some “intake modifications” sometimes labelled as superchargers, which are nothing more than a small desk fan or boat fan you put in your intake system and in reality do more to restrich airflow than improve it.
Your best bet, as mentioned above, is to find a car that has the power you like, and trade this car toward it.
You’re looking at something like $200-300 for each 10Hp for the first 40-50Hp added, and then it gets expensive. Like, doubling the power will cost more than the car is worth. And from what I’ve heard, the chassis is crappy enough as is, with more power you’ll just end up torquesteering it into a tree.
I don’t know much about fixing up a Sentra, but I wanted to say that it’s interesting that I ALSO went from a 1995 T-bird to a Nissan Sentra (mine’s a 2008, though).
Man, I loved that T-bird. Sally and I had great times.
As E-Sabbath said, reduce weight. Here is the textbook example of Sentra modification, from the folks at the now-defunct Sport Compact Car: SCC Technical Assistance Program
Damn, I wish I had remembered that was a Sentra.:smack: