Ground Wire Kits?
02-13-2008, 11:40 PM
#51
This is it in a sweaty *******:
The people who actually have used ground kits all agree there is an improvement of slight amount of HP gains, a better idle, and the audio equipment performance is a little better.
This is no miracle product, but it can give you a slight edge over the next car.
The people who never tried a ground kit all seem to guess that it is no better than stock and figure if the factory did not do it, it is not needed. So many pawn it off as another Tornado Air, Bilge Blower or Intake Spacer type product that takes money and gives nothing and sometimes takes power away. It is seen as a gimmick in other words, and there will be no believing until they install one on their car or see a before and after dyno.
The truth is, it does work and varies in degree of how well from car to car.
The dyno tests exist as there was the ground wire kit shoot-out article that posted the differences in gains and the Apexi kit won with a 12hp gain.
The factory is not going to spend money on parts and labor to upgrade the ground beyond its already acceptable point. It is good enough as is stock, and they probably do not like having to disconnect ground cables on parts they may need to work on in the future either.
For the price, it is worth it. It is also something that anyone can do on their own.
I am not asking the skeptics to back down and accept anything, but please don't deter others from getting a product that is very affordable and gives them an edge they might want over their existing mods, or possibly it is just their first mod they can afford. The automatic shift plus kit is another very inexpensive yet gainful mod.
Literally for $50 or so you can have a completely stock looking car that will add a good edge over the unknowing driver.
Another cheap mod is the drop in K&N.
I know, I know... each of these mods add very little, but they do offer people that are broke ass like me some options to add a little more fun into their ride at a price each paycheck can afford.
I bought an economy car, and as such a little edge is all I want. I am not going to the track nor looking to race for pinks.
The people who actually have used ground kits all agree there is an improvement of slight amount of HP gains, a better idle, and the audio equipment performance is a little better.
This is no miracle product, but it can give you a slight edge over the next car.
The people who never tried a ground kit all seem to guess that it is no better than stock and figure if the factory did not do it, it is not needed. So many pawn it off as another Tornado Air, Bilge Blower or Intake Spacer type product that takes money and gives nothing and sometimes takes power away. It is seen as a gimmick in other words, and there will be no believing until they install one on their car or see a before and after dyno.
The truth is, it does work and varies in degree of how well from car to car.
The dyno tests exist as there was the ground wire kit shoot-out article that posted the differences in gains and the Apexi kit won with a 12hp gain.
The factory is not going to spend money on parts and labor to upgrade the ground beyond its already acceptable point. It is good enough as is stock, and they probably do not like having to disconnect ground cables on parts they may need to work on in the future either.
For the price, it is worth it. It is also something that anyone can do on their own.
I am not asking the skeptics to back down and accept anything, but please don't deter others from getting a product that is very affordable and gives them an edge they might want over their existing mods, or possibly it is just their first mod they can afford. The automatic shift plus kit is another very inexpensive yet gainful mod.
Literally for $50 or so you can have a completely stock looking car that will add a good edge over the unknowing driver.
Another cheap mod is the drop in K&N.
I know, I know... each of these mods add very little, but they do offer people that are broke ass like me some options to add a little more fun into their ride at a price each paycheck can afford.
I bought an economy car, and as such a little edge is all I want. I am not going to the track nor looking to race for pinks.
02-14-2008, 09:32 AM
#53
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what about electrical stability such as lights diming and stuff like that
02-14-2008, 01:02 PM
#54
its the same maybe slightly better. Honestly i didnt have much of a system before i re ran the car with the 2/0 and yesterday i just put my 3kw amp back in and didnt really notice much dimming. Actually probably less because the only real time my car would dim was when i was running an 8" off of my 4 chan bridged to 2 ohm (4ohm stable) and it would only do it stopped with the car on.
02-18-2008, 02:37 PM
#55
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I have rewired 60's era cars with upgraded and larger wire harnesses than the factory used and had no noticable increase in either HP, or smoother idle, or better radio reception, etc.
That car from the 60's probably has 200+hp and even more torque due to the weight of those things. Also, just due to their weight, 4-6hp is NOT going to be noticeable at all.
One person lands no gains on a 60's car, fine. But I have used this on a Sunfire with the 2.2 Ecotec and it DID make a noticeable difference. You would not notice 4-6hp on a lot of high HP or high weight vehicles. The Sunfire is 2800lbs, and loves the ground wire kit.
The ones who dislike this mod as I said and think it is on the par of the Tornado Air, just don't buy one. What is my motive? I do not own a ground wire kit factory. I am just passing on my experience on how it helped my 2.2 Ecotec which is totally relevant, and not some 60's car.
Again, not trying to be mean here but I am getting targeted like I am passing off lies and I am not.
02-18-2008, 04:34 PM
#56
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Here is a guy that bought a kit made for our cars: https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/general-cobalt-68/ground-wire-kit-97183/
02-18-2008, 06:05 PM
#57
Not trying to be mean here, but all because one 60's car got an upgraded wiring harness and did not noticeable gain anything doesn't mean anything.
That car from the 60's probably has 200+hp and even more torque due to the weight of those things. Also, just due to their weight, 4-6hp is NOT going to be noticeable at all.
One person lands no gains on a 60's car, fine. But I have used this on a Sunfire with the 2.2 Ecotec and it DID make a noticeable difference. You would not notice 4-6hp on a lot of high HP or high weight vehicles. The Sunfire is 2800lbs, and loves the ground wire kit.
The ones who dislike this mod as I said and think it is on the par of the Tornado Air, just don't buy one. What is my motive? I do not own a ground wire kit factory. I am just passing on my experience on how it helped my 2.2 Ecotec which is totally relevant, and not some 60's car.
Again, not trying to be mean here but I am getting targeted like I am passing off lies and I am not.
That car from the 60's probably has 200+hp and even more torque due to the weight of those things. Also, just due to their weight, 4-6hp is NOT going to be noticeable at all.
One person lands no gains on a 60's car, fine. But I have used this on a Sunfire with the 2.2 Ecotec and it DID make a noticeable difference. You would not notice 4-6hp on a lot of high HP or high weight vehicles. The Sunfire is 2800lbs, and loves the ground wire kit.
The ones who dislike this mod as I said and think it is on the par of the Tornado Air, just don't buy one. What is my motive? I do not own a ground wire kit factory. I am just passing on my experience on how it helped my 2.2 Ecotec which is totally relevant, and not some 60's car.
Again, not trying to be mean here but I am getting targeted like I am passing off lies and I am not.
02-18-2008, 06:43 PM
#59
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how does an electrical device that proves no viability on a car newer than 2k with good wiring and multiple grounds of good size going to help with exhaust emissions when the exhaust has NOTHING to do with the electrical system what do ever?
02-18-2008, 07:05 PM
#61
If it's all about good grounding don't waste your money on a "grounding kit" just go out and but 2 gauge copper wire, some connectors, and run grounds everywhere. Imagine the horsepower gains if you have 8 or 10 grounds straight from the engine block to the battery. I guess we can "gauge" that there will be 1-2 HP increase per ground wire so 10 of them will net you 10-20 HP! Damn cheapest mod yet. 10 or 15 grounds to the radio should get you...what...Tokyo, maybe Moscow radio stations.....Ground away!
02-19-2008, 10:33 AM
#63
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or an easy fix. a hotter plug, since the 2.2's are void of tuning at this point in time. spending money in the wrong places always leads you back to square one
02-19-2008, 08:38 PM
#64
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It is like I said on an earlier post, the ones that do not believe should just not buy one as it is not a big deal.
It is a cheap mod offered to those who want to mod their car and do not have a lot of money or for the ones who thought they did everything and this will get them a little more performance.
The people who have a ground kit installed know that it works, so why care so much about the science geek portion of it all? It just works, justifying it with explanations via science is apparently not working, not E=MC2 enough I guess, lol.(can't make it a squared symbol)
We have driven our cars way more than enough to notice if something made a difference or not.
I know if I put a small obstruction in someone's muffler or intake they would immediately notice.
Dynos have even backed this ground wire concept in that it works on many modern cars.
One is currently on my 2003 Sunfire, and it did make a positive difference.
If you hate this ground wire kit concept, just don't buy a kit. It is like any product, some are sold and some are not.
It is a cheap mod offered to those who want to mod their car and do not have a lot of money or for the ones who thought they did everything and this will get them a little more performance.
The people who have a ground kit installed know that it works, so why care so much about the science geek portion of it all? It just works, justifying it with explanations via science is apparently not working, not E=MC2 enough I guess, lol.(can't make it a squared symbol)
We have driven our cars way more than enough to notice if something made a difference or not.
I know if I put a small obstruction in someone's muffler or intake they would immediately notice.
Dynos have even backed this ground wire concept in that it works on many modern cars.
One is currently on my 2003 Sunfire, and it did make a positive difference.
If you hate this ground wire kit concept, just don't buy a kit. It is like any product, some are sold and some are not.
