What is the easiest way to get mre hp and torque?

 

buy a V8

 

Start small. Intake/Header/Exhaust. Then start looking into a PCM tune. You can do them in any order really. But those will give you a quick and easy head start.

 

Pretty much right on...

Basic bolt-ons to maximize airflow... then look into more hard core tuning.

 

i agree, basic bolt-ons are a good start.

 

n2o!

 

i would like to know what everyone thinks about bored and polished throttle bodies on our car's? i was thinking of getting mine professinally done.

 

It will improve throttle respones for sure but unsure on power gains. BTW you sig looks sick

 

Turbo Kit when they become available.

 

it will probably lower overall power.

here's the trick with engines overall. they're basically air pumps, but instead of the engine spinning moving the air, the air expanding from being heated moves the engine. the more air you move through, the more powerful the car, simple as that.

focus on torque, horsepower is a function of it, in other words, if you gain torque at a given RPM, you HAVE to gain horsepower. torque is more directly a result of the weight and momentum of the internals of the engine spinning (that's why a big ass pickup engine is so torquey). to make more torque, you need either add weight to the internals (bad idea as too much weight lowers maximun safe RPM) or add momentum. to add momentum you need to increase the amount of air being heated. there are several basic bolt on methods for doing this.

1. intake. the logic is, by allowing more air into the engine, the computer will add more fuel. larger volume of air being heated = more force on the piston = more torque = more horsepower. you may see gains at high RPM, but be prepared for a lot more engine noise and some folks have issues with check engine lights.

2. header. car exhaust is not like a fluid in that it does not flow smoothly. in fact, it comes in a series of short digital bursts that are constantly changing in speed and temerature. the idea behind a header is that it is of such a shape and diameter that each burst creates a vaccum behind it and suckes the next one out by creating a vaccumm effect. a header design means a lot, as most of them will actually cause you to lose torque and power at low RPM. the other nasty downside is that they are often not as durable as the cast part already on the car. and avoid non-coated headers.

3. cat back exhaust. same theory as the header really, bear in mind that the cobalt it already sitting with a large mandrel bent pipe, so honestly, it's pretty efficent as-is. some folks report more power by adding a high flow muffler, but you're talking one or two foot pounds here.

4. ECU reflash. the idea here is good, basically, re-program the ECU so that it allows the engine to run closer to it's potential. the only real drawbacks are that you NEED to use high test gasoline and that it MAY be an issue if the dealer has a way to check.

that's it, if you did all four, you may may MAY gain about 15 ft/lbs of torque and the appropriate horsepower. you'll notice it. bear in mind, if there was some magic part that GM could have installed for $500 and there was no side effect and hugely more power, they would have. ecotecs are darn good motors and they're pretty powerful as-is, and the 2.4 is VERY advanced. i'd suggest a few other things...

first, use good gasoline. GM recommends 91 or higher octane and top tier fuel if you can get it (http://www.toptiergas.com/). also, people seem to report that with the 2.4s, the better gas they put in, the more guts it has. the dealer filled mine with 87 when i got it, i went to 93 and it was a HUGE diff.

second, be religious about maintaining it. the best way to have power is to take care of the engine. try a car that's just had a tune up, it almost always surprises the owner by how well it runs.

third, learn to drive it. i've got 500 miles on my car and i'm still not 100% in it. it'll take time to get used to how to get the most out of it.

forth, if you wanna run hard, turn the damn AC off.

these cars are VERY fast, don't let the SS/SC overshadow you, this little car can eat a lot of things for lunch. i've yet to run my car ***** out and i've still shocked a few folks

 

But a car with a ecu tune and several boltons might see some improvment due to moving alot more air then stock.

 

I know a bigger TB and ported manifold was good for 10-14whp onthe old 2.4 twin cams in the cavaliers

 

I know you guys have vvt on your cars, but is there any way to get more aggressive cams to work with the vvt? If so, that with a tune, exhaust, intake etc. would be very beneficial.

 

You're probably talking about the H.O. Manifold and Throttle Body...those #s I can see as possible w/those modifications but not a gaurantee on every vehicle.

 

Yes.

The VVT works according to oil pressure switch where it would change the cam profile. Contact Jbody Performance, they should have something available.

 

My suggestion to spade is not to go straight to bolt ons if the power gains aren't your goal power gains. See how much money you're willing to invest into your vehicle as well.

Have a plan before you start buying random parts for some type of power.

 

Exactly. Plan it out well based on your budget, and you'll have power greater than the sum of its parts.

 

Couldnt have said anything better......

 

Thanks im about to go to fed ex in 30 mins so i can mail my ecu off to vector i cant wait to get it back.