Do the little things matter?

[edaddeemsp]

I was curious as to how many people have some of the smaller power adders, and what they might be, and their opinions on them. Such as throttlebody, cam gears, cams, u.d. pulleys, short throw, etc. I know that the bigger power adders have been addressed, but I haven't seen too many discussions on the more intrequite detailed parts. Advise.

 

[Prodigy]

the little power adders usually aren't worth the money.
such things as an UDP (undersdrive pulley) which only adds 2 or so hp and costs over $100

 

[edaddeemsp]

But with combination of a fmic, turbo-back, sri or cai, built motor, and upped boost, wouldn't the smaller power adders start making more noticeable h.p. I understand that it doesn't seem like 2 h.p. is a lot for $100 or so, but if your car is stock, and you add a fmic, then your gaining 15-20 h.p. for $1000. So actually if you bought 10 smaller items that gained 2 h.p. a piece, then you'd end up spending $1000 for 20 h.p.

 

[JDM Sam]

Don't screw around with the little s*** especially the crank pulley. You'll come back on the forum few months down the line with a blown engine due to oil pump failure. If you want power buy a turbo back exhaust, fmic w/hardpipes, turn your boost to 9-10 psi, and some fuel/timing control. This will be good for 50-70 hp at the wheels. You have a turbo, take advantage of it. BTW a short throw shifter is not a power adder. Take care of the bottlenecks before you change the other parts of the engine. As someone advised you in your other thread(s), read the Maximum Boost book by Corky Bell. It'll help you understand how a turbo works. I also recommend you find someone competent to wrench on your car.

 

[Black Majik MSP]

Cam gears are a no no with our car & the only pulled I would consider is the one Perrin will soon be releasing. A few people have tried the JDM cams & Modern Performance was supposed to be making custom cams, but I don't think that's going to happen. A bigger throttle body isn't a bad idea, but you'll need a larger IC pipe to go with it.

 

[BlkZoomZoom]

All I have other than the exhaust is little s***....Seems to be working for me.

 

[edaddeemsp]

Blkzoom, I know that you are "stock" and all, but besides exhaust, what types of little things should I look into, to get me somewhere close to the 13 sec mark? I know it might seem like a waste of time and money to do the little things verse the bigger, I'm just looking down the road. Cause once you do all the bigger things, wouldn't you want the mamimum performance for every piece that you put on. The smaller items would only "help" the gains that you see from the fmic, tbe, engine management, etc. I also want to state that because it might seem that I'm asking some questions that might seem a little stupid to some, won't seem stupid to others. I've had plenty of wrench time on n/a cars, and have found some things that work and others that don't. Please don't treat my questions with a sense that I don't know how to do something, I am on this forum to learn more about forced induction, the pro's and cons of certain "power adders", and the best possible mods, that will suit my goals.

 

[laracroft]

Our cars are very sensitive. Most "smaller" mods will only work on certain makes and models. For example, Honda CRX or Civic. There are A MILLION tricks and short cuts with theirs. Their parts are simplified and not as costly. And of course, they are N/A for the most part.

We are limited in what you can put in the cars. Expecially the Mazdaspeed Protege. It did not come from factory to be easily tuned. Unfortunetly, to be safe, you WILL need to spend some loot. I'm sure you've seen the threads that tell you to do what everyone else has done: FMIC, hard pipes, CAI, excaust, dp, Unichip or other systems, etc. Yes, most of these are going to be several hundred dollars, but nothing for our cars that come from the best manufacturers are going to be "cheap". There are other aftermarket parts being worked on, but most are in the planning or fabricating stages. I'm with everyone else, you are going to be looking at at least $100+ for each part, I'd suggest going with something a little bigger for the most and safest gains.

 

[edaddeemsp]

laracroft, thanks for the advice. The point that i'm getting at though, is after someone was to put on the fmic, tbe, engine mngmnt, and others, wouldn't it make sense to maximize all the power potential of those parts by getting every little part to compliment the larger? When working on a n/a car it would only make sense to add a larger tb when putting on a cai, if there was enough$$ in the budget.
Again, i'm just speaking from a persons knowledge that has only worked on n/a.
BTW, where did you get those tails from.
Thanx.

 

[BlkZoomZoom]

I'll give you an example of what my car has had done.

-Mod list-

3" exhaust w/3" highflow cat,(homemade, turbo-back)
Co2 intercooler sprayer, (homemade)
Motor mounts (front and rear)
ported throttlebody, (homemade)
coolant bypass from throttlebody, (homemade)
ice-water pump through t.b.- (homemade)
Gasket matched intake manifold (vtcs removed),
k&n panel filter,
wrapped the exhaust manifold w/headerwrap, (homemade)
wrapped the upper intercooler with heat insulation,(homemade)
modified fcd,
Boost controller,
rear spring spacers, (homemade)
light weight flywheel,
act street performance clutch,
205/50/15 g-force drag radials,<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

 

[JDM Sam]

The term forced induction is just that. You turn up the boost and force more air in. That's the advantage of being FI over NA. It negates having to do the little s***, although it does help.

Blkzoom - how much boost?

 

[laracroft]

Euro blacked out tails... got it from some dood on E-bay. lol

 

[BlkZoomZoom]

? for the 13.15? 13psi.