Engine Modifications

[Lethalchem]

Hello all, I just picked up a 2002 P5 for my wife a few days ago. It's got 18,000 miles on it and looks brand new.

That being said, I feel it's important for me to note that I'm totally new to all this 4 cyl import stuff. I've been reading all the P5 stuff I can find on various sites, and I find myself coming to the same question over and over: Are engine mods on this car really worth it?

My impression is "No". Unless you intend to go with some sort of forced induction, it appears that money would be better spent on suspension parts and brakes. What are your thoughts?

 

[twilightprotege]

welcome to the forum!

it all depends on your motives. the P5 already handles really well...just sits too high. imo with replacement springs that's enough for a street driven P5....but the engine is lacking.

keep an eye out for my post in the performance section hopefully before the end of march - i will have a full exhaust system. should be getting close to (hopefully more) than 150whp with cam gear tuning

 

[Turbo Matty P]

I would suggest Perfworks ECU for $1450 and then an intake, header, full exhaust....that's about it. FI is not feasible on this engie unless you plan on runnig little boost (waste) or plan on forging the internals (expensive addition to cost of turbo kit).

 

[Lethalchem]

welcome to the forum!

it all depends on your motives. the P5 already handles really well...just sits too high. imo with replacement springs that's enough for a street driven P5....but the engine is lacking.

keep an eye out for my post in the performance section hopefully before the end of march - i will have a full exhaust system. should be getting close to (hopefully more) than 150whp with cam gear tuning

I'll definately keep an eye out for your post. From what I've seen, these cars are putting down 111hp to the wheels on a good day. Typical mods like CAI and exhaust don't appear to give significant gains themselves. They simply allow future modifications to be more effecient. I sincerely wish you luck in your goal of 150+ with just exhaust and tuning. I don't think it will even be close, but I would LOVE to be wrong.

 

[Lethalchem]

I would suggest Perfworks ECU for $1450 and then an intake, header, full exhaust....that's about it. FI is not feasible on this engie unless you plan on runnig little boost (waste) or plan on forging the internals (expensive addition to cost of turbo kit).

What does the Perfworks ECU do for you? Sounds like a piggy-back chip cannot be used, therefore an alternate 'brain' must be supplied to allow tuning? That's a hefty chunk of cash just to allow timing and fuel pressure/ratio alterations if that's the case.

Obviously these cars can be made quick, as ANY car can be made fast if you want to sink enough money into it. I'm just thinking I may be better to leave the engine as is. I've seen people talking about 220fwhp with turbo setups, and that's just a huge investment to get such minimal gains (not that it's not a large gain from stock, but it's just not an impressive final number).

Since it does seem to handle so well, do you guys feel many suspension parts are unnecessary as well?

 

[mypfizzle]

use the cobra to go fast.. put subs nice wheels and a good exterior for the p5. -=P
my buddy has a 2003 cobra.. upgraded pulley, chip, xpipe.. thing is nuts.. gets him tickets left an right tho. -=\
welcome to the site..
a good place to start is your going na is headers intake exhaust.. they will give u a lil more pep.. but not much -=\

 

[acidbug]

Hello all, I just picked up a 2002 P5 for my wife a few days ago. It's got 18,000 miles on it and looks brand new.

That being said, I feel it's important for me to note that I'm totally new to all this 4 cyl import stuff. I've been reading all the P5 stuff I can find on various sites, and I find myself coming to the same question over and over: Are engine mods on this car really worth it?

My impression is "No". Unless you intend to go with some sort of forced induction, it appears that money would be better spent on suspension parts and brakes. What are your thoughts?

Engine mods are not really worth it for this car..the protege engine..don't like big hp...My suggestion is to get the biggest wing you can find..it should ad like 40hp easily!(jerkit)

But serously..the p5 is not a drag car..it's great for driving quickly around corners..i have put nitrous on my car..and now i have put a turbo...was it worth it to me?

Not really..but i wanted a faster car and could not afford anything else at the time!

But the next car will be fast stock!

Chas

 

[Replica]

Just keep the wifey's car stock so you never have to worry about it. Women break stock cars already....

 

[twilightprotege]

lethalchem - dont forget 150whp for my engine includes my already done mods, not just plonking on an exhaust with no other mods. have a look in my sig for current mods

 

[akhilleus]

Actaually an exhuast and intake by itself gives more than 10whp. i have seen the dynos. For me the only thing worth modding on this car is the engine since it is most lacking. A good selection of bolt-ons and or internals can yield decent results. And with the car being so light u can easily notice the difference. 150whp+ for twilight is very realistic since i am putting down probably close to 125+whp...hoping to have 135-140 after a bit more work... exhaust cam etc..then dyno

 

[twilightprotege]

yeah i'm the same as akhilleus - the only thing lacking on the car is power. it handles fantastic. looks great...just need more power.

150whp here i come!!! (well fingers crossed)

 

[Lethalchem]

use the cobra to go fast.. put subs nice wheels and a good exterior for the p5. -=P
my buddy has a 2003 cobra.. upgraded pulley, chip, xpipe.. thing is nuts.. gets him tickets left an right tho. -=\
welcome to the site..
a good place to start is your going na is headers intake exhaust.. they will give u a lil more pep.. but not much -=\

Yeah, my cobra is already modded fairly well. I use it for my track fun, but I was thinking of retiring the Cobra from the autocross, save it for drags/daily driver, and replacing it with the P5 for cone work. I wasn't really looking to make a monster out of her P5, but it's just so damn fun to zip around in I thought it might be cool to give it a bit more grunt if possible. It doesn't seem like that's very likely though, which is why I asked you guru's about it. Thanks for the help!

 

[Lethalchem]

Engine mods are not really worth it for this car..the protege engine..don't like big hp...My suggestion is to get the biggest wing you can find..it should ad like 40hp easily!(jerkit)

But serously..the p5 is not a drag car..it's great for driving quickly around corners..i have put nitrous on my car..and now i have put a turbo...was it worth it to me?

Not really..but i wanted a faster car and could not afford anything else at the time!

But the next car will be fast stock!

Chas

Thanks for your honesty. That's kind of what I was realizing as well. Just wanted to make sure. (2thumbs)

 

[Lethalchem]

lethalchem - dont forget 150whp for my engine includes my already done mods, not just plonking on an exhaust with no other mods. have a look in my sig for current mods

Ohh, ok. That makes more sense now. I read it to mean you were hoping for 150 with just a tune and exhaust. Good luck with things. I hope it works out well for you!

 

[twilightprotege]

no worries...yeah 150 with exhaust, big cams and head work

 

[Lethalchem]

Actaually an exhuast and intake by itself gives more than 10whp. i have seen the dynos. For me the only thing worth modding on this car is the engine since it is most lacking. A good selection of bolt-ons and or internals can yield decent results. And with the car being so light u can easily notice the difference. 150whp+ for twilight is very realistic since i am putting down probably close to 125+whp...hoping to have 135-140 after a bit more work... exhaust cam etc..then dyno

Oh I don't doubt that the numbers you are talking about are attainable, but how much are you really willing to spend for 30-40whp? I'm not interested in dropping $1000's for those kinds of numbers when, as stated earlier, it's not a drag car to begin with. I'm all about modifying cars and chasing HP, but there's got to be a decent $$/HP ratio. (wink)

 

[Lethalchem]

no worries...yeah 150 with exhaust, big cams and head work

Have you had it at the track yet to see how she runs compared to stock?

 

[akhilleus]

Still for a thousand $ =roughly30whp u can get a nice bump which will translate well considering the physical characteristics of the car. Handling is worth modifying too. But either way to do anything right... perf, susp, appearance etc... u got to be prepared to spend some money

 

[twilightprotege]

my cost benefit ratio is $100 = 1whp....and that's aussie dollars so about $77usd at the moment.

i havent taken my car on a circuit yet, only the dyno (see sig)