** Ok, those that know you know that you dislike dealerships due to your past
** experience with them. Others seem to have better dealings with them.
The term 'dislike' is putting it mildly. Dealerships have had dozens of visits over the past 30 years to prove to me that they're worthy of my business. I vote with my dollars, and they're not getting them anymore.
** Won't argue with you there as far as the tempature thing but a CAI does
** allow better flow to the engine.
Most achieve this by enlarging the intake pipe diameter and doing away with the MAF screen. At speed, they do tend to force feed the engine a bit. Maybe they should rename it 'force-fed air intake'? The term 'cold' tends to make intake equipment and beer more appealing, and marketing firms more profitable.
** That isn't quite accurate. A CAI by itself won't increase HP enough to feel,
** but add that with other bolt-ons, then you will definitely feel it when
** romping on the go pedal.
Agreed; adding several 2-3 hp. mods up together will make a slight difference. Running on a cooler day will usually achieve the same increase. Running downhill or in a tail wind helps even more. Most have come to expect more from these mods after reading the wild claims in magazines.
** Not worthless if going for better fuel economy. The less the engine has to
** work at spinning the accessories, the better the fuel economy.
I ran ASP/Steeda UD's for about a year and noticed no difference in fuel mileage at all. After reinstalling the OEM's, I noticed an increase in low end torque. An article I read recently proved this out; it showed a very significant decrease in power and torque below 4,500 rpm. Obviously they're not suited for my kind of street use, and I fell for the marketing BS hook, line and sinker.
** Ok, I'm sure everyone that is informed have realized what a joke splitfires
** are. Hell, I've even fell for the hype with my '94 Sentra XE. With research,
** people can find better plugs and wires.
Good marketing sells product, good or bad. I like the $.79 cent copper Champions myself, though I recently gave a set of $1.39 Champion Platinums to my Winter Beater for testing. I knew they wouldn't perform any differently - I was just feeling like Big Daddy Rich that day is all.
** Only more noise if a cross-over type of pipe is used with the wrong
** mufflers/cats. The difference is that V8's need the cross-over due to the
** firing order versus V6's even firing order. This means that I don't have to
** have a cross-over pipe when I change my single exhaust to duals.
I donno. Noise aside, OEM exhaust over the past 5-10 years has gotten pretty efficient. I think most make exhaust changes to improve sound quality which makes sense, but expecting huge performance gains is unrealistic. I love the sound of a healthy, roaring V-8, but I'm old and I get migraines easily.
** The way to circumvent the "warenty void" issue is put everything back to
** stock before taking it in and sobbing to the service writer that the car
** isn't working like it should. Better hope to remember to keep all the OEM
** parts!
Agreed! #1 rule for anyone doing mods on a new/new-used car: keep the OEM parts in a box for later use! I've forgotten to do this myself, and I've paid dearly for it.
** Like Johnathan asked, how does pulling the silencer off cause a drop? I've
** got mine off and didn't experience this problem. I'm thinking someone fed
** you some doo doo and showed you a rigged/fake dyno sheet or showed you a
** sheet showing the drop and forgot to mention that they messed with the
** timing.
We passed around a scanned article titled 'Agent 99' a few years ago that showed a valid dyno pull after the silencer on a 99 GT was removed with no other mods. The drop astounded the techs who were testing various mods on the car, and they had no explanation for it. They did reinstall it before moving on to other changes in an effort to maximize power.
** Good start down the modding road. I keep reading your website to make sure I
** don't forget something.
Oh man, that website! I'm working on a different version - it may go up later this weekend with quite a bit more information. The suspension/spring information table is quite unique though.
** I think you've been over hearing the BS that ricers spew. I have yet to read
** on this NG where a stang owner posted something about adding a
** CAI/UDP/Exhaust and was able to smoke a vette/camero/. Please don't confuse ricer spewing BS with a Stang owner.
I like the stories that swear someone in their Civic whooped an LS-6.
Regards,
-JD
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