My ? is this...

well first of all, to be clear, i am not a mechanic, i know almost nothing technical about cars (although im learning) and the most important... i DO NOT RACE....professional or otherwise...i sometimes will go neck n neck with some random **** when on the streets...you know, like when someone cuts me off or something of the sort, i get mad and blow by his ****....he comes back and its on! or a random **** with an import comes and revs his hard to let me know hes there....and i then HAVE to respond....lol you know, that type of a thing lol, but for the most part, since my source of income IS my License, im strictly and *** mostly*** legal.

so disclaimer aside...lol

my thing is this:

I want to boost my cars HP and pickup performance by a few notches, and also for $$$ reasons..i wanna do so little bit by bit. ( reason for me wanting to take it slow is that i also recently bought a truck so im DEAD BROKE LOL..lol being honest ) I notice that on certain mags i read and places i visit online, there are THOUSANDS of things one can do to a car that will improve HP by a few hits. like for example, computer chips, intakes, exhausts, weight reductions etc...

So my ? is this:


1.when doing things little bit by bit, is it worth it?
Since im mainly on city streets and DO NOT race my car on a track or otherwise...(except like stated above) will this minor added HP matter? will it even be noticeable? Like 4 example, if i do a minor upgrade to something in my car that's supposed to give me 10 additional hp...will i even notice that right away? or is it something that i will notice when i add more hp stuff?

2. When applying these upgrades, for example, if i add something that'll take my car from 200HP to 210hp...how is that extra power applied? is it applied to top speed or is it more in the manner in which my car reaches that top speed?

- - -

In general, im interested more in pickup power than top speed since again, im on city streets...makes no sense for me personally to get more on top speed since i VERY rarely get that far lol.

hope my thoughts and questions arent confusing...
someone educate me...thanks in advace

 

first, i suggest you spend some time at a drag strip and less drag racing some **** on the street. it will be cheaper in the long run.
you can run your truck, your delivery van or your car, and you will have fun with any of them.
as they say horse power = cubic $$$$.
lower rear gears will get you moving quicker than any other "inexpensive" bolt on. if you don't go on the freeways much go with 4.10's. if you are not out of $$$, then -
next improve the exhaust. it will payoff later in power, but payoff now in sound!

 

exhaust is good if you also plan on doing a few other mods. But a rule of thumb i've found is that for every ten lbs. you take off is 1 horsepower you free up to be useable and it doesn't affect your gas mileage and your horse power to weight ratio will be better. but if you get an exhuast i would also be good to get an intake

 

sorry fellas but im not a parts kind of guy...soi take things in the literal sense but here it goes..


"cheaper" how so?

as far as my truck, i got a TRACTOR...as in a tractor that pulls trailers etc lol. im a long dist. trucker...so my only option 4 fun is my daily stang.

also, what your saying is that i should save my $$$ and get an exhaust setup instead of adding stuff little by little? and aside from sound (which i want REALLY bad lol) how will it payoff later as oppose to when i do it now?....what i mean is, based on your response, for example if today i got a whole exhaust setup done, what will the benefit be later on that i wont get now after the job is done???

also (sorry for the SUPER noob ? but) when u say lower rears, what does that exactly mean? and will it cause my car to look like its raised at the front??? i think i understand but want to be sure


so what your saying is that for every 10lbs i take off the car, thats "1" ( ONE ) HP thats added to my overall HP that gets added?? and if this is what you mean then, if say my car is 200HP, and i take 10 lbs off, then my cars HP is 201HP? or will it technically still be 200HP but better performance from what the car ccan do with its 200hp because its lighter?

 

Reducing the weight will not increase hp but it will increase the performance due to less weight. So if your car has 200hp and you reduce the weight 50lbs, your car would perform similar to a 205hp car.

 

every 100lbs is a tenth (.10)

 

steeper gears (3.73 or 4.10 ratio) and exhaust, everything else is pretty much a waste of money so start saving for a:

1. blower
or
2. nitrous
or
3.h/c/i

been through all the bolt ons and the only differance worth spending money on was the gearsand the exhaust.

 

Rear End Gear changes are expensive and destroy freeway economy. Start with basics! Air in Air out. Get yourself a good after market Cold Air Input ( K&N, BBK) cost is under $300 and a monkey can install it. You will gain 15-20 HP! And yes, you will feel it! The next most effective thing you can do is a programmer (Predator Works For Me). You can "Tune" in another 20 to 40 HP and, of course, if it is under warranty, you can return it to stock configuration before returning it to the dealership. Stay away from ripoffs. IE Throttle Body Spacers, and the infamous "Chip" found on Ebay for $.99, it is a resistor and will screw up your computer. Third, consider new exhaust (Like the X Pipe) simple and cheap. If you simply improve the air intake and tune it, you will outrun any stock unit. Lastly, I encourage you to rein in your "Road Rage," and stop street racing before you kill someone.
Best/ Bill

2007 Shelby Gt. Black & Silver Appx400 HP

 

gears are not that expensive. it's a mustang,wantfreeway economy buy a honda. you won't be getting anywhere near 15-20 hp out of any cai. lol, your not going to feel any boost in power from a cai....noob

 

Hot Wheels:
You sound like a very young man!K&N will guaranty their advertisedHP increases. The guy said he wasn't very technical; not many can install new gears, don't know how much labor is to install them? Then, there is the issue of speedomoter recalibrations. He sounded like he wanted simple bolt ons.