Need Help!
Thread Starter
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 196
From: SC
Need Help!
I have stock 190hp 2003 V6 and I want to get the most horsepower out of it without forking 3k or 4k for a supercharger. What mods will I need to get big numbers ( I'm just getting into the car scene )
5th Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 2,267
From: Virginia
Unfortunately that's about the truth. Th only cost effective sure fire way to get any kind of power is a supercharger. You can spend 3-4k on bolt ons and not get half what you would gain from a supercharger.
Now there is a difference between fast and quick. Fast would be top speed. There's not much that can be done to make these cars fast.
Quick on the other hand is how well you accelerate. A quick car is much more fun to drive.
That being said, there's plenty you can do to make it quicker and more fun to drive.
Get yourself a set of gears, 3.73 for manual 4.10 for auto is the general rule of thumb, this will make the car quite a bit quicker.
Grab a tuner as well, you NEED a tuner to run gears if it's auto as the trans shifting is determined by speed and will need your speedometer to be reading correctly for your trans to shift.
A nice dual exhaust will make you feel all giddy hearing your car rumble nice and low. Do not remove the cats, these motors are quite raspy and will sound like a small import without the cats.
Get a good set of lowering springs and shocks, replace as many bushings as you can while your at it. All of this will make the car feel much different and will be a blast to drive.
Now there is a difference between fast and quick. Fast would be top speed. There's not much that can be done to make these cars fast.
Quick on the other hand is how well you accelerate. A quick car is much more fun to drive.
That being said, there's plenty you can do to make it quicker and more fun to drive.
Get yourself a set of gears, 3.73 for manual 4.10 for auto is the general rule of thumb, this will make the car quite a bit quicker.
Grab a tuner as well, you NEED a tuner to run gears if it's auto as the trans shifting is determined by speed and will need your speedometer to be reading correctly for your trans to shift.
A nice dual exhaust will make you feel all giddy hearing your car rumble nice and low. Do not remove the cats, these motors are quite raspy and will sound like a small import without the cats.
Get a good set of lowering springs and shocks, replace as many bushings as you can while your at it. All of this will make the car feel much different and will be a blast to drive.
Former Sponsor
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 2,271
From: PA
Glad to see you're interested in upgrading your powertrain. You can wake these cars up with some bolt-ons.
To get the most out of the car with bolt-ons you will want to get a tuner, intake, throttle body, long tube headers, mid pipe and a dual exhaust conversion kit. In addition to your power mods, like others said, you may want to get a 3.73 or 4.10 gear to improve your acceleration.
Keep in mind if you do want to make a purchase for your car, we offer a 6% discount to forum members. Also, if you see a product you are interested in, advertised cheaper elsewhere, we will match their price.
I hope this helps, and if you have any other questions let myself know, or contact our customer service team.
-Dan
Last edited by jthorn9; Feb 27, 2014 at 11:43 PM.