ET improvements

[ChevelleSSLS6]

First off, I will say that I know that CAI and exhaust is the first things to do when improving power with our GAs, crappy manifolds too.:(

What mods give what improvements in the quarter mile, I'm saying exhaust (2.5 inch), kn drop in, ram air, wai, cai, headers, combinations of each, etc.

Accelerating on the highway from about 70 my GA is too slow, damn focus giving me a ricer flyby I wanted to kill his little act of "high performance". I need a crotch rocket, hehehe... that would've done it nicely.:P

...or a 3800SC swap, modified of course.:D

but, sadly, I don't have a lot of money and am trying to figure if I should save for another GA (same color and stuff but I want a factory sunroof, I dont trust aftermarket), go for the mods, or what.

[Doctor Speed]

Go for the mods.

For your power needs, I'd say CAI. It sounds like a larger peak HP gain will give you the power where you want it. A CAI will give you exactly that and the 70+ mph accelleration will feel completely different. Add an exhaust and your powerband characteristics will be noticeably different. You will feel the upper RPM pull that the Grand Am simply does not have in it's stock form.

Some 1/4 mile info:
Stock (except for a drop in K&N) I pulled a 15.88
Cold air intake & exhaust dropped me to a 15.29

[kickarsgrdam01]

with an intake, exhaust, and 62mm throttle body i run dead even with my friend who runs a 15 flat at the track...so yeah i found the throttle body to be a good investment too

[voyager]

Some 1/4 mile info:
Stock (except for a drop in K&N) I pulled a 15.88
Cold air intake & exhaust dropped me to a 15.29
take that with a grain of salt. i can go to the track one day and run 16.2 and the next day and run 15.6 without changing anything but the weather or the humidity.

UDP and 'breathing' mods like intake, exhaust and headers will help more in the top end, like after the 1/8 mile, than anywhere else. you'll get higher trap speeds that way, and more power for passing on the highway. the gain won't be as noticeable in your 60ft/1000ft times, i.e. 0-60mph acceleration. lightweight rims, stiffer motor & tranny mounts and under-driven pullies will be more noticeable on the low end.. and so will headers with short tubes. WAI from the dynos i've seen seems to help more at lower rpm than CAI and vice versa - WAI's hp gains taper off at higher rpm where CAIs don't.

so.... if you're mostly cocerned about highway passing, get a CAI, an exhaust system, and headers if you can afford them. if you're more into streetlight-to-streetlight acceleration, go for an UDP, a CAI, some light rims and poly mounts.

[Pte Socks]

Rims make a big difference. Stockers on my Se weigh in at 20 lbs and 35 with tires. My 17's run me 50 lbs with tires. I noticed alot of my low end has been lost due to that extra 15 lbs per rim.

[3100gagt]

I dont know man my car is pretty quick.
Slp exhaust (Green) drop in with high flow cat.
My car dynoed 158HP and 168 TQ go with that and get a DHP pcm or try and intence racing one. thats what im getting soon. only $100 instead of $200.

[voyager]

Originally posted by Neo-Blue99GASE
Rims make a big difference. Stockers on my Se weigh in at 20 lbs and 35 with tires. My 17's run me 50 lbs with tires. I noticed alot of my low end has been lost due to that extra 15 lbs per rim.

oh yeah. if you've ever driven a car with the 4t60e transmission, you know what a dog it is off the line. i'm able to squeal brand new tires on dry pavement in this heat after switching from my stock 21lb Z26 rims to 13.5lb ROTA's. getting any amount of spin with the 3100 auto is an accomplishment!

[ChevelleSSLS6]

Originally posted by Doctor Speed


Some 1/4 mile info:
Stock (except for a drop in K&N) I pulled a 15.88
Cold air intake & exhaust dropped me to a 15.29

/\I ran a similar time on the Gtech, trap speed was around 90.

How much do stiffer motor mounts cost?