Thread: Are Peformance chips woth it?

well, i am looking at spending at most $1k, i am only a junior in high school, not even 17 yet, so i dont have that much money, and there is no way my parents would chip in for performance mods. also, i have never worked with cars, so unless one of my friends will do it for free (im working on that) installation has to be considered as a cost. It looks like a chip isnt worth it. i will tell you what my friends have done to there cars, and have suggested, and it would be really cool if u could tell me if u agree with them. it seems the most popular upgrades are:
cold air intake
k&m filter
new exaust
new headers
platinum spark plugs
good ideas? the GTP already has dual exaust, and a supercharger, so will these things help my car? and how much would they cost? how much HP would each add? how hard/costly to install? thanks alot for the info, u have no idea how much i appreciate this

my goal is 300HP (a 60HP gain), will the mods above get close to that?

Originally Posted by DanGTP

cold air intake: Get a wiz or make your own
k&n filter: Just a drop-in is cheaper then a CAI, but not as good performance gain
new exaust: I'm assuming mufflers, don't worry, the stockers aren't very restrictive
new headers: Headers will give more performance, but do your homework on them
platinum spark plugs: NEVER in these cars! The factory plugs are Iridium. Either stick with the Iridium, or put in a cheaper Autolite 605 copper plug.

so a k&n filter WILL actually improve performance? by how much? (at least 5hp?)
and i dont understand what u said about the exaust. im sorry, im just starting to get in to cars now that i have a friend with a celica GT (from between 00-05, 4cylender he has new intake, exaust, headers) and a friend with a 05 350Z (stock, v6)and i want to destroy both of them, lol
so what are the cheapest things i can do to my car to add horsepower with out damaging the car? i assume k&n filter ($45) is #1.
i just want to be faster than a 2005 350Z :P
but if thats not possible on the cheap, than so be it. i can still beat him (he cant shift, lol). just what should i buy that is cheap and will help performance? would those copper plugs benefit me? my car's mileage is only in the 40,000s (hard to belive, but true) so everythings pretty new (still got the new car smell, not even kidding!)

Originally Posted by DnaProdigy

Not to be rude but i already spelt it out for you. Route 1 is what you are looking for as i suggested in my previous post. Go in order of the mods i listed [you could go without the scan gauge if you don't drop the pulley but every one on here im sure will HIGHLY suggest you can scan before and after a pulley drop]. Also you can push the plog to later because its a bit more difficult. Trust me i want down the same path, this is the simplest way to gain the most HP for the cheapest. I mean dam i even gave you the links to where you can find those products the cheapest [new] that i know of.

K&N filter fine, but a filter alone is a hot air intake giving you little to no horse power only MPG. You want a cold air intake or a fender wall intake. I like the cold air inductions box but the majority of people here have the wizaired. All of my mods on my list are very easy to install with little experience, beside the pulley, and if you get to that point then we will talk about it.

sorry, i was just looking for other opinions. your suggestions were great, but even $1000 is alot for me and i can spend less with close performance i would like to know how, to get $1000 would take me a good 6 months. i could probably get half that by the end of this year. i guess i could spend a grand, but i would like upgrades sooner. so which of those parts u listed should i get first? i just dont have alot of money i am 16 and in high school, i cant work 40 hour weeks :/ just doing odd jobs to save up money. so i am on a pretty tight budget and just looking to what others have to say.

Originally Posted by DnaProdigy

Yea being on a budget is always the problem. IMO the first thing to do is open up the intake. If gives better performance, better gas millage and hearing the s/c wine is also a plus. With light to no modifications a fender wall intake or a cold air intake is the way to go. If you are moderately handy and as you said on a budget making your own FWI would be a good route. Here is a thread describing how to make one and what you need. I believe the materials plus the air filter will cost under $80. Now you have options for what air filter you want, if you want to spend more you can get the AMSOIL air filter = $63.05. Youd meed model eaau4090 [please double check on this as i am not 100% positive]. Your second option is a K&N re-0870 [again please check first]. This is cheaper i believe around $45. If you don't want the trouble then get one of the two CAI's i listed earlier, either the Cold Air Inductions or Wizaired. Then a PCM, I believe you will have to send your core [the one you already have] so your car will not be working for the time it takes to send it out get it programed and get it back. An Intense PCM would be the best option. $100. It does all of the stuff described here under features. You may also want a PCM tray $50, If not you can just wire tie your pcm down.

I would say this should be your first move . I am interested to see if anyone else agrees/disagrees with this.

thanks alot i really appreciate it.
im going to one of my friends houses who knows alot about cars tomorrow and he is going to look at my car and give me some advice too. the more tips the better