Thread: Idea's on how to make my car sound better for cheap?

my 97 gt, the resonator is rusted through a little. I think it sounds good and it does not drone at all. My 98 is still solid but i'm thinking about cutting a little slit in the resonator to make it sound like my 97. Just an idea for ya.

Drop to a 3.4 since your getting headers. It will be a much more common setup and a canned tune would run better.

You need something to scan before you start dropping pulleys and that'll will tell you what you can run. You don't want knock...knock will make you go BOOM and every car is different what works for one might not work for the next.

Originally Posted by REDCOMPG

You need something to scan before you start dropping pulleys and that'll will tell you what you can run. You don't want knock...knock will make you go BOOM and every car is different what works for one might not work for the next.

How would I go about that? I can't afford some $400 scanner, and I'm from a small town in Upper Michigan with no shops that do anything performance related. Small town problems Google is just giving me thread after thread of people arguing over KR none say here guy this is what you need, and how to do it.

Aeroforce scan gauge can be bought.


Throwing a smaller pulley on your car is like banging a stripper and hoping not catch anything. You could do it but you run the risk of it knocking and eventually causing you to chip a piston which of course going to require a rebuild or another motor. In my opinion if your serious about modding you need to invest in something to scan the car with. Or just leave the stock 3.8 on until then.

Probably not what you want to hear but it's about doing it safely and minimizing the risk of any damage.

Yea that's the cheapest you'll find it new unless you find a used one in the classifieds here but most don't part ways with it unless they're selling the car. It's not going to hurt to throw all the supporting mods on first and then wait until you have a scanner and let that decide what pulley to go with.

Generally speaking though, a 3.4 with headers, plugs, HAI, and a canned tune is a pretty safe setup. It is very very common and thus tried and true, so blowing up your car with it is fairly unlikely.

And on a side note, what good is a scanner gonna do him if he has no way to tune out the kr?

Ok... Cheap man's race car... Cheap man's scan for KR. If you have an Android phone that is

Go on EBay and look for the Bluetooth OBDII thingy... It's around $20, I got mine straight from china, lolz. Make sure you get the latest version. Then get the app called Torque, it's $5! Use the two together and you got active scanning for KR, you can see codes, reset them as well and also record most parameters needed to know what's happening with engine. Can't reprogram the PCM though... But it's still very helpful to ID problems. Otherwise, you gotta be able to scan and program/tune when dropping pulleys or it's just a crapshoot and your engine is the wager!

Good Luck!