4 ways to increase HP on a budget
- Thread starter scott5626
- Start date
ThatTmoGuy
New member
an intake alone will add absolutely nothing aside from noise and improved flow because the stock tune will dumb the mod down. With the tune you will see a good gain and the noise is a plus.
ungawd
New member
Without the tune you will benefit from better throttle response and possibly a negligible increase in gas mileage. With the tune you will get better throttle response, a handful of horses (maybe 5), and possibly a small yet noticeable mpg increase.
GM is notorious for having extremely restrictive intake systems. Eliminate that using pretty much anything aftermarket and it feels like a different car.
Eric Smit
Enforcer
without a tune, you will gain absolutely nothing but noise. The Sonic is notorious for having a stock ECM that dumbs down the engine to keep a consistent drive, nullifying any mod you do.
-Eric Smit
firstorbit84
New member
5-10, a "good gain", a "handful of horses (maybe 5)"
has anyone with a tune actually dynoed the car with and without intake?
has anyone with a tune actually dynoed the car with and without intake?
scott5626
Member
I have to disagree with ya here. The cat back I just added made a significant improvement in throttle response without a tune. I think any improvements made to air coming in and exiting will add benefits. The tune would no doubt accentuate thoe.
Not sure if you get a kick back from triffecta when you mention their name Eric
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Eric Smit
Enforcer
I have to disagree with ya here. The cat back I just added made a significant improvement in throttle response without a tune. I think a any improvements made to air coming in and exiting will add benefits. The tune would no doubt accentuate those.
Not sure if you get a kick back from triffecta when you mention their name Eric
you can disagree all you want, but you're wrong. it doesn't matter what you add; the ECM is set to 148/123tq and it is going to stay there.
-Eric Smit
ungawd
New member
The increased throttle response comes from eliminating the pre-filter restriction, the snorkel. The absolute pressure inside the box is variable. By removing that, with chopping the box or drilling it, or replacing the intake, the pressure will be normalized throughout. It is something the computer can't control. Hitting the throttle requests air, with less restrictive flow it will get their faster. That leads to the better throttle response everyone alludes to regardless if they're tuned or not.
The amount of HP an aftermarket intake will yield is variable. On a NA engine 3-5 for a small displacement engine would be in the ballpark. A forced induction small displacement engine would benefit more, 5-10 would be the expected range. The variation comes from the manufacturing quality and design.
Eric Smit
Enforcer
Your information is accurate for every vehicle before now. The Sonic is not a normal car. Everything is computer controlled. You do not have a throttle pedal, you have a "percentage of available power" pedal.
The only thing mods do on an untuned engine after the engine learns down the power would be to make your engine work less to produce the same power.
-Eric Smit
The only thing mods do on an untuned engine after the engine learns down the power would be to make your engine work less to produce the same power.
-Eric Smit
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ungawd
New member
Regardless, if I requested any amount of power and had a less restrictive intake I would get air faster to the Throttle Body than the stock air box. No restrictions leads to better flow which leads to better throttle response.
Eric Smit
Enforcer
your logic is not flawed.
Scott- This site is supported by the advertisements you see and by the members with blue names that paid to support. Vendors are paying to advertise, because it's their business.You can play that card if you want, but you'll lose all day. Trifecta isn't a supporting vendor, but it's the best tune for the car. We don't just mindlessly support everything a vendor sells, take the useless Injen intake for example.
-Eric Smit
ungawd
New member
That's a fallacy. I'm not a vendor nor am I affiliated or associated with any. I am pointing to the merits of an aftermarket intake exclusive of tuning. A tune is the best cost ratio to performance item that can be purchased. A less restrictive intake, exhaust for that matter, have benefits regardless of tuning. They won't gain power without tuning though.
Eric Smit
Enforcer
I'd like to extend a whoops apology. You were saying one thing, but my tired eyes were reading a different thing. my bad.
-Eric Smit
ungawd
New member
I'm going to slap you!
scott5626
Member
I was even talking about you lol I'm on your side.
scott5626
Member
The only reason I mentioned the Vender topic is because I asked a vendor info about pricing about a particular part I was considering ordering and got several rather rude replies. One reply in fact stated that venders paid the monthly fees here and without them this site wouldn't exist.
I saved those pm's.
I saved those pm's.
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firstorbit84
New member
looks like none of the picture links for the dyno are working anymore