Please help a girl out! what I can do to make my car quicker

[Injenpwr]

Ok, I need alot of advice on what I can do to make my car quicker in the 1/4 mile. I'm going to a local drag strip next month and i'd like to be able to beat my time from 2 years ago (which was a pathetic 17.766). The only thing is, my car is automatic (unfortunately) and all of the forums I've been doing research on don't mention anything about how the mods will afffect an auto tranny.

Every one is mentioning going to the 60mm TB from MP and p&p the intake manifold to match, getting a header, doing underdrive pulleys, doing the cams... but i haven't read anything about fuel upgrades or ignition upgrades. I don't want to do nitrous and i can't afford a turbo and tranny swap. Please help me by pointing me in the right direction as to which mods i should do to improve me automatic (shrug) 420a down that 1/4. THANKS!

The facts - I own a 98 n/t with currently 76K miles and modds consisting of injen short ram air intake, 2.25" catback exhaust (minus resinator) with Hayame muffler... THANK YOU!!!

 

[guedo512]

not too sure what to say and what not to. if you have a 2.25'' exhaust i would bump it up to a 2.50''. thats what i have and its great. i would dump the short ram in favor of a cold air intake also. a good investment might be to send your computer out to JET or another tuning company to fit your needs.

as for building your motor up, it may not be worth it. a turbo kit is the main way to see better hp gains, along with nitrous. it all depends how much you want to spend on your car. personally the amount of work you can do to the 420a n/t wont show big gains. their are some all motor guys building strong motors in the process, but their goals are no greater than 14's.

 

[Injenpwr]

yea, increasing my air flow makes a lot of sense, whether its the intake or exhaust or both. But do you think it would still make a noticiable difference in my accell. with the auto tranny? Or is there something entireley different i should be focusing on dealing with the tranny problem? Thank you!

 

[heff]

I think the gains should be close to the same regardless of your tranny, it's just that with an auto, less of the power that the engine makes gets to the wheels, which with a car that already is low on horsepower is not good news. The harsh truth, is that if you want a "fast" car you either need to put ALOT of money into this car or get another car. My advice is to think about your long term goals with this car and research alot before you spend money on it.
Heff

 

[Injenpwr]

Thanks for your responce Heff. Yea i'm not planning on dumping any type hard core money into this car becuase of all of its handicaps. I figured there wouldn't be much out there for a n/t auto owner to really make a difference. I just want to do something so my time is a little better... I need a change from what i've become used to in the car....i need a new addition to my modd list, even if its nothing really amazing.
If anything, I might try to do either UDP, header, or the 60mm TB and p&p I.M.... don't know what other options i couldhave. Thanks again for the feedback... please keep it coming!

Niki

 

[Talon5786]

Ok first go out and get a cold air intake and a 2.5 " exhaust and some afx udp, and header then you should be in the 16's bracket which is better then your last run
Joe

 

[top_end95]

Originally posted by guedo512
....a good investment might be to send your computer out to JET or another tuning company to fit your needs.

I hope you're kidding. All that does is trick the sensor to dump more fuel into the engine, resulting in bad gas mileage and no performance gains.

Niki: Look into the Crane or Crower cams for some top-end power.
Cam gears would also be a good investment if you're staying N/A.

Everything else listed sounds right.

Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[Injenpwr]

Thank you so much for all the feedback guys! This is great!

top end - i went to day to a local import perf. shop to see what kind of deals they could offer me. I think the best thing for the time being is to try to get my car off the line alot quicker. I think the 4-2-1 header set-up might help me with that, along with the 60mm TB and p&p of my stock I.M. I tried finding out some prices for cams for my car, but the guy couldn't find any.... but i know they make them... very few, but i know they make them.

Talon - i would love to open up my exhaust flow more so with a 2.5" cat-back, but i don't know if i want to spend that much money. It sucks being in this limited-funds situation, but i have no other options. I'm also pretty happ with my short intake right now, especially since i drove long distance everyday, so with all the rain we've had in the N.E so far, i might just stay away from the CIA for now, don't think it would do that much either. But thank you so much for helping me by giving me ideas and input! I appreciate it sooo much!

I'm going to now try to figure out if i should go for just the header, or the TB + p&p I.M, or UDP, or Cam Gears..... choices, choices, choices! Keep all the advice coming! You guys are helping me out so much!

 

[97eclipseRS]

Originally posted by Injenpwr
Thank you so much for all the feedback guys! This is great!

top end - i went to day to a local import perf. shop to see what kind of deals they could offer me. I think the best thing for the time being is to try to get my car off the line alot quicker. I think the 4-2-1 header set-up might help me with that, along with the 60mm TB and p&p of my stock I.M. I tried finding out some prices for cams for my car, but the guy couldn't find any.... but i know they make them... very few, but i know they make them.

Talon - i would love to open up my exhaust flow more so with a 2.5" cat-back, but i don't know if i want to spend that much money. It sucks being in this limited-funds situation, but i have no other options. I'm also pretty happ with my short intake right now, especially since i drove long distance everyday, so with all the rain we've had in the N.E so far, i might just stay away from the CIA for now, don't think it would do that much either. But thank you so much for helping me by giving me ideas and input! I appreciate it sooo much!

I'm going to now try to figure out if i should go for just the header, or the TB + p&p I.M, or UDP, or Cam Gears..... choices, choices, choices! Keep all the advice coming! You guys are helping me out so much!

you can get crane #16 cams for about 400 bucks from www.howellautomotive.com and they are good street cams for an na setup and will give you a good amount of power. as far as exhaust, 2.25" is ok but 2.5" is preferred. since you have an injen intake, do what i did and get a cold air extension. its 60 bucks on www.horsepowerfreaks.com and if you know its going to rain, you can have the extension off in a couple minutes and be back to a short ram. as for what mods you should do, i think the tb and p&p intake mani and udp will show you the most noticeable gains. hope everything works out for you. feel free to hit me up on aim anytime if you have any questions. my screen name is injendsm

 

[big green]

Slap on a nitrous kit. Easy cheap and will make a HUGE differance

 

[91TalonTSiCT]

N2O might actually make more sense with an automatic car because it sprays when your foot is to the floor and theres no lifting to shift. BUT...since funds are your problem, my problem, and about 90% of every DSMers problem, allowing your engine to breathe better is important, and not all that expensive. Just remember that mods like cams, cam gears, ignition, etc need the proper timing and tuning to make them work to their full potential.

 

[Injenpwr]

green - nitrous would be amazing to have and to use.... but if something did happen, and if my motor did get busted from it, i would be up "you know which creek" without a paddle. Maybe someday though, when i have enough money and i feel comfortle and confident in my motors longevity and performance, i'll put a little 50 shot on, just for kicks and surprises. That would be cool.

91talontsict - I was talking to a guy at a local import perfmance shop yesterday and i mentioned UDP to him. He told me that i should only get the pulley that goes to the alt... and not to get the crank pulley becuase it willonly huirt my car and mess up my idle.... which makes sence to me IF you don't adjust it right (i'm guessing there's a way to adjust those pulleys in that situation). What have you guys heard about this or is it just a crock coming from this guy?

 

[91TalonTSiCT]

An underdrive pulley is just what it says. It's smaller so it underdrives the other pulleys. If youre not getting the set then I wouldnt even bother with it. Theres no adjustments on a crank pulley. It's just a weight reducer. Aftermarket cam gears are adjustable and can mess up your idle if you dont install everything correctly. As for the 50 shot, I have to ask a friend of mine what he did because he has a stock 420a eclipse and has nitrous hooked up and hasnt run into any problems yet.

 

[97eclipseRS]

a 50 shot is nothing to a stock 420a engine. a 75 shot can be pushing it a little but still works fine. anything higher and you better have a performance bottom end ready for when your stock when explodes. anyway, check out www.2gnt.com for more good and insightful info on tuning your car

 

[BlueMoonEclipse]

After engine mods:

Shift kit/Cooler for tranny/and final drive mod

That should help a lot

 

[Injenpwr]

Thanks for all of the help guys! THis is the type of info and direction I needed to get my car somewhat ready for next month. All i need to do now is get my funds together and decide which set up i'm going to go with. Thanks again!!

 

[Injenpwr]

Bluemooneclipse - i read up on some of those tranny mods and it seems like it would be the best thing for me if i'm trying to get through the gears quicker. Especially take care of that stupid O/D dip in the rpms... but i didn't see how much something like that would cost... and i wouldn't want to just do one thing at a time.

 

[95gs?tcrush]

I agree with the n02 idea it definetly is a good idea. Also at howell you will find a crate 2.2 stroker. This is for when you have some money to spend. You might want to look linto that before doin turbo because with that you don't have to change your internals there already done. Plus you will get some GOOD gains wiht that. Then maybe think about the t.b. and stuff because you might as well start out doin everything right. Also if you don't like the auto and want a 5 speed but don't want to get rid of the car then do a swap they are fairly inexpensive. And by then you will have a whole new car out to chase down those gsx's and other non naturals out there.

 

[natef420]

ive got basically the same car as you..420a automatic. heres a suggestion. HEADWORK. you can port and polish your intake and tb, but keep in mind all that goes though the head also. your gonna notice huge gains by having your head ported and polished. as far as cheaper mods, check out the screamin demon coil pack on howellautomotive. combine that with a set of good plugs and wires and you'll notice a little better throttle response. i can run consistant mid 9's in the 8th with a 75 shot and an automatic. just keep modding...low et's dont happen over night

 

[gs-nas-t]

Build your motor and spary. BUt, I meet a kid that had an intake, headers, cam shafts, cam gears, exhaust, ignition, and a coupleof other mods and I think he went like low 15's or something like that...

 

[GSGoinFast]

guys she needs this help by next month... when it was february! i think this ones been settled and died

 

[speedy13]

if you want a cheap good mod, get the afx underdrive pulley,and a new mechanich. it will not hurt your car in any way.all it does is put less load on the engine by reducing the weight the crankshaft has to spin to turn your accesories.it also spins your accesories a little less so they don't work as much,but not too much so it affects the funtcion of anything.i got mine from howeel for $110 including the belts.

 

[miamieclipse]

umm if this is an old post, have any of you asked her what she had done since then? And does she still need help???

Umm Niki: What have u done since then? Do you still need help?

 

[GSGoinFast]

umm if this is an old post, have any of you asked her what she had done since then? And does she still need help???

Umm Niki: What have u done since then? Do you still need help?

good idea mike, although i dont know how often she comes on

 

[GSGoinFast]

Bluemooneclipse - i read up on some of those tranny mods and it seems like it would be the best thing for me if i'm trying to get through the gears quicker. Especially take care of that stupid O/D dip in the rpms... but i didn't see how much something like that would cost... and i wouldn't want to just do one thing at a time.

this post was the last post she made on the site... that was february. i dont think she'll be back for a while