2G Safe HP for a 96 GST

[DsmCT]

Hello all, I was wondering what is a safe hp for my 96 GST. I’ve read a couple threads that say the fwd shouldn’t be pushed too much. I’ve been restoring it as a daily driver but now that I j bought another daily I want to add power. I live in sac btw so a good/decent GSX is pretty hard to come by. Thanks

 

[steve]

It's all about how much money you're willing to spend and the battle between HP and traction.

It's a 25 yo car, unless you put it away and don't drive it, how safe do you expect things to be?

 

[Mello]

210 hp.

 

[97egl]

There are unfortunately only bench racing answers to this questions.... BUT If all the proper maintenance has been done on the car and it's being built and tuned properly the average stock bottom end 7 bolt can live in the neighborhood of 350-450 horsepower. This is assuming the car isn't beat on and/or was not beat on prior to you buying it.

Also just to clear up your comment about "a FWD shouldn't be pushed too much". Whoever told you that is talking out their a$$ unless they are saying a FWD isn't worth putting money into (and that's just their opinion). Both cars use the same exact engine. And as far as the cars overall you can technically put out more power with a GST before needing to do driveline upgrades than you can with a gsx because the GST will spin the tires and the gsx will hook and break parts. (My opinion)

 

[steve]

Yep, the AWD cars hook up and break things and the FWD cars wheel hop and break things.
Since your in California you'll have a whole set of other challenges to having fun called CARB before you get to break much.

 

[JeffGS-T97]

A good quality diff will make things alot easier to hook. I am currently running a Quaife on mine and it does really well hooking. The FWD can be very formidable and fun to drive, unfortunately traction will always be a sort of issue. I recommend the diff for the simple fact of torque steer gets dangerous when you get to mid to high 300's whp. it can zip to one side really fast and to me thats a safety issue. So if you are planning 300+ install a good limit slip diff you will be needing it.

 

[DsmCT]

There are unfortunately only bench racing answers to this questions.... BUT If all the proper maintenance has been done on the car and it's being built and tuned properly the average stock bottom end 7 bolt can live in the neighborhood of 350-450 horsepower. This is amusing the car isn't beat on and/or was not beat on prior to you buying it.

Also just to clear up your comment about "a FWD shouldn't be pushed too much". Whoever told you that is talking out their a$$ unless they are saying a FWD isn't worth putting money into (and that's just their opinion). Both cars use the same exact engine. And as far as the cars overall you can technically put out more power with a GST before needing to do driveline upgrades than you can with a gsx because the GST will spin the tires and the gsx will hook and break parts. (My opinion)

Do you think I can achieve 350 with a 14b? Or just get the E3 16g. My plan is to redo the engine bay as everything is completely stock. I of course will get the obvious supporting mods like flex fuel and forged pistons and etc. And like what you said properly tuned. I know it may break but that’s ok. And I got this eclipse back in 2016 and owner didn’t tell me it had a blown head gasket and whole ton of problems that showed after a month of ownership. I restored it in 2018 and has been my daily til now.

 

[DsmCT]

It's all about how much money you're willing to spend and the battle between HP and traction.

It's a 25 yo car, unless you put it away and don't drive it, how safe do you expect things to be?

Willing to spend however much. I don’t expect it to be safe as I am trying to max it out. Someone did recommend to get a Quaife diff

 

[JeffGS-T97]

It doesn't necessarily need to be a Quaife, there are other good LSD's out there that just happens to be the one i decided to use.
Most importantly is catching up any and all maintenance before trying to increase power, an unhealthy engine will ware out in no time with the extra stress of increased output.

 

[jed344]

Maintenance is key. Make sure all that is taken care of first. For the power limit, i have tuned many stock block 7 bolts that lived at well north of 400whp a few at 500+. The drive lines on fwd's can be pushed really far as traction becomes a huge issue before they break hard parts. Heck the latest fwd i am helping with broke 3 axles at the track still a bone stock used trans with Quaife LSD.. went 12.3@129 with a 2.3 60ft to give you a idea of power.