of course, you can't have one with the other. but, when it comes to modding your car, what are you aiming for? i personally favor the low-end torque kick, granted of a few ponies to the ground as with a downpipe + full catback. the CAI is also ruled out because of this reason. i would've also opted for a 4-2-1 header, but the emission ****'s here in california does not approve of such.

i've read countless posts about the 'best' I/H/E combo and the potential of bolt-on's and what not, but looking at the dyno's, the low-end power is almost non-existent and you only have about a 2.5 ~ 3K rpm range to acutally enjoy the throttle. i mean, the car could only go so fast, and when you're already doing 70+mph, there's no point. but hey, to each their own.

 

Sounds to me your best bet would be to lighten your car. Lightweight pulley, ligher rims, removal of unneccessary parts (not sure what those are lol), but that sort of thing. I too live in cali but said the hell with the emission ****'s and got a CAI. But i'd say do mods that make your car lighter thus making the 140 whp more effective.

 

Who needs seats anyways just get rid of all your seats even the front ones and squat when you drive...ultimate weight reduction

 

this is a good point because it shows what people will go to lengths to shave off fractions of a second to make this possible. i really like the tc interior. if i were to have a faster car, i'd probably save up for a corvette.

 

also, about the weight reduction, what people overlook the most is their clothes. seriously, the clothes you wear is about 20 pounds. that's about 5 horsepower. i prefer to race while naked, this way, i get that swift breeze caress my ***** when going 150 mph.

 

jajaja racing naked? that was funny!

 

I prefer a balance of horespower an torque. I know this is somewhat of a cliche answer, but I look at it this way. Torque gets you moving, and horsepower keeps you moving. Without one, your car would have great starts, but horrible finishes, and vice versa. Take for example the Hondas and Acuras. Their motors are all horsepower and no torque. Including the celica gts, 180hp, 125tq, same torque the corolla has. Now, depending on what you want to do, autox or drags, it becomes much different. Autox is great for torque-built cars, drags more of a balance, maybe higher horsepower numbers then tq.

 

Torque is all that moves you. It is the only physical force produced by an engine. Power is a measure of how that torque is applied at a given rpm.

 

Im starting to like your quirky remarks
Welcome to SL

 

welll.. think of it this way.. torque is what gets your car going.. more torque. faster take off. etc.. . but you do need the horsepower to keep it all going ..

 

thanks. i've been on several car forums in my days, but SL is by far the best one in my book. the DIY help section along with the tech section is very thorough. something other car forums should envy.

 

torque baby!! all about torque

 

I remember hearing some where "Horse power sells parts but torque wins races" um yeah

 

Torque can win races, but so can HP. If a car has torque down low, and no top end, thats no good either. But HP and torque depend on each other so cant have 1 without the other.
Personally, if I only cared about staying below 4K RPM 98% of the time, then torque is all I would want! And then there is gearing to consider too. My past 2 cars where Honda's and I found a lot of joy being able to drive around the 7K RPM mark even if they were slower than the tC on the straights.

And there are cars that have a healthy balance of both! Nissan 350Z, Corvette Z06, BMW 330i........ I'm sure there are more.

 

With a proper gear ratio you can utilize torque to it's full potential. Either way an equal balance is ideal.

 

Ahhh, took me a little while to remember where to look
http://videos.streetfire.net/search/...20bc543951.htm

 

i prefer to be able to corner at higher speeds, considering i dont like speeding tickets...

 

To keep torque us a short Ram, 4-2-1 and a 2.25 inch Exhaust, all the way with a High Flow Cat and a Good resonator. That's my torque list at least, but not the best upper power to go too.

 

With an N/A 4-banger, you should just modify for engine sound and throttle response. You're not going to get nearly the gains you would see with a V8 or factory-boosted. People "OoooOO" and "AAAaah!" at a 300-hp scion tc... but would crying and be asking for a refund if their LS1 made that.

With that being said-

**If you're truly focused on all-out, straight-line racing.... then horsepower should be your focus.

**If you're focused on track or autocross, then you want a balanced increase of torque and power. Focus on RESPONSE. You don't need to accelerate astoundingly well if you grip and can reduce your time on the brakes.

**If you're just going to drive it from A-B and want a little more kick, then work on low-end. Most non-serious tuners fall into this category. I like being able to pass slow-moving cars without dropping a gear.


and of course... since there will always be someone _____ing about it...

Weight reduction is by far the best thing you can do, if you can live without the comforts. Better acceleration, Better braking, Better turning, Better gas mileage, the list goes on and on. ... It's just that you need to decide if you want to give up these comforts day-to-day... and eventually, you wont.

 

I'm going to have to deviate from the norm here. I had too much fun driving my Turbo eg civic. Now while that had more torque than the stock motor, it was more of a horsepower motor. It really shined in the higher rpms (4,500 - 7,200). Most cases I would fall behind in a race from the start, but in second gear (runs up to 60mph) I was almost always ahead. Something about coming from behind to make the pass right before the finish line just tickles my junk. ya know?

Is the 4-1 header (the horsepower one. haha) really that much different from the 4-2-1 (the torquey one).?
I say screw em' both and get a downpipe for the turbo you're putting on!