Full Bolt-on tC2s
 

For the tC2s who are full bolt-on, meaning:

Exhaust (pretty decent exhaust, i.e: Ark-Grip, Megan Racing, Greddy, Descendant, others),

Short Ram Intake (Injen, other reputable companies)

Headers (Dezod)

Other: Unichip & Lightweight Pulley

But with these mods, do you feel like your power has moderately increased?
I'm not going to Turbo simply because the money is not there, and I don't see myself saving up 5k-8k to do it all, as much as I <3 PTuning.

I don't want to find myself wasting money and being disappointed, but honestly I'm looking for maybe 20-23 (after doing all of these mods, maybe a few more) more horses, and not much more.
Just to make the car pull a bit more than it does, still being reliable as a daily driver.

To be completely honest with you, I don't think you'll ever see a 20-23 hp gain from just bolt on mods from a 2.4 liter N/A motor. You may "feel" an increase, but its mainly a placebo. Bolt ons are mostly for sound and looks. Don't get me wrong you'll get a few more hp like 10 more, but not 20-23. If you save what you want to spend on a Greddy RS exhaust, Headers and CAI you're about half way there to a Dezod turbo kit. I'm pretty sure other people have their opinions, but thats my $.02

Turbo or bust. After having boost on this car, any other car i buy has to have boost. Save the money you'd spend on bolt-ons and just go boost. Even if it takes you a while, you won't regret it.

I have all those mods and all it really did for me is make my car louder. Don't think about how many hp it will increase on the dyno but how good it feels to you. For me weight reduction makes my car feel better. Dyno will give you max hp at peak. You never get there on the street.

1700 is not half of 4600. Not even close. A maintained turbo is a lot more than 4600, anyways. Because with most turbos, you need to make upgrades.

I don't want turbo horsepower; it would be 'nice', but if I wanted/had to save up 8k, I would drop it on another car and trade this one in. Just being honest.

I just want a little bit of extra power. And I'm wondering which mods are actually going to do this, because I have heard that unichips are complete bull____; and I would like feedback from people who have all of these mods.

That is indeed depressing to hear. My car sounds nice with just a Megan Racing Catback, lol. Not even the slightest feeling that you pull harder off the line or harder in third gear when our car really starts to slow down?

Weight reduction is nice, but I have no reason to rip out my backseats.

Also, can you tell me which mods you have specifically, including brand?

Descendant Exhaust
Descendant Intake
Weapon R Header

When I'm revving high in 3rd gear I do feel that it opens up a bit more but redline comes very soon. I didn't bother with the unichip because I won't pay to tune a N/A car. Either way the stock computer logs data given your mods and performs according to what it senses. I see these mods as an intermediate step before turbo. Its not just about saving up for turbo and doing that first. Then you have a useless fwd car that can't put the power down. Focus on supporting mods like: coilovers, brakes, transmission parts. You do get to the point where you've invested $20k into the car and still loses to a stage 2 WRX (28k w/mods). You always lose.

My car feels a lot faster than stock.
InjenCAI
UNICHIP 93oct
18.6 Lbs wheels

I been modding cars long enough to know. I remember how outrageously slow the tC felt when I first got it. Injen Intake felt a little faster if I revved all the way to redline. Unichip def noticable power starting at 3krpm 3rd-4th-5th and 6th gear cruising torque... I put light Enkei RPF1 on and it is a totally different machine

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Yeah, I don't know, I probably won't turbo my tC. I would Turbo an FR-S, but not a tC. Like if I had 8k, and my tC. It would definitely go for trade + 8k towards the FR-S. Just saying.

Maybe towards an STi if the money was there. I just want a little bit more power in my tC.

Hmm. I'm surprised that the Enkei's make that much difference, lol.

Unichip I'm skeptical about.. if there were others backing it, then yeah, I would probably jump on it.

Why wouldn't it? Lol.
Stockers are 26.5 Lbs... Compared to 18.6 lbs... When u have a 20-22lbs wheel... And get an 18.5lbs wheel.. U won't feel much diff.. Esp if the car has a lot of engine power (I did this with my STI.) However.. A car with low engine power and going from 26.5 to 18.5... That is 8lbs per corner. . . why do runners and athletes buy shoes that are 2oz lighter??? It makes a difference.

The number people always look at is HP. Unichip adds peak HP is 15hp... However torque gains are greatly increased across the power band. U will notice this cruising around... When I first installed the Unichip I noticed the increased power while I wasn't trying to find it. I'd accelerate driving normally in traffic trying to pass and I'm like "whoa" that was def not there before. I can now pass cars easily accelerating 60-75mph in 6th gear now... vs stock I would be tempted to downshift to 5th or 4th

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Agree 100% with VuDism. I have the Unichip and to get the best out of it upgrade to 93 Oct. was using it with 87 Oct and i wasn't that impressed. then I upgraded and was definitely surprised by the difference it made. Go with a Dezod green header worth the extra cash.

I had bolt ons on my tC2 header full exhaust always ran 93 octane the power was noticeable but it wasn't enough so I sold the bolt ons and put the Descendant Turbo kit on my car now that was worth the cash
I picked up the kit used on these forums for $2500 save your cash get a Turbo kit or don't waste time worrying about power make the car handle better and make it lighter

For someone that just wants the car a little bit faster. I'm sure you'll be happy with full bolt ons. Header, S-pipe, Cat-back, pulley, intake, short throw, sway bars are a nice addition in the corner. (cant speak for the Unichip because ive never had one) Just that you can have some fun with your tC. I have a buddy that did all that with new forged pistons engine, management system, and a tune in a Gen1 tC and is putting down about 230hp to the wheels.

yea you can go Turbo and make big power. but big power is big money. and its not just $4600 like some claim. your looking at exhaust, gauges, oil, install, tune. all adds up quick.

I say go for full bolt on

I like the conversations going on in here...

I agree with you that it's not just $4600. It's a lot more, and as a college student who isn't like incredibly well off , I don't have a ton of cash flow besides what I make from my own job. It's easier to buy piece-by-piece and get a few gains out of that then save up $7000 for a full, well built turbo.

It's just not there for me, and I don't really have a use for that much power.

In the end, you would only spend like 2000 for bolt-ons which is just way more feasible and applicable for my interests.

So what I'm going to do is put on a short ram intake by Injen, which I ordered two days ago, order the Dezod headers; hopefully, eventually, my NST pulley will come in, and by the time it does, I should have enough to buy a Unichip with that.

I want to do the chip last because of the "Preprogrammed maps" or whatever. I'm not sure what all can add onto those maps, like Headers, or just SRI, exhaust, etc.

Thanks for the input so far guys, it really has helped shed light on the subject matter.

I probably wouldn't buy a used kit. I just can't see myself doing that, unfortunately (unless it was picked up).

Do the Injen COLD Air. It doesn't go far down. I've had no issues driving daily. U can convert it to Short Ram if u want.

You will be happy using the aggressive 93oct map on the Unichip. It is worth it if you want added performance out of your car. I love Turbos and all... Only if the tC wasnt my everyday driver. I drive my tC over 50 miles everyday... I doubt a Turbo tC will give me that care free reliability and consistent 28MPG NA would. I'm also not straight line racing anyone...

For those of us that use the tC as a daily commuter but u want added performance to drive spiritedly and rev in and out of back road corners N/A is the way to go. Reliable and efficient. Sure 93 Oct on unichip costs more than 87 but I've gotten better MPG with the Unichip so it almost evens out gas cost.

If u install all a Unichip and can't feel the difference... U don't know ur car. It makes a big difference.

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If u don't think NA is worth tuning please do research and see what tuning can do for NA.

Look at what a Tuned FRS/BRZ is capable of.

Back in my younger days I witnessed a 2002 RSX type-S walked all over an S2000 on a highway pull. S2000 was stock 14.1s 1/4mile. RSX-S runs 14.8s 1/4 mile stock. Big difference.
This RSX had intake header exhaust and hondata tuned. You can def tune NA cars. Esp if it has variable valve timing. In the RSX it has VTEC... tC has VVT-i

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Nothing wrong with a used kit if you find a good deal and know what your looking at also my gas mileage went up when I boosted my tC to averaging 30.5 mpg driving it 70 miles every day to and from work and everywhere made good numbers on a conservative tune I had $3k in it total with gauges tune fresh turbo rebuild I Installed it all myself step by step my first turbo install or major car mod for that matter was even running stock clutch lol couldn't justify spending 2k for bolt ons when I could just spend 3k to be boosted