JohnA944

I have read a ton of posts about getting more power out of an N/A and the one thing I keep seeing is "buy a 951". Well maybe I am not trying to get the 250 HP of a 951. I have the 160 HP 88 N/A and the car actually is pretty quick. No its not a rocket but its got good power overall. I am looking to add 20 MAYBE 30 more HP to the car for it to be were I think I would like it. I am also thinking of upgrading the suspension and maybe brakes.(car had recent brake job before I purchased her and she stops on a dime). I am not looking to blow by a 951. I would like a little faster pickup and remedy the 3K to 4K flat spot on the power band. I plan on autoXing this car on a limited basis due to the fact it is my daily driver. Anybody that has gotten the above results please respond. I would like to hear your input.

When I want 951 type power I will buy a 951.

Matt 944S

Buy an S.

<img border="0" alt="[icon107]" title="" src="graemlins/icon107.gif" />

Jerad

Matt, I'm still waiting for some pictures of that S. I know you have a digital camera so you have no excuses.

John, an FR Wilk chip is a good start, after that I have no clue what will make the biggest difference.

Matt 944S

Jerad,

Believe it or not, I still havent taken any. Every day i have off it is raining. I washed it real nice last week, and was about to wax, and it started raining. But i promise, as soon as its nice, and the car is washed and waxed, i will take pictures.

turbo944

I would guess that one area would be freeing up the intake/exhaust for more airflow. Right now your exhaust may be where you can scavenge more power, so with a chip, perhaps another area would be a full exhaust. Ceramic coated header (inside and out), high flow cat (or test pipe) and a performance exhaust. Get a throttle cam for your car to get more linear throttle control on it (no more power, but a better feel I've been told). And last but not least, remove any unneeded weight from the car. Lighter wheels help here too as they are unsprung weight. I think I read that every 100 pounds is something like the equivalent of 10 horsepower.

Cheers!

Sami951

I believe most of the guys who have installed the MSD multi-spark ignition thingy noticed improvement, so there's one more idea there...

<a href="http://forums.rennlist.com/cgi-bin/rennforums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=15;t=004526" target="_blank">Here's one old thread</a> on that, many more to be found by searching

ilikemy944

FR Wilk chip took care of the 'no power below 4k rpm' problem for me - made the car great fun to drive...
Cheap too (205)
<a href="http://www.frwilk.com" target="_blank">www.frwilk.com</a>

JohnA944

Jerad I was looking at the F.R.Wilk chip. Add a Header with some custom intake work (cold air induction),MSD ,freeflow exhuast, and maybe port and polish the head with a Jon Millidge cam. I think those would add the power I want. Although I'm looking at close to 2K in upgrades I will be doing much of the work myself. The only thing I can't do is the machine work to the head, but I have a friend who has the machine shop.

JohnA944

Like I said earlier my car has good power. It pulls hard from 2000 to about 3200 then I hit the no power spoat up to 4000 and it starts pulling again. I think it has to do with the large gap between the peak Tq and peak HP. I think it gets peak Tq around 3000 rpm but my peak HP isnt until 6500. I mean the car squats real hard at launch, barks second then it just doesn't quite "get up" fast until I hit third gear then it starts pulling real hard. I mean i know these aren,t 1/4 mile cars but that dead spot is irritating. And god forbid I have the a/c on it sucks half the power from the car! I raced a 96 GT Mustang when I first got the car. It was a rolling start from 40 mph. He got me but it took all he had. He sorta just eased by me and kept pulling at the same rate. He is a friend of mine here in town and from other accounts he has outrun other GTs like his...stock. I WILL NOT try to run with the Camaros or T/A's after the stomping I received form a highly modded T/A (96 model i beleive).
But like I said earlier I just want to remedy the dead spot and add 20 to 30 more honest ponies.

Mongo

Avoid cone filters! <img border="0" alt="[nono]" title="" src="graemlins/nono.gif" /> Take it from someone who just had a second dyno on their car with both factory airbox and intake setups. I lost almost 8 HP at 2900 RPM and the engine felt like it was starving for more air (ironically) at lift off. The only advantage (i guess) is the 2-3 HP increase after 4,000 RPM. Maintain a stock airbox, drilling some small holes will give you a deeper, throaty sound but will not reduce the amount of dense air entering it. The only reason you should get a cone filter is if you have a MAF kit on the car or have a mass air sensor from the factory, which is not on the 944 NA.

Look at my research post on this matter: <a href="http://forums.rennlist.com/cgi-bin/rennforums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=15;t=015491#000003" target="_blank">EuroSpec944's reasearch and dyno of cone intakes vs K&N Airbox</a>

As for exhaust, these cars need backpressure but a straight through seems to work great on mine. Get yourself a highflow cat, Bursch headers and a straight thru muffler (Magnaflow, Borla) for a little more edge after 4,000.

To get 20-30 more HP you need to work with the engine. Cams seem to be popular and can get you about 10-15 more HP. But, they can ruin gas mileage so be careful on the lift of it (look for anything from .470"-.480" which is mild.) European Pistons with 10.2:1 compression seem to be also a great way to free up power but since you have the 160 HP variant you shouldn't have to worry. Just invest your money in a cam. Also, headwork might be a good idea too. Intake ports on 8-valve 944s are restrictive from the start. a nice port and polish on the intake and exhaust ports on a 944 should free up 8-10 HP too depending on the port size.

Ignition from the factory seeems to work great on these cars. Avoid Nology since their products seem to distort the performance curve on the car and even make the car smog illegal! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> MSD is popular among many 944 owners seeking performance. an MSD 6A box, Blaster 2 coil and 8mm wires should smoothen your idle and give you a little more grunt.

That help???? Good Luck to you <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

<img border="0" alt="[burnout]" title="" src="graemlins/burnout.gif" />

JimV8

Without getting technical, you got to get more mix in, squeeze it harder, fire it at the right point, and suck the fumes out fast. Oh yeah open your wallet.

JohnA944

Thanks, That answered alot of questions euro. I need to see whether a PO has put a chip in this car or not. I took the DME out and pulled the cover but was reluctant to pull the boards apart fearing I would damage the board. Skip helped me in this area and I will soon check it out. I am thinking it is a stock chip. The only thing it has is a K&N filter in the stock air box. Other than that I dont know.

Brett

I wouldnt stay away from nology. When I had my 944 I put in nology hot wires and coil and it ran alot better in the higher rpms. I would esitmate the hp gain at 5 hp.

JohnA944

I have the Jacobs 8mm on right now. They work well although they dont have the Beru type sleeves.

pete944

There are a few racers here that have done about all they can with the 2.5L. Cams, porting, exhaust, intake, ignition, etc. Their car still only showed 10 to 15 hp more on the dyno. To get more than that you may have to bore it to 2.8L or 3.1L. Sorry if it's not what you want to hear but I'm in the same boat.