If you were going to start with ONE....Which of the following three options is the best in terms of the MOSt performace inhancement??

1. "chipping it out"

2. Cold Ait intake (what make and model)

3. High performance exhaust (make and model)

I hope these are not lame questions

Thanks

 

Its always best to wait until you have enough money to buy an intake and exhaust at the same time since they are compliments of each other. One without the other is almost pointless... If your the patient type, adding a header with the two can give you almost 60 more horses instantly.

It's recommended that a Chip is installed after all your planned modifications is complete. This way it can be programmed especially to fit your additions.

I have AEM intake + DC headers & exhaust, and Superchip on my '93 Integra and I have NO COMPLAINTS.

 

I agree with atomic, chip would be one of the last things to do, also your budget plays a big role in what you do to the car. Easiest cheapest thing will be a drop in filter or full intake system, then pullies or an exhaust would be the next thing to do.

 

dpenneman, here is the honest answer:

The posts so far are overly optimistic for this car.
The unichip runs over $500 and needs custom tuning if you don't have intake/headers/exhaust already. You might get another 12hp/tq with this mod (vafc may produce similar results, but also requires tuning).
An intake is $300 or so and you could do the install yourself. You might get 10hp/5tq with this mod.
An exhaust is about $750 and you likely have install costs. You might get 3hp/1tq for this mod.
Headers are about $400 (Comptech $1,000) plus install, but will give you the largest gains and you may see about 27hp and 17tq.

Yes, combined they give the most benefit but you don't need an exhaust or headers with the intake to get decent gains, and certainly don't need either with headers. The exhaust is the least beneficial mod for this car. The unichip is the last mod for the car unless you go with f/i...

Hope this helps.