Ok fellas, my names Luis. Been a while since I posted on here. I had a silver 02 but now have a silver 03 type s which i like more because of the door panels. Anyway, I want to start modding the car power wise. Where should I start?

So far i have it running at its best in stock form. I run castrol synthetic, ngk iridium, and have seafoamed it.

 

What is your budget allowing ya to spend ?
Do ya have anything in particular that ya wanna set as a goal ?

Start with the simple less expensive mods such as CAI and headers. Anything to help open up the motor's ability to breath better. If ya have bigger bucks, check some of the many previous threads on various suggestions for improved performance and power. Perhaps a 6 speed swap ?

 

Thanks for the advice man. I was lucky enough to pick up an AEM cai for 70 bucks. I ordered XS headers but after being treating like crap by them i had them just refund me.

 

Try our sponsor vendors. DC-Sports seem to be a popular choice. Good Luck man !!!

 

If you have an auto, then DC headers are the way to go.

The basic bolt ons are the "IHEP" setup, which includes: Intake, headers, exhaust, and pulley.

After headers, I'd consider doing a little googling to find the best reviewed exhaust shop around you.

 

I read mixed reviews on the cat back exhaust systems not yielding much power? is this true?

 

True.. Mainly those bolt on cat backs.. a Real exhaust should have a bigger diameter pipe but the bolt on cat backs only use a slightly bigger tube. You really want Intake + Header first as it will make the biggest gains, then Pulleys as it will deliver another nice jump and lastly the Exhaust because it will give you the least performance gain but at least it will sound completely badass...

 

Ok cool. Im ordering dc headers tomorrow. I have an intake already. When i come around to doing the exhaust ima do a custom exhaust with different mufflers. Would 2.5 inch piping be best, or 2 3/4?

I believe my type s has 2.25 right now

 

2.50 should be nice I believe most cat backs do 2.35ish so its a good upgrade.

 

Is there any tuning software available for these cars. With my 2000 Camaro i usually dyno tune after each mod for max performance.

Or is the only option unplugging the negative battery cable for the ecu to teset and relearn?

I may want to spray a 75 wet shot in the future and would like to pull two degree of timing out.

 

our engines are not like the american counterparts where its easily tunable.
the ECU is pretty hard to crack, and while there are ways to tune, there isnt a mass tune, like chevy's.
you simply wont be able to retard or advance timing.

so, no. there is no simple solution to a handheld tuner/re-flash.

 

You can reset your ECU by plugging the Clock Fuse out (It shares the main power for ECU) for around 10 seconds.. You can also remove the battery cable but bear in mind you will be asked for the radio code/nav code when you re-plug it.


There is no way to tune our ECU you need a standalone and it will get expensive.. IMHO not worth it for simple IHE upgrades the stock ECU does a good job on self tuning for that.. Get a Turbo or S/C then you will need a Standalone ECU.

 

Good info to know. Seems like these ecu"s have a self learning mechanism built in them. Pretty dope. You mean pulling the clock fuse out ya? is that the fuse in the engine bay or inside the car

 

The fuse is located inside the passenger side fuse box IIRC.. its 10A I think.

 

So i went and installed 2.5 inch main pipe with 2.25 inch y pipe today on stock mufflers. Deleted mid muffler and resonator. Sounds just right. And picked up power in the upper rpm mph range. Didnt sacrifice any low end torque. Feels good. Im sure the headers will make it work better.

 

Yeah many have reported that going for bigger pipe isn't bad on our J Series actually picking up power and don't lose anything. Just wait till you get your headers it will fucking blow your mind with the low end + sound combo..

 

I wish i woulda known i was going to buy a tl years ago. I woulda had my brother sell his longtibes to me when he parted the car out. He had custom long tubes on his tl.

 

another misconception is "losing bottom end torque"

no, you wont lose bottom end torque, the powerband just shifts upwards.

 

Does anyone know what size belts i will need with the OBX under drive crank pulley?

 

I'm looking for a belt as well but for a stock size lightweight UR crank pulley. Flush02, Where did you find yourself a y-pipe? I've been looking around for months.

 

Everything was done at golden auto exhaust. Its an exhaust Shop near my area. If its a stock size pulley u should be able to run the stock size belt since no under driving was done to it.

 

Thanks, I'm going to buy all the piping and have a friend of mine weld it. As for the under drive pulley, I believe its a gates belt part# K060820