When I was warming up to launch into this mod journey, Gurgen told me that I would spend several grand and end up with a gain of about 20 HP. I almost laughed. I was sure he COULDN'T be right. Surely additional HP couldn't be THAT difficult to come by!

Well, a number of grand and a few years later, I can say that he was not too far wide of the mark.

As I have done mods personally and watched to results of other's efforts, it has led me to the inevitable conclusion that those extra ponies are just plain expensive. Overall, they seem to average pretty close to $100 each.

I say this as a reality check for newbies who might be looking at this mod game through eyes of inexperience and having unrealistic expections about performance increases for their expenditures. While some mods are a little more efficient price wise than others, the only real departure from this number is found when a guy can do the installation himself.

For a time, I thought that FI promised a lower cost per HP, but it too seems to hover around that $100 mark. And by that I mean bottom line cost for the HP gain.

An FI install can't really be done in a vacuum. Necessary extras include engine, engine management, cooling, transmission and suspension work plus tires capable of getting most of that power to the ground. (These extras can also take the form of blown engines and trannys when they are not upgraded up front.)

So that would mean that taking a 230 WHP OEM car to 450 WHP will cost around $22K. Does it work out? Well, get out your calculator, make a careful laundry list and see what the total comes to!

While some might dispute the details in a few cases, $100/HP is a pretty good rule of thumb for budgeting performance gains.

 

That would be for the G35. There are other cars - particularly Honda's and GM's V8 cars - that cost FAAAAR less. Which is a reason why I'm looking into a GTO or the up-and-coming V8-powered, RWD cars from Chevy, Pontiac, or Cadillac as my next car in 2009 or so.

 

Well, this is the G35 site.

There is a great deal more to a fine motorcar than straight line acceleration - something American car manufacturers have been very slow to learn. One would think they would see the sales data, examine the competition and make appropriate changes before it was necessary to close plants. But no, it's design as usual.

I only care a little that my 223 cu. in. V6 would lose to a 350 cu. in. Chevy V8. I mean, the engine is more that once and a half as big.

And I'm very thankful that I don't have to drive a GM any more!

 

And it doesn't have anything to do w/ the HP/$ equation. Handling, refinement, quality, status... you left all of those considerations at the door when you started this discussion, so stick with it.

G35s, like most other import "high performance" cars, are tuned pretty close to the safe limit of output from the factory, hence the reason why there is a higher cost per HP in the aftermarket realm. We all pay for this extra power and performance at the dealership. It does come as a shock to a lot of people that it costs so much more on our "type" of car to get more power than it does on a "lesser" car. Main reason being that cheaper domestic and import cars are, well, cheaper. It costs more to make greater reliable power from the factory, so the manufacturers keep the costs low by using components and manufacturing techniques that reflect the vehicle's price point.

I'm half asleep right now, so if my argument makes no sense, pretend that it does.

 

But they're finally catching on - just as they are on their new interiors, too. Don't doubt the new GM vehicles.

And, yes, I know there's more to it than straight line. If there wasn't, everyone would be driving muscle cars - not that they're bad cars, as they're awesome, but they just can't handle like modern-day performance cars. Even the current GTO handles well. Sure, it's no Formula 1 handler, but given its size and weight, it does well. Same for the CTS, and especially CTS. The Vette handles outstandingly. Sure, it has some short-comings, but the up-and-coming "Super Vette" - which is expected to be 650+ HP, some even say upwards of 650 RWHP is being developed by the winning Corvette C6.R race team - yes, the same team that has swept the Le Mans 24 Hour race I believe two or three times in the past few years. The new up-and-coming Camaro, expected to be awesome (something the Mustang, might I add, isn't so good at...) Etc.

Ok, I'll stop there, lol. It just seems like once I get onto a little thing, I tend to go crazy talking about it. You should see me with my friends - even car-loving friends - who, after an hour straight of my talking cars, are bored as hell... lol

 

Agree, of course.

My whole point in this thread is to raise a reality check for newbies who think additional HP will be easy to come by - it won't. A lot of money can be spent for some very modest gains.

It's just too easy to be swayed by the ad claims of the bolt-on mod suppliers, especially when one WANTS to believe what they say, as I have at times in the past.

 

In the case of our cars, I couldn't agree more. It makes the aftermarket companies' marketing departments jobs very easy. A lot of us have modded other cars in the past, and I'm willing to bet most of them weren't in the same class as a G/Z. A lot of us tend to derive from experience what a "typical" gain should be from a particular mod. Then we get a slap in the face and realize that, not only does a SET of cams cost $1500 (+ install if you don't DIY), but it will also cost you $500-$2k to get it tuned properly AND you won't see nearly the gain that you would by sticking a $400 cam into an LS-1. Or, try $4k for some good heads. It gets very frustrating seeing (or remembering) how cheap it is to mod other cars for impressive gains and then look at ours and see that you can't even break 300 rwhp NA for under $10k. It's pathetic, really.

Damn those japs for having such great engineering methods.