Hi all,
I own a '03 G Coupe 6MT with ~67K miles. I've had this since September last year. Now I am craving for some extra power. From what I've heard the G is already tuned well (intakes and stuff). Is a 6 grand twin turbo the only upgrade that I could get? Are there any other upgrades I can do, performance wise, with out emptying my bank balance?

Thanks,
-Nibbler

 

Most inexpensive mod you might actually notice is a plenum spacer (Motordyne, AAM, etc.)

 

No the G is not already tuned, our ECU's are complete crap with simple breather mods because it does not utilize the extra airflow as power. That being said you won't see a huge difference in performance with intake/plenum spacer/exhaust or high flow cats without a tune.

 

I am on it. Thanks!

Steve, that's good to know that they are not optimally tuned. Gives me some room for improvements. Are you suggesting that I should get a performance ECU? Can you suggest one?

 

^^^ Your best bet is to get an ECU reflash and/or tune AFTER all your breather mods are done.

Some of the options out there are the reflashes by Technosquare (Cali), Altered Atmosphere (MD) or UpRev (TX).

UpRev has a product called "Osiris" which they can ship to you, and then you send them back your engine's data so they can more accurately develop a remap based upon your air/fuel ratios and such. I personally really like what I've read about this product, and will likely be picking it up in the near future.

Other ECU self-tune/flash options include UTEC, the new Cobb AccessPort, and a host of others. Do some searching/reading to decide which is best for you.

Regardless, even with all breather mods and a tune, you will likely not even reach 300whp. However, you will notice an improvement in performance.

Quick cost breakdown (estimates):
Spacer: $250
Intake/Z-tube: $250
High-flow cats OR test pipes: $300-600
Exhaust: $1,000
Headers: $700 (not sure on this price at all - haven't looked into headers due to install cost)

Install of all of these items would be close to 6 hours, so assume $500+ labor minimum. You can install the spacer and intake/z-tube yourself, however.

Tunes/Reflashes: $500-900

So you're looking at anywhere from $3,500-$4,500 or more to get all breather mods and a tune. If you're really serious about going forced induction, save your money and enjoy a stock car until you can afford $7,000+ for a proper FI kit and install. If you're like most people here, for whom FI isn't a realistic option for practicality/reliability reasons, then have fun with the bolt-ons!

 

go nitrous, 1/4th the price, twice the fun!

 

you could self-construct an intake out of pvc and some clamps
garage door moldings prove to be great front lips
autozone sells these dope lookin hood scoops that even though they double-sided tape on, still manage to cool the engine be really well good for atleast 14 hp
if you wanna go fast your gonna need to stop fast, ebay has some fiberglass oem brake covers that look just like brembos -450hp stopping power
billet grilles make for better flow 70% of the time, but 30% of the time it works every time.

 

wtf? Do you need a hug?

 

Thanks for the run down. That's very helpful. I am going to get the Z-tube and Spacer for now. I will go through the list as I go on. I will just hope I can find a used Bolt-on greddy FI in the meantime.

Thanks again.

 

Many don't realize that all engines are already pressurized by 14.7 psi of boost [from earth's atmospheric pressure] and intake mods have a difficult timing improving on this in comparision.

OEM losses from atmosphere to intake valves are less than 1.0 psi so even a 10% improvement in restriction is only a 0.68% gain.