My mods are listed in my signature. I am at a loss as to what my next COST EFFECTIVE mod should be.

Cam gears? = dyno tuning and more $
Used itr TB
used itr exhaust cam?
chipped ecu?

My car is running awesome right now. I don't want to screw anything up. I want more power, but only for a slight investment (up to $400). I am not going to get some skunk2 cams/retainers/ecu blah blah blah. That will increase power, but cost a boatload, and move my powerband up to the stratosphere. This is a daily street driven, very strong 95 gsr. I would welcome anyone's suggestions given these parameters. i have been a member for a while, and read all of the posts and know what is out there, I'm just a little lost right now.

Thanks for the info

 

well first I think you should get your head checked for hearing cars talk to you... lol j/k

You could always work on suspension, things that will make you faster around an autocross course or on a drag strip. Things like swaybars, bushings, or what I would do for under $400, Z10 radius arms I personally won't even do as many engine mods as you have, my car is pretty quick as it is, and I love it.

 

Get STR cam gears ($170) and an APEXi V-AFC ($370). Get them dyno tuned and on a GSR you could possibly see a gain of around 10-12 whp. Plus the V-AFC looks cool too. If you want to save up for a little while and get serious power without a lot of headaches, get a JRSC for around $2,500. Good luck

 

he said he doesn't want to spend more than $400, and doesn't want anything right now that needs to be tuned.

 

If you're looking for speed, then you obviously don't want to get suspension stuff right now. But if you do want to go the suspension way, get the cheap small stuff like strut bars and tie bars.

 

Get the Cam Gears and take your car to a Dyno shop.... 15-20% of power can be gained from tuning, and you need a Wideband O2 Sensor and a Dyno to tune properly....
Don't waste your money on the VAFC. I know too many people which buy these "toys" and don't take their car to the dyno to actually tune the fuel settings correctly.
Forget about tuning for peak power at the dyno. Tune those adjustable cam gears to fatten up from 4k-7k this is where you will be driving your car the most, this is what matters. Remember, when you shift gears, you want your Rpms to fall on the powerband with the highest amount of torque available...
Take your car out for a spin and look at the Tach when you shift ... you'll notice that you don't spend much time at the redline, and most of the time reving up to the redline when racing ...
btw I also have a 95 Green GSR Sedan with similar mods...I thought the GSR sedans were uncommon....
Happy Tuning

 

10-12hp? Are you serious? That is certainly tempting... although it does break my $400 budget and tuning restrictions...would a bored out throttle body to 62mm make a diff?

Suspension tweaks sound good, but I can't even imagine how crazy i'll go on the highway once my car handles EVEN BETTER! I know my car is far from being optimized (suspensionwize) - but the H&R's and Biltseins are a killer ride...they even handle NYC streets pretty well. What would be a good strut/sway bar to get? There is a ton of junk.

Thanks for the suggestions fellas...keep em comin!

 

Most strut bars are all the same. I have Tenzo front and rear upper strut bars with an AC Autotechnic rear lower tie bar. It helped to eliminate some of the body roll. Nothing dramatic though. I am going on Monday to get my cam gears and
S-AFC tuned on the dyno. They told me that if I keep it on there for two hours and tune it the best they can, I could possibly achieve even 15whp. I say get the gears and get em tuned man. Tuning can make a big difference.

 

No, Definetly Not 10-12 HP at the wheels....
I'm talking about area under the curve(the derivative of the dyno line) gained from tuning... you will not see peak power gain that much from cam gears and tuning, you most likely will not even see that much gains anywhere in the powerband...
I'm talking about fattening up your powerband from 4-7k and increasing the area under the curve by about 15-20% with tuning your cam gears and tuning your fuel perfectly ....
will you notice a difference after tuning, hell yes .. and will have the dyno to prove it.
Forget about the Overbored TB at this momment. Choosing an overbored TB is a carefull balance between your TB, Intake, and Plenum... if you go too big you will kill velocity and make you car bog... yes you could lose power!
Think of your car as a system and this will help you.... You have an intake and exhausts but do you have a performance Catalytic Converter? That is a weak link there and is restricting your exhausts... Carsound Catylitic converters or Magnaflows are good choices...
You might want to think about working on the suspension also, but I'd get the cam gears, tune it right, then move on to the suspension...


[Modified by dasher, 11:23 AM 5/2/2002]

 

Whatup,

You are near where my car was back when I had it (and liked it )

Anyway, I notice you don't have cam gears, and see your point about not getting them installed and tuned.

For an ITR intake cam and mostly stock otherwise, you could get them and set them to +2 intake and -2 exhaust and get pretty good results. Dyno tuning would obviously optimize it, but that would probably be close.

The best suggestion would be some sort of VTEC controller, since youn probably have a substantial dip from 4500-5000 rpm since the ITR intake cam is designed to work with a higher VTEC point.

When I had CTR intake cam, I gained about 7-10 HP by raising the vtec xover from stock (4400) to ~5000 rpm. This made a noticeble difference in the midrange and made the car much more driveable...

You can see my dyno plot in the Tuning section of the old and decrepit DFH page below. I'm also on the Integra Dyno Center. You can see the difference in my midrange after adjusting the vtec point.

The Apexi VAFC would be cool, but might be overkill if you aren't going to tune it at all..

Good luck,

FB

 

15 whp is an awful lot my friend.... doubt you will ever get that with tuning ... I think they are giving you an example of what was gained when tuning a Highly modified car which has more to gain from tuning ... but regardless, you will find out soon enough...
I would be happy if I took my car to the dyno and after tuning even Lost peak HP or Torque ... Remember, when it comes to cam gears it is about optimising your power curve... gain 1-2 HP at the top, loose that in the middle .... loose 1-2 at 8K and gain 2-4whp from 5k to 7k rpm ... your going to only be at 8k rpm for a split second before you shift, but you will rev through 5-7K rpm for a much longer time, and thus have a faster car with a better ET...
I see alot of magazine articles which purposely tune their car wrong so they can get higher peak values which impresses their readers ... what they don't tell is that they just killed their middle to mid-high torque and made their car SLOWER.

 

you should say... "Stop talking to me!!! Youre just a car!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

 

Drive your car like it is.. save the money up and get ....

1. supercharger
2. downpayment on a house or condo

 

Thanks guys, the suggestions above sound good. I will look into them and write back with the results. Maybe the gears and a sway bar or two...

As for all of the sedan owners, cheers! Its a great sleeper, especially now that I took my GSR emblem off and replaced it with a "GS-R " from GII.
(By the way, I pulled on a WRX last night just a short 75-100mph 3/4 gear run, but fun notheless)

Ok, back on topic...thanks again guys for the suggestions

 

As far as investing goes the best option is to save 15 grand to pay for the downpayment and closing costs on a home...
but we are all not that responsible and like to have a little fun in life now don't we

Now if you are planning on getting some real power than FI is the only way to go ... but the Cam gears will be helpfull when tuning a SC or Turbo'd car so why not get some use out of them now before slapping a Turbo on ....

Regardless, saving money, especially 3-15 grand is awfully hard to do ... Maximize your employers 401K that way you autimatically save every paycheck and can borrow, without penalty, on your 401k later to purchase a home or for higher education....
Im getting a bit off topic here ...

 

hahahahaha..

 

Just so you know, shock braces and tie bars will not help reduce body roll, they only help lessen chassis flex. Anti-sway bars, springs, and shocks are what controls the body roll.

 

Cam gears and VAFC. It'll be over $400, but it'll help you get more overlap out of the ITR cam, and up the Vtec x-over, lean the fuel out a little up high(Hondas run rich).

I used Franz's(Berkel's) advice, and am basically where he used to be and am very happy. Dont bother with the chipped ECU, you can do all the same stuff with a VAFC for cheaper, and fine tune it to your parts. Skip the TB as you need a intake manifold and intake to realize potentials there. ITR exhaust cam only if you can get a killer deal on it.


[Modified by vtec2nr, 2:13 PM 5/2/2002]

 

that's true, I'm really contemplating saving my money and investing it in my future house, but then again I'm only 19 and I still have that urge to have fun....... Can I put a downpayment on a house in the bay area with 15 grand? that seems very cheap...... anyways sorry for going off topic

I heard the V-AFC is somewhat useless because besides changing the VTEC crossover you can only slightly change the fuel and air settings. Is this true? And would it even matter for my setup?

I'm planning on installing ITR intake and exhaust cams along with skunk2 cam gears on the stock GSR valvetrain. I'm also planning on having the cam gears tuned on a dyno, so would the VAFC really help me achieve more power by tuning? Or should I invest in a Fuel Pressure Riser and get a cheaper VTEC crossover adjuster?

 

Try $50 grand at minimum but you will still end up needing a "super jumbo" loan, higher interest, and income requirements are at least 100k per year (single or couple), then you need to pay mortgage insurance.
Just wait until you can put more than 20% down, so for a 400k house (small old one in the bay area), you'll need almost 100k after dp, escrow, etc.

SO the answer, MOD YOUR CAR INSTEAD.

 

HAHAHA! bay area houses over here in fremont cost about $500,000!!! I hope I get a really good job or win the lottery.

 

15 grand is a place to start when purchasing a home for 100-120K.... not a 500K home ... Real estate In the bay area is way too expensive...

 

Keys,
Keep in mind that when you move the vtec crossover you are changing the cam profile for that rpm. Say you move your Vtec from 4500-5000RPM you now have a gap from 4500-5000rpm which used to be on the high lobe and is now on the low lobe. The fuel map still thinks you are using the high lobe at 4500-5000RPMs so the fuel settings are completely off now. This is the major reason you'd want a VAFC. If you look at a dyno of a car that has a shifted Vtec x-over and no fuel adjustment, you'll see a big dip between 4500 and the x-over. On a mild to moderate all motor car, a VAFC is more than enough. I've got CTR cams in my GSR, and I've got a fair amount of overlap dialed in on the cam gears. With my Field, you can adjust fuel +/- 30% at any given RPM(in 100 RPM increments), and the most I've adjusted it is by 8%. I'd say there's still a fair amount of adjustment potential there. Not sure what the Apex unit has for % adjustment, but I'm sure it's similar.
A FPR on a mild to moderate all motor car will not do much for you. Once you upgrade the fuel pump, the injectors, get some radical cams, or go FI, then you should consider an FPR.
HTH
-Chris


[Modified by vtec2nr, 12:27 PM 5/3/2002]