I've got a stock H22A. I need a paint job and want to keep the apprearance fairly stock. That limits me down to $3k to invest to the performance.

Lets recap: '93 4th gen. JDM H22A. Paint Job. I've got nothing else. I want to keep it a daily driver but I'd like to be quick enough to have fun at the track and what not. Tech people, I need you ADVICE and IDEAS so I can make a choice.

PS- Please keep in mind that finances are limited to just $3k


Modified by cecknight at 8:36 PM 5/9/2003

 

Hrm... I'll give you prices that are rounded for the most part. If I had to start all over and wanted what you wanted, I'd go this route most likely:

Mugen header: $900 (haven't looked lately, maybe more or less)
CAI: $100
Exhaust of your choice with test pipe: $500
REAL FPR (AEM or Holly), larger walbro fuel pump, and fuel pressure gauge: $400
APEXi VAFC and one hour dyno session to tune: $400
A/F meter: $100
Nitrous kit of your choice: $600

That will roughly be $3k. If you wanted to, you could substitute in a Greddy header with the 2.5" collector mod (probably gonna run you... oh... $450 with the modification) Then you have an extra $450 to spend. I'd get more nitrous accessories and gauges. EGT for SURE. Oil pressure, oil temp, and engine temp are my top five (including the A/F meter)

OR you could go this route:
Find you a nice used turbo kit that has some extras included in it and then work off of there. You could probably find a drag kit, or fmax kit for around $2200-$2500, and find some things like injectors, fuel pump, boost controllers and whatnot (used) for a pretty decent price.
You're looking probably at the same reliability factor, but a lot more things that can go wrong IF something is going to go wrong. Turbo's bring a new eliment to the game... there are so many other places that can leak oil, or have a vacuum leak, that it increases the diagnostic factor by like... 10.

I love turbo, but from what you tell me, you want to drive something that you don't want to tweak on ever, and just want to drive around, and have some occasional fun with some faster cars. Nitrous is a good way to go. You only have the extra power when you want, you still retain your decent gas mileage, if something goes wrong with the kit then hey... turn the bottle off. LOL

But some people just love the idea of turbo's, and don't mind the extra parts to deal with. So I listed both for you.

 

Thanks!!!

I'll probably go with the first list you gave. I'd love to turbo the car but if something did go wrong for now, I wouldn't have the money to fix it immediately.

Minus the nitrous kit, would you know of a ball park gain figure? Or is there anyone here that has this set up that could tell me ~gain.....I know it won't be the same as any other car with the same set up but itd be kind'a close.

With the nitrous system, what kind of problems would I begin to run into with a 50-shot dry kit or a 50-Shot wet kit?

Thanks for your input so far, Loneluder.

 

50 shot?
If it's professionally installed and set up correctly, you shouldn't have any troubles at all.

That is, in theory.

If it's not tuned right, you could have troubles with detonation. Which could burn a valve, or work through a set of rings pretty quickly. But the same goes for any forced induction.

Hence the A/F meter, and EGT gauge. They help tell you how everything is doing.

If you REALLY like the idea of N2O, then I'd talk to laughinxxx here on the site.

 

with 3,000 to spend on performance I would:

1.Thermal or Greddy exhaust- $500
2.AEM Pulleys- $150
3.AEM CAI- $180
4.Greddy ss header- $350
5.skunk 2 Stage 2 cams- $450
6.Dual valve springs/titanium retainers- $400
7.VFAC with tuning- $400
8.A/F and Oil pressure guages in dual pod- $130

And $470 left for Nitrous if you want, I would personally if you havent already
get A performance clutch and ss brake lines with upgraded pads and Nuespeed
sport springs to lower and provide better handling

 

and you left out the money to install the valvetrain, and cams. That's a lot more cash gone.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lone Luder &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">50 shot?
If it's professionally installed and set up correctly, you shouldn't have any troubles at all.

That is, in theory.

If it's not tuned right, you could have troubles with detonation. Which could burn a valve, or work through a set of rings pretty quickly. But the same goes for any forced induction.

Hence the A/F meter, and EGT gauge. They help tell you how everything is doing.

If you REALLY like the idea of N2O, then I'd talk to laughinxxx here on the site.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hate to sound so ignorant but what is an EGT gauge? I'm guessing A/F is Air/Fuel but doesn't the VAFC tell me my A/F as well?

Also when buying the fuel rail...do I need to get a Fueal pressure regulator too?

 

EGT= Exhaust Temperature

 

The VAFC won't give you an A/F reading.
And an EGT gauge is not counting on your stock o2 sensor. It's telling the exact reading of the exhuast gas temperature at that moment. Which should be very steady and reliable. It'll tell you if you're running right.

an EGT gauge is a very underestimated tool... I think it's one of the most important when you start going FI.

Another header to look into is the SMPS Header. Badass stuff. I almost forgot about that till the "sms" part of his sn reminded me.