Want Quick, Cheap, bolt-on power!

[WOLFANATOR13]

Well Ive own my 240 now for about a month, i bougt it for 2g's i know it may have been a little steep but i wanted it! it has a new motor the ka24de, i know it has some mods, the kid i bought it from worked at the nissan dealership in town, i know it has a full eibach coil over suspension but has camber issues and i want to fix that, also i want more power, i want any help with what i can get to up my power and tourque, already has and intake and wrapped headers runs very cool with the headers wrapped. i just would like to hear some ideas for quik and easy bolt on power! thanx

[Deadrodent]

well i'm pretty sure a major tuner magazine -here i found the article. it was import tuner- had a 240sx project car and all they did were intake/exhaust/underdrive pulleys and they managed to gain 20 hp and 20 ft. lbs of tq. those are pretty impressive gains if you ask me. you should try searching the web for an article on that project car. hope this helps!

here's the article: http://www.importtuner.com/tech/0210it_powerpages/

[1991S13]

You're gonna learn that power isn't quick or cheap. Well, if you buy all eBay parts it may be, but keep some money in the bank for when the tow truck brings you home.

Browse this forum...you'll get plenty of ideas. You also have to plan out what you want - a strong NA engine or one that is turbocharged. Since your KA is "new", you probably won't go the route most people go and swap it out for something else. KA-T's are getting more popular, so that would probably be the best way to go.

[JimmyMethod]

Put some NICO stickers on it, they're worth at least 10 HP.

[kuramaya]

Those rims heavy? Maybe ditch those for some lighter ones...get the standard boldt ons if you plan to stay N/A. Intake, Header, Full exhaust, and Pulleys. If you plan a full motor swap later, or to Trubo the one you have, dont waste your money now on any mods at all and start saving for that...of course with added power you will have tow orry about controlling that power. I good set of Adjustable Coilovers is mandatory in my opinion. ALot of people add heaps of power and go cheap on the suspension parts then hit curbs, cars, or some other trash when pushing the car beyond its suspension limits..happy tuninglateDaryl

[direktdrive]

Well power aint cheap but i've heard that if you replace your stock diff. with an L.S.D. it'll make your car run faster because now power is being placed on both wheels. I think i came upon this idea while searching either Nico or some other forum. Also when buying an L.S.D., most people prefer the non-viscous one.

just heard this around forums...mmmk...

[SeVa-S13]

Nitrous. Don't mind any of the posts below this one that say something along the lines of "OMG duder no wayz! cuz liek teh NAWS is cheatzing and blow up your whip dawg!." They're idiots. Save up a few hundred, get a good wet kit, hook it up right and enjoy....responsibly.

[Veriest1]

Put some NICO stickers on it, they're worth at least 10 HP.

Lies! I dynoed a 50 hp gain!

As far as nitrous goes there isn't anything wrong with it other than it doesn't work well coming out of corners and refilling the bottle.

Check out this article as well. http://grmotorsports.com/news/...n.php

[kuramaya]

Yeah nitrous is good if you are looking for straightline power, but if thats not your plan, i would stay away from it

[InsanityInc]

Nitrous is pointless unless you're only going to drag race, and it's not good for your engine at all. Sudden radical temperature changes do bad things to metal.

[naed240sx]

A limited slip differential will do nothing for power output, but it would make your car faster depending on how you are driving it. Usually for straightline, my open diff is fine, hooks up both wheels simultaneously on launch, but cornering sucks, cause all power goes to the inside wheel and spins it, so you are not accererating. A LSD will provide more grip for more accereration in through corners.

[WOLFANATOR13]

these two shots are of my suspension i have eibach coilover and eibach gas sturts and ebiach gas shocks.heres shots of my strut bars.and heres the motor and a close-up shot of my wrapped headers.

the motor now has 7500 miles on it!also i have the orignal steel wheels on it right now with falken 195/55r15's on right nowbetter for the heat we have and i burned the tires off the 18's and them ****s are expensive!

[Veriest1]

Nitrous is pointless unless you're only going to drag race, and it's not good for your engine at all. Sudden radical temperature changes do bad things to metal.

I've heard that a small shot of nitrous is actually good for an engine. Supposedly the hotter temps actually burn off deposits in the compression chambers. I could be wrong though since the only place I can remember reading that is in 4-Wheeler magazine. They had it installed on some truck.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, nitrous does the same thing as a turbocharger. That is feeding the engine more oxygen. It just uses a gas that's high in oxygen content rather than compressed air. I don't mean to start an argument with you and I'm not really up on my nitrous facts (I've never really been interested in it.) but if all it does is feed the engine more oxygen I don't see how it could more damaging than a proper turbo setup going in and out of boost in traffic.

=========================================================

For the original poster. In my opinion the best "performance" mod you could do for your car initially is to fill all your fluids with Redline synthetics. Even if you don't decrease the cars drivetrain loss your peace of mind and the new fluids in the car will be worth it.

If performance is your main goal then you could ditch the infinity sub and sell it to by car parts. Another idea is to sell your 18's now that the tires are used up and get a nice set of used 15 or 16 inch racing wheels. This continues on the line of freeing up power through minimizing drivetrain loss. Good tires are cheaper too in these sizes. Don't forget to rotate them to increase their lifespan.

[naed240sx]

Yes, you are correct for the most part. It can be done, but it will definitely shorten the life of the engine.(how much im not saying). It may even help to clean the engine of deposits, but eventually the higher heat will give you problems. Not saying that its not a viable option though. It would be the best solution to the thread starter because of the power gains/low cost. Just dont go using a 100 shot. Me personally, I like mods that increase power all the time, not just when you press a button. If i got NAWS it would end up using it during every run, and would blow my engine quick. Ive got a heavy foot

[240marcuSX]

thats a ka24e, not a de, dont know if anybody pointed that out yet, too lazy to read all the words right now.

[naed240sx]

Ha, by the time he posted the pics, i had forgoten about the fact that he had said that. Good thing to point out. I wonder why the guy told him it was swapped with a de

[thekage]

and thats not the stock header....

[916drifter]

and those are not coilovers, its just a spring/shock set-up

[240marcuSX]

that is a coilover suspension. or those are the wierdest looking leaf springs ive ever seen!

[InsanityInc]

I've heard that a small shot of nitrous is actually good for an engine. Supposedly the hotter temps actually burn off deposits in the compression chambers. I could be wrong though since the only place I can remember reading that is in 4-Wheeler magazine. They had it installed on some truck.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, nitrous does the same thing as a turbocharger. That is feeding the engine more oxygen. It just uses a gas that's high in oxygen content rather than compressed air. I don't mean to start an argument with you and I'm not really up on my nitrous facts (I've never really been interested in it.) but if all it does is feed the engine more oxygen I don't see how it could more damaging than a proper turbo setup going in and out of boost in traffic.

You don't need temperatures that high to clean it. It's recommended that you run your engine to high RPM (almost redline) every once in a while to prevent carbon buildup, and that's plenty hot to do it.

Nitrous doesn't deliver the difference the same way as a turbocharger. Nitrous goes from X cylinder fill to Y cylinder fill immediately with a flip of a switch and causes a sudden massive change in cylinder pressures and temperatures (and then drops it back to X immediately when you flip it off). A turbo charger boosts somewhat linearly, so you don't just suddenly go from full vacuum to full boost. It's not the temperatures themselves that are damaging, it's the rapid change in temperature that causes problems. Also, a turbo isn't going to build any meaningful amount of boost in traffic.

[Veriest1]

Quote »Also, a turbo isn't going to build any meaningful amount of boost in traffic.[/quote]It will if it's going in and out of boost in traffic....

It would depend upon the size of the turbo (in relation to engine size) and how much "go" there is in your stop and go traffic.

[naed240sx]

Agreed. very well said

Heres another idea... Bolt off power. Remove weight! Take out sub, back seat, whatever you want. Thats what I did. every 17 or so pounds is the equivalent of 1 horsepower gain(appx)

[Veriest1]

Quote »every 17 or so pounds is the equivalent of 1 horsepower gain(appx)[/quote]I like that it's more conservative than what I've always heard.

The general rule of thumb I've always heard is that every loss of 100 pounds of sprung wieght = approximatly 10hp or a tenth in the 1/4 mile.

And every 6 pounds of srpung wieght = 1 horsepower. So that would be... about 60 pounds of sprung wieght to net a theoretical 10 horsepower.

This is why I suggested ditching your 18's. Good smaller diameter lightwieght wheels will be easier on your budget because of tires and wheels being lower in cost for high quality. So instead of running lowsy tires on 18's you can run good tires on 15's or 16's. The higher grade of tire and proper inflation pressures (check them once a week!) will more than make up for the sidewall flex you'll pick up. If you even notice the flex.

And personally I think S13's look better with smaller diameter wheels.

[Nismo_Freak]

Nitrous doesn't deliver the difference the same way as a turbocharger. Nitrous goes from X cylinder fill to Y cylinder fill immediately with a flip of a switch and causes a sudden massive change in cylinder pressures and temperatures (and then drops it back to X immediately when you flip it off). A turbo charger boosts somewhat linearly, so you don't just suddenly go from full vacuum to full boost. It's not the temperatures themselves that are damaging, it's the rapid change in temperature that causes problems. Also, a turbo isn't going to build any meaningful amount of boost in traffic.

No turbo boosts linearly. The turbocharger gets its energy from the exhaust, once the engine begins to build boost it will produce more energy. It's an exponential curve.

On high HP cars you can go from 300whp to 900whp in a matter of a few hundred RPM. Hell even on my SR I would see boost in and out in just about every acceleration point with the tiny T25.

Aluminum is a better conductor of heat compared to steel, and they use thin gauge steel to build exhaust systems. They are surrounded by ambient temperatures of approx. 150 degrees, yet have exhaust traveling through them at 800 - 900 degrees. When properly designed they don't crack. I don't think you are going to have a problem with the cylinder head.

Oh and I don't know anyone who lays on the nitrous button when they are siting in traffic.

There is nothing wrong with running a good nitrous setup.

[Veriest1]

Quote »Oh and I don't know anyone who lays on the nitrous button when they are siting in traffic.[/quote]I don't know that anyone mentioned nitrous in traffic but that is one of the more humorous mental images I've had today.

[WOLFANATOR13]

truthfully i thought it wasnt a DE the "D" stands for the dual over head cams, correct me if im wrong. and its a sohc. what will it take for me to get the dual over head cams? how much more power will i have with the dual over head cams over the single? and what i mean by cheap bolt on power, ive got about $1600 for parts right now.

[WOLFANATOR13]

truthfully i thought it wasnt a DE the "D" stands for the dual over head cams, correct me if im wrong. and its a sohc. what will it take for me to get the dual over head cams? how much more power will i have with the dual over head cams over the single? and what i mean by cheap bolt on power, ive got about $1600 for parts right now.

also enough raggin on my 18's i dont have them on. i got them for free! they are hot on the car i barely ever use them also. i use the standard 15 in orignal wheels the steel wheels. they work great with 205/60 great traction.

also i didnt do the suspension work. so i dont know. i thought it was coilover. so its not its eibach springs and eibach gas struts and shocks. also i need camber correctors any tips on that too would be helpful.

[fbodtrek]

If you have 1600 sitting around ready to add to your ride, turbo is what's for dinner. 1600 will build a nice setup. If you don't want boost, go with full boltons, cam , and nitrous for racing.

[Veriest1]

It'll take a touch over 2000 to do a proper setup unless you really get a good deal on the major parts. Even if you think your going to pull it off for 1600 still bedget closer to 24 for all of the misc. fittings you'll need. Needless to say you're pretty close to having enough. KA-T all the way.

Check the sponsors. I think some have kits at a good price and rumor has it you get a free snickers!

[HashiriyaS14]

If you already have $1600, sit on it for awhile, save up just a bit more, and go KA-T.

Honestly, another option would be to swap to a CA18DET. It would have the following advantages:

-Cheaper swap than an SR (~$1100 motorset)-Nice little rev-happy engine, very stout-Your "new"-ish KA24E would likely demand a good price among KA builders. You could probably get like $500+ for a KA24E with only 7500 original miles on it if you sell it w/the trans.

Anyway, if you're dead-set on tuning your KA24E NA, get some high-comp pistons, high-lift cams, and do a homebrew ITB setup.

I concur with everyone's wheel judgement. Sell the 18's and get some nice used JDM wheels, 15 or 16", in a proper low offset.