To any one who is serious about tuning and serious about helping me, please reply!!!
I drive a 1996 Sunfire 2.2L 134cid and I want to make some serious HP before putting on a turbo what should I do? do you have any tips/tricks? ie. (shortening the throttle cable etc...) I have a ram air intake, under drive pulley, MSD power coils, iridium spark plugs, 2.25 catback exhaust, stage 3 bully racing clutch, so what is next? I took my car to the track three times this year only to lose again and again to vtec civics, I'm pretty sick of it. money is not an issue but cheaper is better next summer I want to make the J-body proud at the track!

a shorter throttle cable won't do anything. making high Hp before going turbo is a bit stupid. You have 3 choice for high Hp: Boost, Nitrous, NA.

So BEFORE going turbo you would have to use either nitrous or a big NA setup. (Remember, you have a 2.2). If you go with nitrous, why go with a turbo after that? build the engine for nitrous and forget about it.

If you go for NA and rebuild the engine, the compression will be high and you'll be able to run less boost and you're pretty close to a nitrous setup.

Even if you go with bolt on, a header is useless cause you will need a turbo header/manifold. That "ram air" intake is just a regurlar intake that doesn't give you more than 2hp and make you burn gas like hell(pretty useless IMO). Then you could go with a cam but still, you'll get a bit more power with a boost cam compare to stock but you won't have a stronger engine.

There's no cheap way to make power. Since you're going with boost, why not rebuild the engine for boost? Otherwise I'm sure you'll be on the list of people crying because they blew their engines.

So if you go with boost, build the engine for boost (lower compression) or if you go with nitrous, build it for NA and nitrous.



Gilles
2.3 Ho

Thanks for the advice. just a few questions. What is NA? and what would be the components of a boost engine I would need to shop for if I was to build up the 2.2 from scratch for either nitrous or turbo? would you recommend getting the cold air intake over the short ram? I have heard and read about 600+ HP 2.2L engines in sunfire/cavaliers, so even 350 HP would be nice for me how do I do it?

NA is naturally aspirated. Not boosted.

Quote:

I have heard and read about 600+ HP 2.2L engines in sunfire/cavaliers, so even 350 HP would be nice for me how do I do it?

Forced induction is the easiest way. Bunches of nitrous is the next easiest, imo. NA is the hardest.

It doesn't sound like you're at a point where a 350 hp engine is a reasonable goal. 200 hp would be more better, I think. And you're car will be plenty fun to drive.

-->Slow

If you really want 350 hp. You kinda need to build up your engine a lot, so you can boost the hell out of it. Get some lower compression forged pistons (can be found in the build guide). Also, make sure the pistons are .20" overbore. Slightly bigger will give you some more power. Then get some new cams and rods. You will also want a 3" exhaust setup. Then go for some small things, like pullies and mounts, new injectors too. All of this should allow you to boost at a high psi possible producing 300 hp, will take some work and patience too.

eh just slap a 300 shot on it. you'll be aight. lol j/k




I was a retard, and now I'm permanently banned.

I don't want to blow up my motor in one shot, Thanks for the advice guys it's a start now I just have to get my hands on the pieces!

My recommendation is get a turbo. I know that a lot of guys run the bottle in their cars, but in reality, turbo is the better way to go. You can make about 180 at the wheels on the stock internals without too many reliability issues. Don't skimp on the parts, though. Hahn racecraft has one of the nicest kits I've seen for the money, and you get just about everything you need. Cavalier Connection has one, but I'm not fond of the manifold design. Its TIG welded and looks real nice, but for a daily driver, the cast manifolds will hold up better in the long haul. No matter what kit you use, get an intercooler. Your engine will thank you. If you want to eat a few Hondas in the meantime, go old school. Add 1.6 roller rockers for a little more breathing room. Make the rotating assembly as light as possible, billet is your friend for that, and invest in an ECU reflash. Even a nonturbo motor will benefit. I'm running all of it and a few other things, and I have no problems.