power gain v £ cost?

[graham bahr]

whats your best valve for money power gain? and i'm not talking about fixing set up problems or things worn i'm talking about additional tuning

[graham bahr]

mine must of been when i cut up and welded an inlet manifold back together and gained 10bhp on an engine already making 90bhp per litre, the cost £10 or £1 per 1bhp.

the worse i did was the last cam change 7bhp for £1200!

[greenamex2]

Depends on your definition of "fixing set up problems". I tend to view anything I change on my car that then made it car faster as a problem now fixed.

I suppose the ultimate 'cheap' power gain I will be making this winter is replacing my intake collar on my airbox with one the right size. A couple of evenings with a dremel, some araldite and a hideously over priced carbon fibre tube will net 12BHP for 35 quid. That's about 3 quid a BHP. Would have been cheaper if I had used some ally tube.

Of course I could have just kept the old ugly heavy awkward ally airbox on the car in the first place and NOT lost 12BHP and 200 quid!

[graham bahr]

Originally Posted by Denis Bassom

Depends on your definition of "fixing set up problems". I tend to view anything I change on my car that then made it car faster as a problem now fixed.

!

by set up problems i ment incorrect jetting/timing/mapping throttle linkage type stuff

[ian.stewart]

I think Dave Walker was my best value for money deal, I had previously had my injection set up elsewhere, never totally happy, I took the car up to Emeralds, 41bhp and 44ftlbs later, and @ £200, for a day on the rollers, I was a happy bunny

[PenelopePitstop]

My ultimate cheap modification to increase performance was not power gain but through wait loss, in me the driver, a lot cheaper than investing in fancy composites and alloys to save a couple of pounds.

[zac510]

AU$40 boost controller

I once did a very cheap intercooler water spray that was effective but the cooler itself was already undersized.

[ubrben]

If you're circuit racing, how have you decided more power is the best thing to reduce your lap time?

Ben

[graham bahr]

Originally Posted by ian.stewart

I think Dave Walker was my best value for money deal, I had previously had my injection set up elsewhere, never totally happy, I took the car up to Emeralds, 41bhp and 44ftlbs later, and @ £200, for a day on the rollers, I was a happy bunny

i bet you were happy, thats one hell of a gain, what was it on? and if dave did it i know it was a 100% for real gain, but thats due to a bad set up in the first place not additional tuning

[graham bahr]

Originally Posted by ubrben

If you're circuit racing, how have you decided more power is the best thing to reduce your lap time?

Ben

in my experience, having run both very nimble but maybe slightly underpowered car and a not so nimble car which arguably had more than enough power, the big power option certainly makes the quick lap times much easier to obtain, in the race itself when your dealing with other traffic, practise though when hopefully you have a clear track and id say it was 50/50

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by ubrben

If you're circuit racing, how have you decided more power is the best thing to reduce your lap time?

Ben

I don't think anyone decided more power was the best way to ruduce lap times. The question was, "what's the value for power gain" not "what's the best value for low lap times"

[ian.stewart]

Originally Posted by graham bahr

i bet you were happy, thats one hell of a gain, what was it on? and if dave did it i know it was a 100% for real gain, but thats due to a bad set up in the first place not additional tuning

That was on a 3.9 Rover V8 on TBs in a mk2 Cortina, I know it was on set up, but I was quite unaware how bad the original set up was untill I saw a vid of the car at Santa Pod dissapear in a black cloud of unburnt fuel and the fuel consumption on a run has improved from about 15mpg, to a respectable 23mpg, as long as I am kind to it.

[retro_msport]

Ian... would you happen to be V8ian on TS... if you are .. hello nice to see you here.

If not hello anyways

[Al Weyman]

On my V8's (sorry into them as you know) a simple balance pipe welded between the headers, cost about a fiver or tenner and a bit of fabrication makes the engine run quieter and smoother and should be good for at least 10 or 15 bhp although I cant back that up.

North of Watford Ian how far North we may be neighbours!

Another one not fitted yet but reckoned to be good and cheap, a cold air supply to the air filter.

[graham bahr]

so we could be talking 2bhp per £, thats cheap! makes my 1bhp per £ manifold mod look expensive

[Al Weyman]

As I said many times Chevies just have to be the best bang for the buck on the horsepower trail apart from petrol they are an all time horsepower bargain in themselves. I see the new Marcos is to use the venerable old 50's design engine in their latest 50k incarnation, that'll make it a good un!

[ian.stewart]

Retro-Msport, yep thas me,
Al, just north/west of the big bonfire, Berko.

[phoenix]

I would say getting your CR as high as you can - increasing fuel octane to the max, and getting your valve timing (vernier wheels required) and ignition timing bang on. Fueling has to be right, of course. You may consider the last two as 'fixing' but, believe me, as little as 2 or 3 degrees of fiddling with the cam timing can make a whole lot of difference in my experience. Ignition and fueling should be considered part of your normal 'health check' dyno routine in my book, but are vital and can yield (or save) valuable power.

[Tim Falce]

I changed my air filter and got 15bhp and increasing the lengths of my ram pipes gained another 7bhp.

[ian.stewart]

Is that the same Tim Falce, whos dad used to have Kin Big Tippers and your first car was a Red 850 mini on 1275 GTrims, Just guessing

[Tim Falce]

Errr, correct guess. Here's the embarrasing bit, you obviously know me but unless you are Stewpot from South East London School I don't remember you

[ian.stewart]

Yeah, thats me, Been 30+ years since then, good to know you are still about,
Ian

[Tim Falce]

I'm suprised you remember the Mini, it was a pig. It was one of the first ever produced and used to break down every time I went out in it. My dad ended up getting me another car as he got fed up with coming out to tow me home nearly every night.

[dtype38]

Wey hey Tim, another mate.... that must be a 50% increase for no money at all. Best value for money so far

[graham bahr]

you guys are on the wrong site this isn't friends reunited! still its nice though