Hey everyone. I have everything I originally wanted to do to my car (04 5 speed cavalier) done as far as performance goes, but I find this isn't enough. I am into drag racing and I want to know what else I can do to squeeze every ounce of performance out of this car.
Here is what I currently have done:
AEM Cold Air Intake
Bypass Valve
Revco Bored out Throttle Body
Port matched Intake Manifold (done by me, with a dremel)
CustomCarGrills Lightweight Crank Pulley
Lower Motor Mount
Pacesetter Ceramic Coated 4-1 Header
Magnaflow Hi-Flow Cat
2 1/4in Piping all the way back
Borla Pro XS muffler
Now. I don't want to mess with nitrous, a turbocharger, or a supercharger right now. So I want to know what else I can do WITHOUT opening up the engine(ie: headwork... cams)? The only thing I can think of is an upper engine mount. or maybe switch to mandrel bends in the exhaust. (but I just installed the header, cat, and bigger piping) so i really don't wanna replace the exhaust just for mandrel. I might spring for some 15in Kosei K1's as they would be lighter than my stock 16's. What else can I do to this thing?
All idea's and suggestions are welcome!
2004 Cavalier
13.2@105........
Mods...
BFG Drag Radials
Saab Turbo kit
2.5 exhaust, w/cutout
Spec Stage 2+ Clutch
Trans mounts? Other than that you really can't do anymore without opening up the engine.That's where the real power comes in.
With all that and your still running stock cams? And you call yourself a dragracer oh
shame on you!! New cams will wake it up especialy with all the other mods you have.
Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.
I DO have a set of level zero cams. (advertised 15+hp) sitting at the house right now. BUT barely anyone could get them to run good. And I personally ruined my last engine from having it apart 9 times!!! trying to get some gains out of the cams and eventually I forgot to tighten the hydraulic chain tensioner bolt and all my oil poured out of it and I ruined my engine. Plus when they were in it didn't idle smooth, more like a mini monster truck.
Remember this IS my daily driver so I really don't wanna crack it open after what happened before.
2004 Cavalier
13.2@105........
Mods...
BFG Drag Radials
Saab Turbo kit
2.5 exhaust, w/cutout
Spec Stage 2+ Clutch
Just check the cam specs against stock if there not too nuts slap them in. I had my Pontiac engine apart countless times and never had a problem with it. As long as you
know what your doing you should be able to tear it down and rebuild it bunches of times with no problems at all. Just be careful take your time and you'll be fine. don't be scared of your engine its waiting for those cams.
Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.
I'll keep that in mind Jackalope.
Anyone else have any ideas??? I'm not done wasting money on this car yet! lol
Anything else that might help out my acceleration. I'm sure there is more stuff like weight reduction... tuning???...
So far all I have come up with is:
Lighter rims
Upper motor mount
2004 Cavalier
13.2@105........
Mods...
BFG Drag Radials
Saab Turbo kit
2.5 exhaust, w/cutout
Spec Stage 2+ Clutch
Have you gutted the interior yet of all the sound deadening stuff? Thats about a good
hundred pounds.
Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.
no, not yet.
2004 Cavalier
13.2@105........
Mods...
BFG Drag Radials
Saab Turbo kit
2.5 exhaust, w/cutout
Spec Stage 2+ Clutch
msd system, control arm bushings, struts and springs.
My Car
Sunfires rule! (Tom) wrote:msd system, control arm bushings, struts and springs.
what he said. upper mount, tranny mounts, and remember, weight reduction is free
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
get a set of tires that are a smaller outer diameter will effectively increase your final drive ratio, meaning that the car will accelerate harder and might keep you in the sweet spot of the powerband better. This is only for track use as it will throw off your speedo. Get some seriously grippy tires, drag radials preferably (you don't have the power to need slicks yet).
lighter rims will make a big difference, as it is not only unsprung weight (1 pound unsprung weight is worth 3 lbs of sprung weight), but rotating mass as well. So if you're really reaching, technically crossdrilled rotors count as weight reduction, although you wouldn't see the improvement on a timeslip because differences in launch or air temp will be enough to mask them. But you get the idea.
Strip the car when you go to the track. Practice it a few times and you'll be able to have all the seats and most of the interior panels out in less than half an hour. Now if people want to say "its not a street car if you strip it at the track" well, think of it this way: would you show up to a competitive track meet wearing ankle weights? No, and racing is the same thing. Carbon hood, carbon decklid will shave quite a few lbs off as well.
Another thing you can try is the
Modshack TTDA, which has is a filter encased in an insulated, heatshielded canister, with two inlets that you can attach tubing to, which you can then run to small scoops that you can place either in the foglight holes or in the grille for "ram-air". Lower intake temps and a slight pressurization effect from forced air can't hurt.
Thats about all i can think of so far as bolt on/cheap type stuff. An emanage to tune timing and fuel might be able to eek out a few ponies as well. Other than that, you've got no choice outside of forced induction or opening it up for a head port and cams.
Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said
REALLY great info Scarab!
Thanks alot
That's the kind of stuff I was looking for.
2004 Cavalier
13.2@105........
Mods...
BFG Drag Radials
Saab Turbo kit
2.5 exhaust, w/cutout
Spec Stage 2+ Clutch
Would that TTDA even work on our cars seeing as though it is advertised as a VW part?
its a filter .... yes it will work. you might need to move some stuff around to get a good place for it to fit, maybe relocate the battery to the trunk. Other than that you just need an intake pipe thats the right outer diameter to fit to the outlet size.
Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said
ONLY All Motor Quick 8 H2 (GMSCB 2005)
Best times of 2005
60' - 2.013 (5/28/05)
330' - 6.065 (7/6/05)
1/8 - 9.427 (7/6/05)
M.P.H.- 73.48 (7/6/05)
1000' - 12.361 (7/6/05)
1/4 - 14.838 (7/6/05)
M.P.H.- 91.72 (7/6/05)
1.99 60' here we come
B&M short shifter will help improve track times. definitely get the upper mount.
also, think about selling your cams and getting a set of stage 1 "computer friendly" cams.
Also think about what
Sunfires rule! (Tom) said.
Awesome guys!
Thanks everybody!!!
I'll definitely take a closer look at the upper mount , Tranny mounts, and the B&M Shifter.
I suppose the control arm bushing, struts, and spirings are to help on the launch... to get rid of wheel hop and such...But I am not familiar with the MSD control. I will research it a little later.
So far:
Lighter rims
Upper motor mount
Tranny Mounts
B&M Shifter
Maybe:
Control arm bushing*
MSD Control (when I learn exactly what it is)
Gutted interior
misc. weight reduction*
friendlier cams
Clutch and Flywheel
Cross-drilled Rotors*
BF Goodrich Drag Radials*
Carbon Fiber hood
NOW, THESE ^^^ are starting to look like nice lists!
2004 Cavalier
13.2@105........
Mods...
BFG Drag Radials
Saab Turbo kit
2.5 exhaust, w/cutout
Spec Stage 2+ Clutch
sell the LZM cams and get JBP's stage 2 cams mine work just fine with no codes
The one, the only, ME.
^^^hey roy been to the track lately ? and also why isn't your eco in your registry ?
15.891 @ 88 mph stock, still getting @!#$ty launches...
long story, i might get it back in there
adn the last time i had it out was at the bash and ran a best of only 16.1 still. but everyone was running at least .5 slower then normal some as much as a full sec slower. i need some major A/F tuning its running extremely rich right now but itll keep with my 5 spd 2 dr sunbird 3.1L so it cant be doing to bad haha. hopfully the 24th ill get it out to the track and see again
The one, the only, ME.
