cheap performance upgrades for........?

Question

what are some good performance upgrades for a 1992 Lumina V6 3.1L 4 door. in about 1 1/2 years i am racing my mom LOL and she has a mustang i have to get some thing to get about 150hp more. give me links or names,kind,etc. any thing will help. one last thing the car is riding on 18" rims.

it can be any thing that will give it more power and speed.

i am NOT going to give up my 18" rims.

can you give me a link to a cold air intake and a carbon fiber hood?

the car was given to me and i want to do some work on it to make it faster so it backs up the looks and to show the mustang up LOL

i am not going to cheat but good one LOL

Answer 1

if you won't give up the 18's, it'll never happen. Weight on the hubs is about 10x more parasidic to power than weight elsewhere on the car. And in FWD drag racing, weight is the #1 factor, even above horsepower.

If you don't mind listening to advice:
-Ditch the 18's. You don't have to sell them, but put them in the garage for the race.
-Pick up a cheap set of 16" x 7-8.5" steel wheels, you know, the stock ones that sit under the hub caps. Shouldn't cost you more than $50 for the set.
-Nitto NT555R drag radials for the front and something cheap for the rear. Remember, taller sidewall = more grip = faster run. Smaller wheels and tall, grippy tires are a key to victory.
-Start pulling **** out. If you have a sub box in the trunk, remove it; ditch the passenger seat, pull out the back seat. If it's not welded down, pull it out. Rebember, you can always put it back when you're done.

If you don't follow the reccomendations above, you WILL lose.

FWD cars can't have the displacement that RWD can have, so you won't be able to make up the hp discrepancy reliably or cheaply; weight is where it's at.

Ok, at this point you car should be somewhere between 200-300 lbs lighter if you removed enough stuff, should be loud inside, and uncomfortable to ride in. Good job, you have the makings of a race car now. Time for more lightening, but this time spending gobs of cash.

-Fibeglass or Carbonfiber body parts. I'm not sure where you'll be able to get them, but look for fg hoods, trunk lids, and fenders.

Now for some performance.

-Exhaust and intake. Standard aluminum CAI and a 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust should be all you need. Don't go with a flow master for the muffler, though, it's more restrictive than you can imagine. Single outlet with a straight through design would be the best.

- Your engine is sheer crap, it only made 140bhp new. Assuming you have a 4 speed auto, pick up the drive train (3400 V6 and 4T45E) from a 1999-2005 Pontiac Grand AM GT. It should bolt in with minimal mods. Yay! You now have 180bhp!

-Several places sell parts for this engine, which is a bored 3100. Donkey Punch Performance I believe is one. Get a ported top end, hot cam, ECU reprogram, ported throttle body, forged pistons, and headers if you can find 'em.

-Nitrous. Just any of the deep engine mods, if you have to ask here, let a speed shop install it for you. You mess this up and it's bye bye engine, though the trans options you have won't be able to hold a whole lot anyway. Direct port wet shot would be your best option, though a throttle body spacer with nitrous port would be cheaper. Alway go with a wet shot, though. A 50 shot would be good, as it won't put a whole lot of stress on your fragile drive train.

-If you don'y like nitrous, then a Supercharger is always an option.

Then the last part

-LEARN TO DRAG RACE! It's not quite as simple as mashing the gas and going. Learn to launch with no wheel spin, but get into the powerband quickly. Also, don't be an idiot: don't neutral drop, don't leave it in overdrive.

If you follow ALL of the above, unless your mom has a Roush, SVT Cobra, modded 5.0, or a 06+ GT, you'll wipe the floor with her. With nitous, your car should dyno at around 250hp and if you gut enough, should weigh under 3000lbs. If it doesn't, you'll probably lose, unless she doesn't know how to race.

Quit being a pussy and asking other people for links. Hit the W-body forums, GM forums, etc. you'll need their advice. Their advice and about $10k. Remember, speed isn't cheap.

Answer 2

Cheap Performance Upgrades

Answer 3

Cheap Horsepower Upgrades

Answer 4

Since you refuse to give up the 18" rims, then you cannot expect to reach your goal, not without being realistic here. The 18's slow it down from 0-60mph but add some to it on the top side, but it kills your HP. Put a set of stock wheels on it, get a bottle, and hope it doesn't blow up on you, and you might have a chance at beating your mom. Do a search on carbon fiber hoods on yahoo or goggle and see if you can come up with one, but I don't think you can. Honestly... you need to get a better car if you expect to be racing with anybody. What you have is basically an everyday grocery getter that has no power, and cannot be made to go much faster. I'm sorry, but I'm just being realistic here. I hope this helps. Good Luck!!!

Answer 5

Don't use nitrous. If you don't know what you're doing, that would be an easy way to ruin your engine. My best advice would be to start with a KN air intake and a nicer cat-back exhaust. These aren't going to add more than 10 hp max but will help you in the long run. From there, I would say either turbo or supercharge the engine. That's the quickest way to get a decent amount of horsepower. I don't think Luminas are exactly set up to handle nitrous that well.

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
cheap performance upgrades for........?
what are some good performance upgrades for a 1992 Lumina V6 3.1L 4 door. in about 1 1/2 years i am racing my mom LOL and she has a mustang i have to get some thing to get about 150hp more. give me links or names,kind,etc. any thing will help. one last thing the car is riding on 18" rims.

Answer 7

try a CRY02 kit. It ist nitrous but has several cooling options for some HP gain. Put a flomaster dual kit for exhaust. Upgrade the ignition. Bosch Platinum "2" plugs, hi-performance wires and distrubutor, k&n air kit, a bit stiffer suspension. I have upgraded many vehicles like this working for NEED FOR SPEED BASTROP, TX.

Answer 8

If you don't believe a cold air intake or exhaust will help, then you're going to need more than $500. to pull the head off and have it re-worked, along with the better cam and higher compression pistons. Add another zero to that 500 and you should be able to keep up with any old newer car out there.

Answer 9

ditch the 18 inch weels fro some light stock rims and tires and add a bottle of nitrous. That will be the cheapest way.

Answer 10

don't bother, just pull a couple of plug wires off moms car before the race . LOL