what is the easyest way to add horsepower but not spend a lot of money?

Question

Ok I have a 1999 mercury cougar V6 with 104000 miles on it. basically I want to find a way to gain some horsepower without spending a lot of money. so you might say the question is what is the cheapest way to increase horsepower in a cougar. plz I need some help. Ineed just a little more get up and go out of this car.

Answer 1

Well, sorry, but you're out of luck. Horsepower IS money. The cheaper stuff that won't land you much power:
Cold air intake - $100-300, remember, get a true CAI, not a Warm air intake
Custom Exhaust - $300-500 Straight through muffler, slightly larger pipes
Underdrive Pulley set - $150-300 get it off ebay.
Just going faster is easier, though. Start pulling stuff out of your car. Stuff that's easy to replace when it comes time to sell, if you plan on doing that, and stuff you don't need. Weight is enemy #1 for going fast.

Answer 2

The biggest problem is poor air flow. Depends on what you consider a lot of money, but the biggest restriction is the intake and heads. Changing the mass air meter and putting on a 65 mm throttle body will help some. I agree with the others, putting in a set of 3.73 gears makes a big difference (don't forget to change the speedo gear). Opening up the exhaust will also help. Install some good aftermarket headers and mufflers.

Answer 3

Any "Add-on" you can get will certainly have some effect, perhaps not positive, or maybe not even be able to tell that you have it. A cold air intake COULD help some, but probably not as much as advertised, but WOW! the noise it makes now.
Dollar-for-dollar, the best hing to get some more arm from the little 3.8 is to purchase a tuner. They aren't cheap, but they really do a good job, and of all the mods you could perform, this is the ONE that you will be the MOST satisfied with.
They are available at most speed and performance sites for < $400.00, and most of them are legal in all 50 states and Canada.

Happy Motoring

Answer 4

Drive a relative's V8. That's about the only way you can do anything on the cheap with that vehicle.

There arean't many afermarket parts available. You might be able to do a K&N Filter for under $50, and use synthetic lubricants to get a little more, but when it comes to the cougar, what you see is what you get.

Answer 5

More horsepower, Take the air cleaner right out and throw it in the garbage. Do you have any idea how restrictive that dirty old thing is, besides, a Cougar with 104,000 miles on it don't need an air filter. you should be happy it still runs at all...

Answer 6

Horsepower = money. How fast do you want to go? If you want to go fast for cheap ditch the Cougar and buy a Mustang GT.

Answer 7

a car engine is a air pump. the faster u get the air in and the faster u get the air out the faster u go.
First get a good air filter, K&N is very good. and is reusable, rise it out with water tap it dry and put it back in.
Second, go to a biger exust.
have it tuned up !! new pugs and wires mabye a roter cap.
keep the oil changed and use good oil ! !!!
check tire presure as well.

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Answer 8

the "inexpensive" add ons with the big claims will not give you a noticeable gain, the real way will cost bucks and probably your license, no way around it, trade it in for something more powerful if it's that important. Don't take the air filter off.

Answer 9

In crease the air in and air out by getting and installing a larger air less restrictive air cleaner and then adding a free flow muffler and larger tail pipe. Just make sure they are SMOG certified for your state or you may not pass your state emissions test.