One of the biggest questions we get asked by the first timer is how can I make more power. This month we will discuss the most common and sometimes easiest way to make more power.

Air Intake

Getting an engine to breathe better will make more power. So upgrading your stock intake to a performance intake will help your engine breathe easier. There are several companies that make replacement air intakes. These can be simple bolt-on units to a new hood with "nose" holes. Most intakes will consist of the air box, new filter, and hose. The filter should be a low restriction air filter such as those manufactured by K&N. Almost anyone with a simple hand tools and knowledge can install one of these intakes.

The best intakes are the ones that allow the engine to gulp cold air. The best cold air intakes will suck cold air from outside the engine compartment. Intakes that mount in front of the car or a hood with "nose" holes will give you a ram air effect. The ram air effect basically means it will ram the air down the engine's throat. This gives you a little more power because it helps force the air into the engine instead of the engine doing all the work.

Exhaust

Now that we have a better breathing engine, we need to get all of that air out of the engine. The next step is to replace the stock exhaust system with a performance exhaust system. Performance exhaust systems consist of pipes and muffler. Some systems also can include a new catalytic converter and/or headers. To get the most power you would replace everything from the engine back--headers, pipe, catalytic converter, and muffler. Of course this would also be in accordance with your budget. This item requires a little more work than the air intake, but still most people should be able to do it themselves. Also, one other benefit of a performance exhaust system is that sweet sound.

A performance exhaust system will allow the exhaust gases to flow more freely. The most restrictive part of the stock exhaust system is the muffler. Stock mufflers have several baffles to help reduce noise. These baffles are what causes the back flow of exhaust gases and what robs the vehicle of power. The performance muffler has fewer baffles to help reduce back flow. This is also the reason a performance muffler has louder sound.

Computer

The last step is to update the computer. You can get a new computer chip or programmer to replace the stock settings. These upgrades allow the engine to take advantaged of the new intake and exhaust. The computer upgrade alone will be worth it, but when used with the above items, your vehicle will make the most power. Again, this is a simple swap for most people. Some computer upgrades require you to remove the computer completely and replace with a new one. Some require the replacement of the computer chip and others can just be reprogrammed through the diagnostic port.

The stock computer was setup with parameters to give a balance between performance and fuel economy. The performance computers have parameters to give much better performance. Some upgrades require you to run a higher octane gas and others may require the use of a lower temperature thermostat. Vehicles with electronically controlled transmissions will get firmer shift points.

Any one of these items can help you make more power, but using them all together can help you make the most power. All of these items can be completed in a weekend. You can do all this for about $ 500 - $ 1000 and pick up about 20-35 horsepower. Not bad for a weekend project. Keep in mind that this will also help you with those future upgrades as well.

Vincent Wright
sales@kmwperformance.com
kmwperformance.com