How can i get to 300HP cheaply?

[uxler]

My 93 Mark VIII is bone stock and strong at the factory 280hp. Looking to add 20 or so HP without spending too much money. Ive heard about the intake mods and not looking to use NOS. What else can i do?

 

[MediumD]

Kooks headers and exhaust should get you there.

 

[poniesviii]

A better program should get you there with exhaust. that's not RWHP, I don't know. I don't think they should rate cars at flywheel hp. When you add 20 horse you won't get it all to the wheels.

 

[98LSC32V]

I agree get a chip and do exhaust work, will put you at 300+ at the flywheel.

 

[Joeychgo]

Guys ---- He said cheaply - your giving him $2000+.

Unfortnately, exhaust and intake are usually the first step - your engine needs to breath better.

There are some things you can do though. Electric oil pump for example might give you 5-6 horse. The intake is inexpensive. Getting a chip also helps. All that is somewhere around $500 or so.

The exhaust - will be expensive because you likely cant just swap out mufflers - but the other side of that coin is that your cats are likely to be on their last legs. When you do need to replace something on your exhause, replace everything at once. It's a big bill for the parts, but its cheaper on labor if its all done at once. So - look to do kooks headers, high flow cats, high flow mufflers & X pipes. The headers and cats get from supercoupe performance - the mufflers, chip, X pipe - get from Lincoln Motorsport. (OneBadMk8)

 

[poniesviii]

..You CAN get some VERY nice exhaust and a program for under 1g. You can include your intake in the 1g range also, unless you're paying some speed shop. 20 horse does not mean headers.


Like Joey's saying it's good to get the car set up for mods before the power mods. Make it breathe better, vent better, then start with a J mod, coil packs, plug wires, rear gear of choice, then headers.. then converter, then Nitrous, or an engine build up.. or both. Etc.

 

[Joeychgo]

No - but he's got a gen 1 so the one cat is affixed to the stock header. Might as well get it all at once then try to go back and redo it later when that cat clogs. Its probably robbing him of HP now. Im assuming he doesnt have the ability to do the exhaust work on his own and labor will be less if it all happens at once..

 

[poniesviii]

Sigh.

If you're paying for all your work to be done like probably is in this case you're right .... but if the exhaust guru has half a brain it will be easy to seperate the new exhaust later, THEN install headers when and if he chooses to put in solid motor mounts. I don't disagree.. you know what you're talking about Joey. But they guy's saying he wants 20 horse and will probably give up on adding even 5 horse if everybody has him thinking it's going to cost him 2 g's.. .

 

[poniesviii]

NM I gotcha. You're pretty much saying air intake and chip for now, and wait to do anything more. I thought you were including exhaust and saying he needs headers right now along w it.

 

[Joeychgo]

Basically - yes. If your going to do the exhaust, better to do it all at once and bite the big one. Very few people have the equipment and ability to do their own exhaust - so better to pay the labor once then twice. Plus - at some point, he'll need to do the headers anyway cause of that cat, which will become clogged sooner or later. It may already be partly clogged and robbing him of power.

 

[MediumD]

Yes it's better to do the headers at the same time as the exhaust.. Headers & exhaust shouldn't be more than $1000 if you can install the headers yourself, add a couple hundred if you want someone else to.

I don't think a chip would be required to net him the 20hp he wants.

Now if he doesn't mind keeping the stock 280hp and making his car faster by putting it to the ground better, he should go for stall/gears.

 

[poniesviii]

Yes it's better to do the headers at the same time as the exhaust.. Headers & exhaust shouldn't be more than $1000 if you can install the headers yourself, add a couple hundred if you want someone else to.

I don't think a chip would be required to net him the 20hp he wants.

Now if he doesn't mind keeping the stock 280hp and making his car faster by putting it to the ground better, he should go for stall/gears.

How do you think he should go about getting the 20 hp he wants?

 

[driller]

... add a couple hundred if you want someone else to.

You would install headers for a couple hundred??

 

[Joeychgo]

You would install headers for a couple hundred??

Thats all it cost me --

 

[unity]

I think we all agree that exhaust is restrictive and would need to go because and additional power made by the engine would be restricted anyway.

Chip- cant help better with the power you have now, it will not necessarily MAKE horsepower. $300

Under-drive pulleys! Easy to do and anyone can do it, $???

Conical filter may help a little, under $100

And why kook headers - overpriced crap. Anyone with decent welding skills can make headers for you A LOT cheaper and probably better quality. Kook is like Rockford Fosgate, once considered a great premier brand, now they are not. Are their not Cobra or Aviator manifolds that could bolt up? May not be an exact port fit, but generally the manifolds are larger ported so no matter. I did a lot of research on getting headers versus using stock manifolds. After much advice, I used stock Aviator ones - but a steering shaft restriction made me end up going with Cobra manifolds. Everyone I spoke with said these are good for 500-600 HP and that headers would be little gain.

 

[98LSC32V]

The chip will give you more horsepower because the timing is increased and the spark/fuel tables are adjusted to be more agressive.

 

[MarkVIII93]

just buy a 5.0 mustang, its not cheap to make these cars fast.

 

[Roadboss]

Guys ---- He said cheaply - your giving him $2000+.

Unfortnately, exhaust and intake are usually the first step - your engine needs to breath better.

There are some things you can do though. Electric oil pump for example might give you 5-6 horse. The intake is inexpensive. Getting a chip also helps. All that is somewhere around $500 or so.

The exhaust - will be expensive because you likely cant just swap out mufflers - but the other side of that coin is that your cats are likely to be on their last legs. When you do need to replace something on your exhause, replace everything at once. It's a big bill for the parts, but its cheaper on labor if its all done at once. So - look to do kooks headers, high flow cats, high flow mufflers & X pipes. The headers and cats get from supercoupe performance - the mufflers, chip, X pipe - get from Lincoln Motorsport. (OneBadMk8)

Didn't you mean electric water pump (Meziere)? I agree exhaust will be expensive. I had mine done in stainless steel with flanges so it can be taken apart in sections, and none of it came cheap. A chip & tune would be big benefit realitively cheap adders.

 

[MediumD]

You would install headers for a couple hundred??

Ok ok, maybe I should've said a few hundred. Anyway if the shop is already doing the exhaust system, adding the headers install won't add too much to the price.

How do you think he should go about getting the 20 hp he wants?

Like I said headers/exhaust should do it..

 

[Nitrobasher]

heres a better answer. if youre talking about rwhp, you cant.

the mark viii is not a mod friendly car. if you want 300rwhp get ready to pull out some big bucks. but then again i guess that depends on what "big bucks" means to you.

i know you dont want to, and i would advise you not to use nitrous. (unless u have a pro like geno tune it for you)

 

[unity]

"the mark viii is not a mod friendly car"

I have to disagree. There are many mods that can be done, thanks to the Mustang (Cobra) market. You are right though, any respectable amount of HP created will require $$, like most other cars.

 

[m_maker]

IMHO, it's pointless to shoot for a 20 hp crank increase as it's something you'd barely feel if any at all. Take LSC and base marks. They dont' run any different times, nor do they feel any different on the street.

State your budget and your goals better and we can help you more.

 

[Nitrobasher]

by mod friendly car, i meant u cant get parts cheap. and its very hard to find the right parts unless u knkow where to go.

take a mustang. if you type in mustang performance on google u wlil get pages, upon pages of mustang parts.

do the same with mark viii. and you will get supercoupe performance, lms. and a few others

 

[BlackMark8Li]

There Is NO WAY to do a full exhaust with headers for under a grand, and have it done right. my exhaust cost 2 grand. 1g for the headers, and high flow cats from scp. the mufflers were about 300.. and I have an xx pipe which ya don't need but still was like 150ish. plus install of all of them.

EDIT: I installed the headers myself but I couldn't weld the exhaust on

I forgot this.

"And why kook headers - overpriced crap. Anyone with decent welding skills can make headers for you A LOT cheaper and probably better quality. Kook is like Rockford Fosgate, once considered a great premier brand, now they are not. Are their not Cobra or Aviator manifolds that could bolt up? May not be an exact port fit, but generally the manifolds are larger ported so no matter. I did a lot of research on getting headers versus using stock manifolds. After much advice, I used stock Aviator ones - but a steering shaft restriction made me end up going with Cobra manifolds. Everyone I spoke with said these are good for 500-600 HP and that headers would be little gain."

First off I bought kooks headers and the quality and craftmanship is second to none. My friend bought a pair of mustang headers off of ebay( I forget the brand but it wasn't a no-name brand) and the welding was horrible and they just cam,e out like crap. he had paid for them to be powder coated and only the outsides were done. I am not sure if you had any problems with the fitting of the cobra manifolds but I would put $ on the fact that the 3/4 kooks headers flow way better than them. trust me they are not cheap but I would recomend them to anyone and I would get them again. have you even seen a set of kooks? do you even know what you are talking about? also I am sure most people who mod stangs especially cobras change the stock manifolds if they have the cash.

 

[poniesviii]

IMHO, it's pointless to shoot for a 20 hp crank increase as it's something you'd barely feel if any at all. Take LSC and base marks. They dont' run any different times, nor do they feel any different on the street.

State your budget and your goals better and we can help you more.

I think the guy just wants to feel a difference which he'll notice with chip and exhaust from factory manifolds back. I'm sure he wants to do something enough that he doesn't care if it costs him an extra hundred dollars later on when/IF he decides he wants headers. Hardly anybody goes with headers on these cars, they aren't necessary even with the stock cats being part of them. In ten years you can still find manifolds with cats that aren't plugged if you're a cheap ass. Or you can gut them and with a chip it won't matter, you can always put a cat later in the exhaust to pass smog test.

I say the guy goes with 400 in exhaust including mufflers; gets a chip; performs a j mod. He'll feel the difference it'll be the cheapest and he'll be more than happy from what it looks as though he's aiming for and it's all under a grand.

There Is NO WAY to do a full exhaust with headers for under a grand, and have it done right. my exhaust cost 2 grand. 1g for the headers, and high flow cats from scp. the mufflers were about 300.. and I have an xx pipe which ya don't need but still was like 150ish. plus install of all of them


First off I bought kooks headers and the quality and craftmanship is second to none. My friend bought a pair of mustang headers off of ebay( I forget the brand but it wasn't a no-name brand) and the welding was horrible and they just cam,e out like crap. he had paid for them to be powder coated and only the outsides were done. I am not sure if you had any problems with the fitting of the cobra manifolds but I would put $ on the fact that the 3/4 kooks headers flow way better than them. trust me they are not cheap but I would recomend them to anyone and I would get them again. have you even seen a set of kooks? do you even know what you are talking about? also I am sure most people who mod stangs especially cobras change the stock manifolds if they have the cash.

You can do it for just over a grand with cheap mufflers. If you spent two grand you're nuts.

Expecting powdercoat on the inside of a set of headers proves it.