Looking for a little more pep and maybe a few MPGs.

[hey...it runs]

I have an '89 N/A w58. It's bone stock with only ARP head bolts (BHG repair) and about 146k miles on it. I'm pretty happy with it, but it's my only DD and my first car and honestly isn't worth investing money into. I would like to make it run a little bit happier and healthier for the remainder of the life of the car, so here's my idea of a <$100 build.

-MAF adapter $10 ebay
-Cold air pipe from throttle body to MAF (will this help at all or is it a waste of cash?) $? I'm guessing $15 or less with a little hustling
-Cone filter $15
-Test pipe (for offroad use only!) $? I might be able to cut a couple flanges off a boneyard car and get them welded on a pipe. otherwise $70 ebay
-a piece of dryer exhaust from behind the front grill to the hole where the stock airbox inlet is (I think it would help with give it a cold air supply) $? <$10 most likely

What do you guys think of my ideas? Which things will make a noticable difference? Which things wouldn't you do? Keep in mind the car isn't worth buying good stuff for. I'm just trying to make it noticably faster for little of no $. Also, what effect will these mods have on my milage?

*I also need a tune up. I was planning on a new cap, rotor, plug wires (current ones say 1993 on them), and plugs.

 

[jetjock]

Noticeably faster for little or no money? That's a good one. None of those things will do it and if they did the fuel economy would suffer. That's how faster and fuel works. You should enjoy the car as is and use the $100 for maintenance...

 

[SupraMedical68]

There was a decent sticky under the mkIII section on supraforums with a list of sogi mods. Honestly, I don't think you'll recieve any significant improvement without a GTE swap.

 

[MPR]

I have an '89 N/A w58. It's bone stock with only ARP head bolts (BHG repair) and about 146k miles on it. I'm pretty happy with it, but it's my only DD and my first car and honestly isn't worth investing money into. I would like to make it run a little bit happier and healthier for the remainder of the life of the car, so here's my idea of a <$100 build.

-MAF adapter $10 ebay
-Cold air pipe from throttle body to MAF (will this help at all or is it a waste of cash?) $? I'm guessing $15 or less with a little hustling
-Cone filter $15
-Test pipe (for offroad use only!) $? I might be able to cut a couple flanges off a boneyard car and get them welded on a pipe. otherwise $70 ebay
-a piece of dryer exhaust from behind the front grill to the hole where the stock airbox inlet is (I think it would help with give it a cold air supply) $? <$10 most likely

What do you guys think of my ideas? Which things will make a noticable difference? Which things wouldn't you do? Keep in mind the car isn't worth buying good stuff for. I'm just trying to make it noticably faster for little of no $. Also, what effect will these mods have on my milage?

*I also need a tune up. I was planning on a new cap, rotor, plug wires (current ones say 1993 on them), and plugs.

Colder air will make it burn more fuel (because it's more dense/contains more oxygen). None of that will make it noticeably faster. You'll get better fuel mileage just leaving everything as is. Just do the tune up.

 

[Silver MK3]

Doing the tune up will help you out alot. When I changed the plugs in my car I also cleaned all of the junk on the throttle body and y pipe. Afterwards, the car seemed more responsive and peppier.

 

[Chambers]

Check how dirty the intake manifold is (check behind the throttle body) if there is a lot of build up then clean them throughly, and to do that you will need to pull the entire manifold from head to tb off. If there is a ton of build up then cleaning them will help a lot. If you can't have your car down for very long then you can do what I did, I bought a second intake manifold set for my 89 and swapped it over, and there was a good increase in throttle response and power up top. I never did the math on the MPG but having a clean intake will not hurt it...

As for the cold air intake, no no no... do not eliminate the stock resonator or air box if you plan on putting a cone filter in the engine bay... The only way to have a CAI is to plumb the intake piping down into the empty space below the headlight assembly (behind the bumper). Do some searching and you will find the purpose of the resonator.

Spend your money wisely, NGK spark plugs, NGK spark plug wires, cap and rotor, throttle body gasket, oil change, air filter, clean intake.

 

[IndigoMKII]

Honestly, if you don't plan to invest money on it, the only way it'll be noticeably faster is if you push it off a cliff or down a very long hill.

 

[hey...it runs]

Good info. Let me rephrase "noticeably faster." I have a buddy with a 3.8 v6 firebird auto. From 0-70 (under controlled circumstances) his nose was about 3 feet ahead of mine. Very very close. I just want enough power to consistantly beat him. A matter of 10 HP would do the trick I think. What I'm surprised nobody has commented on is the test pipe. I once read that that in and of itself will make a somewhat noticeable difference. As for Milagros, I understand that the more power you're putting to the road the more fuel you're likely to be using...obviously. but wouldn't letting her breath a little easier help my milage assuming I kept the revs low and a light foot?

 

[hey...it runs]

*milage not Milagros...autocorrect

 

[IndigoMKII]

If you're after just beating a 3.8 v6 firebird, do exhaust with an aftermarket air filter. Your butt dyno won't be able to tell a difference but you'd be ahead of the firebird.

 

[hey...it runs]

If you're after just beating a 3.8 v6 firebird, do exhaust with an aftermarket air filter. Your butt dyno won't be able to tell a difference but you'd be ahead of the firebird.

Now that's what I was looking to hear. By exhaust do you mean full or what I suggested?

 

[SupraMedical68]

Just go ahead and take your car to a muffler shop and have both cats removed if that's what you want to do. It should be less restrictive and increase the volumetric efficiency, might shave a few pounds off your weight too.

IIRC Raptor Racing use to build N/A exhaust, but quit because of lack of demand. You might be able to contact them and see what they have left in stock.

 

[Nick M]

Lose 250 lbs.

 

[hey...it runs]

Lol If I lose anything it should be the subwoofer, two amps, and 6x9" speakers in the trunk. Good info though. Thanks guys. I think I'm going to do the tune up, a test pipe at the least, and a AEM dry flow. I may have to comment on the rematch results.

 

[f00g00]

Oxygen sensor will help on the mileage if you havn't changed it for awhile and might give it more pep.
My mileage when I was NA was horrible, between 14-18 mpg and my top end suffered and 0-60 was 10 seconds plus. I boiled it down to the differential was from a later model turbo, like the 3.73:1 instead of the 4.30:1, and top end was maybe 120 going downhill with the wind at my back (would be hurricane force wind). There were only around 7 supras in the junkyard here in Kuwait and none had a 4.30:1 so I never got to see what it could do the way it was meant to run. The place that had the Supras got closed when their business license was found to be lacking during an inspection so now I bring parts in suitcases or ship them here or buy from the dealer.

 

[xzeror]

tune up and weight reduction? Whatever your not going to use just pull it out .

 

[Chambers]

Holy rice rocket Batman!!!

Seriously, if you want "cheap horses" do a cat back or header back exhaust, one muffler and resonator at 2.5" and a real cold air intake. Use cheap eBay parts if you want, but keep in mind what I suggested before, tune up and a good intake cleaning, that will help a lot.

 

[ryansmith]

Seriously, if you want "cheap horses" do a cat back or header back exhaust, one muffler and resonator at 2.5" and a real cold air intake. Use cheap eBay parts if you want, but keep in mind what I suggested before, tune up and a good intake cleaning, that will help a lot.

This is what I've done, and doing. 6,2,1 header set up 2 1/2". 2 1/2" straight through one resonator after the headers and a muffler towards the rear.
Honestly - I used to get 415km's per tank. After the header install and new exhaust system I am now getting 460-500kms per tank.

Doing my induction next, cleaning the intake manifold also will post again if there is any difference

 

[Chambers]

Yea, cleaning the intake will show more gains the dirtier the intake is at the start. A cleanup with a dremel tool of the runners will help too!