Best BANG for your buck..?

[Lewis Shadoff]

At 06:49 PM 1/4/02, you wrote:
>My gf has a 2001 Sentra Se pp with auto, I wanted to improve her car. What is
>the best bang for my buck in terms of intake,header,exhaust? also what other
>upgrades are good values in terms of price and outcome?

I've been through that before I switched to turbo.  The auto trans makes
the choices different than a manual trans car.  Since the torque converter
engages at about 1700rpm, performance from a standing start is poor (even
with a turbo).  The mods should be aimed at maintaining as much low rpm
power as possible if you want standing start performance (1700-3000rpm) to
be close to stock.  Most mods sacrifice low end power for top end.

I found that the best mod was the JWT ECU.  It increased performance across
the rpm range noticeably.  Also, the increased rev limit was great once the
car was underway.

If you put on a header, leave the stock exhaust system on.  An aftermarket
cat-back definitely decreases low rpm power, and the stock system is quite
good.

A CAI gives some mid-range improvement and really sounds cool. It was
louder than my GReddy cat-back, at least from inside the car.

A high stall torque converter does wonders, but is an expensive mod ($500 +
labor).  It requires an external trans cooler ($50), as well.  Even with
that, just stepping on the accelerator is not much better than the stock
converter from a stand-still.  You have to torque brake in order to get a
decent launch.

My 2-cents worth.

Lew

Lewis Shadoff
Lake Jackson, TX
'97 200SX SE-R, Level 10 Auto, HotShot turbo
http://www.brazosport.cc.tx.us/~lshadoff/turbo/