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Power out of stock 1zz : Intakes : where do they end up??

1.4K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  ChrisGB  
#1 ·
I have recently purchased a 2000 MR2 and am looking to pull some extra power out of the stock 1zz engine w/o spending too much cash flow...if you guys have any opinions on the subject plz feel free to lemme know, i was thinking intake, headers, cats, pulleys, and maybe a perf. chip...NE ways to my original Question, where does a short ram and orig. cold air intakes end up?? i was hoping at the side induction slots. :?:
 
#2 ·
Intake air comes from the driver's side vent. There's a pipe that runs from there right into the stock airbox. This is a very efficient design. Any true CAI will be fabricated to do this.

When you install a short ram, the filter should be placed as close as possible to the driver's vent inlet pipe. You'll see all this when you start ripping stuff out.

Your plan looks pretty good, but don't do the pulley mod. Those have a very bad rep with with the 1zzfe.
 
#3 ·
Well I got to 157bhp from header and exhaust, with a minor mod to the inlet "restrictor" elbow (replaced it with 3" diameter flexihose).

I have the PPE Header and high flow cat and a Che exhaust. Sounds good, revs out well. Dyno:

Image


IMO intake mods generally don't do much as the stock airbox is very good indeed. You may be able to squeeze more power out if you go for a custom 4>1header with 32" ish primaries and a custom inlet manifold (according to my maths anyway).

A piggyback ECU may let you tune for super unleaded and give you perhaps 6lb/ft more torque across the range.

After that you are in the realms of forced induction with its associated costs.

Chris
 
#4 ·
Originally posted by ChrisGB
Well I got to 157bhp from header and exhaust, with a minor mod to the inlet "restrictor" elbow (replaced it with 3" diameter flexihose).

I have the PPE Header and high flow cat and a Che exhaust. Sounds good, revs out well. Dyno:

Image


IMO intake mods generally don't do much as the stock airbox is very good indeed. You may be able to squeeze more power out if you go for a custom 4>1header with 32" ish primaries and a custom inlet manifold (according to my maths anyway).

A piggyback ECU may let you tune for super unleaded and give you perhaps 6lb/ft more torque across the range.

After that you are in the realms of forced induction with its associated costs.

Chris
nice.
Image

wonder how much extra you would have gotten without that cat? :|
maybe 2hp?
 
#5 ·
Originally posted by spydercam+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (spydercam)</div>
<!--QuoteBegin-ChrisGB
Well I got to 157bhp from header and exhaust, with a minor mod to the inlet "restrictor" elbow (replaced it with 3" diameter flexihose).

I have the PPE Header and high flow cat and a Che exhaust. Sounds good, revs out well. Dyno:

Image


IMO intake mods generally don't do much as the stock airbox is very good indeed. You may be able to squeeze more power out if you go for a custom 4>1header with 32" ish primaries and a custom inlet manifold (according to my maths anyway).

A piggyback ECU may let you tune for super unleaded and give you perhaps 6lb/ft more torque across the range.

After that you are in the realms of forced induction with its associated costs.

Chris
nice.
Image

wonder how much extra you would have gotten without that cat? :|
maybe 2hp?[/b]
Perhaps a little but not much I guess. Over here we have the MOT test on any car 3 years old or more. This test is yearly and includes emissions check by probe. I did not fancy messing about with it every year, so went for the cat option.

Only downside is I now have to watch the rev counter as it is really easy to nibble the rev limiter. On the stock setup, power fell off so quickly up top that you never really used the last 250 - 500rpm and when you did it was frustrating. Not so now, rips its way through to the limiter.

Chris
 
#7 ·
Originally posted by tOs+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tOs)</div>
<!--QuoteBegin-southerneditor
Your plan looks pretty good, but don't do the pulley mod. Those have a very bad rep with with the 1zzfe.
What's wrong with the pulley mod on 1zzFe? :?:[/b]
harmonic balancer and/or dampener on the pulley itself. I wont get into whether it has or does not have these parts. Basically, an aftermarket pulley will not have these parts. If indeed the stock piece does have these parts, its potentially harmful for you to run the car without them. Additionally, the minor gain you get from an aftermarket pulley is a toss up not only for the amount of money spent on the un-worthwhile mod, but again the added danger to the engine. Pulleys typically will yield higher gains on supercharged engines.

My suggestion as a first mod will be suspension/bracing. Always will be, no matter the car. The car is plenty fast as is, and this is coming from a previous STi owner. The MR2 is not THAT slow. After suspension, I will recommend an ECU upgrade. I'm green on the MR2 modifications, however the Power FC seems like the best bang for the buck. I'm sure others will chime in on this as well. The reason I say ECU second before the power mods is to ensure that you have your power mods tuned. Power mods aren't worth anything untuned. As ChrisGB said, tune for high octane, then go from there. Good luck.
 
#8 ·
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>
What's wrong with the pulley mod on 1zzFe?[/b]
The gain you're looking for with this is ephemeral, for one thing. For the other, the lighter piece may not be harmonically balanced, as some owners have had bad results (internal damage) from the Unorthodox Pulley.

Y'know, I tried to buy one from a member here and he actually talked me out of it. Look for the power gains you can achieve, but don't look for them with this part.
 
#9 ·
Originally posted by tecnica
My suggestion as a first mod will be suspension/bracing. Always will be, no matter the car. The car is plenty fast as is, and this is coming from a previous STi owner. The MR2 is not THAT slow. After suspension, I will recommend an ECU upgrade. I'm green on the MR2 modifications, however the Power FC seems like the best bang for the buck. I'm sure others will chime in on this as well. The reason I say ECU second before the power mods is to ensure that you have your power mods tuned. Power mods aren't worth anything untuned. As ChrisGB said, tune for high octane, then go from there. Good luck.
Have to agree that the stock chassis is wobbly. A Corky's breastplate and front strut brace would be a good investment (I got everything bar the rear strut brace on order, cant wait to get it fitted).

As for getting more power, it depends on what you have to spend. If you only have enough for the PPE header / cat / Che exhaust, you will get more gain from these than you will from having a Unichip or similar on the stock header and exhaust. The ECU mods may make better torque in the midrange than the setup I have without tuning, but if you can only go one option, then the tuning is only going to net you maybe 135 - 140 crank HP. The PPE and a decent exhaust are the easy way to good N/A power gains. If you can do this and an ECU then all the better.

I had a Unichip fitted but had problems with it. Next try will be E-manage blue.

Chris