I was wondering what mods I can do to get 170-190 HP out of an N/A FC. I am not fond of porting the engine because of mileage, I figure when it blows (or just dies) I will just drop in a TII. Any suggestions would be great!
Thanks,

 

Rather than look for power, why not upgrade your suspension? I say this because if you intend to turbo swap any upgrades to the N/A engine will be, in effect, lost, whereas an suspension upgrades can carry over without a problem.

 

I do plan on more suspension than power and thats a good piont. Thanks

 

Now that you brought up suspension, I was thinking about the tien super street coil over kit or is there a better package?

 

teins are good.....ive figured that it all depends on personal preference. also i agree with goofy on the upgrade part

 

the tein drift set are better for tuned for the drift, but the ss coils do the job the same, i think the biggest diff is the spring rate that each one has, if you go to the sight you can see teh diff for yourself, i am thinkn' about doin the same thing as you......I LOVE THE TOUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Unless you're planning on going to the track a lot then you don't need coilovers. Some good shocks and springs should be sufficient. The SS are a decent coilover, but they're far from the best. The best will cost you well over $5k and are for racing though. One serious downside to the SS is that they're awfully stiff, most FC race cars aren't that stiff, and they don't have camber plates in the front, so you'll not be able to correct the camber induced by a lot of lowering. For the street, if you're dead set on coilovers, then something like the Tein Flex is good, softer than most, but it'll still give good performance and good ride. But I'd change the springs on one end of the car to give it a 2kg/mm split in rates (either 6/4, or 7/5).

 

Does VA have pretty good mountains or twisty roads? I know around here you have to look really hard, which isnt a problem just means less people!

 

You can't get the kind of power you want without porting, its that simple. Also, a street port doesn't effect milage. If you are wanting power without tearing the engine down, all you can do is exhaust, CAI, and porting the intake manifolds (writeup in archives.) You can also get a standalone like the megasquirt if you want. Even with all that you aren't going to get particularly close to 170 with a high milage engine.
That said, I agree with the other posts. Upgrading suspention is far more effective on "touge runs" since it sounds like thats what you are wanting to do. I personally ahve the Ground Control coilovers with KYB AGX's and its great. It is definately a track setup, but its still great for the street if you don't mind the harsh ride.

 

get a standalone. you can use it when you go turbo also. i have teins, they're pretty good, too many potholes around here though so i have to constantly find and fix rattles that pop up in the car.

 

lol i got all confused cuz of u guys' pictures.

Im planning on getting the tein flex with EDFC. what are you guys' opinions on the flex? are they okay for the streets? and what bout the EDFC? is it really a good thing to have?

 

Tein Flex are excellent coilovers for street and some occasional track use. They're quite durable, reasonably priced and have decent ride quality. They're very popular with the Miata world. My dad has some on his Miata, and even with stiffer than normal front springs, it's quite reasonable for daily driving and long trips. Like I said though, I'd get a different set of springs, to make it more stable (a it comes out of the box it'll be tail happy). Don't bother with EDFC, seriously, how often will you change shock settings? A few times, that's all, you find a good setting and stick with it. Save your $380 and spend it elsewhere. It's not that hard to stop, get out and turn the ***** manually.

 

i agree suspension is a great place to start, but while your at it just do the cheap mods to you motor to get some extra pony's to the wheels.....straight pipe the exhaust, port the throttle body put a cone filter on it, just do cheap **** to this motor till it blows and then spend all your money and put a T2 motor in it. if you have smog in your state just save up so you can put a full legal T2 swap in.....then after its smogged....just mod the **** out of it.

 

if you are looking for simple power.. get a Full exhaust.. intake, i dont think that is going to get you to 190 but it will do alot..

 

Exhaust, intake, standalone ECU, and if youre really dead set on using the NA for a while (dont know if the injector size is the same for a regular 13b, and 13bT) then you could get some larger injectors as well.

remember though, if you want any power out of all that you have to TUNE the ECU to use it all...doesnt help to just bolt it on...