This post consists of a sociological query.

All throughout this forum I see people who add CAIs, headers, new exhaust and the infamous throttle body spacer in search of more performance at the margins.

How often to do we see some people claim great improvements with slight mods, while others try the same thing an notice nothing?

So my question is are these people for real? Or is there a real tendency for people who have spent lots of money and time changing their truck from stock to embellish gains from such modifications? Perhaps not even intentionally...

Of course I know that some things do help, but would 90% of this board not be better off putting so much of the money they spend on performance mods into preventitive maintenence? After all, how much more performance are we really gonna squeeze out of a 318 or 360?

 

You can get extreme horsepower out of any motor. you just need to know where to find these gains and how to unlock them. You have to have a really keen insight to realize you have any gains with bolt ons, and the only way most people can ever really know is through a dyno run. As far as how much power you can pull out of a 318 or a 360, you can get a lot of horsepower out of them but it will cost you. I've read many articles of people unlocking over a thousand horsepower out of a 4cyl. motor. It takes quite a lot of money to realize these gains but in the end it is possible. But thereafter you have an extreme amount of upkeep with these motors as well. Preventative maintenance would and should be a more important choice to make over performance but in the end it is up to the owner and the owner alone as to what they will most likely do to their vehicle.

 

Thread kinda gets me riled up haha. We are men and men have egos and if you ain't first your last. That is why choose getting that cold air intake instead of that bumper that needs replaced because its about to fall off. OF COURSE bolt ons make a difference. I guarentee you that with a new intake your engine now runs better thus increasing its life span. SAVING MONEY ON PARTS AND EVEN GAS WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY ADD UP. So actually your wrong. Bolts ons are one of the best things you can do that gives you some good horsepower and allowing your engine to run better

BTW if you have 4 or 5 grand to play around with you could make a 360 or 318 the baddest engine on the block and any block within a 500 mile radius...

 

OK, lets take the cold air intake as a subject for discussion. I have heard many people claim that CAIs do little for our engines because of the large kegger intake, supposedly any cooler air that you suck in will warm up right quick in the intake anyways. I have heard many on here swear by the old school Mr Gasket round filters - and I bought one and noticed no difference over the stock airbox other than it looks pretty cool.

So in a world where we can't even agree with whether or not one of these things works, why are some spending a decent amount on money on the air raids? I'll grant that some mods do work to varying degrees of course, but is this cost a effective pursuit?

I mean, if I had 5 grand to play with I'm gonna drop the V10 in the Ram and forget little dink and dunk bolt ons.

It just seems to me like the majority of the impovements mod wise that we are doing to our engines are really marginal and not cost effective. So we are doing these mods more for, what is it, self affirmation? The entertainment value of working under the hood? The ability to brag to our friends? Dont get too heated now, I know I'm starting to push a few buttons...

 

IT IS A PROVEN FACT THAT THE MORE AIR YOU PUT IN THE MOTOR THE MORE HORSE POWER YOUR ENGINE PUTS OUT.

Okay I will prove you wrong again... It is dynoed proven that a air intake (cold or not, any good brand) will increase horsepower. Just because you can't feel it doesn't mean its not there.

Now to prove you wrong whether its cost worthy... With a air intake your almost guaranteed to gain 1 mpg. Now it may take a while to notice now since gas prices are low but when they were high, in a matter of 6 months you could almost pay for the intake with the amount of gas you saved. And your engine is going to last longer cause its running better.

And I promise you my 360 souped up with 5 grands of mods (including all bolt ons) would rape your stock v10 that your inferred is better than a v8 souped up

 

More air?

I would think the $20 Mr Gasket round filters with K&Ns would put more air in than the expensive cold air intakes.

While we are on the subject of CAI, do you have any data of the temperature of the air that entered the stock airbox at the fender wall? It would seem to me that the stock setup utilized a type of CAI in its own right, does it not? Why not?

I tell you what, where is it that it is itemized how much each engine mod is worth in terms of HP? I am talking about proven on a dyno here. Independent. Surely someone has done a list, right? I'm not talking manufacturers claims. And I'm not about proving you wrong, I'm sure there are some gains - and more likely many tradeoffs - with each thing you do. For every action there is in fact a reaction.

I'm just the guy who (doesnt have the answers) but is taking the time to ask some questions like where should we be putting our money? Just from a glance, I would think gears, rubber, preventitive maintenence all seem better.

 

Well....I think everybody has an opinion on this...

I use a lot of these mods and have seen and felt a lot of gains in hp..not so much in the mpgs but still there is a significant difference after i did them...

some people say "if those mods are so great then why don't they put them on at the factory?"

I really don't have an answer for that but I personally feel that the mods are worth my time and money.

Some people say "I keep my truck bone stock and beat on it and they last forever...I bet if i had a tuner or other perf mods they would break things easier than before"

It is true in a sense but anybody who beats on anything long enough will break more things than if you treated it like fine china...but then one could respond "why would you do it if you HAVE to always be gentle with it?"

I would say "if it aint broke dont fix it so when it breaks you have an excuse to put something better in its place" =D

But seriously if you did some hardcore research you would see that it is proven that with 90% of these bolt ons give you lots more horses...some more than others.

If justification is what you're looking for...in my eyes its self satisfaction and with that...the boundaries are endless...


But each man to his own i 'spose....besides what do I know? I'm just some kid with a truck.

 

and if you want some proof look in some magazines or just do them and dyno it your self

 

I fail to see the point of your question other than to try to impress people with your psycho babble and to try and "push a few buttons". People do the things they do to their automobiles because they "want to" and because they "enjoy doing it". Nuff said.

 

Pushing a few buttons is a good thing. Theres too much group think in the world.

As for people doing what they want to, there is an added value in that that transends (oops, is that pshyobabble?) performance. If you do something cause you want to there is no point arguing it or doing a cost/benifit analysis. You wanted to do it and did it.

I guess part of this question really does come from me - and I am asking, if I spend the money here, here and here (say performance chip, new TB and catback) will I get gains in performance that are equal to the $$$ I just threw in?

For instance, some people have said with these mods I might not be able to tell a difference in person but I would with a dyno. I am then asking, if I can't tell the difference driving around, is there really an advantage to doing the mod in the first place? WOULD I NOT BE BETTER OFF GETTING NEW TIRES, or THROWING THE MONEY INTO A JAR FOR THAT DAY THE 46RE PUKES. After all, this is the 2nd Gen forum - we all have older trucks.

I would very much like to see Hankl's opinion. He deals with more specific data and is in general one of the more impressive posters I've seen on any message board.