[QUOTE=motoray69,Jan 13 2008, 08:16 PM] what mods do u have done? and what about like apexi n1 avx or whatev coilovers

 

did your intake mods make a nice difference? and whats with the breathers. pics? O forgot to ask with the o2 sensor on the cat doesnt putting the test pipe screw with the ecu readings

 

The tuned Vafc was done last and made the most difference, so it is hard looking back to say how much something like the intake made years ago when I did it. I think it would be more noticeable if I did some of these other mods after the Vafc. I'm a pretty firm believer in the stock air box and feel it is the best cold air intake already if you get it outside air, which means cutting the top of the plastic radiator plate open in front of it so the air will flow in from the grill. Iv'e tried the typical open filtered "cold air" intakes and felt power loss with these, kind of like if you were to pull the lid off the factory box, same effect. You will find factory air box guys on this forum and guys that swear by some of the cold air intakes, good luck. Considering that I am pushing 230whp with the factory box- though modified, should speak for itself.

The way I have come to understand it, there is some tuning involved with these intakes and though i'm sure there is a couple unique ad expensive intakes on the market that may provide the right "tune," the factory box is properly tuned to the car. Besides cold air, there is some scavenging or a tune that the intake provides to create max force to the engine, some type of filter restriction, usually revolving around a housing or cover of some type creates this, others like the AEM have attempted it through a duel tube chamber design. I have my doubts about open filtered intakes. Plus if they are still in the engine bay they are sucking in hot air or are at the risk of sucking water or debris if relocated.

Sorry no pics, I realize this would be helpful, so i'll explain best I can. The breather allow no chance of oil getting into the intake charge via the pvc and front vent. You can do this with a catch can and I did at first, but then discovered that I gained even more power by eliminating the catch can and just plugging the two intake manifold locations where the pvc and front breather once were hooked up. Its not smog legal fyi. It creates more intake vacuum and its also free of oil vapor, which is a good thing taken to the next level. Its just like what the old pre emissions v8's had for a set up. Damn! I'm giving away all my secrets, oh well.

No problem with the 02 bung interfering, you need the extended bung for the fix so as not to trip it. Ebay -$10

 

hmmm i would like to hear more about ur intake mods. Whats with the extended bung? that keeps it from freaking out? O howcome i dont see anyone with cams from what ive been seeing they can crank out some nice power. O did u have a dyno shop do ur VAFC?

 

I have a VAFC II you might want.

PM me.

 

how much earlier can u make the v-tec kick in and is it bad for the motor?

 

Intake is stock that has the divider plate removed and direction tube removed w/KN, this allows your filter to be much more exposed to air coming in. To maximize cold air from getting in, I have cut out the radiator plate under the intake opening and fabbed up and mounted a plastic flexible cutting bread board which is clear/white and is attached to the intake opening and sweeps down smoothly connecting to the grill. This is very similer to a snorkel but with more area to invelop. Its a home made ram charger, it works nicley. Snorkel would look a little nicer but i'm too cheep to spend $150 or more for cosmetics. Bread board cost $2 and some inventing time which is fun anyway.

Thats right, it keeps the gases further away from the sensor so it is only reading partially what your actually putting out, it just is a hollow bolt, with threads on both ends and can be had on ebay right now for about $10.

I have a frog harness so installation is super easy, no cutting required which will prove to be worth every penny of that $150, especially if you have a problem and can eliminate the 50 spliced wires as the source right of the bat. I took it to have it tuned but the dyno wasn't able to read my AFR's properly and so he wasn't able to tune it, so I had a second bung welded in my test pipe next to the other one and purchased a AEM wide band monitor and learned how to tune via VAFC myself. This is way better anyway. You can keep you car running safer and maximize its power. Just because you tune it at the dyno at 50% humidity and 70%temp at 13.3afr doesn't mean on a 40% day the car won't be now running at 13.6afr because it likely will, and you will need some on board means of seeing this and then adjusting for it. My afr's fluctuate with the weather conditions and this is normal. If you like getting the most from your car you will be at a point where some days your running to lean for safe conditions or to rich to maximize your investment in power modifications. Get a wide band and learn to tune yourself is highly recommended from me.

 

The VAFC can adjust vtec from 4000 -7000. Typically anything under 5500 will lose power. I prefure the explosive charge of vtec so I have mine set to come on a bit later at 6100. with my tuning I continue to make power with no drop off before then so I am not giving anything up before Vtec, but am significatly increasing my vtec power surge. On the race track this can get you into trouble, so for racing I would run around 5700-5800 with my set up most likley. Stock vtec on ap1 is 5850rpm.

 

would cams be a nice investment? ive seen dyno charts with mad increases from skunk2 cams but would one compatible with stock valvetrain put out enough power for the 600-800$ investment.

 

Save your money on all that garbage and get gears.

It's the only thing that'll be for go and not just for show.

Do you want bling or performance.

You'll lose more performance with 18s than you'll gain with all the mickey mouse mods combined.