Power Upgrade Path Confusion

[CaptainUnderpants]

It seams like the best upgrade path for power will be a tune first and then upgrade intake / exhaust plumbing and intercooler if needed / desired.

It is clear that a tune yields around a 60+ hp gain. But I am unclear about the gains from upgrading all of the intake / exhaust plumbing and intercooler.

Phearable.net stage 2 tune states - 71 HP 69 TQ over stock tune on 91 octane

Two Step Performance also cites a 60 hp gain with just their Stage 1 system. I don't see the additional HP gains advertised for the Stage 3 additional plumbing mods. TSP - Stage 3

The TSP Stage 3 cost is $4,300. The tune portion is about $1,300 (Hondata, tune & jailbreak). So $3,000 for the plumbing hardware + intercooler.

My question..... Assuming a tune gets us about 60hp and better drivability. What is the incremental increase of going full Stage 3 ?

Assuming 91 oct, maybe an additional 40 hp ?.

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[Nikw91]

Intercooler, intake, downpipe and tune is what most people will do to get around 385 whp 400 wtq +\- a few.

Then there’s big turbos and flex fuel that will get you over 400whp.

Inlet pipes, intercooler piping, front pipe, etc… look cool but gains negligible.

Seems like exhausts don’t make much either, maybe 5hp, 10hp at most.

 

[optronix]

Intake has been proven to make substantial power gains on stock and/or built cars. Infinity Design seems to separate from the pack a bit here, at least based on some semi-scientific data-gathering procedures some Youtubers have gone through and documented, but also that could be me justifying dropping nearly $2k on it.

 

[Clark_Kent]

Every car and dyno are different so I would focus on the gain over stock baseline and not the final peak numbers. The gain from a tune on an otherwise stock car is ~50-60whp. The incremental gain from tune only to tune + bolt-ons (stock turbo) is ~20-25whp. The bang for the buck is in the tune, there's no debate about that. You begin to encounter diminishing returns on the stock turbo when you add bolt-ons. In other words, ~$5,500+ (not even the most expensive parts) for another ~20-25whp.

 

[optronix]

Every car and dyno are different so I would focus on the gain over stock baseline and not the final peak numbers. The gain from a tune on an otherwise stock car is ~50-60whp. The incremental gain from tune only to tune + bolt-ons (stock turbo) is ~20-25whp. The bang for the buck is in the tune, there's no debate about that. You begin to encounter diminishing returns on the stock turbo when you begin adding bolt-ons. In other words, ~$5,500+ (not even the most expensive parts) for another ~20-25whp.

This is a pretty accurate statement, but as someone who just dropped the aforementioned $2k on an intake/inlet tube, you can notice that ~20 hp/30tq. Whether it's worth the cost is of course debatable, but it depends on what you're after. As long as you're not expecting earth-shattering acceleration, personally I was pleasantly surprised.

I've long maintained (and many agree) that the car makes enough power as it comes from the factory, but the little extra bump doesn't hurt anything. If you've got the cash. And there are far cheaper options than Infinity Design. Sort of like watches or suits or many other things; sometimes price can't be easily quantified by those who aren't willing to pay for things. Usually that won't stop them from chiming in though!

I am however still puzzled why anyone wants 500 whp out of these things though but that's a topic for another thread.

 

[Cueyo]

I am however still puzzled why anyone wants 500 whp out of these things though but that's a topic for another thread.

 

[TypeRVA]

This is a pretty accurate statement, but as someone who just dropped the aforementioned $2k on an intake/inlet tube, you can notice that ~20 hp/30tq. Whether it's worth the cost is of course debatable, but it depends on what you're after. As long as you're not expecting earth-shattering acceleration, personally I was pleasantly surprised.

I've long maintained (and many agree) that the car makes enough power as it comes from the factory, but the little extra bump doesn't hurt anything. If you've got the cash. And there are far cheaper options than Infinity Design. Sort of like watches or suits or many other things; sometimes price can't be easily quantified by those who aren't willing to pay for things. Usually that won't stop them from chiming in though!

I am however still puzzled why anyone wants 500 whp out of these things though but that's a topic for another thread.

I am old, balding and fat. Let me have this.

 

[TypeRVA]

I am old, balding and fat. Let me have this.

I forgot about this until someone just liked it.

I made good on it haha.

 

[joshinthecity]

1: Do all your bolt-ons.
2: Then tune.
3: Enjoy.

 

[Mrjustin81]

Yes! This exactly. But also to get 500+ is $$$$$

 

[Jack90210]

I forgot about this until someone just liked it.

I made good on it haha.

Is that a black Cerakote'd turbo heat shield?

 

[TypeRVA]

Is that a black Cerakote'd turbo heat shield?

It is. I have the downpipe one too that I need to do.

 

[PointByPatrol]

It looks like you're in South Carolina, and 93 octane is available there. I would shoot for a 93 octane tune. @Clark_Kent is correct about the diminishing returns on adding all of the bolt-on's, but there is a caveat to this depending on your use case. I'd urge you to try the tune first.

Your biggest enemies to power are octane, flow and thermal efficiency, and there are two ways to address that. Increase your octane, and add bolt-on's to improve flow and thermal efficiency.

How do you plan to use your car, and what are the goals?

 

[g0al3d]

I'm pretty sure you can get to a power threshold with this car fairly quickly where it becomes far less useable and overwhelms the mechanical grip etc.

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