I am looking at getting some underdrive pulleys to put on my car to add the extra 10 horse power to my car. My main comcern is that I am looing at getting a somewhat nice stereo sometime here in the future. I guess this is a lot due to lack of knowledge. I also noticed that zxtuner has an alternator overdrive pulley. If I get the underdrive pulleys and then realize that I do not have enough juice going through my car and then get the alternator over drive pulley is this going to counter all of the extra performance I just put in it. Also would it be better to just keep the underdrive pulleys and then get a better battery or higher out put alternator. I guess I am interested in the performance gains for the price especially but am curious about the effects. And how big of a stereo would you say I could have with out stressing the system to hard. Once again this all roots from a lack of knowledge but I am looking at becoming further educated about these things. Thanks to everbody in advance.
I never noticed much gain with the underdrive pully
I noticed a dfference.
I’m running the stock premium sound system and a 500W AMP with 2x400W Subs with no problems.
ok looks like my esslinger UD pulleys are going to be on my first oredr then. I am also considering a CAI or rather the ram intake from hotshot. I no the gains will probablly be small but it will look nice too. My main concern in getting water in it and ruining my car. If I have a ram intake then how likely is this. Also how much water can get in it before I will hurt it? I guess I am turning this post into a basic mod learninig experience. Thanks!
There are Water Traps that you can purchase to keep water out of your engine. These are mainly ment so that you don’t go into a really deep puddle and suck up water instead of air. Either way, you would stall in the puddle, but in the one case, you woudln’t have to fix your engine.
But regardless of what you drive or how good a setup you have, you can’t stop moisture in the air from getting in your engine. But if you have ram air that is lower than the highest point, you can minimize how much moisture or rain water gets in your engine. Most people do a ram air parallel to the fog lamps.
By water traps do you mean bypass valve? or is this something else?
Most people just have their intake dip down about one-foot to create a water trap. Because water is heavier than air and the suction isn’t super powerful, the water never reaches the engine.
ok thanks I appriciete all of your help. Next question if you will. Was looking around at getting some headers. I would like to find ones that would bolt right up and still keep my catalytic converter intact and unmodified. I have found many brands like pacesetter, OBX, and Kamikaze. I was going to go with the kamikaze but every where I look says it for 99 and later zx2’s. I have a 98 and am not sure which ones to get. I want somwthing easy to install that will be a direct replacement from the stock yet still show an impovement in power. So what do you guys think of all these brands?
I have the hotshot intake system with the 90 degree elbow for it and it sits in a ‘pocket’ where water wont be picked up so you wont have to worry about that. I noticed little performance difference with the intake setup. I have a pacesetter and it dynoed 7tq more (gained more torque then hp). Also fits (sounds) nice with a 2.25 straight pipe all the way back to a straight through design dual tip muffler like the one I have. Many people have asked me if I had a V8 since it gives it that nice bubbly gurgle type sound at idle, then at take-off kinda sounds like a Subaru with an exhaust mod.
I have the Kamikaze and I love it. It will eliminate your cat though. The only header that won’t replace the cat is the JBA shorty. I personally feel if you’re gonna do it, do it right. I’d start with a cat back (trubendz or custom) and if it’s possible put a Hi Flow Cat in the line so you have two…then when you get your header you don’t have to worry about having no cat. Remember though (I’m assuming that you have e-checks and that’s why you’re worried about it) the further the cat is from the engine, the longer it takes to “warm up” which means it won’t do it’s job for a longer time than stock, so if possible keep that as far forward as possible. Also, make sure to get a resonator. Stick with 2.25" piping unless you plan on boosting later, then bump it to 2.5"
Keep asking questions, that’s how you learn, but if your gonna ask a question about something off topic…start a new thread in the proper area please.
- Darron
I have the setup that Foos is talking about. I currently have a Trubendz. catback with Cat welded in place and no header. I have been waiting on a header to arrive at my door, but that is another story completely.
The cat is welded under the shift linkage where the stock resonator would be . The only thing is, is that there is no hook up for the Cat sensor, so you would need to get a MIL eliminator. Stick with 2.25" unless you plan on boosting.
If you do the header thing stick with Zxtuner or kamikaze. the OBX is a rebuild of the zxtuner.
I would like to look into the Kamikaze headers but they are telling me that it will only fit on 1999 zx2’s and later. Any body have any idea’s? Also what about the hotshot headers I hear these can have great HP gains.
If UD pulleys weren’t $80 a pop i’d probably get one.
Pacesetter can be used without replacing the cat, I have that on my setup. The hotshot header is basically the ZXTuner header.
So I think you guys have been much help with this decision. The following is a list of mods that I would like to perform in this orer.
- Hotshot intake with cold air extension elbow bypass valve and dry sock
( yes I know this prob sounds a little rediculas but I am a peranoid person) - Ford racing wires, msd coil pack and maybe some new plugs
- Catback exhaust —not sure which one yet??? maybe just zxtuner ones
- Either headers or UD pulleys but both close to the same time hopefully
So I dont expect a race car but what kind of gains could I expect?? I dont think there is anything else I will need for these basic upgrades in the way of fuel or anything but if so let me know. Thank for all yualls help!!
You can pickup a good intake from Ebay with an elbow that goes down to where the lower air resonator was.
Ford Racing wires and MSD ignition coil is not worth it. They are just replacements. Not worth it unless you need to replace them or choose to go with forced induction. But them on their own does nothing.
Catback is where you will make some good solid performance.
Headers are also a good choice.
I would probably do Intake, Headers, Catback in that order.
general rule of thumb is IHE… Intake, Header, Exhaust
Your list sounds about like what I’ve done thus far. One nice thing about the MSD and FR wires, yeah, I didn’t notice much of anything after installing, but they look pretty which is nice for shows.
- Darron
My gas milage was a little better after I put the MSD coil pack in it.
From experience I would suggest an intake, a superchip, a UDP, then the headers. You have to free up the power on the front end before worrying about the back end. You may want to get a high flow cat after the headers to eliminate any raspiness. Here’s a sound clip with the 4-2-1 headers (before I bought a Magnaflow high flow cat).