What's been lost horsepower wise, over the 130K to feel the need for an extra 50 ponies?
New IC bigger one or a rebuild of the turbo are expensive. At 130k the stock turbo has seen
better days. The cost of these... do I feel the need for speed worth it for the 50?
With the list of mods you have done, what's left to add or replace for the extra 50 you seek?
New Plugs & coil packs, new injectors with TB clean, with head work cleaning valves might get you a
few missing ponies? 20-30 maybe? At 130k the bottom end of the motor could be an issue for an improvement.
Costly and time consuming, but some cars can go forever with no major motor work being done despite their high mileage.
All 50 at once, or 10 at a time? 3-4 small improvements over the 2 Big ticket items is always the
question of, Do I spent my money on this? For the 50 = $ ? What is your limit for the goal ?
AT 130k is it time to refresh the motor, even if you don't think it needs it? Why stop at 50 is I guess
my question here? Top half of the motor tear down, with new parts/rebuilt parts could gain you … 85 extra ponies.
Leaving out any transmission upgrades, rear end improvements, weight reduction, when is it time to look
at the mileage & age before you take your car off the road for a refresh? Belts and hoses, gaskets/seals,
torque settings, compression loss, cam wear, uneven fuel delivery, over the many miles of smiles... 130k of them
in this case... Leave it as is, or roll the dice with new mods, and.. costs, and any tuning time with reliability has
become the owners choice here... I have the final say to where my money goes to when it comes to my car.
Seeking more horsepower always comes with a cost? How fast do you want to go, or in this case, more power
depends on what your willing to sacrifice from your credit card to reach this bar you have set for your goal of 50?
$250 for 50? Over/Under? $2500. for 150? $5k for V8? At 130K … the choice for improvement is in your court.
Lot of owners here have some real insightful help/options/opinions on where we owners can help our cars.
I babble to much here, sorry about that gang. Mindless wandering when it comes to cars, and my love of driving
the roads. Trans like... story telling, real life on the road experiences, some humor and an open mind when learning
about the Kappa. Been real fun for me as an owner/car nut to have joined this club of smiles.
Be interesting to see what the OP does for the 50 he seeks? At what cost? How much if any down time for the car?
With drivability or dependability as our top concern here, what are you willing to put up with, if any as an owner?
What would you members do or I do for the 50 extra, and at what cost to our credit cards?
* I live at 6500' elevation … I missed this, but this fact of higher elevation is part of the problem.
Air density... or lack there of, fuel/air ratio , MAF/ re-tuning... (ahh Robo some test data stats for this) for
this type of elevation. At sea level the gains or losses will vary depending on your location. I live at less
than 2500 ft. Running here in the low hills of Western MD. compared to when I am down by the
Chesapeake Bay ( near my daughters place ) my car does run differently. Stock no mods.
A little more umph...twss. K&N filter with... forced ram air induction mod with a re-tune plus some motor
refresh could get you the 50? You could always move.. to a lower elevation? Nah...
LAC