Under drive pulleys

Light weight flywheel

"performance" spark plugs

"performance" spark plug wires




Does any of this actually add to overall performance?

 

no not so much...its always nice to have good plugs and wires tho....they are more consistant and reliable, and they are cheap....but as far as the otherstuff, they are pointless....another one you can add to the list is airfoil...

 

is that like tin foil? lol

 

All myths....and YES,add the "Airfoil and TBI "Powercharger" to that list of garbage.

 

Underdrive Pullies...

These reduce the drag on your engine by reducing the amount of power sent to your belt driven accessories such as the water pump, alternator, etc. They do work, but to what extent...?

Lightweight flywheel...

Anything that is lighter is easier to move. Simple physics. But again, will the gains be noticable on street applications?

Plugs, wires, high output coils, ignition systems etc...

They can allow you to get a more powerful spark. This only really helps you at around 5500 RPM or higher where the pistons are moving so fast that it is hard to ignite all of the air/fuel mixture before the piston begins its exhaust stroke.


So all in all, I would not pay too much attention to advertisements when considering these items as upgrades. Look more to testimonials from people who aren't getting payed for their statements and have fast cars.

 

Under drive pulleys
like said in the previous post basically these allow your engine to run at 100%, the stock pulleys put drag on the crank. Speak to people running high horsepower cars and theyll tell you that the right oil pan can be worth 25+ hp, so reducing drag on the crank always helps. On your stock camaro probably looking at about 2 hp from the underdrive pulleys, theres better ways to spend your money

Light weight flywheel
I'm putting a 5 speed into my 700r-4 iroc and had the decision of a 15lb flywheel and a 25 lb flywheel, both of which were the same price. I had it explained to me if youre doing lapping at mosport at crazy high speed you want the 15 lb so theres less drivetrain loss. You know how the hp output at the engine is greater then it is at the wheels. Its called parasitic loss moving parts drain your hp, so lighter moving parts drain less hp.

However if your car is a street/strip car not only will a heavier flywheel help your launch, but for on the street especially in heavy traffic that heavier flywheel helps get you moving at first.

"performance" spark plugs
"performance" spark plug wires

If youre getting 100% combustion then they wont help. If you have spark plugs that are totally fowled, spark plug wires that are corroded, an old cap and rotor that is corroded, and a dieing coil your car wont run too well.

Putting good quality wires, and changing your plugs regularly allows you to have the best spark possible, and to allow your car to work at 100%

 

Yeah all myth, I mean who would go sepend 2500 on a supercharger or 300 on headers or ever 200 on an intake. None of that **** gains you horsepower. Just playing guys I bet I had you all going for a second.

 

Don't waste your money on those items. Just use what you saved to fill your gastank and enjoy putting your right foot into it.

 

pullies:

as stated they reduce the power required to spin the accessories. you are not actually making more hp, just losing less. pullies vary depending on the application. on the 3rd gen engines, with belt driven waterpumps and air pumps (if you still have it) you will see more gains than on the LT1 which has a cam driven pump and electric airpump.

mods like this tend to increase the amount of torque reaching the rear wheels, more so than hp. check out this dyno of a pulley on an LT1.

light flywheels:

i have a fidanza alum fw in my LS1, it weighs more than 1/2 the stock one. i'll tell you one thing, the engine revs up lightning quick compared to stock. and simple logic says that if the same amount of throttle revs the motor up 2x faster (in neutral) than there is obviously less parasitic loss of power.
it's the same idea as the pulley.
another thing to look at is an alum driveshaft. they are lighter and tend to free up a little power, again...reduce the LOSS of power between the engine and the wheels. here is a dyno graph of an alum driveshaft on an LT1, and it gained 5#s of torque. now the ds is about 30% lighter than the stock steel maybe 5lbs, which means less rotating mass. NOW, that rotating mass is only on a 3" diameter, imagine 15#s less rotating mass on a flywheel that is 13" in diameter? you can imagine the reduction in rotating mass.
several guys i've talked to have said they picked up a dyno proven 10-15hp and torque on engines making 300-400hp.

HOWEVER...there is definatly a noticable decrease in drivability with that light fw. i've had to get use to the throttle it takes to not stall out pulling out from a stop. but i think the power gain and quick reving around the curves outweighs the downsides (for my personal driving style)...i don't dragrace.

 

Question about UD Pulleys:

When a Underdrive CRANK pulley is installed,It underdrives everything right? Including AC/PS/WP/ALT/A.I.R?

 

I'm not really looking to mod my engine, but the underdrive pulleys seem a nice touch cuz u lose less, but were talking like 2 hp or 2foot lbs torque here?

 

If by underdrive you mean it rotates the them less than once per crank revolution then yes. Often times people will get a smaller alternator pully to counteract the underdrive on the alt only in order to support high power operations such as a sound system. Personally, I would say a better solution would be to remove the smog pump and get an electric water pump and remove the AC (if you are that desperate for horsepower or live in the north). Then you are only driving the alt and power steering on the belt anyway. The AC equipment removal can eliminate lots of weight as well.

 

Honistly, i know im not the one to talk here but. I have a 93 lt1 with underdrive pulleys on it from RKsport. And i noticed a decent difference with these believe it or not. Maybe its in my head :]