I have about $500 to spend on my self as an accumulation of X-mas and B-day money! Its definatly going towards my car but im not sure what to do! I have a garage and another car to drive so time of install shouldnt matter! I have a 2000 SS A-4 with SLP MAF, SLP Lid, and a Cutout! Ive been talking to my uncle who is a big "old school Gearhead" and he's Convinced i should get roller rockers! Im not too familiar with them and what they do or what to look for so any help there would be great. Other things ive been thinking of are 3:73's, How much will those gears affect 1/4 times? And Headers and a Y-pipe, Also what h/p gains would i see with those? Stall converter and D/R's, But im pretty lost on what stall i should look for with my current set up! Maybe a Cam but agian im confused on what to look for and what power gains i would get from that alone! So tell me what you think and if there are any things i didnt mention im up for any ideals! Thanks

 

headers and y pipe, probably some uncoated ones given your budget, hooker or flow tech. I have the mods in the sig. and my next step, after the subwoofer I'm about to install, is gonna be a set of hookers and a y pipe.

 

Nitrous, or a nice set of long tube headers.

 

get some spare stock wheels and some sticky drag radials. By sticky, I don't mean Nittos.

Or get a good quality torque coverter with no less than a 3000 stall.

 

nittos get the job done... 245/50/16s snapped my axle... sticky enough for stock rear end....

 

Long Tubes!

 

Don't open the engine up yet for the roller rockers, save those for later

For 500 bucks, get some headers (MAC mids or longtubes) or a stall. A stall, given that you can still hook, will reduce your E/T by a lot

 

In my opinion your not going to go wrong with either gears or headers at this point in your mods. If you get headers by the way get coated or dont get them at all. Uncoated headers are a waste. I wouldnt worry about longtubes on a stock bottom end. Rocker arms might not be that bad of a mod, you can probably get 15hp from those I would say, and they are pretty easy to do. You wont be able to afford Nitrous. To get everything you would need for NOS it would probably cost you about $1000. So I would make gears and go with 4:10s not 3:73s my first choice, then rockers or headers.

 

Are you kidding? 4.10's w/ a A4? Wow, for a newbie, I think that would be alittle steep for his car, dont you think? I went w/ 3.73 and cat back and better street tires, and I gained .42 in the 1/4. I dont think that was too bad, and my gears are fine on the hwy, 4.10 I dont know.

 

Sorry wasnt paying attention to the fact he had an auto. 3:73s are fine.

 

ummm you wanna explain that one to me?

 

Sure youll get an increase in power but the fact they are not ceramic coated means they generate a lot more heat thus reducing power, as well as placing harsher conditions on electrical components, ie wires and starter. I thought everyone kinda new that. My mistake.

 

they dissipate more heat (they dont generate any) but I'd have to see a dyno sheet to actually believe that it has an impact on power output (and not a dyno sheet given out by the header manufacturer, an independent dyno sheet). The air intake tract is pretty well isolated from the heat of the headers. Besides all of that, most of the really high quality and high dollar headers are made of UNcoated stainless steel (kooks, flp, and hooker has a stainless header now) which will get every bit as hot as uncoated regular steel. Its true that ceramic coatings reduce the heat dissipation from the headers (which is a reason I will be getting ceramic coated headers) but that doesn't make uncoated headers "worthless", especially to someone who is on a budget, which the thread starter is.

 

They are less efficiant, and I dont know why you insist on arguing a point that has been accepted by everyone except for you. Coated headers reduce heat and that means the motor will be able to make more power. So what if they are stainless steel, they still will make more heat then a coated set of stainless steel headers. While not worthless because you will still make more power then the stock manifolds, I just dont see the reason to get something because hes on a budget. If thats the case he can get a set of gears and assuming he does the work himself he can get it done for well under 300, even if he has to pay someone the work will should not total much more then 500. If you want to buy uncoated headers for your car go right ahead. If it were me and I am in the same situation since I am buying headers soon, I am waiting until I can pay afford the coated ones. And I cant stand people that say "oh i want to see a dyno sheet", apply common sense to this if you have any. More Heat=Less Power, Less Heat=More Power. And after reading your post closer I see your getting ceramic coated headers. Well damn if your so unconvinced they make that much of a differance why not save a little money and get uncoated ones. You dont have to be on a budget to settle for a cheaper product. You just proved my point jackass. Ceramic coated are better. Get a set of gears then when you have saved enough get ceramic coated headers.

 

wow, jackass huh? You prove to me that uncoated headers are worthless and I'll admit to being a jackass. Do you even know WHY more heat=less power (it doesn't by the way). Actually the reverse is true, the more power the engine makes the hotter it will tend to get as excess energy is given off as heat. So actually more heat = MORE power, indirectly. What you're trying to regurgitate to me is that if the intake temperature is high then the density of the air will will be low, and this is true, but the headers are a good ways away from the intake tract and wont have a signifigant effect on intake air temperature. NOTICE PLEASE I said "signifigant effect", not "no effect". I want some concrete proof not something you read in a ceramic coating advertisement. Give me a dyno sheet, give me a comparison of air intake temps with uncoated and ceramic coated headers. Can't stand people that want dyno sheets? Well I can't stand ignorant morons who pay hundreds of dollars for crap they read in an advertisement. You're a ****ing idiot that believes everything you read, no better than the rice boy that thinks his civic runs 10's with a CAI. The main reason I'm getting ceramic coated headers is because they stay looking nice instead of all rusted (I'm **** about that stuff so sue me) NOT because there is going to be some kind of relevent power difference between the two. It's also funny to see you write about "using common sense" then start the name calling and an immature pissing contest, but if thats what you want then that's what you'll get, I'm not too grown up to make you look like an idiot. So to sum it all up you think anyone who gets a $1000 set of FLP's or Kooks and doesn't get them ceramic coated is basically throwing their money away ...