Hi,

I've been reading these boards for a while now--even posted a time or two.

I bought a 98z (6-sp) about a month ago, and while I love it completely, I'd like to give it a bit more get-up-and-go.

Problem is: I lift a hood and my knuckles and nose start bleeding immediately--I know nothing about cars (I'm a computer geek).

So, I dutifully read the postings of you more knowledgable folks and learn...however, all I have to show for it (mostly) is a bunch of phrases and acronyms that I don't understand. Like:

What is a MAF?
What is a catted Y-pipe?
What is a cat-back?
What are headers?
What are gears, and where do they go and why are they good?

and on, and on, and on. I'm not asking someone to give me all the answers (though I would certainly appreciate any), but can someone point me in the right direction about where to learn this stuff? I'm the sort of person that would prefer to understand enough to make good decisions, rather than ask someone to make the decisions for me.

I know, I hear it all the time: I'm a total computer nut, and friends often ask me "will you teach me how to do that?" like I have some magic that can bestow a lifetime of experience upon them. I'm not looking for miracles--I just love my car and want to invest in it some.

Thanks for any help folks--I really appreciate it!

 

What is a MAF?

Mass Air Flow, which measures how much air is coming in to the engine through the intake. The computer uses this measurement to help determine how much fuel to use.

What is a catted Y-pipe?

A Y-pipe with catallityc converters (cats) in it. The Y-pipe is an exhaust pipe that connects the two exhaust manifolds and converts it into 1 pipe that leads to the cat-back exhaust.

What is a cat-back?

A cat back is any exhaust system from the cat's back to the exhaust tips.

What are headers?

Headers are better flowing replacements for the exhaust manifolds which bolt to the exhaust ports on the engines heads. There are different types of headers: Shorty-useless on ls1's Mids-Only made by Mac for the ls1 and yeild 10-15hp on a stock ls1 LT-Produce the most power but also cost the most 15-20hp gain.

What are gears, and where do they go and why are they good?

Gears are what's inside the rear differential. Numerically higher gear ratios will get you faster accelleration but lower top speed. Numerically lower gear ratio's will get you slower accelleration but a higher top speed. 3.73-4.10 is are good for a M6 and 3.42-3.73 are good for A4's.

It's 2am right now so some of this might not make sense, I tried though.

 

The MAF is the Mass Air Flow sensor. That round thing with the wires coming out of it in your intake tract. Basically monitors how much air is going into your engine and helps your computer give you the right amount of fuel.

A catted y-pipe is a y-pipe with catalayic converters on it. The y-pipe looks like a Y(relativly) and connects your headers to the catback system.

A catback is part of the exhaust that connects to the end of the y-pipe, and goes out to the rear bumper. This is where the muffler is.

Headers are them thingies that attach to your heads. Pretty much the begining of the exhaust system.

And when we talk about gears, we mean the rear end gears. And, they are in the rear end . They are good if you get a deeper, higher numerically, gear, ie stock 3.42:1(for 6 speeds) to a 4.10:1 gear, which in turn gives you better acceleration. But it takes off of your top speed...which really doesnt matter anyways...

Maybe others could elaborate further than what I have...but theirs your basics man


...he beat me to it ...

 

Wow! What great answers!!! I understood every word!

NOW I understand why you wouldn't want to muck with the wires in the MAF--if it's a sensor that's measuring, effectively, air volume, it's SENSITIVE!

And, the exhaust terms--so basic. See, all I needed was someone to lay it out for me.

The gear thing makes perfect sense (it's all about leveredge). So, with 4.10's or something, my gears will all change (become shorter) and so will the shift points (I always shift well before red-line). The only loss would be high-end, but WHO CARES! For fuel economy I prefer to run around 2k rpm when cruising. Below that the engine struggles a bit if I stick my foot in it, and above that it's burning gas needlessly. Well, 6th gear runs at only 1600 rpm at 70mph, so higher gears might allow me to cruise in 6th LEGALLY! (hee hee).

Just read up on tuning...(in the f-body forum) something I'll have to look into (not just doing it, but learning how to do it myself). A laptop, cable, some math and experimentation--who knows.

Thanks a ton for the answers guys!

One last thing: what's an M6 and an A4???

 

M6=Manual 6 speed transmission

A4=Automatic 4 speed transmission

 

Just keep reading up on all this stuff and eventually it'll make more sense. Takes time like u said with the computer stuff ur friends ask u about, u learn it over time. Things that work for one car might not work for the next, especially when u talk about different makes and models. Just stick to it, we were all in ur shoes before. About the MAF, don't upgrade it, no need to, they can handle up to 600 HP and programmers prefer that u keep the stock one anyways. Feel free to ask anymore questions, we're all here to help eachother.

 

Thanks folks!

Say, if anybody has computer questions, well, this isn't the right forum, but PM me and I'll be happy to return the favor.