Okay, here's my latest semi-noob tech question.

I'm at the stage where I'm considering the various free mods and low-cost bolt-ons for my car.

Part 1:

An underdrive crank pulley seems to be an easy and obvious mod. Since an underdrive pulley is obviously going to be spinning the alternator, power steering pump, and A/C and lower speeds, especially at idle, I am concerned about voltage output, low-speed steering effort, and A/C effectiveness when sitting in traffic.

For those of you with the pulley, I want to know:
1. What size is your pulley?
2. Are your other pulleys stock?
3. What voltage do you see at idle?
4. Do you notice decreased power steering or A/C performance at idle?
5. Do I need to be concerned about the water pump running slower too?
6. If you have before and after dyno or track results, how much difference did you see?

Daily comfort and drivability are important to me. If I'm going to be running much under 14 volts with a pulley, or if I'm going to have to wrestle the steering wheel in parking lots, or if I'm going to cook sitting in traffic in the summer, then it's not worth the 3-5% power gain to me.

Part 2:

I'm probably going to do the Free Ram Air mod. I have a dremel with a cutting bit. Is there anything I need to be careful of? I understand that ram air really isn't effective at any speed I'll ever be driving, but I get the impression that I'll get more airflow from outside the car. I'm thinking of it more like a cheap cold air intake. Speaking of which, is SLP's (or anyone elses) cold air kit any better than doing the FRA mod?

Are there any more questions I should be asking? I can't see how this mod would affect drivability or longevity, so I'm pretty unconcerned here. Let me know if I've missed anything.

Let fly with the opinions!

 

Save the ~$250 you'd blow on the pulley and belt and put it towards some GOOD tires.

 

I'd skip the FRA mod.

One of my friends did it and felt a slight seat-of-the-pants gain, but his air filter got extremely dirty very quickly with this. I actually borrowed one of my friend's Dremel tools, had my airbox off and decided against this at the last minute based on my friend's experience.

GM designed our cars to have a cold air intake because the air inlet is far enough away from the engine to suck in air that's colder than if it were closer to the engine and grabbing hot air, so I'd just stick with your lid.

 

Oh yeah, I'm doing tires. Actually, I found out a few days after I ran that 13.2 that a buddy of mine has a set of Mickey Thompson E/T Streets.

I'm not asking about prioritizing mods here... just whether or not I should do these at all.

SBF767, thanks for the input on the FRA.

 

Yeah, you're definitely right about asking which are right.

I wish I would have done that before wasting $200 on SLP's y-pipe (which probably gained me 1 HP max.) and then finding out 2 weeks later longtube headers won't bolt up to it.

 

The FRA does cause the air filter to get dirty. But if you pick up a K&N filter you can just clean it when it gets dirty.I have a Car craft mag. that picked up 15rwhp with the FRA and shortning the EGR throttle body bypass on a '99 Z. Not bad for 2 free mods.

And then about the lid. In GM high tech's May '04 article called flipping our lids in which they tested all the major lids and all made at least 5-10rwhp and picked up a tenth and a mph.

 

I did the underdrive pulley and haven't experienced any drop in voltage or any accessories suffering from the mod. If you are running a stereo system or plan to, you should get the alternator pulley as well, but don't worry about it if you are not. As far as dyno or track results, I couldn't tell you because I added other mods with it before I track tested it but it did seem to make the car rev a little faster.

 

Ssra

 

[sarcasm]Thanks, that's so helpful.[/sarcasm] Got any actual information?

 

Being that you want to be sarcastic..........nope.

 

For those of you with the pulley, I want to know:
1. What size is your pulley?
not sure of the size...but it's the standard ASP pulley

2. Are your other pulleys stock?
yep

3. What voltage do you see at idle?
above 12...or whatever the 12 o'clock needle position is on the guage...like 14 maybe

4. Do you notice decreased power steering or A/C performance at idle?
not at all, but i dont use the AC much

5. Do I need to be concerned about the water pump running slower too?
i don't think so, it's pumping alot of water as it is, if the rest of your cooling system is up to par...should be a problem.

6. If you have before and after dyno or track results, how much difference did you see?
i don't think you'd ever see a gain at the track, unless you are rediculously consistent. 5hp is hard to see or feel...even on a dyno. it did feel like it reved up faster after the pulley...but that's pretty subjective.

as for the above post...do a search SSRA....super sucker ram air
available from www.lmperformance.com it's a fully functioning ram air scoop. there are pics on page 2 of my website in the sig

 

Thanks. Is it safe to assume that the SSRA is going to have the same dirty filter issues that FRA has?

 

yep...i wash mine out regularly...