Help a newbie achieve more HP
 

I’ve searched but I’m still confused. Idk much about engine stuff but my question is,

What can I do to my car to achieve 400hp or close to that number?.

Just want my car a bit faster.
Car is in immaculate condition, one owner and always garaged in winters and summers. Car was stock when bought and so far I have this

•V8 1994 LT1 trans am Gt, 64k miles, Magnaflow catback exhaust, Petris vented optispark w/new spark plugs and wires (full tune up) new summer performance continental tires w/18inch wheels, Stranos sway bars, UMI shock tower brace and vented LT1 hood.

I’ve seen Loyd Elliot LE2 stuff but sorry if I sound stupid but I don’t get what that means. Is it a performance package that you buy that gets sent to you for install ? I’ve heard LTH and a Cam then a dyno tune would help.
Please give me recommendations on what brand items to get so I can create a checklist to try to get this car faster without damaging my engine and tranny 😬. Car is my toy car not a dd by the way.
Thank you !

Re: Help a newbie achieve more HP
 

Welcome to CamaroZ28.com ! ! !

We need some basic info about you and your car.

- Do you want to achieve 400 HP at the engine's flywheel (the way the factory measures HP), or at the rear wheels (popular method with many performance enthusiasts)?

- Does your car have the 6-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission? That affects how much of that flywheel HP reaches the rear wheels.

- What emissions requirement do you have to meet? States like California have very strict rules, other states and areas have none.

- Are you more interested in straight line performance (drag racing), or going around corners (road racing, auto-X)?

- What is your budget?

Re: Help a newbie achieve more HP
 

The car is an automatic. It doesn’t really matter if I get it at the rear wheels or not. Just wanted faster than now. I won’t race the car so I guess straight line. I’m just a very spirited driver.
I live in chicago and for emissions they just stick the little chip in the odb port and that’s it.

Re: Help a newbie achieve more HP
 

Hard to give you a list of items, part #'s and prices with such a vague definition of what you want. Best approach might be to take one step at a time, and stop when you feel you have achieved your goal of "a bit faster". A typical plan would be:

- cold air intake

- upgraded exhaust including long tube headers (LTH) and a high quality 3" catback (system from catalytic converter to muffler/tailpipes in the rear)

- performance camshaft with 1.6X full roller rocker arms. See next step, because they have to be coordinated.

- ported stock heads. This is what LE2 relates to. Lloyd Elliott, owner of Elliott's Port Works, can port your stock heads to produce 350 - 400 rear wheel HP. He would also recommend, and can supply a camshaft specifically matched to your driving requirements.

http://elliottsportworks.com/

- support the upgrades with a computer tune, larger fuel injectors, larger throttle body, etc.

With an automatic transmission you can get a significant improvement in acceleration with a high stall torque converter, and a higher numerical rear axle ratio (eg. 3.73:1)

And just out of curiosity, what is a "vented LT1 hood"? Do you man a "ram air hood"?

Re: Help a newbie achieve more HP
 

Ok thank you !

yes I meant a ram air hood.

my budget would be under 2k. Again I’m not very versed on mechanical things aside from the typical stuff like filters and oils etc.
I just want a car that’s a bit faster than the 275 it puts out right now.
I have an Infiniti Q50 and ams does different stage packages that outlines what you need to achieve a certain amount of horsepower (down pipes, Cai, CBE, ecutek tune then dyno)
I just wanted to get an idea of what to get to achieve my end goal of getting this car to at least 380/400 HP.
Thanks again.

Re: Help a newbie achieve more HP
 

Do you have the air intake box for the ram air hood? If so, that eliminates the need for a cold air intake.

https://www.camaroz28.com/g/picture/18260188

Re: Help a newbie achieve more HP
 

2k might get you there, depends how resourceful you can be. Good head porting, cam, rockers, injectors and a tune should get you close.

I have a bad ass LE custom grind that's going to be coming out soon as well as my 36# injectors. I'm going forged stroker with s/c and Lloyd has a new custom cam for my new setup on the way. I'll be using 60# injectors. If you're interested i can get you cam specs and if you're interested we can work out a deal. Been in the car for 8 months and has under 500 miles.

Re: Help a newbie achieve more HP
 

your going to need 6k+ to do it right. 2k gets your heads ported and a cam with shipping. Then you have supporting parts as stated TB, rockers, long tube headers, exhaust, gaskets, bolts, fluids, tuning, larger injectors, and LABOR is going crush you.
YMMV

Re: Help a newbie achieve more HP
 

The hardest part is once you add performance upgrades you need to improve other parts of the car. I decided that 400+ horse power was plenty. So I upgraded the car to support those numbers. Exhaust was 1st upgrade. Then I did air intake with K&N filter. I went with a super charger kit for $5000. Ported heads like others said is a great route to take. You will always want more than you think. Horse power is like tattoos. You can never have enough.