What are the most cost effective ways to increase HP?

[ManoSpeed]

The other day I was browsing through some websites and some had ESS turbo kits etc. All fine and dandy, but all those options ran in the thousands of dollars. Was wondering what are some cost effective ways to increase power or speed?

Exhausts? Cold air intakes? Cams? Reducing weight?

[GeorgeT]

Originally Posted by ManoSpeed

The other day I was browsing through some websites and some had ESS turbo kits etc. All fine and dandy, but all those options ran in the thousands of dollars. Was wondering what are some cost effective ways to increase power or speed?

Exhausts? Cold air intakes? Cams? Reducing weight?

Reducing weight will not increase horsepower but it will make your car faster.

[gatorfast]

Best bang for your buck will probably be the turbo or nitrous route. Things like exhaust and intake may make minmal hp gains but they are mainly for sound more than anything.

[ManoSpeed]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Best bang for your buck will probably be the turbo or nitrous route. Things like exhaust and intake may make minmal hp gains but they are mainly for sound more than anything.

So you're saying its better to spend 6-8K on a turbo charger than 2K on an exhaust system?

[ZStig]

first of all, there is no turbo kit for the z4m on the market yet, even though 2 are in development.

Bast bang for the buck are euro headers, at $850 + ess tune ~$600, which will net you about 25RWHP, and lots of usable torque. Cold air intakes don't make power on this car, and even though cams make 15-20hp at the wheels at best, they run about $2k+ to install. Mufflers save weight, but don't add much power

Weight reduction wise, you can start with a deka etx14L (~40lbs off), 18" forged wheels that are 18lbs each vs stock 25lbs (check **********s.com), and seats $1000 for 40lbs savings each

Either way, if you're like most power hungry people, after you do all these little things, you'll get bored of them, and eventually get an ESS VT2-500 supercharger ($11k 420rwhp, 300 rwtq, or the upcoming HPF turbo kit (~$15k for 420rwhp, 320rwtq)

Most people who take the slow upgrade route say "shit, I already spent $10k on my car if you add up all the little shit, I could have just bought a supercharger for that much and made a lot more power"

[ManoSpeed]

Originally Posted by Roffle Waffle

first of all, there is no turbo kit for the z4m on the market yet, even though 2 are in development.

Bast bang for the buck are euro headers, at $850 + ess tune ~$600, which will net you about 25RWHP, and lots of usable torque. Cold air intakes don't make power on this car, and even though cams make 15-20hp at the wheels at best, they run about $2k+ to install. Mufflers save weight, but don't add much power

Weight reduction wise, you can start with a deka etx14L (~40lbs off), 18" forged wheels that are 18lbs each vs stock 25lbs (check **********s.com), and seats $1000 for 40lbs savings each

Either way, if you're like most power hungry people, after you do all these little things, you'll get bored of them, and eventually get an ESS VT2-500 supercharger ($11k 420rwhp, 300 rwtq, or the upcoming HPF turbo kit (~$15k for 420rwhp, 320rwtq)

Most people who take the slow upgrade route say "shit, I already spent $10k on my car if you add up all the little shit, I could have just bought a supercharger for that much and made a lot more power"

That's the problem; you get used to the power you have and then you "feel" like your car is slow. For example, I started out in a MazdaSpeed3 GT turbo which had 264HP and 280ft/lbs torque and I thought "wow" this has a ton of power when I was driving it the first couple weeks. I got bored of it and decided I needed more power so after test driving the Z4M, I thought "Wow, now this is REAL HP since it was NA and had no turbo lag" at 330HP and 262ft/lbs torque and now a year after getting the Z4MC my brain is telling me "I need more power, this doesn't feel that fast anymore".

[03BeastCharmer]

Buy a mustang. upgrade parts are much cheaper.

There is no cheap way to make more power for our cars. Exhaust is mostly for sound, stripping weight from the car will make it feel faster, but may impact it's usability if you strip it down to it's core, or expensive if you are replacing with light weight materials.

Ebay headers and a tune are probably the best bang for your buck. Beyond that you're talking diff change and F/I.

[ZStig]

ah, yes, forgot about the 3.91 or 4.1 differential upgrade, about $2500

also a great mod from what I hear

[epbrown]

If you're not going to shell out for forced induction, don't bother fiddling with the engine at all, imo. Changing to 3.91 or 4.10 gears is the best bump in outright performance. Aside from that, I'd only do headers and exhaust.

[nmulax]

Euro headers and a tune. Intake and exhaust will sound great - but don't do much for performance on the Z4M.

[gcochard]

Get a CF hatch, hood, and roof. mmmmm carbon fiber

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by ManoSpeed

So you're saying its better to spend 6-8K on a turbo charger than 2K on an exhaust system?

Not saying its better, both cost a pretty penny. But bang for your buck, even though a turbo system may cost 2-3 times as much you will see noticeable gaines in power where as an exhaus system may sound great but probably is providing little if any power increase.

[BTM]

Originally Posted by cliffhopper

Get a CF hatch, hood, and roof. mmmmm carbon fiber

This is a thread about being cost effective

Best bang for your buck would be cheap headers. Bimmerworld sells some for 5 or $600 and the fit seems pretty consistent. They are, however, best paired with a tune, or you're looking at relocating your secondary O2 sensors. With a tune, you're looking at maybe $1300-$1500 in parts before labor if you can do the headers yourself.

Diff is expensive and labor intensive, and not as DIY-able as headers (though if you feel comfortable, go for it), and I would be wary of the shorter gearing if you do a lot of highway driving.

[gcochard]

Originally Posted by BTM

This is a thread about being cost effective

Best bang for your buck would be cheap headers. Bimmerworld sells some for 5 or $600 and the fit seems pretty consistent. They are, however, best paired with a tune, or you're looking at relocating your secondary O2 sensors. With a tune, you're looking at maybe $1300-$1500 in parts before labor if you can do the headers yourself.

Diff is expensive and labor intensive, and not as DIY-able as headers (though if you feel comfortable, go for it), and I would be wary of the shorter gearing if you do a lot of highway driving.

I couldn't see the "cost effective" part of the post, I was looking through my CF goggles.

[ZStig]

Originally Posted by ManoSpeed

So you're saying its better to spend 6-8K on a turbo charger than 2K on an exhaust system?

*supercharger

and yes

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by ManoSpeed

So you're saying its better to spend 6-8K on a turbo charger than 2K on an exhaust system?

If we're talking about cost effective as in cost/HP, then the most cost effective solution is the S/C.

• "Cheap" route with headers, O2 relocation, and tune is ~$2,000 for 25 HP which is $80/HP
• S/C route is about ~$11,000 for around 165 HP increase which is $69/HP

I might be a bit off in my numbers, but it does illustrate the point.

If we're talking cost effective as in lowest spend for a measurable increase, then headers, O2 relocation, and a tune.

Like many have already said, the path to more power always leads to one wanting more, and I've seen many people start off with the "cheaper" exhaust/tune approach only to spend far more in the end....

[BTM]

^^^Agreed, but again, most looking for the most cost effective way to increase power are also not likely to be willing to drop 8k on a supercharger. Hell, the true most cost effective way could be swapping in a supercharged LSx...it may cost 20k but you could be putting down 700+ hp...but I digress...

I've been casually kicking around the idea of going with bimmerworld headers and standard epic tune, especially as I change my mind about exhaust every time I log on youtube. For $1300ish factoring in everything, and doing the work myself, I would consider this more cost effective when factoring in everything, such as installation costs and potential future problems (not to say supercharging is unreliable, but there is that general rule more pressure = lower longevity)

[Caddyshk]

Buy a faster car - been there done that...

[SHEEDI]

Guys, save money for rainy day

[epbrown]

Originally Posted by BTM

Diff is expensive and labor intensive, and not as DIY-able as headers (though if you feel comfortable, go for it), and I would be wary of the shorter gearing if you do a lot of highway driving.

Gears would be ~$1500-2000 if you buy the gears and have a shop rebuild your diff; only going the Dinan route is expensive. The 3.91s are fine for highway driving - on my runs home to KY I have to remind myself to use 6th.

[BTM]

Now I'm curious...what gears are you running? So you just swapped out your gear set...did you get "grenade" insurance lol? Diffs online's cheapest new diff is a factory type LSD and with 3.91 or 4.10 gearing runs about 2k after a core return...but their 3.91 gearset is only $135...Also what are you turning at 70-75 with 3.91?

[epbrown]

Originally Posted by BTM

Now I'm curious...what gears are you running? So you just swapped out your gear set...did you get "grenade" insurance lol? Diffs online's cheapest new diff is a factory type LSD and with 3.91 or 4.10 gearing runs about 2k after a core return...but their 3.91 gearset is only $135...Also what are you turning at 70-75 with 3.91?

I'm running 3.91s and at 70 it's doing 3000rpm. By far the cheapest route is simply to buy the gears for a few hundred and have a decent shop rebuild your diff. The supposed convenience/reliability of doing a full core swap has proven false for me, as I've had two Dinans develop problems for me. Yeah, they're offering to swap in a 3rd under warranty, but I'm pushing to have them pay to have the diff rebuilt properly since whoever they have doing it for them sucks.

I love the upgrade, though.