Best , Easiest & Cheapest way to 300bhp+???

[Painey]

I've come into some unexpected reddies and fancy trying to get the Griff up to and hopefully over the 300bhp mark but as the title says, what's the best way to COST EFFECTIVELY do it?

My pockets aren't massively bulging and I can't stretch to four figures here so that gives you some idea of my budget. The Griff has been measureed at putting out 285bhp and 330lbs/ft on Austec's rolling road which although is good, I'd like to try and get it over the magic 300bhp mark.

My first thoughts are to finally get round to fitting an ACT Silicon hose from air filter to plenum but what can I do after that without breaking the bank? It's a totally standard 95N reg car if it matters and I'm not massively bothered about track days and stuff.

Any ideas??

Cheers - Chris




>>> Edited by Painey on Wednesday 4th August 14:57

[Painey]

I'm well aware of the old "TVR BHP" debate and stuff like that and the figures I quoted earlier were corrected flywheel figures so I'm basically looking for around another 15bhp. As the car only has 35k on the clock I don't really need/or want to have to replace the cam which is out of my budget anyway.

Also, I don't personallly think that trying to find a relatively small power gain as this would make the car radically different to drive, could be wrong of course...

I'm thinking along the lines of new Air Flow meter, Tornado Chip and RR session to set it up but the costs of this worry me for what could be a relatively small gain in power. I mean if it's only likely to get me around 5more bhp then to me that's not worth it as the air temperature can have that much of an effect on its own!

[Painey]

The driver training is a very good point but I've already done a course and although it'd be great fun, I don't really feel I need to do another one just yet. I agree that they are by far the best way to spend money if you want to "go faster" if you know what I mean.

Cheers

[Painey]

rev-erend said:

Blimey - 285bhp and 330lbs/ft I'd say you had a good one there .. you could talk to Mark Adams or Austec but my guess is that you will need to start spending some big numbers to achieve much more ! (Like bigger injectors : 600 & twin act plenum 1200 & MA tuning session - 2 ~ 3 K to get much more than you have already).

Thanks but you've highlighted my dilemma very clearly. It's been noted that the power the Griff is currently putting out is very good for a 500 so I think that to get any reasonably gains I'm going to be looking at replacing things. As you've said that means big money, something I don't currently have!

I'm going to pay Austec a quick visit on Saturday as I'm in there neck of the woods then anyway so I'll see what they have to say.

Cheers - Chris

[Painey]

HarryW said:

Ah it rings a bell now, at 285 ponies I think yours is the highest output Austec have seen for a 'standard' 500, . Most I beleive are nearer 265-275, with around 300 torque,yours at 330 torque is pretty exceptional IMHO, just incase there are those that think the road over reads. Harry

I had a chat with Mike at Austec when they serviced it in May and he mentioned something about that, swiftly followed by "you should be able to get over 300bhp easily" which I've been kind of thinking about ever since. I just can't currently afford the whole Carbon Triple Plenum/New Cam and other bits etc etc. Of course I'd like them but can't see the missus buying them for Christmas!!!

[Painey]

Thanks for all the comments on here, however varied they may be!

Went to Austec on Saturday for a couple of things, one of them being having a natter about possible upgrades as previously mentioned and the outcome was that basically, its not worth trying to do any decent upgrades unless you've got some serious amounts of cash floating about. My idea was to try and find out what I could do for a few hundred notes and I was planing on fitting the ACT air inlet pipe to replace the standard one. It's become apparent that if I were to do that properly I should upgrade the injectors as well and I just don't currently have the budget for that kind of work.

I'm a big fan of the old saying "if you're going to do something, do it properly" which means probably a couple of grand needed being spent so it seems that upgrades are out of the question at the moment, unless anyone has any oher suggestions!

Might have to spend the money on some track days or have a laugh with 1st Lotus or something!

Cheers - Chris

[Painey]

Nano2nd said:

so are Austec saying just fitting the ACT silcion pipe/s is gonna mean you'll be running your injectors flat out? i'm suprised by that!

Not really, but it kind of figures that if you increase the amount of air getting into the engine, which that helps to do, then the injectors might struggle to keep up. Now I'm the opposite of an expert on this so I stand to be corrected but I've read about others having to upgrade their injectors because of things like this. Although that maybe due to more work being done on induction than just the ACT inlet pipe, i.e. triple plenums/carbon trumpets etc.

I'll stop now before I get even more out of my depth though!

My main point was that I don't personally want to do one without doing the other, which I currently can't afford!

[Painey]

Tim,

In your experience, if I were to fit the replacement inlet pipes you do from air filter to plenum (as a starting point) is it likely to increase the chances of pinking? Also is the increased amount of air likely to cause the injectors to struggle to keep up on a std N reg 500?

Cheers - Chris

>> Edited by Painey on Monday 9th August 17:18

[Painey]

The possibility of pinking does bother me as the car's been doing it lately but that could be due to the recent warm weather as it's never really been noticeable before. Just happens on the very odd occasion at full throttle but has certainly got worse over the last couple of weekends. The car has been set up on Austec's rolling road during it's recent service.

Re. the injectors, judging by how much power the car is putting out I'm fairly confident that they're OK.

As for the can of worms, don't want to go opening that one!