Stupid Questions

[BluTyger]

A 2012 Tc was spec'd at 3100 lbs, 180 HP, and a six speed auto. So performance should be equal or slightly slower than a 33-3400 lb SHO auto with 220 HP.

When my '92 had 150,000 well-maintained miles I had a replacement filter and a Borla catback and a y-pipe with high-flow cats and underdrive pulleys. These were the bolt-ons that were allowed by my autocross class rules. The car dyno'd at 198 HP and mid 180's torque, so all of that modding was probably worth 20 or max 25 HP, figuring that it was 220 flywheel new and you lose ~15% or so to driveline losses for FWD. That was a lot of money for 20 HP. You aren't going to greatly exceed that without going for cams and big butterflies - that is what moves the air. Then you'll need a tune to allow for those new parts, and only then can you start thinking about closer to 300 HP. Beyond that lies big bucks, and pretty much all used parts at this point, hardly anyone is supplying performance parts for these any more.

My buddies Scion is actually a five speed manual, but that shouldn't make much of a difference right?
But that's a fair assessment. I think I would be better off doing those mods if it was easier to tune huh. But the money is only half the problem. The other problem is there aren't many parts

 

[BluTyger]

and I think I saw some atx replacement parts are not in circulation anymore for rebuilds?? I would not mod an ATX GenI-II sho beyond bolt-ons-- that aren't worth much anyway. Just make it how you like it and then make it a second car because everything is old.

Bolt-ons are probably the most attainable things huh

rasp doesn't sound mean. It sounds like a$$.

What if I swap the CAT for a resonator?

 

[luigisho]

I guess you have to ride in one and then live with one with alot of rasp to really know. People spend alot of $ to chop up the exhaust and then spend alot of $ trying to get back to where it used to be. I mean maybe you will like it. You couldn't talk me out of much at 20. That was a $hit ton of work and $$ for really only an education about how to fix cars and what not to throw money at. If I wasn't a testosterone fueled crazy person I could have learned all that on the interwebs for free

 

[BluTyger]

I guess you have to ride in one and then live with one with alot of rasp to really know. People spend alot of $ to chop up the exhaust and then spend alot of $ trying to get back to where it used to be. I mean maybe you will like it. You couldn't talk me out of much at 20. That was a $hit ton of work and $$ for really only an education about how to fix cars and what not to throw money at. If I wasn't a testosterone fueled crazy person I could have learned all that on the interwebs for free

That's fair. I get talked out of a lot of stuff haha. But I think at this point, if I can put a bit of money into the SHO, and then make the Jetta into the car I want, I'll be happy with it

 

[luigisho]

That sounds wiser than I was at that age.

 

[BluTyger]

That sounds wiser than I was at that age.

Haha I can blame that on my grandpa and my dad. But luckily I have other options

 

[Devin]

Shosource.com has a blower kit. Not sure about availability though.

 

[BluTyger]

Shosource.com has a blower kit. Not sure about availability though.

Yeah, they do, but I'm not sure about everything else to go along with it. Also the money's haha

 

[Devin]

Yeah, they do, but I'm not sure about everything else to go along with it. Also the money's haha

For the SHO when it comes down to it, $ per HP is best when going FI. Getting a drive train to put up with it is the trick.

 

[luigisho]

For the SHO when it comes down to it, $ per HP is best when going FI. Getting a drive train to put up with it is the trick.

Yep. and with atx it's a big trick. I'd buy an mtx car if I was going to do that, and even that isn't what you'd call stout

 

[SeanDev]

So I've gotten most of the normal maintenance done, and I'm not finding a definitive answer, so I'm gonna ask a stupid question. I've gotten the car running well and consistently, so now I'm hoping to eke out a little more performance.

Basically, my buddy has a 2012 Scion TC and there's this spot we may or may not do a little competition or something when we can, and he has more acceleration than me, so I was hoping to kind of get a couple of things I could do to get a bit more performance. From what I've been reading though, there's not much outside of forced induction, nitrous, or boring it out to a 3.4 or 3.5 iirc.

I'm assuming that most of his advantages are in his lack of weight, and the 6 speed manual tranny.

I'm also not opposed to doing the work for either a turbo or sc, as I have a couple fabricators in the family that would be willing to help with the intake and exhaust. The only thing really stopping me from an attempt that I can really think of is the funds.

With this platform, ive found it's all about funds. I'm probably going to be around $9,000, I've spent roughly $3,000 on exhaust and fuel pumps alone, and that's before me now deciding it's time to build an engine, more for piece of mind, Brad has warned me that at this point I'm starting to push my luck and I appreciate a tuner that just doesn't take car to limits, but leaves it up to owner how far down the rabbit hole they want to go. I may never use all the bolt-ons to there full potential but my intention was to not drastically shorten the life of all the goodies. Me and most all of us this is passion for a platform that is greatly underappreciated.

 

[SeanDev]

My buddies Scion is actually a five speed manual, but that shouldn't make much of a difference right?
But that's a fair assessment. I think I would be better off doing those mods if it was easier to tune huh. But the money is only half the problem. The other problem is there aren't many parts

A 3bar, and a E30 tune, should take care of that Scion.

 

[Ta2dResqr]

A 3bar, and a E30 tune, should take care of that Scion.

This is a Gen 1/2 car not EcoBoost. I hate how I get caught up with one vehicle on my mind and solutions only to find out I ended up in the wrong area. I'd sometimes like to be able to shut off areas of the forum I am not interested/knowledgeable/applicable.

 

[Ta2dResqr]

Not trying to be a dick but looking at those 2 vehicles "new" performance specs, my guess is that your car is worn out/tired or needs a driver mod. The SHO is rated faster 0-40 and higher. Basically, he should have you out of the hole and then you should pass him. 1/4 mile you should be 0.3 sec faster and 6 mph faster. The biggest and most likely difference is the fact that your car is 10-12 yrs and probably 50-100k miles older. Doing simple things like FULL maintenance with a fresh tune-up, fluids, cleaning, etc. may help. Unfortunately, though, some of it is just going to be the wear of the vehicle and the fact that after this many years, she is not as gudntite as she once was.

 

[BluTyger]

For the SHO when it comes down to it, $ per HP is best when going FI. Getting a drive train to put up with it is the trick.

What do you mean by FI? Or FL? And I'd be willing to do the work to put a manual in my automatic (because i love my automatic too much to do it the other way) but from what I've been told and have found out is that basically it'd be too hard since it's a front wheel drive, and the layout differences and so fourth.

 

[BluTyger]

A 3bar, and a E30 tune, should take care of that Scion.

I like the way you think, but I don't think it'll be that easy haha. I'd also be completely willing to put in the work needed for forced induction on my gen2, or buy a gen 4, but funds and parts availability are my enemies

 

[BluTyger]

Not trying to be a dick but looking at those 2 vehicles "new" performance specs, my guess is that your car is worn out/tired or needs a driver mod. The SHO is rated faster 0-40 and higher. Basically, he should have you out of the hole and then you should pass him. 1/4 mile you should be 0.3 sec faster and 6 mph faster. The biggest and most likely difference is the fact that your car is 10-12 yrs and probably 50-100k miles older. Doing simple things like FULL maintenance with a fresh tune-up, fluids, cleaning, etc. may help. Unfortunately, though, some of it is just going to be the wear of the vehicle and the fact that after this many years, she is not as gudntite as she once was.

Yeah, and he sat for quite a while before I got to him. But we also haven't had another scrap since I've replaced the fuel pump, crank position sensor, cam sensor, all the basic maintenance that I hadn't done yet. He wasn't in tip top shape. Still isn't technically, since I still have to do the valve shims and valvecover seals, and the other 60k top maintenance. But renting the kit and other parts are my main obstacles with that. Also, it seems to shift kind of stupidly, but I think I can chalk that up to it being a 93 computer instead of a 94 or 95. I have to drive kind of specifically to get it to shift smoothly. And since my buddies Scion is a manual, he doesn't worry about a dumb computer.

 

[Devin]

What do you mean by FI? Or FL? And I'd be willing to do the work to put a manual in my automatic (because i love my automatic too much to do it the other way) but from what I've been told and have found out is that basically it'd be too hard since it's a front wheel drive, and the layout differences and so fourth.

Forced induction

 

[BluTyger]

Forced induction

Oh haha, duh. I should know that. I'd love to, but it's a lot of money, and stuff I'd need help with or a kit, but I don't think that exists.

 

[Devin]

Oh haha, duh. I should know that. I'd love to, but it's a lot of money, and stuff I'd need help with or a kit, but I don't think that exists.

Oh, there's a kit alright. Mwahahahaha

https://shosource.com/products/ols/products/sho-source-supercharger-kits-89-95-mtx/v/SHO-SRC-SPR-KTS-CMP-KIT