Increasing engine power!!!!.....while saving gas?

[furwolf]

So, my other car is a 540i. Needless to say when driving the 325ix, its just not as fun to angrily pass someone on the freeway....

I am interested in things that will give me a little bit more juice and help my gas mileage (or atleast not destroy it). Things like headers, intake, MAF, ignition upgrades (if they exist), Exhaust. I dont care if they only get me 1hp, if I can get more power and more gas mileage, its worth it.

I'm posting here because you guys are IX owners, and because every forum is filled with people who nag people out about "these aren't drag racing cars" and "you need to turbo it if want any real power gains".

I KNOW I'm not going to build a 10 second car out of my ix, I dont want to. I KNOW the cars weren't mean to be raced or driven hard. I KNOW if I want "real performance" I need a turbo and blah blah blah

So.....what have you guys done and what was your experience?

-FW

[StereoInstaller1]

The M20 is stubborn.

Bewst FTW.

[furwolf]

Nah, terrible gas mileage plus I'd eat my already worn drivetrain.

-FW

[iX-treame]

Just do every bolt on upgrade haha. m20's are tough.

[nando]

I KNOW the cars weren't mean to be raced or driven hard.

says who? ;)

build a stroker with 10:1 and a relatively mild cam. You won't increase MPG but it won't go down and it'll be a lot more fun to "angrily pass".

or, do a bunch of bolt ons. on a stock motor, good long tubes are pretty much the only thing that would make much difference. standalone and a tune would also help, there's a guy who just tuned a stock M20 on MS and made about 10whp more with no other mods.

also you wouldn't neccesarily get bad gas mileage with a turbo, unless you floor it all the time. at idle and cruise it's just like any n/a engine.

[furwolf]

Who makes long tubes for the m20 engine, though?

The Miller MAF is also one that I've been eye-humping for a while now. Larger MAF, intake, and a performance chip tuned to take advantage of the air flow. I think Ryan said it was a Dyno proven 18hp at the wheels with their kit ($300)

As far as the turbo goes...it would have to be a huge turbo. At freeway speeds i'm pushing close to 3000rpm, so whatever turbo I have (unless its a big one) would start spinning up about there. I suppose its possible to go with bigger tires and just keep it closer to 60 on the freeway, but still. Even then I'd be looking at a loss of MPG.

If I want fast I can take my 540i, I just want the iX to be a little more peppy and alot more efficient.

[nando]

there's tons of them - supersprint, stahl, bavauto, B2B, the chinese, etc. etc.

I *really* doubt you'll get 18 whp with a MAF kit. Considering MS has no intake restriction at all, can be easily dyno tuned and those guys are getting like 10whp. plus the ix's higher drivetrain loss means that gain will be smaller.

turbo's don't really work like that either. It needs a load to spool, not just RPM (a supercharger is RPM dependent). there's also boost control to help with that.

[furwolf]

Well the modern chips will land 15 to 20hp by themselves, anymore. Combine that with an intake and a bigger MAF and it doesn't suprise me at all that you could get 18 to the wheels.

And yeah, exhaust pressure will build up with load and spool the turbo, but regardless, at higher RPM exhaust volume is increased, and while it may not spool the turbo as much, but it will definitely get it going still.

-FW

[nando]

Well the modern chips will land 15 to 20hp by themselves, anymore. Combine that with an intake and a bigger MAF and it doesn't suprise me at all that you could get 18 to the wheels.

And yeah, exhaust pressure will build up with load and spool the turbo, but regardless, at higher RPM exhaust volume is increased, and while it may not spool the turbo as much, but it will definitely get it going still.

-FW

maybe at the crank, or at certain points, but not peak at the wheels. I've seen what a full custom tune does for a stock engine with NO restrictions (a MAF is still a restriction), I just don't buy that a MAF and off the shelf chip will gain that much. On an ix you'd be *lucky* to see 10whp.

you don't have to believe me about the turbo, but you are wrong. my buddy issac got 27mpg on his freeway trip to have his 300whp beast tuned, and that included 3 hours on the dyno.

[Danny]

Next Sacramento meet, if you're there, I'll talk to you ALL ABOUT turbos in California.

[furwolf]

When is the next sacramento meet?

-FW