Best Performance mods for the buck

[MitchFong]

In regards to header's. There is an article in total BMW that says the stock manifolds on the e30 are very well desgined, and have high flow. Adding a header will give you unnoticable power gains by itself, and the only real benefit is smoother exhaust tone. I wouldnt waste your money on headers, save up and drop a new motor in.

[StereoInstaller1]

Someone earlier was asking why O2 sensors die quickly using headers. Any answer you get is gonna be theoretical, so here is mine. Just so you know, the same issue applies on vehicles that are known for cracking manifolds, like 4.0L Wranglers and V6 Pathfinders.

O2 sensors do not read until about 600 degrees F. Heated O2 sensors like our cars use (and the two mentioned above) heat the element to allow the ECU to see the O2 sensor and go "closed loop".

Just so you know, ANY O2 sensor having more than 1 wire is heated.

Headers do not retain heat nearly as well as the stock manifold, so the heater (in the sensor) works overtime, causing it to fail prematurely.

Anything that causes the exhaust to NOT retain heat is going to cause the same issue.

Cracks allow the temperature to drop by allowing air into the exhaust manifold, behind every exhaust pulse (there is a negative pressure wave).

Hope this explanation helps.

BTW, Ford F-150's (about 1998 or so) use the same sensor as ours, with a different plug on it.

Luke

[Borat]

In regards to header's. There is an article in total BMW that says the stock manifolds on the e30 are very well desgined, and have high flow. Adding a header will give you unnoticable power gains by itself, and the only real benefit is smoother exhaust tone. I wouldnt waste your money on headers, save up and drop a new motor in.

nah I seen some headers give very good results, others not so good though. Depends alot on quality of headers, other mods, rest of the exhaust system etc.

Also, all that talk at the start of the threads about dynos etc is just silly. Dynos should be used for tuning, not comparing power between cars. Way too many variables, also whether it was a rolling road or a hub dyno will make a decent difference as well.

[SpecM]

-Yeah the "add lightness" thing was a joke.
-Ever heard of Colin Chapman? Google him. Someone mentioned him before but he coined that phrase.
-Its a play on words.

[rwh11385]

bump for good times

[AdironRider]

Heyoooo, I started this thread from my old sn that Jordo banned originally.

Just for kicks, presently IM0 best mod for the buck, Mark D chip. That or a z3 1.9.