Help!! .....more power please!

[msd]

Hi guys, This is my first post having recently sold my mroadster in favor of a V8s,my best decision yet!! the question is indeed an old one. I feel the v8 gets a little breathless at higher speeds so I am looking at the best ways to get more power. The car is a standard 4.0l with the addition of a mark adams chip. The chip has not been remapped on a rr yet as i am thinking of doing other mods first. My initial thoughts were on a 218 hybrid with stage 3 heads(circa £1500) but everyone has different veiws. I have been told that a 4.6 is the only way to go as heads and cams make only marginal differences. I am not looking for huge gains (circa 250 - 270hp)just enough to scare the odd M3 or two. Any thoughts????

[V8Smith]

From what others have done in terms of 4.6 the gaisn are higher than the 250-270bhp you want, Kevin and Emmas 4.6 is closer to 300bhp? Mines a 4ltr and ive just had a new 218 fitted, I have ported heads, larger 5 ltr ported inlet manifolds and larger flared trumpets to go with it, an ACT reworked exhaust and mine was on the rollers last week and made 263bhp and 284 lbft so the gais are there to be had with the mods you mention? The first thing I would do is have a rolling road session with Mark Adams and have it set up properly, believe me the car feels so much stronger after this that it will satisfy you, for a while anyway then you will have a starting point and he will give you a few pointers as to whether its a strong car, whether the Cam needs changing etc....

hope this helps.

Mike

[msd]

Many thanks mike, do you have any recommendations of people to use??

>> Edited by msd on Wednesday 22 February 14:10

[Wildfire]

Mark Adams Works out of Austec quite a bit. Also speak to Tim Lamont at ACT.

[V8Smith]

yeah as chris says best to give Austec a call first, I know its a trek from you, but they might be able to tell you where else Mark works from that is closer to you.

Cheers

Mike

[v8 racing]

mark it really blends down to how many pennies you want to spend really, the first thing i would look at is going bigger on the capacity as being realistic you could end up throwing thousands at a 4ltr and still be no where near the figures of a 500, espeicially on the torque

[Boosted Ls1]

Or you could fit a turbocharger or supercharger up front and run low boost. You would probably need a remap though.

Boosted.

[V8Smith]

v8 racing said:

mark it really blends down to how many pennies you want to spend really, the first thing i would look at is going bigger on the capacity as being realistic you could end up throwing thousands at a 4ltr and still be no where near the figures of a 500, espeicially on the torque

Hi Rob,
Out of interest what is the general cost of say increasing capacity from 4 ltr to 4.6 or even 5 ltr?? Mine already has a new cam, ported heads and the 5 ltr inlet manifolds/trumpets? obviously it would need a remap after too?

Thanks

Mike

[GreenV8S]

More power, are you MAD?

[msd]

Pot and kettle springs to mind !!! having admired youre supercharged monster at silverstone last year I mean it when i say "i Never ever want to go that FAST, unless the vehicle has wings!!!!!
Thanks for all your replies guys. In answer to a few of the points raised I'm looking to spend no more than 2k and having driven my mates 5.0v8s it is just too dam scary (you can all remind me of this thread in 12mths time when i'm wanting even more power!!!)from what i have heard increasing capacity to 4.6 will leave you very little change from 3k so its just down to the pennies.

[v8 racing]

V8Smith said:

v8 racing said: mark it really blends down to how many pennies you want to spend really, the first thing i would look at is going bigger on the capacity as being realistic you could end up throwing thousands at a 4ltr and still be no where near the figures of a 500, espeicially on the torque Hi Rob, Out of interest what is the general cost of say increasing capacity from 4 ltr to 4.6 or even 5 ltr?? Mine already has a new cam, ported heads and the 5 ltr inlet manifolds/trumpets? obviously it would need a remap after too? Thanks Mike

Without labour being involved as you may want to fit/build the engine yourself, you are looking at around £1800 for a balanced 4.6 short engine plus a few quid for gaskets etc, this would be on an exchange basis, but for the smae price you could find a good rebuilt 500 short engine on a non exchange so you could then sell your short engine to recoope some money back

[v8 racing]

msd said:

Pot and kettle springs to mind !!! having admired youre supercharged monster at silverstone last year I mean it when i say "i Never ever want to go that FAST, unless the vehicle has wings!!!!! Thanks for all your replies guys. In answer to a few of the points raised I'm looking to spend no more than 2k and having driven my mates 5.0v8s it is just too dam scary (you can all remind me of this thread in 12mths time when i'm wanting even more power!!!)from what i have heard increasing capacity to 4.6 will leave you very little change from 3k so its just down to the pennies.

Firstly cubic inches make torque but not always bhp, by just going to a bigger capacity you are still being restricted by the flow of the intake system, the heads on a 4 ltr are insufficient so on a bigger engine the same heads become more insufficient so bhp per litre is lower, a 4ltr with a cam and heads and a few indution parts will make around 240 bhp and 240 ftlb, a 4.6 with standard heads and cam will make around 225 bhp and 265 ftlb, put the bigvalve heads and cam in the 4.6 and you will be upto around 270 bhp

[msd]

So is my inital hunch the way to go? with a budget of 2k ( and limited skill under the bonnet) would a cam with stgIII heads be the way to go?

>> Edited by msd on Thursday 23 February 19:48

[GreenV8S]

Not unreasonable, but I think you might find it costs a bit more than that by the time you have had the engine mapped.

[v8 racing]

That is certainly the way i would go if it was my car

[msd]

Many thanks for your replies. final question....Honest! does anybody have any recommendations of the best people to use? ( my own thoughts are V8dev, john earles/eals ? or pos austec but i believe austec can be a little pricey also its a long way from me as I am in manchester.

[msd]

My apologies to rob at v8 racing I have just read your profile. I hadn't realised that you may indeed be able to help with the work. i don't seem to be able to find a contact number for you it may well be worth us speaking.