inexpensive power upgrades?

[tomob1]

i have a 2004 viper and was looking for a few more ponies (not that i need them, just want 'em!)
would anyone recommend a cold air intake like this:
K&N 57-1536 $348.99 - 57 Series FIPK, Air Intake / Cold Air Intake

also, any info on a catalytic delete pipe (for off road use)and what kind of power gains it would give?
thanks
tom

 

[Canyon707]

You won't get much changing to K&N Do some new headers delete the crossover and add some Corsa and be done with it.

 

[Hyno]

CAIs only add like 5hp... faster on paper, not faster on the street. You won't feel any difference.

 

[SandViper]

Nevermind...

 

[lilgookiemonsta]

I thought I read a thread of a guy testing intake, exhaust, + tune? He got the most power out of intake and dyno tune. My .02 cents are to get full bolt-ons and dyno tune. If you want more power after that, get boost!

 

[tomob1]

i've had good HP gains with cat delete on my grand national and a 2004 350z, but neither had a high flow cat.
if a 25hp bump could be had with a cold air intake and catalytic delete pipes, it would be a cheap power gain. jmho
unfortunately, i can't find any pipes for the 2004.
tom

 

[Toma]

I have throughly tested these, and have the dyno sheets at the shop....but am posting this from memory, so absolute power and rpm I may miss my a little.

1) Cold air intake.... waste of time. zero gains. I even tested each piece of the stock system, all the way back till it was just the throttle body with the dyno fan blowing straight at it, and a homebuilt shield preventing warm rad air from getting in.

2) FULL exhaust system. Headers, high flow cats, and a cat back. Various systems, 12-16 rwhp. Pretty ****ty for the typical $2500.... but We are at 3500 feet static, so we have ~12% less air "in", and therefore less exhasut "out", so maybe we just dont need the added flow.

3) SCT programmer. Stock Viper needs 3 main things "fixed" in the tune. For $400, this is IMHO the BEST Viper bang for the buck. Gains are 10-20 for hp, and 30+ for torque, plus other benefits the typical Viper needs.

4) Underdrive crank pulley. After playing with ratios, I decided to custom make my own that reduce accessory rpm while maintaining full charge at idle, and good cooling. They are worth 10 to 12 rwhp for ~$300 with shorter belt, pretty damn good.

5) Ported throttle body/BBK throttle body.... this adds power only way up high up around 6000, and bumps peak power rpm a couple hundred. To really utilize this, you need the programmer to bump rev limit to 6400 or so. The throttle body was worth something like 8 - 10rwhp.

6) Colder thermostat.... Vipers are Very heat sensitive, keeping it consistant and a bit cooler is a good thing.

 

[Zentenk]

i've had good HP gains with cat delete on my grand national and a 2004 350z, but neither had a high flow cat.
if a 25hp bump could be had with a cold air intake and catalytic delete pipes, it would be a cheap power gain. jmho
unfortunately, i can't find any pipes for the 2004.
tom

I got custom test pipes done at an Aamco Transmission shop.

 

[AbsolutHank]

Swapping your stock 3.07 gears for 3.55 or 3.73s will be the best seat of your pants increase. Fairly cheap too

 

[Twister]

Im a dyno fanatic. ive probally dynoed three times in just 2011.

from what ive experianced with my srt10 in back to back testing.

kn air intake picked up 6 rwhp over my stock intake with kn filters setup. so im thinking this is a true 8 rwhp advantage over a stock intake with stock filters. This was done back to back.

cat delete is awesome for sound and 10 rwhp can be realized.
actually picked up 18 rwhp on my gen 2 with back to back testing.

sct tune i also did back to back and a picked up 13 rwhp and 20 rwt with a roe racing sct tune vs stock. this was a mail order tune. im thinking that actually dyno tuneing with the sct pro racer software will yield 25 rwhp and 30 rwt.

ive got the findanza flywheel and smaller crank pulley and while i never dynoed back to back i can say that the car revs much faster with this setup.

ive also got the kooler thermostat and this thing is worth its weight in gold. on the stock thermostat i could dyno 460's on a warm engine and then after a 40 minte kool down dyno 480's

 

[Twister]

Now with the roeracing kooler thermostat the car hit 482 rwhp on a hot engine and after a hour kool down hit 486 rwhp. that is much better than the stock thermostat loseing 20 plus rwhp due to heat.

I also dynoed the competition coupe camshaft and that was a 11 rwhp gain over the stock cam but 20 rwhp gain from 2000 to 5000 rpms.

only thing i havent done is throttle body and headers so far. so cant comment on those

 

[DMan]

Depends on if you want the cheapest path to going faster, or to making more HP. I looked into going faster on the cheap, my target was to try to hang with an 08+ in a straight line. My mods are in my sig. +1 on the Tune, like posted above, you get more than some power, liek better cooling, do a tstat with it, best $ for all the improvements, and back to stock in 3 mins if you want. I got mine from DC. I did lighter wheels, PS2s, mounts, and lighter exhaust - but the latter more for cooling the cockpit. K&N, yea, on sale between 0-5hp, whatever on that.

But you can see in my sig (forget ET as that's too dependent on track prep) my mph went up 4mph, very nice number for so little invested @ 126mph (and that's before the shifter, mounts, wheel & tire change, on baloney runflats, haven't been out since the swapping those parts). If I did another step, it'd be gears hands-down. Not hugely expensive but defintiely a big step up in $ compared to a tune or something. And if you can't do it, you need a solid shop to do it for you. After that, IMO anything worth doing costs serious Ka-Ching.

 

[ROCKET62]

Somehow - Inexpensive upgrade and Viper don't go together .

What tires do you have on as that is one area I would focus on immediately if not sooner.

Also - if you're a new Viper owner - this link is certainly worth a read:

http://forums.viperclub.org/general-viper-discussion/630445-keeping-new-viper-owners-safe-how.html

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

Somehow - Inexpensive upgrade and Viper don't go together .

+1. As the old saying goes: "cheap, fast, reliable. Pick 2"

 

[BigDawg]

Dashhawk. Guaranteed to lower you 0-60 and 1/4 times. Easy install also!

 

[Toma]

Dashhawk. Guaranteed to lower you 0-60 and 1/4 times. Easy install also!

Why? It's a data logger.

For the money, a guy could do pulley or SCT, throttle body, thermostat etc.

Ooops! Confused the dash hawk with the DashDAQ from Drew Technologies. Dash hawk was cheaper, but discontinued.

 

[BigDawg]

Why? It's a data logger.

For the money, a guy could do pulley or SCT, throttle body, thermostat etc.

Ooops! Confused the dash hawk with the DashDAQ from Drew Technologies. Dash hawk was cheaper, but discontinued.

It was a joke. The dashawk was notorious for VERY optimistic 0-60 and 1/4 mile numbers.

On the Jeep SRT8 forums, someone with a stock jeep (0-60 in 4.5 best case) would start a thread inquiring why he lost a race to a Z06 when his dashawk stated his 0-60 was 3.6. People all over the forums magically shaved 10ths off their o-60 and 1/4 times with the addition of a dashawk.

 

[Toma]

It was a joke. The dashawk was notorious for VERY optimistic 0-60 and 1/4 mile numbers.

On the Jeep SRT8 forums, someone with a stock jeep (0-60 in 4.5 best case) would start a thread inquiring why he lost a race to a Z06 when his dashawk stated his 0-60 was 3.6. People all over the forums magically shaved 10ths off their o-60 and 1/4 times with the addition of a dashawk.

Ahhhh.... lol.

 

[Black Moon]

i have a 2004 viper and was looking for a few more ponies (not that i need them, just want 'em!)
would anyone recommend a cold air intake like this:
K&N 57-1536 $348.99 - 57 Series FIPK, Air Intake / Cold Air Intake

also, any info on a catalytic delete pipe (for off road use)and what kind of power gains it would give?
thanks
tom

Buy a helmet video camera. No real gain in power but it will make you think you can race (and beat) anything, even a Lambo. LOL

 

[eucharistos]

+1. As the old saying goes: "cheap, fast, reliable. Pick 2"

true dat

 

[Twister]

Buy a helmet video camera. No real gain in power but it will make you think you can race (and beat) anything, even a Lambo. LOL

Dont give away all the secrets!!!!

BTW. That 570 Gallardo I raced my power was down 20 rwhp on a too conservative SCT tune. So I was only 453 rwhp when I raced that 570 HP Beaste. My tune is correct now thanks to Shawn Roe and Ive since added 30 rwhp and 30 rwt since our last encounter. My helmet cam is ready and the 570 superleggera is going down!

Wich remeinds me. Origional poster. If you go with the SCT and you jut want the basic 400$ version Id go with Viper Specialty or RoeRacing.

 

[Y2K10 SRT#39]

i've had good HP gains with cat delete on my grand national and a 2004 350z, but neither had a high flow cat.
if a 25hp bump could be had with a cold air intake and catalytic delete pipes, it would be a cheap power gain. jmho
unfortunately, i can't find any pipes for the 2004.
tom

Try a 2008/2009 "take off" exhaust from one of the suppliers here. Makes a bit of difference, bolts right up and is reasonable!

PBR

 

[Black Moon]

Dont give away all the secrets!!!!

BTW. That 570 Gallardo I raced my power was down 20 rwhp on a too conservative SCT tune. So I was only 453 rwhp when I raced that 570 HP Beaste. My tune is correct now thanks to Shawn Roe and Ive since added 30 rwhp and 30 rwt since our last encounter. My helmet cam is ready and the 570 superleggera is going down!

Wich remeinds me. Origional poster. If you go with the SCT and you jut want the basic 400$ version Id go with Viper Specialty or RoeRacing.

If you say so Danger!

 

[351carlo]

There are some interesting posts in here. Check my posts,i made a thread regarding this very topic recently with dyno graphs and comparisons. Best bang for the buck was an Sct custom tune and an intake. End results were approximately 30hp/40tq at the tires for those. The k&n is a great mod for the money.

(on my phone sorry for not adding a link)

 

[tomob1]

kn air intake picked up 6 rwhp over my stock intake with kn filters setup. so im thinking this is a true 8 rwhp advantage over a stock intake with stock filters. This was done back to back.

cat delete is awesome for sound and 10 rwhp can be realized.
actually picked up 18 rwhp on my gen 2 with back to back testing.

sct tune i also did back to back and a picked up 13 rwhp and 20 rwt with a roe racing sct tune vs stock. this was a mail order tune. im thinking that actually dyno tuneing with the sct pro racer software will yield 25 rwhp and 30 rwt.

ive got the findanza flywheel and smaller crank pulley and while i never dynoed back to back i can say that the car revs much faster with this setup.

ive also got the kooler thermostat and this thing is worth its weight in gold. on the stock thermostat i could dyno 460's on a warm engine and then after a 40 minte kool down dyno 480's

this is pretty much where i was headed.
i'm new to vipers, but i've been tweeking cars since 1975.
i used to go for the .30 overbore and blowers. then i went the twin turbo route on supras and Z cars.
now, it rather make HP on the cheap and buy guns with the savings.
thanks for all the info
tom

 

[AbsolutHank]

There are some interesting posts in here. Check my posts,i made a thread regarding this very topic recently with dyno graphs and comparisons. Best bang for the buck was an Sct custom tune and an intake. End results were approximately 30hp/40tq at the tires for those. The k&n is a great mod for the money.

(on my phone sorry for not adding a link)

Here ya go Carlo

http://forums.viperclub.org/srt10-s...236-day-dyno-intake-exhaust-tune-results.html

 

[tomob1]

Try a 2008/2009 "take off" exhaust from one of the suppliers here. Makes a bit of difference, bolts right up and is reasonable!

could you possibly give me a link.
i'm not quite sure how navigate here yet.

here's what i've found so far:
k&N CAI $210 ("used")
160 degree thermostat $43 (new, shipped)
SCT, underdrive pulley and belt $695 (new)
if i can get the straight pipes for under $300/pair, i'm within
my budget.
I'm figuring legit 50 HP gain.
am i crazy?
thanks
tom

 

[AbsolutHank]

could you possibly give me a link.
i'm not quite sure how navigate here yet.

here's what i've found so far:
k&N CAI $210 ("used")
160 degree thermostat $43 (new, shipped)
SCT, underdrive pulley and belt $695 (new)
if i can get the straight pipes for under $300/pair, i'm within
my budget.
I'm figuring legit 50 HP gain.
am i crazy?
thanks
tom

The SCT still has to have a tune installed...at that price, I'm sure you're only getting the handheld, without a tune. So factor in quite a bit more money for a local tune on the dyno, or go with a vendor here on the forum for a mail order tune

 

[DeceptioN]

I've wasted about $15k on my mustang trying to add little bolts ons here and there for power. Now I'm sitting at 400hp NA, wanting more. I could of used it on a decent supercharger and built engine and had it in the 600-700hp range.

Not making that mistake on my Viper. If you want power, just save up for a turbo or supercharger. It is going to be the best bang for the buck. I'm saving for the roe racing twin turbo. Going for the stage 2 for now, so will be sitting at a comfortable ~720 rwhp. That is about a 280 rwhp gain on a gen3. Then if I wanna go higher instead of wasting more money on more bolt ons for 10-20 hp gains I'll upgrade my fuel/engine/trans and go even higher.

These cars have a lot of potential, if you wanna go fast just save up, don't waste money here and there for minimal gains.

If you don't wanna spend $14-17k I've seen paxtons for around $4-6k that will give you a better bang for your buck than normal bolt ons.

 

[snakem04]

Let me know how you make out with everything and what mods you decide to go with. My buget is just like yours and ive been tossing around all the same ideas in my head for awhile. I just dont know what the best bang for the buck is.

could you possibly give me a link.
i'm not quite sure how navigate here yet.

here's what i've found so far:
k&N CAI $210 ("used")
160 degree thermostat $43 (new, shipped)
SCT, underdrive pulley and belt $695 (new)
if i can get the straight pipes for under $300/pair, i'm within
my budget.
I'm figuring legit 50 HP gain.
am i crazy?
thanks
tom