New season for upgrades on the way!

[Lancer]

Happend to stop at the tuner shop yestrerday after taking a friend out to get his 180hp Buell. Talked to the owner for over an hour about what I had done so far and what I was thinking about doing next. He gave me one of those "not bad" nods and said my car should be pretty quick.I asked about first replacing my cobbled POS exhaust and he took me into the shop to show me what kind of work they are capable of. He showed me the #1 show truck in the mid-west that was up on the lift with a guy wiping down the underbody. The exhaust was polished to a perfect mirror finish and you couldn't even see any of the wields! The whole car was unbelievable! The trucks exhaust alone cost over $15000!I told him I don't need it polished, but would like it stainless. He talked me into a 3" custom exhaust(header to tip). Only bad thing is, it's going to cost $1200! So I have to save a little bit more but it should out-last the rest of the car.Then we talked about larger fuel injectors and loosing the fifth POS. He told me that he just got finished with a custom stealth turbo install on a celica gt-s that's puting down over 300hp. He said that if he can find them, I can have the 380cc injectors. Only problem with that is tuning. He doesn't tune the Unichip but a shop an hour north does. He said it wouldn't be a problem if I can get the software and cable. The last thing will be stage II (FI) cams and valve train. Then I think I'll be done with the engine mods. Well, the big ones anyway. So, trying to decide if I should use my tax return to help pay to finish the engine or start the body mods. Show car or race car?My brain hurts...

[Celtic_Curse]

Your car is going to be soooooo sweet. Go for the engine mods in my opinion.

[WaveAction]

i'd say race car..even though i think it's a waste of money..but since you've done so much to it and seem like you already have it all planned out..should shoot for your goal and finish the engine off..besides..your car is more of a sleeper..which i find is nicer

[coldmm803]

imo, race car, you've already got rims, tint, hood and spoiler all u need for showdo you know how much power your puttin down? hows gas mileage?

[damronjr]

Send it to me so I can "finish" mine!

[ajflan]

Definitely finish the engine first. What else do you have planned for the exterior?

[tnpartsguy]

Engine!I'm so into sleeper cars....nothing on the outside to even give a HINT of the (removed)-whipping under the hood!!

[tcam]

oh go performance first, without a doubt. Bragging rights are more important than looks ps I don't think his Vibe is that much of a sleeper. It's fast and all, but he has aftermarket rims, painted calipers, spoiler, dark tint, CF hood, and a windshield banner. It definately looks like it has been tuned just based on the exterior looks. I wouldn't expect it to be slow if I pulled up next to it. Not to mention the whine of the supercharger.

[AKLGT]

all show and no go will still make everyone laugh at you. you have to have the engine mods FIRST. then work on the exterior. and remember, the more exterior you have, the heavier you are. go for lighter weight exterior mods so you don't end up at the same level as you started. as for tranny work and upgrades... unfortunately, i'm having to understand the necessity on autos. these are the times i wish i'd gone with the MT.

[Lancer]

Tax return will be in, in 10 days! I know I can use it to get the body work finished and be done with it. The engine work I'm planning for this year will take a little more time and money. If I can finish the body, at least I can make a respectable shot at showing the car. I have more than enough under the hood for that. I've been wanting to at least paint the gray cladding ever since I got my car so I HAVE to do that. I've got some 'simple' ideas for the front and rear bumpers. Should only add maybe 5-10 lbs tops. Not going into details yet. I want to suprise everyone. But here's a hint. It's going to follow FOOSE's style of making it look stock, but 'different', more aggresive. And, I'm painting the cf hood. Evo style. Then the body work is DONE! Well, maybe some graphics, too...Engine wise, I'll have the rest of the money for the exhaust next week so that's getting done hopefully by the end of the month. I'm having a lot of problems with Unichip support that I need for the dyno tune. And I figure it makes sense to have the cams, valve train, and injectors put in at the same time and tuned right away. That'll take a little more time. Especially with Unichip being such boneheads.

[AKLGT]

Lancer, have you done anything w/ your valve bodies and solenoids? I got mine done (upgraded) and wow what a difference! Might be something you should do if you haven't already. really cleaned up my shifting on the auto.

[Petrucci914]

Damn, Lancer. I've got to visit you soon. What Valve Body and Solenoid work did you get done and how much? Thanks.

[AKLGT]

check out import performance transmissions. great job and easy to work with!http://www.importperformancetrans.com/index.shtml

[Lancer]

The tranny is what got totally rebuilt and upgraded with last years tax return. $3000 worth of upgrades! It's now guarenteed to hold up to 500hp, so I figure it'l should last a little while. Adjustable racing valve body and rebuilt torque converter with a 2800rpm stall. Most of the time I can sit at a light or any flat surface and able to hold my foot on the gas and not the brake without the engine rolling me forward. Helps with spinning the tires too much off the line, too. Yeah, shifts FAST and hard. I still need to have it tweeked. The 1st to 2nd shift has a bit of an over-rev. If you hammer on it off the line it'll hit redline, putter, then shift and churp the tires. I like the churp, but hate the over-rev and putter. Had it all done here at Aamco transmissions. Yes it's a chain, but the owner also owns a racing team and works on some other race cars. I think he was more excited about building my tranny than I was.

[AKLGT]

OK, gotcha. sweet. well, perhaps later later later in the future i will need to do a full tranny performance rebuild. but that's IF i blow up my tranny...

[sillyvibegt]

i had this same problem initially. i put a set of kumho ecsta v700 race tires on 16" enkei rims. one autocross run and i realized i had something in this "crossover" ram air intake, aluminum flywheel, stage 4 clutch, eibach prokit springs, vibrant strut tower bars, greddy fuel injectors, remapped ecu, and i have a vibe that goes 143 with over 1000 rpm's left in 6th gear, so i would go the race route with your vibe. people hate getting slapped by a wagon!!

[AKLGT]

Lancer, you got to get to the track! I'm DYING to see what the car does w/ that new tranny!

[GrayFox]

RACE! RACE! RACE! All GO with a little show! Your Vibe is turning out to be quite the beast as far as our cars go. Keep it up

[Lancer]

I'm dying to see what it does at the track, too! Maybe if I go there early in the season it wont be so crowded with trailored pro race cars. I'm also dying to see what my dyno will be.With the warm weather this week, there's been A LOT of 'street racers' running around. I live just off one of the main strips, so I get to watch them racing from my couch. From what I've seen, I think I will lean more towards performance. I think I'll need it just to keep up (at the track ). Lots of civics and talons out there making strange 'Pffssst' sounds between shifts. So, for now I'll start with the exhaust and paint the cf hood. Then cams & valve train in another month. The injectors will have to wait a wile cause I need some thing to control them. Like Apex or something. I guess I could enter the car in the "under construction" catergory at some of the car shows around here? Thank's for all the support!!

[BlueCrush]

Dayum, Lancer! you gotta get some number when your done, man!

[AKLGT]

Lancer, have you upgraded the fuel pump too? i would imagine w/ that extra power and upgraded tranny, you would want to do fuel and injectors pretty soon. i still think you should ditch the s/c and go with a turbo set up. doesn't have to be huge or you lose that low end. come on man, if i can drive 1300 miles for a dyno tune, you can make it to the track!!!

[Lancer]

For some reason I've been running extreemly rich this past year. I've disconnected the battery to reset the ecu and cleaned the spark plugs up a bit. Seems a little better now. More fuel isn't what I need. Was actually thinking a high flow maf sensor from a lexus (yeah, it's a direct fit )I have been starting to do the change over to larger injectors and loosing the fifth. And tuning everything around the m/w injection. The only problem is the tuning part. That Unichip is starting to be a pain in the booty. Found one shop in WI that might be able to tune it. Unichip support hasn't been very helpful with me about getting the software and the plug for the computer. Or helping me fix my PnP harness problem. Everyones going to say to go with a different unit. Sorry, money isn't there for that. So I gotta make what I have work. Everyone here should know that I'm pretty good at doing that. This will just take some time to work out.About going turbo. It would be sweet! Sorry, the vibe will never see turbo, unless I come into a lot of money. At the most I've been thinking about doing the hybrid s/c route with longer rotors. And I just heard that there's a NEW roots type s/c coming out that's moving twice as much air at much cooler temps. They have 4 vanes instead of 3 on the rotors. I'm not out to make tons of power. Just enough to make the vibe respectable and competative at the 'track' and more fun on the road. The next car will have a turbo!My buddy at work just bought a '93 mazda mx6 that he wants me to help him build up to a show/race car. I've got him talked into turboing it. I'll get some experiance from that project, then maybe try it on the vibe. Track opens April 24, 2007, test & tune.First 'Real Street Drags' is May 4th, 2007Anyone care to join me!?

[Petrucci914]

hehe, I'll come and watch

[Lancer]

Hell no! Your racin'!! You take car of the hondas and I'll take care of the tibby's! Too bad I don't have my gray cladding painted. We could go looking like twins and really mess with everyones heads. "Which one am I getting, the n/a one or the s/c one?"

[Petrucci914]

haha. Maybe if they're N/A Auto Hondas. I want to get the Unichip this Summer and possibly get the Supercharger at a later date..........it all depends what type of job I get when I graduate in May. Then I'd maybe have a chance

[northvibe]

I was in GB like 2 weeks ago for a week. Didnt see any modded vibes though, but people were checking mine out.

[NascarXprt]

Go speed racer go!!!! yea like everyone else has said go with the performance first then accesorize. . thats what im gona do now. after i get my baby back

[AKLGT]

Quote, originally posted by Petrucci914 »haha. Maybe if they're N/A Auto Hondas. I want to get the Unichip this Summer and possibly get the Supercharger at a later date..........it all depends what type of job I get when I graduate in May. Then I'd maybe have a chance :-)I have a friend selling his unichip for $400 USD plus shipping. just sold his 03 XRS.Lancer, looking forward to seeing what your AT vibe can do. with the rebuilt tranny, i believe it will be more impressive than many of the 5MT vibes. please don't let me down! cause i get tired of listening to all these non-AT folks tell me my car can't do @@@@ at the track til i hand them their you know what. we got one of the best tuners coming up first weekend of May, right before the track opens. I'll be getting a road tune first before I get down to PDX to have him finish it up on the dyno. should be great! aiming to hit my 12's without blowing the tranny!

[Lancer]

You should've let me know you were coming! I could've helped you with the roof rack problem of yours. All well, next time.There's I think 5 'modded' vibes in Appleton. Mine is the most 'XTREEM'. Looking for a black gt that's wanting to race some people I know. Two green ones, both w/ top spoilers & tint. And a blue one with a mustang looking hood scoop on it (Damn, took my idea for my stock hood!) Petrucci, I know of a lot of cars you'd be able to smoke. Even a guy with a turboed civic ex or dx. Slow as hell with a turbo the size of your fist! I'll try to make it a good show at the track for ya Hope. I've been saying ever since I got the new tranny how fast and hard it shifts. While the m/t driver is working out the chang of gears, I'm already half way to my next gear. Just need to get my tranny tweeked, and the new 3" full exhaust installed. Maybe I'll get a dyno just to see where and how the car is running, too. I've been asked so many times what I thought I had, powerwise.It looks like I'm burning some oil from either the piston rings or valve seals. Checked the plugs Friday and had some white-ish brown, ashy looking build up on the plugs.

[AKLGT]

Quote, originally posted by Lancer »Petrucci, I know of a lot of cars you'd be able to smoke. Even a guy with a turboed civic ex or dx. Slow as hell with a turbo the size of your fist! (removed)!!!

[Lancer]

Yeah, that's about actual size!The intercooler piping (like it needs it!) was only 1 3/4" wide tubing! But he had to have the biggest BOV he could find for the thing. Raced him once and beat him, before I got the s/c. I suppose I should be talking smack about this guys set up, though. I do have about the smallest s/c made for a car.

[AKLGT]

but in his case, it doesn't matter.

[drunkenmaxx]

are you sure 3" exhaust is the way to go? seems like that may be too big.

[AKLGT]

i thought on the 4 Cyl we lose power in the back end if it's too big???

[Lancer]

Turbo, s/c'ed, and nitrous cars = the bigger the better.Naturally aspirated (4 cylinder) = Shouldn't have to go bigger then 2.5" unless your engine is built up and really chugging air.If your a n/a 4 cylinder and chose to use a big 3" exhaust, yeah you'll probly loose some low end torque. But you'll get it back in the upper rpms. As long as your getting enough air into the engine. Meaning, you don't have a restricive intake. Anything that helps your engine move more air into and out of the engine will make you more power.