Bang for buck mods

[fr335tyl3r]

Hey all,

Just purchased my new pride and joy, a 1982 turbo starion, and am looking forward to see what modifications I should be looking at doing to get additional punch from the engine but at low cost.

Ive heard chucking in a K&N filter and cutting some breathing holes in the air filter box can make quite a difference. Is this true? What other mods should I look at?

TIA

Jeff

[SpidersWeb]

Simota air filters seem to do the trick and are much cheaper than K&N
Use an angle grinder to cut the air can.
2.5" to 3" exhaust turbo back
Use a basic Turbosmart or similar boost controller to raise boost a few psi. Cut is approximately at 12psi. Factory they are roughly 8psi.

I think thats roughly where cheaper mods end.

After that its aftermaket ECU, four point injection, turbo/cooler, list goes on for ever

[Starion VR4]

above mods are mostly right, but people have found the turbosmart bleed to be vert inaccurate, use the atomic air bleed ( cheaper to), if you put a 3" system on it YOU WILL LOSE BOTTOM END, ok for above 4000rpm, stick with the 2.5" system and straight through muffler and use a resonar, air box mods yes and new plugs ( iridium NGK) and 8.8 top gun or 9mm leads. :beer

[SIRIUS]

cutting the air box are just little mods... u might not feel power from it but is still worth doing... definatly an exhaust feel a fair bit of power over standard..i went with 2.5 inch straight through, no mufflers. doesnt tend to be that loud because of low comp. i went with turbosmart boost controler dual stage seems ok but for best effect get a electronic boost contoller.. e-boost seems to be a good bang for you bucks, aus starions tend to hit boost cut at 14-16psi. BOV... id go for a plumb back system.. get better response an dont get fuel spike.. or get one that can do both if you wana sometimes here the pshhh...i went for GFB stealth fx.. very good BOV but $$....if i were you id also invest in a cooler... does make a difference specially in summer...an especially at night... :D

hehehe also get some bigger an stickier tyres... i went from average 16.2
to 15 flat buy fitting better tyres..then went to a 14.8 buy fittin the cooler with out touchin boost...

[RiceThief]

I agree with getting an exhaust with a straight thru muffler, if you can afford it get them to make it from the turbo back and not just from the dump, i disagree with the comment on a 3inch exhaust you lose bottom end, the less back pressure you have the less harder the turbo has to work and the faster it will spool, hence why by changing the dump you get some big gains. The exhaust is a good place to start as it will carry over to your other mods later. You can do the airbox mod and get a boost controller and increase boost to around 10 psi if you are running lrp or up to around 12 if you run 98 ron, when you increase the boost make sure you have an accurate guage and increase by small increments and listen for pinging, if you are going to get a cooler you can run more boost. For a cheaper plugs and lead option go champion gold and bosch 8mm plugs, irriduim plugs are good but are also expensive.

[Cookiemonster]

I agree with everything Ricethief has said.

However, with respect to the airbox I would feed cold air into the airbox from the bottom rather than cut open the airbox at the top where it will be exposed to the hot engine bay temperatures.

[StarionChef]

Yep, don't cut holes in the air box, a cold air intake pipe will give better results. Cutting holes in it will allow more air in, but its hot air.
I did a mod awhile ago that allows you to retain the stock air box (minus its restrictive filter), but with a pod filter mounted under the bumper on the end of a cold air pipe, works very well :) Do this for under $150.
A simple bleed valve on the wastegate vac line works well, but don't go over 12psi or it may run lean. $100 or so.
Intercooler: RX7 coolers work very well, grab one for under $150, DIY the pipe work and you'll be impressed $300 odd all up.
Exhaust should be done first, befor all mods. If you dont want to stretch for a complete system, a good free flowing muffler is needed $200 odd.
Tyres: If the car has the standard profile tyres, put lower profile tyres on. This will make the car jump off the line much faster, and reduce lag- Do this mod even if you don't do anything else. A set of sticky street tyres (205/60/14) can be had for $250 (used)
Good thing about the humble starion is, for a grand spent on mods, you can make it really move. ( assuming you don't mind getting your hands dirty)

[NachoMan]

Everyone has their own opinion...
Start with the exhaust! That should be number 1. That will give a noticeable increase in usuable power. Guaranteed.

I attached a cold air feed from wheel arch to the airbox on my Staz, with little effect. However, when i cut the airbox open the gains were immediate and fairly impressive. Granted, the filter will be exposed to more hot air from the motor, but you have a JA so cut open all of the bonnet vents to let all of the hot air escape better. this mod is particularly good for balancing fuel enrichment problems because of a BOV.
The K&N filters are horrendously expensive, but they are very very good.
The gain from that purchase (before cutting the airbox open), was very noticeable on my car. And you only ever have to buy one!
Heat is a motor and turbo's worst enemy, so the more you get rid of, the nicer your car will go.

Leads and plugs are important also. Fatter leads = more resistance = better spark. Top Gun or Bosch leads work nicely.
However, when it comes to spark plugs I am very close minded.
I have used EVERY spark plug ever made for a Starion, and I took detailed notes. Yes, i had some spare time! : ) But the one that i would recommend above all others would be the Bosch Super 4. They are fantastic, and no comparison to anything else.

Motor oil. What you use will depend on what sort of condition the motor is in. Redline is the best, but it is also the most expensive by far! Around $95 for 4 litres! Ouchy!!! Penrite make a decent oil (HPR30), as well as Shell, and of course Mobil 1.

Brakes! It's all very well to go fast, but if you like to push it, then get some decent pads. Starion ones are becoming hard to find, but luckily one type of Toyota Hilux pad goes in without any mods. It's thicker, and a fraction bigger, but also gives better stopping power.

Of course, lots of other owners will probably disagree with me, so do your own research, and let us know how you get on.

Good luck...

[dirtysanchez]

Do you know which model Toyota Hilux pads fit?

[NachoMan]

Yep! : )

[SpidersWeb]

To protect the intake area, I'd recommend using a heatshield around the cut airbox. Then run a pipe from the bottom of the car, or a new vent on the bonnet to scoop air in.

Its common practice to remove a factory cold air box for performance increases, producing an aftermarket replacement is even better, but for cheap people:

Here is how to do it, and it provides evidence of the restrictive intake:

http://www.vfaq.com/mods/filter-print.html

Its not a Starion, but its a Mitsi Turbo, that uses the same basic air can (like 99% of them).

here is a horrible site, showing how to be a genuine cheap ass and making a $2 AirBox (I think this is in a Lancer, but no difference, shows you statistics of intake temp changes, and materials he used for two bucks. http://groups.msn.com/MileHighTalon/2airbox.msnw

[RiceThief]

Yep! : )

Are you going to tell us? :D

[NachoMan]

Again...Yep!
: )

[RiceThief]

And the answer is? : )

[Camotec]

Hey guys, I was wondering about that VFAQ page Spidersweb posted earlier, has anyone done this??
So they used a K&N Filter, which i take still goes over the intake sensor (does anyone know the part number??), I am indeed thinking about doing this mod, but I wanted to hear some feedback about it if anyone has done it etc.

I would like to run the cold air pipe straight to the filter. the hot air isn't really an issue with the back edge of the bonnet raised, if your moving that is, i think a heat shield would work well to slow this soaking down a bit though.

Cheers