I grew up more of a "muscle car" guy and am a bit older than the bulk of the "Tuner" crowd (not by much so don't dare call me pops! ). Anyways, I want to get a little more kick out of my '95 1.8L/4spd Corolla.
My understanding of performance has always involved V8s, custom Corvette [rip-off] susspensions, and an irresponsible amount of horsepower. With a wife in college and a 5yr old in the house, I know better than to give that thought a chance.
So, my [realistic] options are to "Tune" my Corolla up a bit to get that performance I want.
Out of the gate, I've got a strike against me... It's a 4-spd Auto. Still, I know she could still do decent.
I've already added a K&N filter and mildly modified the intake box as well as installed a slightly hotter plug/wire combo. I have no idea what the actual HP gain is, but the difference is about 1/2 second faster to 60 and I can now hit 70-80+ on the Interstate On ramp. It's okay for a grocery getter, but I want a little more.
A couple issues with this car that bug the heck out of me are:
1. Those gerbals don't seem to get wound up until after 4 grand (guesstimating - no Tach).
2. About the only way to get this thing to downshift is either floor it or manually shift it.
Now, being a family guy, I'm more interested in overall performance, or balance. I want decent 0-60 times, but I don't want to give up too much comfort. (Think along the lines of Lexus performance on a Corolla budget)
So, what would be some realistic suggestions?
Sorry for the amount of info. I'm new to the "Tuner" thing, so I'm feeling a bit out of my element.
Same concept as the muscle cars... add more fuel and air. Noticible gains would be going forced induction but since your budget doesn't allow it you can do the simple bolt on mods including intake, header, exhaust and a good tune. What exactly is your budget pops
Basically, I'm going to sell my wife's POS Escort and start from there (guessing around $500). 1st on the plate is new shocks and struts (preferrably a little better than stock). From there I want to do a little tweaking under the hood.
Might be good to know that, except for the plugs, wires and K&N, she's all stock, so there's plenty of room for improvement.
I've seen some nice intake kits that ditch the black box and are just a conical filter on a tube. How effective are those? I'd rather get the intake out of the engine bay, but budget is killing me for the time being.
As far as exhaust goes, I'm considering upgrading to a higher flow muffler, but I definitely don't want one of those huge chrome things with the 6" tip. No offense to anyone who likes those, it's just not my thing. Never liked Thrust glasspacks either so it's not a "Tuner" thing.
Consider checking out my Cardomain page in my signature, I've got a list up of suggested mods on page 6 (if you're in a hurry) and what they've done for my 7AFE 4-spd. Realistically, for a low budget, you're better off with I/H/E and suspension. If you want quick power, consider a 4AGZE swap. If you want OCCASIONAL power, consider a nitrous kit. If you want cheap-and-dirty power, consider slapping a turbo onto the stock 7AFE...this can be done for pretty cheap, although you'll have to do your research and acquire a few other fueling bits.
A good headder and exhaust system will help. Get a 4-2-1 headder for more low end torque, and about a 1 7/8' - 2" pipe all the way back.
Check the adjustment on the "kick-down" cable (transmission throttle valve cable) at the throttle body to see if that is correct. If that is out of adjustment, that could be why your tranny is slow to down shift. It could also be in need of a rebuild, that would sap power big time.
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'88 Corolla, AE92 SR-5, 7A-FE swap/GT-S suspension
'87 Corolla, AE82 FX-16, 4A-GZE swap (autocrosser)
'03 Tundra 4X4 Access Cab, (FX tow vehicle/Home Depot runner)
Modification: Changing something to what you thought it should have been from the start!
A good headder and exhaust system will help. Get a 4-2-1 headder for more low end torque, and about a 1 7/8' - 2" pipe all the way back.
Check the adjustment on the "kick-down" cable (transmission throttle valve cable) at the throttle body to see if that is correct. If that is out of adjustment, that could be why your tranny is slow to down shift. It could also be in need of a rebuild, that would sap power big time.
I know my response and the corect answer but how sure are you when you typed that?
I know my response and the corect answer but how sure are you when you typed that?
A 4-2-1 headder usually provides an increase in low end torque, while a 4-1 headder gives you more top end horse power.
If you are looking for top speed the 4-1 is better, but for normal every day driving the 4-2-1 will give you a better throttle response at lower engine RPM
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'88 Corolla, AE92 SR-5, 7A-FE swap/GT-S suspension
'87 Corolla, AE82 FX-16, 4A-GZE swap (autocrosser)
'03 Tundra 4X4 Access Cab, (FX tow vehicle/Home Depot runner)
Modification: Changing something to what you thought it should have been from the start!
A 4-2-1 headder usually provides an increase in low end torque, while a 4-1 headder gives you more top end horse power.
If you are looking for top speed the 4-1 is better, but for normal every day driving the 4-2-1 will give you a better throttle response at lower engine RPM
I meant that since the aftermarket header/exhaust manifolds are generally increase in piping diameter what would be the point to have rest of the exhaust so restrictive? Efficiency is key.
If you go too big on the pipe it can hurt your performance, unless you are running at very high RPM constantly (racing). I have no idea what the limit is (not an expert), but the stock pipe is about 1 5/8", so to go up in size 1/2 - 3/8" I believe will still give adequate exhaust velocity to make the engine perform well at moderate (every day) driving speeds. You could probably go above that, but then you could possibly be looking at actually slowing down the air flow out the pipe (Bernulies Principle). The other thing is, larger pipe costs more.
I think the maximum reccomended pipe diameter for a 4E-FTE engine (1.3 litre turbo) is something shy of 3" (I don't remember exactly) and a turbo doesn't have the same exhaust air flow requirements as a N/A engine, where exhaust velocity is important for cylinder scavenging. A 3" pipe on a 1.8 N/A engine would be pushing the limit, in my opinion, but I am no expert so please don't hold me to it.
It sounds to me like JamesM just wants a boost in performance, not an all out race car, so that is the route I would go, but I will concede to anyone who knows from experience.
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'88 Corolla, AE92 SR-5, 7A-FE swap/GT-S suspension
'87 Corolla, AE82 FX-16, 4A-GZE swap (autocrosser)
'03 Tundra 4X4 Access Cab, (FX tow vehicle/Home Depot runner)
Modification: Changing something to what you thought it should have been from the start!
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). Anyways, I want to get a little more kick out of my '95 1.8L/4spd Corolla.
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