squeezin the ponies out of a 5sfe - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

MR2Enthuze · 10-22-2005, 11:20 PM

im finally back!

anyways, after some misfortunes (jerk in a civic cut a corner and forced me into a curb at a mall, exhaust pipe leading to cat broke after a test run, but i was happy wit the sound haha and etc) ive decided to try and get some extra hp out of my 91 NA before the harsh chicago winter hits. as of now i have put in an aftermarket intake and did all proper maintenence. so my question is does anyone kno of relatively cheap things i could do to squeeze more power out of the engine?

*note: id like to pass emissions for IL

terrastrife · 10-23-2005, 02:44 AM

a 50 shot of nitrous.

***MR2Jedi*** · 10-24-2005, 02:19 PM

no such thing as cheap "real" HP gains.. make sure all is good with your engine, then do intake, exhaust and then head work(port, polish, oversized valves, springs and retainers )with cams...and pullies and lightened flywheel..

robertsmb · 10-24-2005, 04:31 PM

Yeah N/A gains are minimal unless your willing to spend wicked ammounts of money building the motor.. and Im talking all internals from the block up and stupid ammounts of tuning....

Nitrous is definatly the only big gains you will see without serious money, and 200 here and 300 there for intake and exhaust is only gonna get you a few hp on a dyno... only really going to make it sound different.

Gairloch · 10-24-2005, 04:44 PM

Best way to get real ponies out of a 5sfe is yank it and put a 3sgte in it's place.

It just doesn't make economic sense to try and upgrade the 5sfe for power. By the time you have a 5sfe up to 175whp you could have a 3sgte at 275whp.

If you're going to have to live with the engine for a while and want to give it a more aggressive sound and a bling exhaust then intake/exhaust aren't too bad. Unless you're wanting to take on a project and have deep pockets I wouldn't recommend upgrading the 5sfe beyond that though.

MR2Enthuze · 10-24-2005, 10:56 PM

thx, yea i didnt mean alot of power, jus what i can do wit lil money. and yea ill have to live wit the 5sfe for about 2 more years at least. id like to make my car a lil bit more free in exhaust, but anyone know how to find a muffler that will give me that aggressive sound w/o the overkill loudness

***MR2Jedi*** · 10-24-2005, 11:05 PM

a cheap way is to go to a muffler shop and see if you can get someone to either make a "Y" and split to 2 seperate mufflers or take out stock muffler and put in a smaller MagnaFlow in it's place. I have a MagnaFlow from a Camaro on my '91. it even weighs alot less and sounds good. it'll do till I get a Mig welder and start building my own.

91MR2quickNA · 10-26-2005, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gairloch

Best way to get real ponies out of a 5sfe is yank it and put a 3sgte in it's place.

Until the turbo blows up, anyway, or the HFH busts from lack of maintenance. Turbos are expensive to maintain, especially if you drive a lot. You never know what you're getting with a used engine, unless you buy it from a fellow MR2 owner.

The two critical points on the 5S that are absolutely crucial to making any sort of power gain are: 1) ridding yourself of the overly restrictive exhaust manifold, and 2) opening up the head.

Headers are known to add nearly 10 wheel horsepower. After that, cams offer the greatest gain in power, and are complemented by porting and polishing, and oversized valves.

It's easier than most people think to get 160 crank horsepower out of the 5S. The performance won't be as mind boggling as a turbo's, but it's very usable. Many modded 5S equipped MR2's have hit the high 14's to low 15's in the 1/4 mile, which is very respectable.

MR-355-5sfTe · 10-26-2005, 11:16 AM

I'm still getting close to thirty mpg with my 3sfe in place of my 5sfe... no major mods, just a K&N intake, OBX header\midpipe, and stock muffler.... since I've been driving it close to 100 miles a day since the swap, she's starting to lose that incredible sound... I'm thinking it's time for a new muffler. seeing as it's 12 years old.... it's starting to sound a bit "raspy"... and that's REAL BAD. I hate that sound.

Gairloch · 10-26-2005, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 91MR2quickNA

Until the turbo blows up, anyway, or the HFH busts from lack of maintenance. Turbos are expensive to maintain, especially if you drive a lot. You never know what you're getting with a used engine, unless you buy it from a fellow MR2 owner.

The two critical points on the 5S that are absolutely crucial to making any sort of power gain are: 1) ridding yourself of the overly restrictive exhaust manifold, and 2) opening up the head.

Headers are known to add nearly 10 wheel horsepower. After that, cams offer the greatest gain in power, and are complemented by porting and polishing, and oversized valves.

It's easier than most people think to get 160 crank horsepower out of the 5S. The performance won't be as mind boggling as a turbo's, but it's very usable. Many modded 5S equipped MR2's have hit the high 14's to low 15's in the 1/4 mile, which is very respectable.

I agree with what you say. My point is that the economical upgrade ceiling on a 5s is pretty low. If you're satisfied with 160 crank hp(which ends up being about 120 whp) then by all means go for it. If you're looking to end up with 150+ whp then it stops making financial sense to mod the 5S.

91MR2quickNA · 10-28-2005, 04:03 AM

160 crank horsepower is closer to 136whp, rather than 120whp. Stock 5S's put out around 106whp. 147whp is still the highest proven horsepower rating for the 5S, and that's without the exhaust cam regrinded.

It does get expensive after about 160 crank hp, and that's why I went for a 1MZ instead.

I like a flat torque band, and the sound ...