Beginners guide to modding, "what route should I take my 4g69" thread
May 23, 2012, 01:54 PM
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Beginners guide to modding, "what route should I take my 4g69" thread
Just brought this over from club4g. I wrote this awhile back. Not all of it is useable for you guys but a lot of it is. Figured I would share anyways!
Okay guys, I'm going to be working on a thread here, to help new 4ger's learn what route is best to take when modding their cars. I'm going to list mods, (in a somewhat interchangeable order), that should be taken on first and last when someone new is attempting to build their cars performance. I will also list how these mods help and what they do (to my knowledge). I will list my thread of engine upgrades/parts at the bottom for anyone wondering where they can find our engine mods. I would like everyone to help and give input on what you think so we can make this as close as possible. We all get tired of seeing the "I just bought my eclipse what should I do to it?" threads, so maybe this thread in conjunction with my other I made last week will be enough to limit the number of those posts. So we can copy and paste these links as our response and then when they have a specific question on a modification they can contact us. I will also try to include threads to help explain these mods in better detail so if you find any please post. Alright guys let us get started!
What mods to go for first:
Building Horsepower in our engine:
1. One of the very first things you can do to our cars, literally takes ten minutes and easily accessed, is a throttle body bypass
What this does: Well on our cars, engine temperature is a big issue. As most people know, the key to horsepower is getting more air to our engines. The hotter the air is that gets into the engine, the less dense it is, meaning in reality we get less air. Colder air is denser air, thus resulting in more air getting in. Cold air>Hot Air. Well we have two coolant lines that run into our TB, One in, one out. This heats up the tb to help our cars start better in really cold temperatures. But, this also heats up our air, which is bad. By disconnecting these from the tb, and connecting them directly, you cool the tb down, which in turn cools our air down.
2. Secondly, I would go with a Cold air intake
What this does: A cold air intake does exactly what it sounds like it does, allows colder and denser air to be absorbed into our engine. These are also high flow, which our stock intake isn't. Install is straight forward, and a great mod for any vehicle. More power, and better for our engine and gas tank (Not to mention better sound! ). Lets make this known, Cold Air intake > Short Ram Intake. CAI's are going to allow for better performance than a short ram. They allow colder air to enter.
3. Next you would want to look into a bigger throttle body. (GT TB)
What this does: The TB on our cars is 60mm in diameter. A good mod to add a little bit of power and better throttle response is to upgrade to the TB off of the GT version of this car (which is 65mm) or send our stock one to proflow to bore it out to 67mm. This allows for more air to enter our engine when we are on the throttle. More air is key, and although effects of this upgrade aren't extremely huge, we are looking for the cumulative effect.
4. I would suggest while you have the TB off, to go ahead and install an Intake manifold Spacer, and TB spacer
What this does: The intake manifold spacer is placed in between the intake manifold and the head, while the tb spacer is placed between the TB and the intake manifold. This spaces them apart and helps prevent the transfer of heat from the engine to the manifold and from the manifold to the throttle body. This drastically cools down the air entering our engine and helps add horsepower. Once again, not huge, but cumulative. Plus since your going to have the tb off anyways, might as well go ahead and put these on.
***Now, when working on the air flow to and from your engine there is a good guideline to go by. When working on getting better airflow to it, start from the very front (aka Cold Air intake), and work your way back, (Throttle body/spacers). When working on the air flow out of your engine, start from the back (exhaust), and work your way forward (headers). Feeding a lot of air into a restrictive exhaust will get you no where!***
5. So following that tip, next should be an upgraded exhaust system.
What this does: We have very restrictive exhaust, not very good air flow at all. By adding a new exhaust (preferably cat back for max performance) you can really increase your horsepower, and get a much better sound. More air traveling through the pipe creates more sound and more power. Be careful if going custom because some states have regulations with EPA standards.
6. Racing Headers would be the next step-->
What this does: This also helps increase the flow of exhaust fumes from our engine into the exhaust pipe itself. Our stock headers have two catalytic converters on them and by adding new headers, you remove them completely. This will create a much better sound and much better performance also. RRE makes a great set of headers for our car that are plug and play (PnP).
7. Heat wrap the headers and exhaust.
What this does: Since you are going to be putting the exhaust and headers on, I would suggest to go ahead and heat wrap them. Heat wrap helps prevent the transfer of heat to and from the headers/exhaust which in turn is beneficial in our hot engine issue.
*Now, we have some pretty good mods on our cars. You probably feel a pretty big difference in the cars performance. Well next step would be to maximize our performance with a great tune.*
8. AEM FIC (Fuel Ignition Controller) or ECU Reflash
What this does: This device will allow you to tweak your car's fuel/air ratio to gain max performance. You can also advance or retard timing using this. You can find a lot of useful info on this site as well as tune's (MAPS) that you can download and apply to your car. Of course to get max performance since each car is different, you will still have to tweak it some. People have seen +30-35 HP on our stock engine consistently w/ the FIC.
*Now that we have a majority of the engine bolt on's and a good tune, we need to get the power we are making to the ground, with the least amount of HP lost possible*
9. RRE Underdrive pulley
What this does: This is a pulley that just replaces our stock crank pulley. It is smaller than the stock one and made from aluminum, which also weighs less (.58lbs, compared to stock that weighs 3.9lbs). This results in the engine moving slower, causing less stress on the engine. This not only helps get more power to the wheels because of less mass being moved, it also increases base horsepower, wheel horsepower, and torque a bit, and is less weight to move around on our already heavy cars. This will also help our engine rev quicker, letting us get to the speed we want at a faster pace.
10. Front strut and lower tie (front) bars
What this does: These basically brace the chassis preventing flex and unwanted twisting. This allows you to get better power to the wheels and an all around better performance from your suspension. This will help with traction and handling all together.
11. Motor Mounts and Engine torque dampers -
What this does: These help brace your engine, holding it in place, resulting in less movement when it's building power. The more your engine moves the more power lost in the process. This will help maximize the amount of power you get to the wheels and will also result in smoother shifting.
12. Lowering Springs or coil overs would be a good addition.
What this does: Lowering springs do what they sound like they would do, lower the car, as do coil overs. Coil overs however usually give you the option to adjust your height and center of gravity for max performance. These help not only make the car looks a million times better, but also improve traction and handling. Coil overs (although MUCH more expensive) are your best bet, and if you can afford them, that would be my suggestion.
*The next few mods are for Manual Eclipse's only*
13. Upgraded clutch kit is a must for any manual
What this does: By replacing your clutch, it allows for a better and smoother engagement when shifting gears, thus resulting in less friction and less horsepower lost from the crank to the wheels. Also when modding up to a certain horsepower, you will need a better clutch to handle the pressure.
14. After a clutch kit look into a better Flywheel
What this does: An aluminum flywheel is lighter and allows less friction to be applied when shifting. This results in less inertia and a faster rev. It is also lighter than stock so that helps a lot. This results in less power lost from the crank to the wheels.
15. Another great addition for a manual is a Short Shifter
What this does: By applying a a shorter shifter, it reduces the height of your shifter, and throw by up to 37%. This results in faster and more precise shifts. Combine this with the shifter base bushings from RRE and you have a great mod.
*End of Manual Specific Mods*
16. Something else that helps increase whp that most people don't know are Lighter wheels
What this does: A lighter set of wheels results in less mass that has to be turned when moving the car. Each wheel carries a load of up to almost 8 times it's normal weight!! So when you see a set of wheels and think (Aww those are only 5 pounds lighter they wouldn't make that much of a difference) think again. Thanks again inertia and kinetic friction!!
*Now, another big step would be to help lower the weight of this beast. A good example would be that for every 10 pounds you drop, it would give the same effect as if you added 1hp to the engine (Note** this does not mean that every time you drop ten pounds you gain a hp, this means that is has the same effect**) These are pretty self explanatory so I will not go into much detail*
17. Carbon fiber hood, body kit and hatch- Carbon fiber is much lighter than metal or fiber glass
18. Remove manifold cover
19. Remove jack, tools and spare tire
20. Remove rear and passenger seats
21. Remove radio and speakers
22. Replace steering wheel and seats with racing seat/sw
**A few other mods that will help all around**
23. Oil Catch Can-->
What this does: If you drive your car around for a few thousand miles and take off your throttle body you'll notice it will accumulate a good amount of oil and sludge on the butterfly valve. The can helps prevent oil from splashing into our intake manifold, which helps keep the engine cleaner and less friction and resistance to our air flow.
24. High Pressure Radiator Cap
What this does: This increases the pressure inside the radiator, thus increasing the boiling point of our coolant and provides better cooling for our engine.
25. Rear and front sway bars
What this does: These help stiffen the suspension. This helps prevent body roll and increase grip when handling in corners. This doesn't necessarily add more horsepower, but it isn't always about going fast in a straight line. This is a great addition to any eclipse.
26. Big Brake kit/Brembos
What this does: This helps improve performance and braking drastically. Brakes will heat up less and be much more responsive. This is a hefty investment but more than worth the money. People know you're legit if you rollin' with Brembo's
27. Energy Suspension Bushings
What this does: These bushings help remove unwanted flex in our suspension arms. This will help handling and traction a bunch. Our stock bushing have quite a bit of play in them so this is definitely a great addition.
28. Port and polish
What this does: This basically increases the diameter of your manifold, head etc, and smooths them out to increase air flow and reduce air resistance. This will make a drastic improvement in power for your engine but is not the easiest task. I would suggest having a professional shop do this for you.
This should be a great guide for beginners to follow up to a certain step. Some of these mods are harder than others so beware and do a lot of research before attempting. If you can complete this guide and still want more power there are plenty of more routes to go. Boost, forced induction, increased compression, limited slip differential, new pistons, new cam, the list is endless. It is all about how much money you want to spend, how much time you have, and how much knowledge you can obtain. I hope this helps out anyone and everyone, and that new 4gers can use this as a guide to help them in their builds. At the bottom of this I will add a couple beneficial threads and also my thread that lists all available parts and locations for the GS. Thanks everyone and anyone who helps contribute to this thread also! LET THE MODDING BEGIN!!!
Okay guys, I'm going to be working on a thread here, to help new 4ger's learn what route is best to take when modding their cars. I'm going to list mods, (in a somewhat interchangeable order), that should be taken on first and last when someone new is attempting to build their cars performance. I will also list how these mods help and what they do (to my knowledge). I will list my thread of engine upgrades/parts at the bottom for anyone wondering where they can find our engine mods. I would like everyone to help and give input on what you think so we can make this as close as possible. We all get tired of seeing the "I just bought my eclipse what should I do to it?" threads, so maybe this thread in conjunction with my other I made last week will be enough to limit the number of those posts. So we can copy and paste these links as our response and then when they have a specific question on a modification they can contact us. I will also try to include threads to help explain these mods in better detail so if you find any please post. Alright guys let us get started!
What mods to go for first:
Building Horsepower in our engine:
1. One of the very first things you can do to our cars, literally takes ten minutes and easily accessed, is a throttle body bypass
What this does: Well on our cars, engine temperature is a big issue. As most people know, the key to horsepower is getting more air to our engines. The hotter the air is that gets into the engine, the less dense it is, meaning in reality we get less air. Colder air is denser air, thus resulting in more air getting in. Cold air>Hot Air. Well we have two coolant lines that run into our TB, One in, one out. This heats up the tb to help our cars start better in really cold temperatures. But, this also heats up our air, which is bad. By disconnecting these from the tb, and connecting them directly, you cool the tb down, which in turn cools our air down.
2. Secondly, I would go with a Cold air intake
What this does: A cold air intake does exactly what it sounds like it does, allows colder and denser air to be absorbed into our engine. These are also high flow, which our stock intake isn't. Install is straight forward, and a great mod for any vehicle. More power, and better for our engine and gas tank (Not to mention better sound! ). Lets make this known, Cold Air intake > Short Ram Intake. CAI's are going to allow for better performance than a short ram. They allow colder air to enter.
3. Next you would want to look into a bigger throttle body. (GT TB)
What this does: The TB on our cars is 60mm in diameter. A good mod to add a little bit of power and better throttle response is to upgrade to the TB off of the GT version of this car (which is 65mm) or send our stock one to proflow to bore it out to 67mm. This allows for more air to enter our engine when we are on the throttle. More air is key, and although effects of this upgrade aren't extremely huge, we are looking for the cumulative effect.
4. I would suggest while you have the TB off, to go ahead and install an Intake manifold Spacer, and TB spacer
What this does: The intake manifold spacer is placed in between the intake manifold and the head, while the tb spacer is placed between the TB and the intake manifold. This spaces them apart and helps prevent the transfer of heat from the engine to the manifold and from the manifold to the throttle body. This drastically cools down the air entering our engine and helps add horsepower. Once again, not huge, but cumulative. Plus since your going to have the tb off anyways, might as well go ahead and put these on.
***Now, when working on the air flow to and from your engine there is a good guideline to go by. When working on getting better airflow to it, start from the very front (aka Cold Air intake), and work your way back, (Throttle body/spacers). When working on the air flow out of your engine, start from the back (exhaust), and work your way forward (headers). Feeding a lot of air into a restrictive exhaust will get you no where!***
5. So following that tip, next should be an upgraded exhaust system.
What this does: We have very restrictive exhaust, not very good air flow at all. By adding a new exhaust (preferably cat back for max performance) you can really increase your horsepower, and get a much better sound. More air traveling through the pipe creates more sound and more power. Be careful if going custom because some states have regulations with EPA standards.
6. Racing Headers would be the next step-->
What this does: This also helps increase the flow of exhaust fumes from our engine into the exhaust pipe itself. Our stock headers have two catalytic converters on them and by adding new headers, you remove them completely. This will create a much better sound and much better performance also. RRE makes a great set of headers for our car that are plug and play (PnP).
7. Heat wrap the headers and exhaust.
What this does: Since you are going to be putting the exhaust and headers on, I would suggest to go ahead and heat wrap them. Heat wrap helps prevent the transfer of heat to and from the headers/exhaust which in turn is beneficial in our hot engine issue.
*Now, we have some pretty good mods on our cars. You probably feel a pretty big difference in the cars performance. Well next step would be to maximize our performance with a great tune.*
8. AEM FIC (Fuel Ignition Controller) or ECU Reflash
What this does: This device will allow you to tweak your car's fuel/air ratio to gain max performance. You can also advance or retard timing using this. You can find a lot of useful info on this site as well as tune's (MAPS) that you can download and apply to your car. Of course to get max performance since each car is different, you will still have to tweak it some. People have seen +30-35 HP on our stock engine consistently w/ the FIC.
*Now that we have a majority of the engine bolt on's and a good tune, we need to get the power we are making to the ground, with the least amount of HP lost possible*
9. RRE Underdrive pulley
What this does: This is a pulley that just replaces our stock crank pulley. It is smaller than the stock one and made from aluminum, which also weighs less (.58lbs, compared to stock that weighs 3.9lbs). This results in the engine moving slower, causing less stress on the engine. This not only helps get more power to the wheels because of less mass being moved, it also increases base horsepower, wheel horsepower, and torque a bit, and is less weight to move around on our already heavy cars. This will also help our engine rev quicker, letting us get to the speed we want at a faster pace.
10. Front strut and lower tie (front) bars
What this does: These basically brace the chassis preventing flex and unwanted twisting. This allows you to get better power to the wheels and an all around better performance from your suspension. This will help with traction and handling all together.
11. Motor Mounts and Engine torque dampers -
What this does: These help brace your engine, holding it in place, resulting in less movement when it's building power. The more your engine moves the more power lost in the process. This will help maximize the amount of power you get to the wheels and will also result in smoother shifting.
12. Lowering Springs or coil overs would be a good addition.
What this does: Lowering springs do what they sound like they would do, lower the car, as do coil overs. Coil overs however usually give you the option to adjust your height and center of gravity for max performance. These help not only make the car looks a million times better, but also improve traction and handling. Coil overs (although MUCH more expensive) are your best bet, and if you can afford them, that would be my suggestion.
*The next few mods are for Manual Eclipse's only*
13. Upgraded clutch kit is a must for any manual
What this does: By replacing your clutch, it allows for a better and smoother engagement when shifting gears, thus resulting in less friction and less horsepower lost from the crank to the wheels. Also when modding up to a certain horsepower, you will need a better clutch to handle the pressure.
14. After a clutch kit look into a better Flywheel
What this does: An aluminum flywheel is lighter and allows less friction to be applied when shifting. This results in less inertia and a faster rev. It is also lighter than stock so that helps a lot. This results in less power lost from the crank to the wheels.
15. Another great addition for a manual is a Short Shifter
What this does: By applying a a shorter shifter, it reduces the height of your shifter, and throw by up to 37%. This results in faster and more precise shifts. Combine this with the shifter base bushings from RRE and you have a great mod.
*End of Manual Specific Mods*
16. Something else that helps increase whp that most people don't know are Lighter wheels
What this does: A lighter set of wheels results in less mass that has to be turned when moving the car. Each wheel carries a load of up to almost 8 times it's normal weight!! So when you see a set of wheels and think (Aww those are only 5 pounds lighter they wouldn't make that much of a difference) think again. Thanks again inertia and kinetic friction!!
*Now, another big step would be to help lower the weight of this beast. A good example would be that for every 10 pounds you drop, it would give the same effect as if you added 1hp to the engine (Note** this does not mean that every time you drop ten pounds you gain a hp, this means that is has the same effect**) These are pretty self explanatory so I will not go into much detail*
17. Carbon fiber hood, body kit and hatch- Carbon fiber is much lighter than metal or fiber glass
18. Remove manifold cover
19. Remove jack, tools and spare tire
20. Remove rear and passenger seats
21. Remove radio and speakers
22. Replace steering wheel and seats with racing seat/sw
**A few other mods that will help all around**
23. Oil Catch Can-->
What this does: If you drive your car around for a few thousand miles and take off your throttle body you'll notice it will accumulate a good amount of oil and sludge on the butterfly valve. The can helps prevent oil from splashing into our intake manifold, which helps keep the engine cleaner and less friction and resistance to our air flow.
24. High Pressure Radiator Cap
What this does: This increases the pressure inside the radiator, thus increasing the boiling point of our coolant and provides better cooling for our engine.
25. Rear and front sway bars
What this does: These help stiffen the suspension. This helps prevent body roll and increase grip when handling in corners. This doesn't necessarily add more horsepower, but it isn't always about going fast in a straight line. This is a great addition to any eclipse.
26. Big Brake kit/Brembos
What this does: This helps improve performance and braking drastically. Brakes will heat up less and be much more responsive. This is a hefty investment but more than worth the money. People know you're legit if you rollin' with Brembo's
27. Energy Suspension Bushings
What this does: These bushings help remove unwanted flex in our suspension arms. This will help handling and traction a bunch. Our stock bushing have quite a bit of play in them so this is definitely a great addition.
28. Port and polish
What this does: This basically increases the diameter of your manifold, head etc, and smooths them out to increase air flow and reduce air resistance. This will make a drastic improvement in power for your engine but is not the easiest task. I would suggest having a professional shop do this for you.
This should be a great guide for beginners to follow up to a certain step. Some of these mods are harder than others so beware and do a lot of research before attempting. If you can complete this guide and still want more power there are plenty of more routes to go. Boost, forced induction, increased compression, limited slip differential, new pistons, new cam, the list is endless. It is all about how much money you want to spend, how much time you have, and how much knowledge you can obtain. I hope this helps out anyone and everyone, and that new 4gers can use this as a guide to help them in their builds. At the bottom of this I will add a couple beneficial threads and also my thread that lists all available parts and locations for the GS. Thanks everyone and anyone who helps contribute to this thread also! LET THE MODDING BEGIN!!!
May 24, 2012, 06:10 AM
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So many things to comment on...
Main thing that stuck out was the clutch.... It is only a "must" if your clutch is f'd.... The stock clutch is pretty solid in this car, if its not broke... Don't fix it.
And since our motor only has 4 cylinders, its a "header"... And the stock designed one is fantastic and I've yet to see any dyno's proving that an aftermarket header will out perform it. Plus the ralliart stock manifold doesn't have the cats like your eclipse.
This is a decent guide for you... But definitely not suitable for every beginner. For instance my preference would be start with suspension and wheels.... No sense making it more powerful if you can't make a corner...lol
Don't get me wrong, you have some great info in there.... Just my 2cents.
Main thing that stuck out was the clutch.... It is only a "must" if your clutch is f'd.... The stock clutch is pretty solid in this car, if its not broke... Don't fix it.
And since our motor only has 4 cylinders, its a "header"... And the stock designed one is fantastic and I've yet to see any dyno's proving that an aftermarket header will out perform it. Plus the ralliart stock manifold doesn't have the cats like your eclipse.
This is a decent guide for you... But definitely not suitable for every beginner. For instance my preference would be start with suspension and wheels.... No sense making it more powerful if you can't make a corner...lol
Don't get me wrong, you have some great info in there.... Just my 2cents.
Last edited by 06_RALLI///ART; May 24, 2012 at 06:14 AM.
May 24, 2012, 09:33 AM
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So many things to comment on...
Main thing that stuck out was the clutch.... It is only a "must" if your clutch is f'd.... The stock clutch is pretty solid in this car, if its not broke... Don't fix it.
And since our motor only has 4 cylinders, its a "header"... And the stock designed one is fantastic and I've yet to see any dyno's proving that an aftermarket header will out perform it. Plus the ralliart stock manifold doesn't have the cats like your eclipse.
This is a decent guide for you... But definitely not suitable for every beginner. For instance my preference would be start with suspension and wheels.... No sense making it more powerful if you can't make a corner...lol
Don't get me wrong, you have some great info in there.... Just my 2cents.
Main thing that stuck out was the clutch.... It is only a "must" if your clutch is f'd.... The stock clutch is pretty solid in this car, if its not broke... Don't fix it.
And since our motor only has 4 cylinders, its a "header"... And the stock designed one is fantastic and I've yet to see any dyno's proving that an aftermarket header will out perform it. Plus the ralliart stock manifold doesn't have the cats like your eclipse.
This is a decent guide for you... But definitely not suitable for every beginner. For instance my preference would be start with suspension and wheels.... No sense making it more powerful if you can't make a corner...lol
Don't get me wrong, you have some great info in there.... Just my 2cents.
That's why I broke it into catagories, because everyone has a preference. This was originally written for a 4g69 eclipse. So it will very. I prefer a straight line, some prefer a track. But this is a list of mods, what they do, etc.
Thanks tho.
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May 24, 2012, 11:01 AM
#8
Very nice write up good information just a couple of things stuck out exhaust fumes sounds kinda toxic say gases sounds less life threatening hahaha and the underdrive pulley doesn't slow down the engine it's still spinning at 650-700rpms just the ratio of the pulley is different causing the pulleys to turn slower but less weight so it can spin faster... It's not about how fast you can go in a straight line anymore it's all about how fast can you take that turn without flying off the track.. Perfect example when I went to the track I beat a Porsche boxer in the 1/4 mile but on a track he would make our cars look like we're not moving
Last edited by RacerX-Ralliart; May 24, 2012 at 11:03 AM.
May 28, 2012, 06:49 PM
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May 28, 2012, 08:05 PM
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If your N/A you won't need bigger injectors or better fuel rail, even boosted at low psi the stock ones will hold. The only thing nice of an evo fuel rail is that you can add a fuel regulator and don't have to butcher the stock rail.
May 31, 2012, 12:47 PM
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Jun 2, 2012, 09:29 PM
#15
I take it, by your photos, that you fell for this as well at one point? I found your reply after I had already completed the mod and all I could do was roll my eyes. Oh well, i'm going to leave it as is, considering I darn near got blisters squeezing the clamps onto the slightly too large 1/2" coupler that I used (3/8" is correct). And, yes, I lost about a handful of fluid in the process...here are my photos:
Last edited by truthdweller; Jun 3, 2012 at 05:03 AM.