Ok I've never known much about cars, but I never had more than a beater before. I just bought a new Ralliart (I LOVE IT!), and am now inspired to actually learn more.

So here is my question... I've read different things about boosting HP, but how much horsepower do you need to add before you actually see/feel a difference??? Am I going to notice 5hp? or do I need to add 20 before I notice it?

Thanks for humoring the noob.

 

I guess it depends on what your base HP is whether or not you'll notice 5hp. But lets say for example you are under 200hp.. A 10% hp increase would be 20hp and your car should feel about 10% faster.. You might be able to feel a 10hp increase and if it comes in the form of an exhaust or intake you might be able to hear it as well. Really noticeable gains will come in the 50-100hp increases eg.. turbo or nitrous and you will feel your car pulling harder and should notice 1/4 mile metrics improving. Hope this helps you out. You could always do a baseline run at a dragstrip or even with an acclerometer to measure your progress.

 

Thats a very hard question to answer.

 

If you add for example a Cold Air Intake, you will notice a difference. For example, you will notice a slight mid-top end power and as Mr. EVO IX said, you'll notice it as you will be able to hear it as well from the engine.

Sometimes reviews are a good way to learn, but sometimes some reviews are hyped up more than they should be. So in saying that, don't be dumbfounded by the Placebo effect. Let your own experience judge the power.

But after time, you will get use to them and think "OMG, have I lost power?" - All that means is - time for more mods.

 

I can only relay my experience modding my GTI. It was rated at 105hp from the factory and I added a few mods (exhaust, cam) that were dyno-proven to add 10-15whp. I kid you not when I say that I could not feel any difference. I strongly doubt you'll notice 5whp.

 

When I was modding my Mazda (105 whp) I couldn't feel the diff. when I added a cold air intake and an exhaust. However, when I put my car back to stock form to sell it and took those off, I did notice a lack of power. Keep in mind this was only 5 maybe 10 hp and the most.

 

Torque is what's going to help make the car feel very fast.

My S/C RSX Type S was putting out close to 300whp but the TQ was lacking significantly so the car was plenty fast, but it never felt fast. There were times I was taken by surprise at the rate the car could make speed because of the lack of TQ making it feel like there was only slight increase over stock.