Easiet way to add Horsepower...

Easiest way to add HORSEPOWER

  • Power Programmer

    Votes: 62 43.1%
  • Cam

    Votes: 15 10.4%
  • Cold Air Intake

    Votes: 33 22.9%
  • Headers

    Votes: 14 9.7%
  • Cat-Back Exhaust

    Votes: 10 6.9%
  • Cops R Behind You...

    Votes: 10 6.9%

  • Total voters
    144

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Biggwaukegan

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My bad, the chitown area has been hit hard with snow the past few weeks. Its suppose to be almost 50 today so for sure i will get you the pics.
 

clean95

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i bought a hypertech chip it gave me more rpms and opened up my limiter added a l itttle hp not much it was a cheal 200$ add on
 

95TwinTT

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Easy power addition

About five years ago, I bolted a vortech supercharger kit on a stock 5.7 engine. It only took a few hours and made a very big difference in performance. It must have added about 100 HP.

It cost a few bucks to do it, but it was a lot cheaper than buying a new truck.

I ran that for about three years, enjoying every minute of it and then decided that twin turbo's would be even more fun. I'm sold on forced induction.
 

Gregski

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oh god one of these questions, jk, LOL

cold air won't add squat, that is significant anyway, neither will cat back exhaust, and by significant I mean dyno tested at the rear wheels gain of 10% or more

so we are left with software vs hardware, well a lumpy cam will give you crappy idle if real power is what you are after and it's a good weekend spent on the swap, but anyone who knows a wrench from a screw driver will tell you that a cam swap alone is as effective as sucking on a titty through a sweater, in order to do it right you need to marry the proper valve springs etc in the attic of the heads, then there is the chip, ah yes fooling the engine into running a certain way despite of what the sensors map may tell it, [ahem] or as the glossy marketing ads say "freeing up horsepower", that's it

tongue 'n cheek gentlemen, tongue 'n cheek
 

HeadLightBulbs

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I Did This?

I did a K&N drop in filter, did a Flowmaster exhaust then after the muffler I pointed to pipe down to reflect off ground for a little more beefy noise..

But anyways after I bought the truck I was looking up some different fuel additives etc.... I came across this stuff called Sea Foam....The local automotive store suggested that I go to another local automotive store and purchase this stuff....

So I went and bought this stuff:

http://www.seafoamsales.com/motor-treatment.html

Then I filled my tank up with 91 Octane.. That is the highest Oct that they sell locally in CA... I feel after doing this that I started to get better MPG and it also performed better.

Before I bought my Tahoe I had a SuperCharged 1998 Chevy Suburban... It had some pretty good pep or had some balls to it HA... But it also got horrible MPG
 

Jounier11

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I did a K&N drop in filter, did a Flowmaster exhaust then after the muffler I pointed to pipe down to reflect off ground for a little more beefy noise..

But anyways after I bought the truck I was looking up some different fuel additives etc.... I came across this stuff called Sea Foam....The local automotive store suggested that I go to another local automotive store and purchase this stuff....

So I went and bought this stuff:

http://www.seafoamsales.com/motor-treatment.html

Then I filled my tank up with 91 Octane.. That is the highest Oct that they sell locally in CA... I feel after doing this that I started to get better MPG and it also performed better.

Before I bought my Tahoe I had a SuperCharged 1998 Chevy Suburban... It had some pretty good pep or had some balls to it HA... But it also got horrible MPG
Heard of this stuff from alot of people say it's very good stuff how do you use it tho (used to using lucas but seafoam sound's better)
 

lesterl

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Seafoam:
1. Run engine to temperature.
2. Idle engine in driveway (not in the garage even if the door is open - dont ask), find a decent sized vacume hose with vacume on it and slowly remove it without stalling the engine.
3. Slowly feed about 1/2 of the can into the vacume of the hose.
4. Increase speed of pouring to stall engine (or come as close as possible and shut engine off)
5. Let soak for 10-15 min.
6. Start engine back up and watch the white smoke.....
7. I have had to replace plugs on one vehicle (werent great to begin with) as they got pretty fouled and really needed replacement anyway.... so you might keep that in mind also.
 

amtronic1

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Way back. 40 years ago, the Chevrolet dealership I worked at used ATF to do the same thing. At that time we just poured it into the carb instead of a vacuum line. Let it set, the chunks of carbon would blow out the exhaust like birdshot when started again. Always replaced plugs as part of the process. They had us do it on everything from Vegas to Corvettes.
 

samotahoe

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oh god one of these questions, jk, LOL

cold air won't add squat, that is significant anyway, neither will cat back exhaust, and by significant I mean dyno tested at the rear wheels gain of 10% or more

so we are left with software vs hardware, well a lumpy cam will give you crappy idle if real power is what you are after and it's a good weekend spent on the swap, but anyone who knows a wrench from a screw driver will tell you that a cam swap alone is as effective as sucking on a titty through a sweater, in order to do it right you need to marry the proper valve springs etc in the attic of the heads, then there is the chip, ah yes fooling the engine into running a certain way despite of what the sensors map may tell it, [ahem] or as the glossy marketing ads say "freeing up horsepower", that's it

tongue 'n cheek gentlemen, tongue 'n cheek

AMEN!
 

Beeker702

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I did programmer, cold air, accel coil and distributor, E3 plugs, headers, magnaflow y-pipe with converters and flowmaster catback muffler and got 100+hp over stock
 

gary350

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What is the easiest way to add horsepower????:iq: ..Without the engine or tranny swap.

There are 2 easy ways to get more power from the engine.

1. Put 10% Kerosene in the gas it will give you 10% more power and the engine will burn 10% more fuel. You can put 20% kerosene in the gas to get 20% more HP it burns 20% more fuel. Do NOT go any higher 25% and 30% Kerosene makes the engine run very bad. Diesel fuel works too I tried them both and can't tell that one works better than the other. Just incase your afraid to try this in your vehicle try it on your lawn mower first. Let your grass get too tall for your lawn mower after trying to mow grass put 20% kerosene in the gas then mow your tall grass and see the difference. Now the mower will go where it would not go before.

2. Everyone knows the laws of physics, cold contracts, hot expands. Remove your engine cooling system thermostat and replace it with a flat washer with a 3/4" diameter hole in the center. You can make a flat washer from thin flat plate aluminum. With your cooling water circulating all the time the engine runs very cold. Air that gets sucked into the air intake does not expand in the intake so your engine gets more air. More air = more oxygen. More oxygen means the engine can burn more fuel. This is an old Hot Rod trick from the 1950s.

I have a 1997 GMC Yukon and a 1999 Chevy Tahoe. This works on both of them. Now I am into getting better gas mileage sold the Yukon. Tahoe is getting 18.5 mpg in town 23.5 on the highway.

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lesterl

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Gary, they didnt have engine controls in the 1950's...... The PCM watches the CTS and adjusts fuel mix to suit it, you will use more fuel as the engine will still be cold...
 

gary350

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Remove the radiator cooling system thermostat, this is an old hot rod trick. I have been told it can increase HP about 5%. A 350 hp engine will be about 367 hp.

Another trick is add 20% kerosene to the gasoline. This will add 20% hp. A 350 engine will be 402 hp.

Both of these tricks together will make a 350 engine 437 hp. More power = less gas mileage.

I put kerosene in my lawn mower when mowing tall grass and weeds wow it makes a very noticeable difference 20% more power but the fuel burns up 20% faster.

I don't want more power in my 1999 chevy Tahoe I want better gas mileage. I am getting 23.5 mpg making the engine run hotter and making the computer think it is running hotter with all new thermostats. I went to Auto Zone told the guy I want 10 engine thermostats. I checked all the thermostats with an OHM meter they are all plus or minus 5% so I picked the lowest ohm thermostat and put that in my vehicle. I bought the hottest cooling system thermostat too and the lowest ohm air temperature thermostat. My engine is probably 50 HP less but I don't miss the power. If you do the opposite of what I did you get more power and burn more fuel.

Another thing you can do to get more vehicle power is replace your tired with smaller diameter tires. Engine HP is the same but if tire diameter is reduced by 2" torque goes up about 10% do the math for your tires to see for sure. C=81.64 for 26" diameter tires. C=75.36 for 24" tires. That is a difference of 8.3%. If your top speed is 100 mph it is reduced to 92 mph. If torque is 375 at the wheels it goes up to 406.
 
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taho3fan

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Adding a cat-back exhaust can help add some hp and improve the sound of your ride.
 

MO Viet Vet

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IMO, the easiest way to add horsepower? Hmmmmmmmmmmm?

First win the lottery, we all know how easy that is.

Then sit back with a pitcher of margaritas and pay lots of money to watch other qualified people bolt on whatever you want on your rig to go faster.

Or know that someone has already done to their rig what you wanted done and then buy it!

Easy peasy!
 

gary350

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If you want 20% more horse power easiest way to get it is mix 20% diesel with 80% gasoline it makes the engine burn 20% more fuel and suck in more air too so you get 20% more power just by filling up the tank with a special fuel mix.

Try this with your home lawn mower to prove to yourself it works just incase you don't believe it works.

I tried different mixtures, 30% diesel the engine runs bad, 25% diesel engine runs but not good. Don't go higher than 20% diesel and 20% Kerosene works too.

After you try this next time your tank is empty buy gasoline only and your engine is back to what is was before. No tools required, nothing to buy, nothing to adjust.
 
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