c/automotive-mods

Turned my opinion around on cheap cold air intakes after a dyno day at a local shop

I always thought spending $400 on a big name intake was stupid and the $60 eBay ones worked fine. Then I went to a dyno event last month at Speed Solutions in Phoenix and watched a guy run his $60 intake on a stock Civic. It actually lost 4 horsepower compared to the stock box. The temp readings showed air coming in at 15 degrees hotter than ambient. That got me looking at the design and how it just sucks hot air from the engine bay. Now I get why guys pay for a proper heat shield setup. Has anyone else had a cheap mod actually hurt their numbers on a dyno?

My muffler fell off on I-95 last Saturday and I had to rig it with baling wire

Driving home from my buddy's place in Richmond and heard a scraping sound. Pulled over and saw the whole muffler was hanging by one rusted hanger bracket. Grabbed some wire from my trunk and wrapped it around the pipe and frame to get it home. It held for about 15 miles until I could weld it proper at my uncle's shop. Anyone else had to do a ghetto fix like that on the side of the highway?

Overheard some kid at the parts counter saying he's got a 700hp daily driver...

I was at AutoZone yesterday grabbing some spark plugs for my old F-150. Some teenager probably 18 or 19 is talking real loud on his phone about how his turbo build is pushing 700 wheel and he still drives it to school every day. I just kept my mouth shut but I wanted to tap him on the shoulder and ask how many transmissions he's blown through so far. I'm not trying to hate on young builders or anything but I've been at this for about 15 years now and my built 5.0 made 480 on a dyno and it felt sketchy on the highway after 20 minutes in summer traffic. You can't cool that kind of power without a serious cooling system and even then you're cooking everything under the hood. Has anyone else seen these super high power daily driver builds actually hold up for more than a few months?

Coil spring snapped in the middle of a left turn at a busy intersection in Cleveland

I was heading to work on a Tuesday morning when there was this loud BANG and my car dropped like 3 inches on the passenger side, so I had to limp it into a gas station parking lot with the scrapesound of metal on asphalt the whole way, and ended up replacing both front springs myself in a buddy's driveway over the weekend. Has anyone else had a spring go without any warning like that?

Heard a guy at the auto parts store say cold air intakes are a waste on daily drivers...

Shoutout to the guy who told me to stop using cheap coilovers on my daily

Last summer I threw some $400 coilovers on my Civic and spent every weekend chasing clunks and weird camber. A guy at a local meet in Austin pointed out the spring rates were all wrong for the street, not the track. Two months later I swapped to some basic Koni shocks with stock springs and the car actually rides smooth now. Anybody else learn the hard way that budget suspension parts just aren't worth the headache?

Guy at a gas station changed how I think about exhaust work

I was fueling up at a Shell station near Portland last Tuesday. Some older dude in a beat-up Fox body Mustang pulls up next to me. He hears my car idling and just says 'that header wrap is doing you zero favors.' I asked him what he meant. He explained how wrapped headers trap moisture against the metal. Over time it rots the pipes from the inside out. He showed me his car had bare stainless headers with zero wrap after 80,000 miles. Never even thought about that. Anyone else seen long-term damage from header wrap?

Hot take: swapping a cold air intake for a stock airbox actually gave me better throttle response

After 3 dyno runs at a shop in San Jose, my 5.0 Mustang picked up 8 horsepower just by removing that expensive aftermarket cone filter and putting the factory box back on, has anyone else seen worse results from a popular mod?

My $80 cold air intake gave me worse gas mileage than stock

Bought a cheap intake off Amazon thinking it would add some power, but my MPG dropped 5 miles per gallon over three weeks. Has anyone else had a budget mod backfire on daily driving?

Just realized exhaust wrap isn't always better than a heat shield

I used to wrap every header I touched for years, but after my 2005 Mustang cracked a manifold last summer, I went back to a ceramic heat shield and the underhood temps dropped more than I expected. Which do you guys run on high mileage daily drivers, wrap or shields?

My custom cold air intake cost me 15 MPG and I still dont regret it

I spent last weekend installing one of those short ram intakes on my 2017 Civic. Everyone on this sub told me to go with the name brand long tube setup but I wanted the louder sound. Well after 3 days of testing I dropped from 32 mpg to 27 mpg on my usual commute in Portland. The engine light kicked on too because the MAF sensor got all confused. But honestly that intake noise at 4,500 rpm puts a grin on my face every time. Did any of you go with form over function and end up happy anyway?

TIL a guy at a car meet taught me why my intake sounds like crap

I was at a local meet in Phoenix last summer and this older dude with a beat up Foxbody walked up to my car. He listened for like 2 seconds and said 'your cold air intake is just sucking hot air from the engine bay'. He showed me how my filter was basically right above the exhaust manifold. Moved it down behind the bumper and the difference was night and day. Has anyone else had someone call out a dumb mod mistake at a meet that actually helped?

Vent: watched a guy at the track ruin his turbo because he used a cheap oil catch can without baffles

He blew a quart of oil through the intake on his second lap at Pacific Raceways last Saturday, and now I see three other builds at the shop with the same no-name cans installed wrong. has anyone else caught this mistake before it costs you an engine?

Tuned my civic with a $30 ebay chip and it actually worked for exactly 2 weeks

I was that guy who threw a cheapo tuning chip on my 98 civic hatchback just to see what would happen. The first week was insane, car felt like it gained 25hp and actually pulled harder than my buddy's stock si. But then week two hit and the engine started running super lean at highway speeds, threw a CEL on I-95 near mile marker 34 and the car went into limp mode. Now I'm debating if the risk was worth that temporary thrill or if I should just save up for a proper Hondata tune. Anyone else gamble on cheap ECU mods and get burned?

Took me 2 hours to decide between a cold air intake and a short ram intake for my Civic

I picked the cold air because of a YouTube video from a guy in Texas, but then my buddy pointed out it sits too low and could suck up water from puddles, so now I'm swapping it out this weekend for the short ram anyone else dealt with that fear of hydro locking?

Just realized I've been bleeding my brakes wrong for literally 5 years

Was at a buddy's garage in Nashville last saturday and he watched me do a bleed and just goes "why are you pumping the pedal that many times?" Turns out I've been forcing air back up into the system every time. Anyone else figure out a basic thing way later than they should have?

5 Star Tuning vs Livernois Motorsports for an F-150?

I'm finally ready to tune my 2.7 EcoBoost and I'm torn between 5 Star Tuning and Livernois Motorsports. Both seem to have great reputations, but I'm not sure which route to go. Livernois requires their proprietary tuner, while 5 Star uses SCT/Bully Dog devices. What are the pros and cons of each from your experience?