Intake first or Exhaust?

[AlienCraft]

K&N CA legal Cold Air Intake
or
The BORLA Cat Back system.?:ninja:
I know I'll end up getting both, but which one to start the process?

 

[Vic Vega]

NOTA.

 

[Arkaign]

Prepare to get flamed by ATG for mentioning K&N here.

What we really need to give proper advice is to know the car, configuration (engine/tranny selection), year, mileage, and desired result.

 

[mmntech]

I've been wondering about this myself. A co-worker of mine had both installed in his Civic. Says it gives him a reasonably decent boost.

I've got a 2005 Honda Civic LX-G, 1.7L I4 engine with four speed auto, 44000km.

 

[Ronstang]

Exhaust is always the best place to start since in most engines that is where the most restrictions take place. Getting more in is of no use if you can't get it out.

Edit.....Crap I forgot where I was and what kind of cars you tend to drive. I just read the actual products listed in the OP. On little 4 bangers just leave them alone. You will likely do more harm than good. These little engines are much more finicky since they don't make much torque. You stand a much better chance of actually loosing usable driving power. Some add that says you will gain a few HP at some high rpm means you will not benefit at all where you drive most of the time and if it adversely affects the area under your torque curve you will notice it.

 

[coxmaster]

As others have said, we need more details on the car.


Semi-OT.. Anybody notice that the Borla exhaust qualified for Amazon prime w/3$ overnight shipping? lol

 

[AlienCraft]

As others have said, we need more details on the car.


Semi-OT.. Anybody notice that the Borla exhaust qualified for Amazon prime w/3$ overnight shipping? lol

Duh, sorry:$
2005 Scion xB manual.
Used for parcel delivery daily w a minimum pf 80 miles freeway driving, 175 overall daily average.
Looking to squeeze more miles per dollar of gas.
Was also looking for an old schoool vacuum gauge to hack in there.

 

[jlee]

Honestly, I would leave it alone.

 

[Arkaign]

You'll probably get the best fuel economy boost by doing the following :

(1)- LRR or ULRR tires. Be aware that you WILL have less traction with this type of tire compared to typical cheap performance tires.

(2)- A lighter oil weight, but with higher quality (use full syn). A lot of makers such as Ford, Honda, and Mazda have gone to 5w-20 from 10w-30 as it seems to help slightly with fuel economy. Your 1.5L 16v i4 should do well with it, and as you're in California, extreme weather isn't really an issue.

 

[AlienCraft]

Honestly, I would leave it alone.

Oh clutch upgrade:biggrin:! :thumbsup:

 

[jlee]

Oh clutch upgrade:biggrin:! :thumbsup:

For the gobs of torque you're making?

 

[punjabiplaya]

I was gonna say tires will probably make a bigger difference too

edit: since you're doing parcel delivery, toss out the passenger seat and rear seat, you'll probably want to keep the spare though - and that costs you $0

 

[Zap]

edit: since you're doing parcel delivery, toss out the passenger seat and rear seat, you'll probably want to keep the spare though - and that costs you $0

Yup. All else being equal, less weight = magically better performance.

 

[coxmaster]

You want to get an intake/exhaust for fuel economy gains rather than "performance"? I probably would just leave it as it is like Jlee. I have nothing against modding a car (mine is far from stock) but it just doesnt seem like it would be worth it in this case.


Edit: DAMN I wish i could get a Borla exhaust as cheap as the one you linked

 

[jhu]

Are the poll results binding? If so, looks like you're getting pizza!

 

[Greenman]

Get the pizza, then go out to your car and say thank you to your cheap paper air filter that works better any K&N ever made.

 

[AlienCraft]

Are the poll results binding? If so, looks like you're getting pizza!

That's ok too!

 

[Viperoni]

Didn't know you had the 1.5 1NZ-FE motor.
The only mods that will actually make a difference are: Lightweight crank pulley & light weight flywheel

The Borla is an axle back and may gain you 2hp.
A header might give you 4.
An intake will give you almost nothing.

I have an Echo, same motor, and I'm fabbing my own long tube header FWIW.

 

[thescreensavers]

If you put an exhaust and or intake your mpg is sure to drop.

 

[Vic Vega]

If you put an exhaust and or intake your mpg is sure to drop.

Not really, there are a lot of factors involved. Your statement is too blanket to have any meaning.

 

[thescreensavers]

^ on the stock tune? if you want to get better MPG learn to hypermile. Adding a Intake or Exhaust is just a waste of money and you will most likely loose mpg.

Its true, Add an exhaust and you want to hear it all the time, Add and intake you may want to hear the engine growl so your more prone to pushing the gas, also Lets not forget more air = less mpg.

Hypermilers DIY intakes to make Heat air intake. As hot air gets better mpg then cold.

 

[Bignate603]

The best way to save gas is to drive less aggressively, make sure your car is in good running condition (change the filters when recommended, do your oil changes on time, keep your tires at the recommended air pressure, etc), and take anything you don't absolutely need out of the car.

Most mods to try and get better fuel economy will either not work or will give such small gains that you'll never recoup what you spent on it.

 

[punjabiplaya]

my lose the seats was not joke advice. If you don't need em, toss em

 

[LTC8K6]

Not worth the money you'd spend. Or the aggravation in the case of a K&N air filter.

Leave it alone.

 

[thomsbrain]

For the same money as the intake, you could get lowering springs, which would probably have a bigger impact on gas mileage than anything else listed in this thread. Handling will probably be a bit worse and ride quality may suffer a bit, but a lower ride height is the easiest way to cut aero drag.

As for intakes and exhausts making less power, it does depend on the model of parts you're talking about, but as a blanket statement it's false to say they make less power. Intake header and exhaust with a tune were good for around 20 HP peak on my S2000, with max gain in the 30 HP range. The S2000 already had very good parts from the factory.