Any advice on some modest upgrades?

[Vampyre73]

With all the great mods and information on these boards, it's hard to isolate a good course of action to take when upgrading one of these cars. I have a 94 Euro 3.1, 110k on the clock, daily driver (mostly highway) and would like to make some modest performance changes - nothing outrageous or ridiculously expensive. Currently it's stock everything, with the exception of a new Flowmaster 40 Series muffler and new plugs, wires, K&N replacement air filter - standard tune-up stuff. I love this car! I have browsed the boards, but can't figure out what to do first performance-wise. I don't really want to swap engines, but would be interested in increasing the air intake (cold air?) and exhaust output (2" diam stock now) to get more performance. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

PS. Some of the Luminas here make me downright jealous. LOL

[19Cutlass94]

First I would go with some FFP engine mounts, a must have.

[Kalgorn]

Start with FFP mods ( http://www.fastfwdperformance.com ) like the UD pulley and motor mounts. Then head over to http://store.60degreev6.com and pick up a performance chip. Fabricate a cold air intake (fenderwell if possible) and go with a 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust with a high-flow catalytic converter (you can find one by the company Carsound on eBay) and a performance muffler like a Magnaflow.

 

That's what I would do.

[kfahn]

How much difference do the engine mounts really make? Do they just improve throttle response or what?

 

I am asking this with regard to the difference between the aftermarket mounts and good condition stock mounts.

[Garrett Powered]

no difference if you add 2" washers on the stock ones. You need 8 of them.

[Vegeta]

with a lot of highway driving, the chip will give you better gas milage.

 

The FFP mounts get rid of the crap ass design GM decided to use. However, if you are lucky enough to have good rubber in them, I wouldn't rush off to get the poly mounts as you aren't really going to get any more performance other than right off the line (all the power goes through the trans vs the engine rocking a bit from the torque). UD pulley is good for solid hp, as is the chip, so both of those would be good performance wise.

[kfahn]

as always Ben, thanks for the info!

[19Cutlass94]

yes, but remember, the FFP mounts help save your other mounts because the engine isnt rocking like before.

[Garrett Powered]

hello did you just ignore me?

I believe the stock ones will not have a problem once you add the washers.

If your rubber is getting soft, then remove the dogbones and soak them in Dr.Pepper soda pop for a few days.

[kfahn]

just out of curiosity, how do the washers and the Dr. Pepper make a difference?

 

and no, I didn't mean to ignore you

[Vampyre73]

Thanks for the info thus far, guys. How many engine mounts are there total? I know the two up front, and a lower one below. Am I missing any? Is there any benefit to upgrading the ignition coils to a performance one like MSD?

[digitaloutsider]

Is there any benefit to upgrading the ignition coils to a performance one like MSD?

No.

[GutlessSupreme]

Is there any benefit to upgrading the ignition coils to a performance one like MSD?

No.

 

In fact it's been said that it'll perform worse.

[Vampyre73]

Is there any benefit to upgrading the ignition coils to a performance one like MSD?

No.

 

In fact it's been said that it'll perform worse.

 

Any particular reason, Tony? Reading some of the literature made it seem like it would benefit, but then again, Bosch says the same thing about their platinum plugs and they sucked. Had to replace them after 15k with Delcos.

[manitcor]

bosch plugs dont like waste spark ignition systems. MSD coils are much help either, your stock coils provide plenty of power.

 

If you want to do anything to your ignition system upgrade your wires to some nice 8 or 8.5mm wires and NGK v-power plugs.

[EurosportZ34]

AC Delcos or Magnecor wires are the best in my book!

[manitcor]

I got MSD 8.5MM superconductors personally, very good wires, stay away from taylors, Ive heard alot of bad about them.

[88GPSE]

Change your o2 sensor... seriously! That was the "Best" mod I could have ever done to any of the OBD-I cars.

[Garrett Powered]

to what? 3-wire heated?

[Canada]

To a factory replacement. Over time, O2 sensor tend to get slow to respond....amd other crap like that. A heated O2 sensor only allows for faster times into closed loop...and a ground. There really isn't a performance gain to be had in a 3 wire, just better emissions on cold start.

 

I would also like to know how washers make a mount stiffer.......personally, I prefer Sprite over Dr. Pepper. The correct, non-ghetto thing to do would be to buy the mounts.

[loominaz34]

Now what exactly does soaking the mount in DR. pepper do? harden the rubber? also, I've always been scared to take the dogbone out of my 3.4 TDC because i'm afraid i'll need a truck to pull it back into alignment. what do I need to do to take it out and replace it without a truck?

[digitaloutsider]

Now what exactly does soaking the mount in DR. pepper do? harden the rubber? also, I've always been scared to take the dogbone out of my 3.4 TDC because i'm afraid i'll need a truck to pull it back into alignment. what do I need to do to take it out and replace it without a truck?

Um..

 

Your hands?