instant improvement in my ZX2

[Ford Man]

Some 4 cylinders aren't very loud running straight pipes. I have a friend who runs straight pipes on his Goe Metro and it's no louder than a V8 with glass packs.

[radar4077]

does this increase his mpg n does he have any issues w/ acceleration n has he had it on there long?

[Midnight Drifter]

From what I've observed, exhaust enhancements kill MPG.

But that's because when you've got a sweet sounding exhaust, you develop a heavy foot so you can hear it.

[radar4077]

i already have a heavy foot though over the years it hasn't gotten a lil lighter but not by much, but here lately when i listen to my engine, i listen when the hood is up, n only listen for possible probs, i.e. vacuum leak or tapping, i could care less how "fast" it sounds cuz when it comes to speed,noise doesn't make it any faster a perfect example is most supercars are quite quiet, but they wouldn't b a supercar if they were slow, but i do know exactly what u mean cuz everytime a honda civic that knows what is is that I'm driving gets beside me @ a light he'll steadily rev his motor, two lil notes about this, when my pizza sign is on i won't race n 2 i do race once a wk but i do it @ a track, i won't street race it's too dangerous n plus if i did race the lil punk he'd call my boss n complain that i was speeding after he lost

[dean_park]

This reminds me a lot of myself 15yrs ago.. I delivered pizzas in my '91 Civic STD (70hp 1.5L). That was the beginning of the fart car era and I was a pioneering loud imports... and yes, everyone wanted to race.
I did some mods to get better fuel economy (without knowing what I was doing) because all I really wanted was power. I put lightened pulleys, flywheel and lighter wheels, lowered 2" and swapped out the 4 speed for an Si 5-speed (the DX 5-speed would have been better for FE, but I didn't know that at the time, nor care). I did do the big intake and exhaust with a header, hi-flow cat and cat back, which I later dialed back to a Flowmaster 40 over the fart can and went to a SRI to avoid hydro locking the engine like CAIs at the time were doing.
In retrospect a lot of the go fast and performance oriented mods made the car more efficient and faster at the top end, but the intake, header and exhaust probably hurt more than helped FE.
I also removed all my seats except the driver seat (on certain days we deliver to elementary schools for lunch so I'd have between 100-150 pizzas in my hatchback. With no front seat, that was awesome!
In any event, have fun and enjoy personalizing your car.. but I'd be sure to think about how you want the final project to look/perform (FE or fast or a mixture of the 2) and then work towards your goal. I've made that mistake in the past bolting on parts and then selling and buying more that we're compatible, which wastes money. Good luck!

[radar4077]

finally someone that really understands me in this forum lol, what I want is very close to a mix of the 2, n of course everytime I get behind the wheel no matter what damage or imperfection it actually has it always instantly transforms into what I want it to look like, the fart can muffler which was made by DC Sports isn't what I want exactly but it's close enough until I can afford the PaceSetter Cat-Back setup, however the K&N Intake is exactly what i want n @ the price i found it for it's practically stealing it, i do wanna drop it, about another inch, it already sits about an inch n a half lower than most ZX2s' due to it's Eibach springs n Tokico Struts (factory believe it or not) i wanna go w/ a Wings West bodykit which unlike most bodykits doesn't go insane n put huge grilles in front n i do wanna drop weight where ever it is possible i.e. as u mentioned lightweight pulleys n flywheel n a UDP n lightweight rims as well, I've already picked them out too, Sparco; Drift in black n i wanna replace panels w/ carbon fiber n fiberglass where ever it is possible, but the main thing slowin me down unfortunately isn't time i've got loads of that as u know from being a driver urself Gas no matter what i do is n always will be my biggest expense, currently i'm running E-3 plugs in my car n I'm bout to upgrade to Pulstar even if it onlt gives me an extra mile to the tank I'd be happy, n I already have MSD wires bout to order the MSD CoilPack those 2 upgrades n the K&N Intake will all b done by the end of this moth, my goals though they may seem far fetched n even impossible is 180 WHP (for when I take it to the Cecil County Raceway, prob shouldn't of been that specific but i don't think there r too many "Street Racers" *as i stated b4 though i do my racing a 1/4 mile @ a time on a sanctioned track* on this forum) n 37 City/45-50 HWY for when I'm delivering pizza to the a-hole that prob won't tip either way even though I average a 20-25 minute wait between the time they order n the time I pull up to their house

[hawk2100n]

Originally Posted by radar4077

finally someone that really understands me in this forum lol, what I want is very close to a mix of the 2, n of course everytime I get behind the wheel no matter what damage or imperfection it actually has it always instantly transforms into what I want it to look like, the fart can muffler which was made by DC Sports isn't what I want exactly but it's close enough until I can afford the PaceSetter Cat-Back setup, however the K&N Intake is exactly what i want n @ the price i found it for it's practically stealing it, i do wanna drop it, about another inch, it already sits about an inch n a half lower than most ZX2s' due to it's Eibach springs n Tokico Struts (factory believe it or not) i wanna go w/ a Wings West bodykit which unlike most bodykits doesn't go insane n put huge grilles in front n i do wanna drop weight where ever it is possible i.e. as u mentioned lightweight pulleys n flywheel n a UDP n lightweight rims as well, I've already picked them out too, Sparco; Drift in black n i wanna replace panels w/ carbon fiber n fiberglass where ever it is possible, but the main thing slowin me down unfortunately isn't time i've got loads of that as u know from being a driver urself Gas no matter what i do is n always will be my biggest expense, currently i'm running E-3 plugs in my car n I'm bout to upgrade to Pulstar even if it onlt gives me an extra mile to the tank I'd be happy, n I already have MSD wires bout to order the MSD CoilPack those 2 upgrades n the K&N Intake will all b done by the end of this moth, my goals though they may seem far fetched n even impossible is 180 WHP (for when I take it to the Cecil County Raceway, prob shouldn't of been that specific but i don't think there r too many "Street Racers" *as i stated b4 though i do my racing a 1/4 mile @ a time on a sanctioned track* on this forum) n 37 City/45-50 HWY for when I'm delivering pizza to the a-hole that prob won't tip either way even though I average a 20-25 minute wait between the time they order n the time I pull up to their house

Plz just spend a lil mo tyme typing out da wordz kuz it b real hard to read a hole post that is just 1 sent bcuz its tech stuff and den people wanna b helping u more; imma try to read it but I can't

Some unobtrusive aero mods could really help you. As well as making a game of the fuel economy with a gauge like a scan gauge. Engine off coast at the end of the trip is a game for me to see how far away I can shut off the engine.

[radar4077]

ok, not sure how reply here, i do want help w/ my mpg but i didn't come here for grammar lessons, i have run on sentences, i use commonly used short forms of words, anyone that's ever sent a text would/should understand what i wrote n ur attempt to pick fun at my writing was worse than my writing, n i've been thinking of a scan gauge but again money is the issue, n i can't shut down n coast while @ work cuz never really know exactly where the house is that i'm looking for, getting a new bumper next week n i'll b puttin a partial grille block on that as well as a front air damn, n i will be deleting my spoiler as well as even more weight reduction n dent/ding removal

[dean_park]

I'd ignore the grammar police... There's at least one on every forum.

The scangauge is an excellent use of your money though (try to pick one up used to save even more). I bought an Ultragauge @$60 for my last car and it did almost as much as the scangauge and I personally thought it looked better.

The grille block, air dam, weight reduction and spoiler delete will probably help quite a bit on your highway mpgs, but I'd look at getting the gauge first, to truly know what your engine temps, coolant temps, etc are doing. If delivering in a lot of stop and go in the heat, you may cause some issues. It may be a good idea to plan on removable air blocks for working and adding them for highway or sustained speeds.

[radar4077]

this will seem silly but i guess to make them removable i can put them inside cuz i was gonna cover them w/ the mesh grille @ Pepboys cuz i wanna get higher mpg but dont wanna explain to ppl y i have a peice of plastic or whatever i use (btw what would b good to use lol n where can i get it) in front of my grille n the mesh grille would hide it a lil bit