Need more power!!!

[TxDAEWOOxT]

I want to make my car reliable and faster. I know that sounds strange.

What do i need to do to make more power? Ive got head work,p&p parts,intake,exhaust,plugs and wires.

I still cant get the power to run with some of the racers around town in their busted ass Hondas. If i were have done this stuff to a civic i would have got way more power out of it than my car.

Am i doing something wrong?

I would love to have a turbo woo but i cant afford to do it.

Is this the only real way to make power out of this motor?

Can i make a fast NA Lanos?

[Audacity Racing]

Can i make a fast NA Lanos?

Yes... very.



For about $400 you can drop the flywheel weight in half (includes price of NEW flywheel)

For about $400 you can raise the compression (uaing your existing head/block)

For about $500 you can loose weight off the crank (including new crank)




Any one of these things will net great performance gains. The compression one will yield the greatest results, followed by crank weight reduction, and finally flywheel weight reduction.

[TxDAEWOOxT]

If i wanted to raise compression would i need to do a head gasket?
Or how would i go about raising it?

The flywheel and crank....Where?

I just had my flywheel out and it would have been good to do this upgradre then.My flywheel has tiny heat fractures init. I dont think it is going to cause a problem(right now). I got to hold my flywheel and it weighs a ton!!

What crank would i need? Use the factory one and just get it balanced or would it be aftermarket?

Thanks for your reply.

[PrecisionBoost]

I think there would be some power to be had by fooling with ignition maps.

I'd buy a piggyback or a programmable MSD system (which I have) and then throw in some better octane fuel.

Running 91 Octane I'm sure you could advance the timing and make significant gains.

Raising compression is simply a matter of decreasing the cylinder head chamber volume.

Ideally..... if it were me I would add material to the chamber to increase compression.... Audacityracing was probably refering to shaving the head..... but you have to be carefull about valve to piston clearance.

One thing to consider is that shaving the head changes the positions of the camshafts slightly..... so ideally.... add adjustable cam gears.

Adjustable cam gears would also help you quite a bit.... it would allow you to adjust where the cams open up... which would probably net you a few hp.

Cams are also a good investment...... you might see 15hp from a good set of street cams.... it's hard to say.... I'm pretty sure the stock cams are really pushed towards economy.

Cams can be found in the UK...... crankshafts and aluminum flywheels can be found in Germany

[Audacity Racing]

Shaving the head doesn't change the cam placement at all. Their location may be different, but in relation to the timing, nothing is changed.


Flywheels are $100 bucks from www.gm-car-parts.com and then you send it to one of MANY companies that lighten them and ship them back. Most quotes on that are about 150 dollars, bringing your total bill to around $400. In a little bit of figuring I did on the Aveo board... you could easily gain 2x the engine acceleration by using a lightened flywheel (granted when you put the transmission and driveline back on you may only see 20% of that).

A new crank is $200 from www.gm-car-parts.com and then you send it off to have it knife edged and lightened (and of course balanced). At the same time, you could easily have the pistons balanced and rods cleaned and balanced (remove the slag metal and scuffs from casting). This is a HUGE thing to do because weight off the rotating assembly makes for insane gains. The general rule of thumb is that for every pound you pull off the crank, you pull 50 out of the car (in terms of acceleration)... it's not obscene to think you could pull 8 pounds off the crank... giving you insane acceleration gains... plus knife edging helps with oil froth.

I still say get the combustion chambers CC'd and get teh head/block shaved. 12:1 compression on a Lanos engine is quite possible and would be killer, absolutely killer.

I do agree about messing with mapping. With a piggy back you might be able to squeeze a good 20 more hp out of the timing alone (as long as you use premium or even vp fuel). I tend to favor mechanical upgrades over electrical ones simply because mechanical ones are proven gains where as electronic gains, especially in timing, are somewhat of a black art and require a good tuner (both the machine, and the person) to be really worth the effort.


Just for reference... a new shortblock (block, crank, pistons, bearings, oil-pan) is $600. For $1600 you could have...

Lightened flywheel, lightened crank, cleaned up pistons/rods, higher compression... and throw your older head on (the ported and polished one).

I don't doubt you could push 180hp out of it

[TxDAEWOOxT]

@ Chris.....

I dont think i have ever heard of adding material to the chamber to raise compression. How would you do that?
You said the cams are in Germany so i would asume that the adjustable cam gears would be over there too.
If i were to do that they would have to be installed and tuned.correct? Cam gears arent a "bolt-on" right?
What would be more reliable to do an aluminum or a lightened OEM flywheel?

@ Audacity

When doing those upgrades and lightening those parts. Will that throw off the balance of the motor from the factory settings?
I've talked to a couple of guys about lightening parts. they say the way the motor (any motor) is designed it is balanced to OEM specs. If i start to jack with the balance of the motor would that throw off anything else(drivetrain,harmonic balance.....) I may sound stupid but ive never heard of anybody doing these upgrades in a NA application(on a Lanos)

Getting a new bottom end and working on it slowly doesnt sound like a bad idea!!!!

So you think 180 is the most that a 1.6dohc can put out without doing turbo?

How much are the turbo motors putting out?

[Audacity Racing]

I think you could squeak out 200 to the wheels without a problem on a 1.6L NA...



Lots of people who go NA do those things. In fact, most who have high power NA motors do these things. Also, when you lighten the crank, you have to have it balanced with the pistons... to that the balance is not lost in the engine. Yes, an engine out of balance will shake itself to pieces. Vibrations amplify forces.

I would think a lightweight flywheel would be cheaper and easier all the way around, plus if you had to replace it it would only take a week or so as opposed to weeks or even months for an over-seas model.

[TxDAEWOOxT]

I think that will be a good goal for me and my car 200hp!!! I need to get into the bottom end and build it up. Do some weight reduction in the car and i think i will be getting as much as this little car can put out.

One more question......

If i did build the bottom end for a NA app and did the street cams. If i wanted to do a turbo app later would any of those upgrades affect the structural integrity of my motor?

I know the more mods you do to a car your reliabilaty goes down with each. I still want to steet this car and not pull a 200hp car on a trailer!! hehehe

[Audacity Racing]

Aside from cams, everything should work fine if you later went with forced induction later

[exist3nce]

Aside from cams, everything should work fine if you later went with forced induction later

I think he would also need to lower compression back down going from 12:1 high performance NA to FI.

[TxDAEWOOxT]

i dont know why i didnt think of that.

Maybe the bottom end would be fine but the top end would need to be built for a forced induction.

[daewoomofo]

if i yank my engine ill sell it to you. i just have to decide on what i want to do, do i turbo the 1.6 or get a C20NE and turbo it....?

[TxDAEWOOxT]

if i yank my engine ill sell it to you. i just have to decide on what i want to do, do i turbo the 1.6 or get a C20NE and turbo it....?

I dont need the entire engine i dont have space for it. I live in a apartment.;(
I might be looking for a bottom end soon to start building up.

Turbo the 1.6 and lets RACE!!!!!

See if my fully built 1.6 NA could beat the FI 1.6!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHA

JK