What if I told you that you can gain 5 horsepower this weekend, for less than $100? Or, what if I told you that you could gain 5 horsepower this weekend, for less than $20?
I bet you’d be interested eh?
Well, the good news is, I’m going to tell you how to gain 5 horsepower this weekend for $0-15 spent. Sound too good to be true? Well, read on!
1) Increase the H2O ratio in your coolant – if it weren’t for corrosion and freezing concerns, automotive makers would use pure water. Water cools much better than coolant any day of the week, and a cooler engine is a better performer.
Instead of half and half, try 40/60. DO NOT use pure water, As this may cause premature corrosion and that can be no fun at all to clean up. You may also try water wetter to further enhance this effect.
2) Index your spark plugs – this is an age old trick that is good for about 1 extra pony. The idea here is to “aim” the open end of the spark plug terminal (the gap) towards the intake side of the head. In order to accomplish this, simply mark on the plug a small line to indicate where this gap is, and install the plug as normal.
Try to line up the line with the intake side as best as you can. It may require buying 2 sets of spark plugs in order to do this, but hopefully you’ll be able to do this the first time. Be careful with aluminum heads not to over tighten, as that could lead to a costly repair.
3) Relocate IAT Sensor – This is a very simple modification that will work on a great deal of fuel injected vehicles. The IAT sensor (