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Advice Requested - Looking For A Little More Power

8K views 54 replies 26 participants last post by  cali_dude 
#1 ·
Hi All,

First, I want to thank those of you who got back to me when I asked for advice on handling. The new setup makes a HUGE difference.

Next thing I'm looking at is a little more power. I know the car isn't meant to be a scorcher, so I'm not looking for anything earth shattering. However, my commute includes a pretty decent incline on a 4 lane mountain road. I have trouble maintaining speed without frequent downshifts. I can park it in the slow lane, but there are a ton of trucks on the road, and stomping on the accelerator to pass them will be a frequent, gas guzzling, and sometimes terrifying exercise.

I have a stock 2011 GLS automatic sedan. Again, I don't want anything equivalent to a JATO, just something that provides a little extra oomph.

Thanks in advance.

Cali
 
#4 ·
Unfortunately there are not really any performance options for this car. While this vehicle won't win any races I have never felt like it was underpowered. My advice is to step on it and burn the extra gas or look at something with a 6 or 8 cylinder engine.
 
#9 ·
Keep in mind that even if you get more power (bigger engine, better car, add a supercharger, whatever), you're still going to be using more gas when you hit an incline. Perhaps you won't have to push down the pedal as far and the engine won't be spinning as fast/loud, but you'll still be using more gas.
 
#10 ·
Trade it in for a 2014 2.0, or wait and see if the 1.6 turbo will be avail in it for the 2016, or get a KIA forte turbo. Let me put it this way, 1.8NU are so gutless, no one even wants to flash the ECU for them lol. Glad mine isnt my daily, wife loves it though!
 
#14 ·
I don't really like the available turbocharger and supercharger kits soooo...looks like I'm going with a nitrous system. If I time it right, 2 or 3 boosts should get me up and over the summit (as long as no cars or trucks get in the way). I figure if I strategically place spare engines and assorted drive train components along my route, I shouldn't have much of a problem.
 
#17 ·
This is ridiculous. What kind of incline are we talking about here? So what if you have to downshift. I'm pretty sure just about every car besides you going up that incline is having to downshift as well. I wouldn't at all go putting nitrous in an Elantra engine. This car is not built at all for that kind of power boosts, even if its just intermittently. You're just asking for trouble.

Not to mention, how much is nitrous for the elantra? Cannot see it being financially worth it when you have to use it on your daily commute just to get up this incline. I know the Elantra is on the slow side, but you shouldn't have to modify your engine to get up an incline. Please post a picture of this incline, I'm curious lol. Also sounds like you're better off getting a new car. But keep in mind, any car will downshift when going up a hill unless you hit that incline at a high speed.
 
#19 ·
Oh man I'm off my game! haha

As for the CAI, you're not going to really net any gains without a proper tune for the engine.

A new exhaust system can help a little I think. I'll leave it to some other members who have messed with the Elantras exhaust.

Good luck! Keep us updated.
 
#22 ·
Put a t3/t4 turbo, a GIANT intercooler, dual cat-back, bigger injectors, CAI and everything else in there and tell us what happens! I'm sure many of us would love to know :D Then we can pray it sounds like this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTnUeZf3-mw
 
#24 ·
FWIW, driving from Denver to Breckinridge in a rented Optima with a V-6, the car stayed in 4th gear during the inclines. But we're also talking Rocky Mtns, too. I'm certain they might be a bit steeper than what the OP is experiencing.
 
#30 ·
Definitely. My Elantra regularly drops into 4th, sometimes 3rd if I have to try to get out from behind a slower car without a large gap between cars in the other lane. I think the drive would be much easier if I could get a good run at the hill and maintain a reasonable speed for a bit, but it just doesn't happen during my commute.
 
#33 · (Edited)
Also I reset my ECU and have been playing with re-mapping. Before the reset I noticed very little, after however I couldn't be happier. I'm not talking butt-dyno either. I know I know the Torque App isn't as accurate as a proper diagnostic setup however I did a baseline on gear ratio and fairly accurate whp and from stock to what I have now with modifications and a reset ECU I gained a total of 14 whp (variable). Now factor in the weight reduction I've done and I notice quite a bit in the way of lower end torque, something as most of you know is almost non-existent in these cars. But of course this is all nominal in the grand scheme of things. But for what I paid (less than $500 for complete custom cat-back and a custom SRI) not bad gains at all. Will she win any races? H4ll no! lol But at least she feels better at lower RPM than she did prior to the modifications.

Also of note; I tried headers and saw slight gains (maybe 3-5 whp if that) but removed them because they made the car sluggish and sound like shyte. I realized after being educated on the matter that it was due to the configuration of the headers themselves. I'll be trying proper versions this winter hopefully. You can listen for yourself and see why I didn't like them;

Headers
 
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