thanks loveshandbags
i'm an old school hot roddaer and yes probably at this point, the weight reduction has been my best performance friend.
the multi-air motor does like intake and exhaust modification, and since i have not professionally dynoed it, all I can say is what I have read from other reputable vendors, and their claim is intake/exhaust/timing controller is good for about 10 whp.
At this point I have a 70mm ram air tube located under the bumper at air dam level - feeding into the inlet of a modified stock intake system (k&n drop in filter, larger ID throttle body elbow) and a straight pipe in place of the muffler. I did notice a seat of the pants improvement but since I have been carving lbs. at the same time I cannot say what contributed to what. I can tell you that in stock form I could hit 114mph in 4th, and now I can see 120mph.
I have some other mods in store like a WOT alternator cutout and a WOT enabled modified iat / ect sensor circuit. I hope to have those done in a few months and that in addition to pulling another 60lbs from the car (replace heavy front airbag equipped seats with a nice set of retro styled racing seats).
When done, I'm hoping for a car that will hit 125mph and weigh 2150 lbs (the USA models are heavy - 2363 lbs with manual trans). That will put me within earshot of a stock 500 Abarth
Good insight there on the spark plugs and intake thoughts - I appreciate that.
On the muffler delete, I only removed the rearmost muffler and replaced with a straight pipe and tip. The central resonator and forward cat are still intact for different reasons.
The resonator does an excellent job of controlling NVH issues even with the muffler gone, not a single buzz or vibration has been added to the cabin by this change, and it's back pressure is really low.
As for the forward catalyst, well I live in California, which has bi-annual emissions testing and can be a really bad thing if you get pulled over on the street without the CARB approved cat on your car. There has even been vehicle confiscations if you are caught with a non smog legal car (u need to be doing something else bad mind you).
Exhaust wrap is a thought but since the catalyst is there, I'm not sure if I might start retaining too much heat in the system and start seeing failures. I'll have to do more pondering on that one.
As for oil, I am still under factory free oil changes (first 2 changes) and they are using regular 5w30 dino. I plan on going to Mobil 1 (0w30 or 5w30) when it comes time to pay my own way on the oil changes.
The seats... well the fronts combined weigh in at 102 lbs, and theres a company in texas that makes nice vintage style sports car seats and they weigh under 22lbs each. That and a set of OMP seat mounts should do the trick. As for airbar light, I might play with resistors to see if I can mimic the value the ecu is looking for, otherwise it's ignore the light or a little electrical tape on the inside of the gauge lens
Rob
the long header and relocated cat would need a CARB approval, which involves testing and an exemption number. Supersprint is not going to spend the coin to do that, so I think we're stuck with the existing manifold/cat in street trim.
Not sure If I want to wrap still - not a lot of manifold there to wrap and it already is shielded so the benefit might be minor. Haven't peeked under the tin to see if the manifold is cast iron or stainless tube... now I'm wondering.
I believe it's a regular non (or possibly semi) synthetic. I know there was talk about reconfiguring the multi air to run on lower grade engine oils, and the ACEA C3 spec is probably just that (our oils are SAE classified like SE, SG, etc).
So Mobil 1 has been outclassed? I know for the longest time it was one of very few oils that met the GM-4716 SAE spec involving heat breakdown. But times change and that spec was made in the 90's so.... I think I'm going to look into oils here that meet that spec. Castrol Syntec perhaps??
As for rear seats, yes the american 500's are reinforced structure wise to make a 5 star crash safety rating, and thet meant heavy metal seat backs and brackets for the rear seats, as well as a beefier rear bumper support (18 lbs!) and a three path front crash zone using a secondary bumper support below the main one (one of the reasons why american 500's don't have a 6 speed trans).
Re: airbags - the plug might just be a resistor (or at least thats what I am hoping). Hopefully a plug will be offered soon, or if I just have to lose the use of the airbags it's ok. Been driving cars without airbags for many moons and I can live a little dangerously that way. Still better than a motorcycle
