Performance upgrades to a 90
Thread Starter
3rd Gear
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Performance upgrades to a 90
Hello everyone, picked up a new to me 90 red coupe in February, and I've been looking at the borla cat back exhaust, does anyone have it and do you like it? Thinking about doing a cold air intake and a chip also, any suggestions? Thanks.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 81,241
Likes: 3,063
From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
Doesnt quite answer your question but if I was to buy another TPI car wanted the best bang for the buck wihtout tearing the engine apart;
-used long tube headers some have smog holes so you dont have to butcher your setup
-if you dont want to do a cam put some cheap 1.6 roller tips & new springs
-Used ASM or accel runners
-port the stock base (can gain 40 cfm its a ton of work)
-The hypertech chips are ok if you wanna turn the fan on earlier thats it;Millodon 160 hi flow stat
-2.5" catback, true duals even better, mufflers are for sound mostly
leave it at that unless you want to get into heads, cam etc.
Should break into the 13s and be factory reliable same mpg with the above mods most the "easy" stuff in the catalogs does zip.
If you have an auto, a 25-2600 stall and 3.45 gears will really wake it up. If you have 3.07 those are fine too. The 2xx series suck period
-used long tube headers some have smog holes so you dont have to butcher your setup
-if you dont want to do a cam put some cheap 1.6 roller tips & new springs
-Used ASM or accel runners
-port the stock base (can gain 40 cfm its a ton of work)
-The hypertech chips are ok if you wanna turn the fan on earlier thats it;Millodon 160 hi flow stat
-2.5" catback, true duals even better, mufflers are for sound mostly
leave it at that unless you want to get into heads, cam etc.
Should break into the 13s and be factory reliable same mpg with the above mods most the "easy" stuff in the catalogs does zip.
If you have an auto, a 25-2600 stall and 3.45 gears will really wake it up. If you have 3.07 those are fine too. The 2xx series suck period
Last edited by cv67; Jun 5, 2017 at 05:03 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 2,778
Likes: 580
From: Langley BC
I don't have any knowledge of the borla exhaust, so I can't comment on it, but if it is just 'cat back' it will proabbly sound better but only make a very marginal hp gain.
No real reason to get a 'chip' unless you have made changes that require it, a new exhaust certainly won't require a chip.
I'm not sure of how much difference a cold air intake would make either.. I'm also not sure exactly what cold air intake you are thinking of...
With a TPI engine you will find the biggest restriction is the TPI intake, next is the small cam.
Headers can help a bit also but are pricey.
Honestly, a mild cam is proabbly the best bang for the buck performance upgrade but that is a bit of work to install.
Realistically your best to try to come up with plan for how you want the engine to preform and then figure out the parts that will accomplish that rather than just adding a couple random parts. So the best way to advise you is to ask what is your goals and your budget?
Thread Starter
3rd Gear
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
It's an automatic, and I really don't want to get into the engine just yet, but would like for it to run cooler, kinda scary watching the temp run up to 235 before the fans cut on. In south louisiana it's already hot as hell, doesn't give a whole lot of room for error. As for the intake, I haven't seen a whole lot of options, but my stock air box is cracked on both sides and need a new intake.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 81,241
Likes: 3,063
From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
if you pull the radiator out and flush the fins out with a water hose you wont believe the amount of stuff packed in there
blast your condenser out too; its free.
If your air dam is all worn down mid america sells a little taller one it helps some
blast your condenser out too; its free.
If your air dam is all worn down mid america sells a little taller one it helps some
Last edited by cv67; Jun 5, 2017 at 05:56 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 2,778
Likes: 580
From: Langley BC
It's an automatic, and I really don't want to get into the engine just yet, but would like for it to run cooler, kinda scary watching the temp run up to 235 before the fans cut on. In south louisiana it's already hot as hell, doesn't give a whole lot of room for error. As for the intake, I haven't seen a whole lot of options, but my stock air box is cracked on both sides and need a new intake.
If you just want the fans to turn on sooner then a prom/chip will accomplish that for sure.
I had scott Hansen of tuned port injection programing do my custom chip he should be able to help you out with the chip for a reasonable price.
