Engine Setup to make our rolla faster?

Setup to make our rolla faster?

It seems that purchasing a s/c wont really make our rolla very powerful or speedy. Stock setup speedometer only goes to 110. What setup would be needed to make this car hit 160? would it be cheaper to just put in a new engine?

Buy a diffrent car. even if you swap the motor, the rest of the car will need many $ to be brought up to par.

to go much beyond what the S/C (or a turbo setup) will do for you in a corolla, it would make more sence dollar wise to start out with a faster platform in the first place. (SRT-4, Rex, Evo, Mustang, GTO, Etc.....)

theres just so much you can do with 1.8 liters and still be "driveable"

one more thing, the stock setup speedometer has no real relavence to actual vehicle top speed, my first car was a '76 accord CVCC with the hondamatic tranny. speedo went to (IIRC) 110, but the car topped out at 90 (and took 10 mins to get there ). my last "fast" car a '69 Nova SS 427's speedo went to 85. the car would be well past that in under a 1/4 mile.

(...and having said all that, who wants to go 160 mph in a car anyway? get me to 60-75 in a hurry? sure, but IMO top speed has little or no value in the real world. )

I agree..
Ideally tho the reason why I got a corolla was because of gas efficiency. Even tho im not getting great readings about 29mpg but at least its not too bad. I would want the car to operate under good efficiency running up to 65mph. Then after 65mph somehow put it in overdrive where it would be able to accelerate and perform better as well as go faster maybe not 160 how about 140 then?

I've been in a situation where some lunatic in a grand cherrokee was tail gating me and I wasnt able to lose him he actually past my rolla by when I was doing 105. Kinda feels stupid being in a relative attractive car while some '98 cherokee is able to pass you bye!

I looked at contemplating getting a S/C but other then giving you more torque would it be able to go faster then 110? anyone got stats on that?

If you're so concerned about top speed, why did you buy a Corolla? Fuel efficiency and higher velocities are mutually exclusive.

Like I said.. I got it because of how it looks and the gas efficiency.. but I wouldnt mind attempting to rig it up so it can get pushed alittle faster so long as its cheaper then buying a new car!

Just curious what would need to be replaced.. thinking I prolly would change transmission first then add a S/C?

Tires must go, that is very important, and suspension needs upgraded. I wont even get into the performance mods required.

RexPelagi: what size tires u recommend? im upgrading to 17" thinking of 215/45/17 getting VX-6R Velox rims they weigh only 16.5lbs so hopefully may improve performace a notch.

Im not really a tire guy, so I couldnt tell you if those would work or not, Im just suggesting you get tires rated for the speed u want, like our tires our only supposed to be driven so fast, and then they become unsafe. That is why cars have limiters, because of cheap tires.

Well... you'll lose any "gas efficiency" once you bolt on a s/c. In my opinion it would be less expensive to purchase a used car (that's capable of getting to 140-150 mph) than trying to make a Corolla achieve those kinds of velocities. I would start with a 1995 1/2 Audi S6 (about $10k) and then start mod'ing from there. In OEM form it's capable of 138 mph and roughly a mid 14's ET. Not bad for a "old" car,

I read somewhere on this board that someone running a SC was getting better MPG then I currently do something like 38mpg. Ideally I'd like a fast car which is gas efficient.. usually those combinations is impossible to have since its usually a tradeoff. Just wondering what could be done to improve performance/speed without drastically negatively effecting fuel efficiency.

That person was on crack... gas mileage figures of 38 mpg with a s/c is a huge load of crap!

like i said on the other thread, if you drive like grandma, youll get better mileage. theoreticaly a FI motor will get better mileage, but the reality is those of us who would buy such a mod are going to lean on the gas a little harder than the average driver- hence low fuel economy.

I used to have those exact rims and tires on my car. Those wheels dont weigh 16.5 lbs.... maybe they do but the 215/45/17 tires weigh a ton. Its easily 10 lbs heavier then the stock wheels. I lost about .2-.4 in the quarter mile when i upgraded to those wheels. I also lost a buncha gas millage. The prolbem with those is that they're 7" wide, which increases the surface area and gives more friction...plus the thinner tires has reinforces sidewalls which makes them heavy. The positive thiough is that they stick like hell and look absoultly badass.

To go above the 114 mph you'll need either a turbo or s/c and a stand-alone computer because the ECU cuts fuel at 114. I have a turbo and i can hit 114 at 1/2 throttle in about 28 seconds from a standstill... prolbem is that the ECU will cut the fuel, which in my case would be very bad under boost. So either buy a power FC stand alone system, or ur just gonna have to live with the 114 mph speed cut.

u actually plan to go aobve that speed on a daily basis or something?

he just got pissed that the guy that was tailing him pasted him up.........I know the feeling cause people tail me all day.......I used to get all mad and sh*t , but now I just dont care. Better that I only get rear ended then to get sandwitched!!!. BTW I have been rear ended befor and my car was total because of that....thats why I would get mad cause idiots on the road dont know what it's like to get hit!!

Agreed some people just dont think or care about the consequences :? When ever I get tailed I usually just get out of the way. Or if they really want to piss me off I just speedmatch with another car and block them, or I just slow down then speed off as quick as i can get in the opposite lane and flick them off. :twisted:

Even if you were to add a gigantic turbo and ligten the vehicle weight considerably, you're still going to run into problems. Once the vehicle hits 114mph, the revs are already getting up around the 5000rpm line if I remember correctly (maybe just a few hundred below). That means that between 5000rpm and the 6500rpm-ish redline, the engine/transmission have to be able to handle an additional 26mph.

I don't think it's going to happen. The 5th gear in the manual transmissions aren't even going to go that far without wearing or breaking down prematurely. Not unless major changes are made to the engine, transmission, and most importantly, ECU, you're not going to achieve it. The costs of replacing everything would be so high that it would be impractical. And you CERTAINLY wouldn't be able to drive the vehicle daily (not with a turbo that big that takes forever to spool up), and you would definitely get horrible gas mileage.

Put this idea to rest. Either live with what you have or go buy another car (that's what I would do if you want something fast. There are plenty of "fast" cars available that do not necessarily gobble gas, though you won't get the high mileage of a Corolla, but then... that's the tradeoff).

crovax: would instead of 215/45/17 a 205/55/17 be better for gas efficiency or is the 215/45/17 the best fit? all I know is if I would get a MR7 rim which weighs like 24lbs vs. the velox of 16lbs Im assuming my gas mileage and acceleration would be faster since my rims weigh less..

tires alone have weigh of course but I dont think theirs anything we can do about that can we? mmm does anyone know of good tires which weigh less then normal ones?

also if you can recommned the best tires & rims for better peformance it would be appreciated... maybe I jumped too soon in ordering those velox 17" shoudl have maybe gone with 16" mmm

Mr7 are heavy rims so i bellieve you would get worse gas mileage and acceleration vs the velox rims if they are indeed 16lbs/rim. about the tires, the 205/55/17 would have less surface area but would be a bigger tire (diameter wise) which would make it heavier..which is what you said you didnt want to do also. it seems you want a lot of speed and a lot of gas efficiency..its hard to get the best of both worlds. you gotta pick between one or the other or somewhere in the middle with decent gas mileage and decent performance.

Does tire weight really affect acceration and gas mileage that much?

yup i heard any extra unwanted unsprung weight is really bad

weight on your wheels effects performance alot.. since its rotational weight I forget what the figures were but 5lb difference in weight per rim and you'll see a difference in performance.

efficiency and performance always is a battle.. im wondering tho if 17" rims have any benefits at all other then looks? I thought bigger rims means for ever rotation you get 2" further then you would with 15" but then weight is a negative factor.. was just wondering if theirs a middle comfort zone somewhere.

ok, when i ordered my velox rims, they came with 205/40/17 tires on tyhe, which meant that it shortened my gear ratios but abunch...my speedo was off by about 5 mph, but my accelloration imporved a lot due to the shorter gearing. My gas millage went to shit though also due to the smaller gearing. The 215/45 tire size is almost exactly the same size as stock, so youll have just about stock gearing. You're going to lose mpg, theres not really too much you can do about it. What i ended up doing was buying 15" centerline forged wheels (11lbs) for the front...which were actually lighter than stock with tires, but still 7" wide.

Every pound you remove from the front wheels is like taking 10lbs off the car. A carbon fiber hood that weighs 20 lbs vs the stock 40 lbs is only like taking 1 lb off of each front wheel, so its a huge difference. You can go ahaid and buy 205/55 tires...will maybe give better gas millage, but ur accelloration will go to hell. On the same token, you could buy 205/40 tires and youll see a huge difference in accelloration but notice a nice dip in fuel economy...just the nature of 17" wheels... unless you buy some hyper expensive japanese forged wheel, ur not gonna improve everything.

i have 215/40 on my 17 inch rims and i notice a slight gas miledge change.. not a whole lot tho and since they are smaller diameter wise i seem to accelerate a little faster... to be completely honest the only major difference i noticed between the stock 195/65/15 and my 215/40/17 is that the speedometer reads about 5 mph fast and the 215 stick allot better in the corneres.

Yeah I have 215/40/17's on mine too, and wow do they stick to the ground. My gas mileage is around 27-32pmg (a combo of 80% city and 20% hwy) which still isnt bad.

I would say though to get a faster rolla, upgrade suspension first, there is no point in putting a lot of power into it when it cant handle it..So i would say this, lower the car, sway and tower bars, new wheels, LSD, rear disc brake conversion, big brake kit front and back, and upgraded brake lines.

To increase gas efficiency and increase performance at the same time...
The only thing that will help achieve that is by lightening the car. That means take everything out that you don't need, all the little weights will add up. I know it sounds pretty harsh, but if you are serious, then you're going to have to make some sacrifices (ie: spare tire, extra seats, carpet, compartments, plastics, speakers, etc).

To keep the rolling diamater in check, you could go with a 205/55/16 or a 225/45/17. The 16 might be a little lighter than the 17. Both these tire sizes retain the stock ("S" model) 195/65/15's overall height.

I would have to agree with most of the people here. The reason why I even purchased a Corolla in the first place is because it had the most features for less price than the Civic, Lancer, and other economic sedan. I don't have very much money and making hundreds and hundreds of dollars a month is not my way to go right now. I needed something affordable, but at the same time, looks good and has good features too. So after research, the 03 Corolla is the best (price wise).

I can't believe how much they charge for the new Civics. Outrageous MSRP. I'm sure you can tweak the Corolla, just like the Civic, to go fast but you won't get the same kind of performance to compete with the likes of the Skyline, Evolution, WRX ST-1, etc. Even some of the new Audi's and Volvo's are coming out with some pretty fast cars. Mazda's are coming out with some pretty sharp vehicles. Mazda 6 i and S model comes with 4cyl and 6cyl respectively boast bigger engines and more horsepower while the new RX-8 pump out 240 hp 6-speed. Their new rotary engine is awsome. I think the Corolla has the smallest engine in its class compared to the other sport modeled cars.

If I had the money, I really like to build around the Lancer Evolution 8. This street machine boost incredible power. It is a pure race machine and running all stock too, 271hp turbocharged with top speed at 157mhp all wheel drive, damn. All that from an inline-4 2.0L motor with compression 8.8:1. It looks too hot, goes too damn fast and too good for my taste. I love it. Got to come up with the money to get it.