can a ECU increase the HP of my car if i only have an intake, headers, and exhaust? do i need more mods so it would be more worth it? any suggestions or ideas? oh and one more thing, i was thinking of maybe bolting on a intakemanifold but one of my friends said that it would be best to do that if i bolted on a turbo and the manifold for easier air flow, but if i put it on without the turbo would it do any good?

 

dude, u have a long way to go before u should touch your car. the onyl way to tune an ecu is on a dyno ,and your car isnt making much over stock, at most id say 10hp. turbo it, nitrous or spend money on making power NA. start doing some research and read about all that is involved in turboing a car. read through this, i wrote it a while back, it has has good info in it.
https://www.honda-acura.net/forums/s...d.php?t=206354

 

since you have a k20a3, it responds better to bolt on's than a b or d series. add to that an ecu reprogram and you could get decent gains. check out www.hondata.com

about the intake manifold, there are other areas you can focus on first. the k20a3 sucks as an NA engine, so boost it.

 

you can street tune...you dont HAVE to have a dyno to tune but dyno tunning is definately the best/most effecient way to go........although tunning after most(not all)any upgrade will make it run better but may not yield more power....

first off what car do you have? motor?

 

03 si k20a3



according to his other thread

 

oh yay you had the other thread...you have the 03 ep3....agreed with snoopy....if it was a k20a2 or k20a then you could keep it n/a and make pretty good power but the k20a3's head really holds it back in the n/a dept.....the head is its biggest flaw...boost it....if you dont want more than lets say 250whp i say a roots type s/c to help with the low end power and still give you good high end but if you want anymore 250whp i say turbo it

 

ok thanks.
so ur saying that like a turbo would be the best gain for the money.
i know that a turbo will totally give me the HP but i dont have enough money yet, so im just bolting on basics and then like something big.. like a turbo.
but about the intake manifold, is that better with or w/o turbo?
anyone, anyone?

 

i didnt know you had a k to work with. itb that bitch and throw some cams in it with some good valvetrain. those motors are amazing naturally aspirated.

 

not the a3. that thing sucks unless boosted.

 

i thought the k20 responded to NA upgrades pretty good. or is it the k24 with the k20 head? i dont read a whole lot on the k's, out of my price range and lack of desire to swap another motor into my car.